Date: April 1st
Location: Seidou High School — Baseball Field
The baseball field was crowded with students.
All of them wore the standard Seidou High School baseball uniform—white with blue accents—clean, sharp, and eye-catching under the spring sun.
April was a season of beginnings in Japan.
Elementary school.
Middle school.
High school.
University.
No matter the level, a new school life always started in April.
Today was the baseball club's new members' meeting.
The first-year students stood neatly in formation, facing the second- and third-year upperclassmen.
Among them, one freshman stood out immediately.
Too conspicuous.
The upperclassmen's gazes unconsciously gathered on him, and the young man himself looked rather helpless.
The reason was simple.
He was too tall.
At 188 centimeters, his height towered over the rest. Even within Seidou's baseball club—where many players exceeded 180 cm—those reaching 185 cm were extremely rare.
Naturally, he attracted attention wherever he stood.
"I am your head coach, Kataoka Tesshin."
Coach Kataoka's deep voice echoed across the field.
"From now on, the new students will introduce themselves one by one."
As soon as his words fell, the first freshman stepped forward.
Coincidentally, it was the tallest one—first row, far left.
It seemed the lineup had been arranged by height.
"Hello, Coach. Hello, seniors."
"My name is Ushijima Wakatoshi. I'm an exchange student from China… and Yuki Tetsuya's cousin."
The moment he finished speaking, the atmosphere shifted.
Whispers spread instantly through the field.
Even Coach Kataoka looked slightly surprised.
Cousin?
Among the second- and third-years, Seidou's captain, Yuki Tetsuya, remained calm and expressionless.
Strict with himself and naturally aloof, he showed no visible reaction.
Still, Ushijima Wakatoshi's introduction caused an undeniable stir.
"Height: 188 cm. Weight: 80 kg."
That was all.
No ambitions.
No position preference.
No unnecessary words.
After finishing his brief introduction, Ushijima stepped back into line.
As for the introductions that followed, he barely listened.
Because his thoughts had already drifted far away.
Damn it… transmigration? And into a sports world, of all things?
If I had to transmigrate, why not Naruto or One Piece?
Flying through the sky, fighting freely—now that would've been cool.
But no. They had to throw me into Diamond no Ace.
I'm speechless.
Ushijima complained inwardly, keeping his expression perfectly neutral.
He wasn't unfamiliar with this world.
He had watched Ace of Diamond completely—and more than once. It was undeniably a great sports anime.
As an anime fan, Ushijima had rewatched many classics several times.
Slam Dunk.
Prince of Tennis.
Ace of Diamond.
Haikyuu!!
All of them were familiar territory.
Still…
Thank goodness I at least have a cheat.
Transmigrating into a sports anime without one would be pure suffering.
No matter how talented you are, you don't become strong overnight.
Either you train from childhood…
Or you rely on a cheat.
If this were ping-pong, I wouldn't need one. I could dominate Japanese high school leagues easily.
But baseball…
This is a tragedy.
Before watching Diamond no Ace, he barely even understood the rules.
And exposure since childhood?
Forget it.
Baseball was Japan's national sport, but in China, it was incredibly niche.
There were fewer than thirty baseball fields nationwide.
Ushijima Wakatoshi stood quietly with his hands behind his back.
From the outside, he looked calm and composed.
No one knew what kind of storm was brewing inside his mind.
If not for his convenient cousin, Ushijima Wakatoshi might not have realized what world he had transmigrated into at all.
After arriving here, memories belonging to this body gradually surfaced in his mind.
From them, one name stood out—Yuki Tetsuya.
It sounded familiar.
After thinking for a while, Ushijima finally remembered.
Seidou High School's third-year captain in Diamond no Ace.
Then he noticed the school's name.
Seidou High School.
At that moment, the pieces fell into place.
Yesterday, without much hesitation, Ushijima submitted his application to the baseball club.
And sure enough—
The moment he did, his cheat arrived.
The name was simple and straightforward.
Baseball System.
Its reward method was equally simple.
Daily sign-ins.
The rewards were divided by duration:
One week of consecutive sign-ins — Silver Chest
One month — Gold Chest
One hundred days — Diamond Chest
Inside the chests were skill packs, all related to baseball.
Pitching skills:
Two-seam, Four-seam, Cutter, Sinker, Changeup…
Batting skills:
Bunt, Infield Hit, Outfield Hit, Home Run…
"Hah… this is going to be rough."
Ushijima sighed inwardly.
Yesterday's Newbie Gift Pack had given him six skill packs in total:
Two Silver.
Two Gold.
Two Diamond.
Silver: Control, Two-seam
Gold: Infield Hit, Speed
Diamond: Four-seam Fastball, Stamina
Out of the six, only three were truly useful to him right now.
Gold Speed.
Gold Infield Hit.
Diamond Stamina.
As for the remaining three—
Silver Control.
Silver Two-seam.
Diamond Four-seam Fastball.
They were all skills meant for pitchers.
And that was exactly the problem.
He wanted to be a batter, not a pitcher.
Ushijima hadn't tested the Diamond Four-seam yet, so he didn't know its exact speed.
Still, he could guess.
Silver probably represented high school level.
Gold, national level.
Diamond, world-class.
If that was true…
A world-class four-seam fastball meant speeds close to 170 km/h.
Did that mean he could throw 160+ km/h?
Then again—
Silver Control.
Pure speed, ignoring control, might reach that level.
But once control was involved, speed would inevitably drop.
Even without testing it, Ushijima could already make a rough judgment.
Just as he was thinking—
"Ah!!!"
"Someone arrived late—and tried to sneak into the team!"
The sudden shout snapped him back to reality.
Ushijima turned his head along with everyone else.
A short first-year stood frozen mid-step.
Sawamura Eijun.
At the same time, someone else quietly slipped into the second- and third-year formation from another direction.
This was what true social death looked like.
The entire baseball club stared at Sawamura, who now looked like he wanted to crawl into the ground.
Ushijima only spared him a glance before losing interest.
As expected, Sawamura, a certain mischievous catcher, and two unfortunate upperclassmen were all sentenced to run laps.
"Teme! I'll never believe you again!" Sawamura shouted angrily while running.
"Thank you," Miyuki replied cheerfully.
The field became lively and noisy.
Ushijima took a slow breath.
Since I'm already here…
I might as well conquer this world properly.
Otherwise, this transmigration would be a complete waste.
"Hey."
A familiar voice called out to him.
Ushijima turned and saw Yuki Tetsuya standing beside him.
"You really came to Japan to study abroad?" Yuki asked, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah."
The cousins stood together, both tall and eye-catching.
Yuki, at 180 cm, carried a strong and steady presence.
Ushijima was no less imposing.
"I heard Dad mention it before," Yuki said. "But I was busy with training, so I didn't ask much."
Their relationship had always been good. Despite living in different countries, their families often visited one another during holidays.
"Why Japan?" Yuki asked. "Because of your parents' work?"
"No," Ushijima replied, shaking his head.
"I just wanted to change my study environment."
"I always hear Auntie say you train every day."
"And baseball isn't popular back home."
"So I came to Japan to challenge it."
He shrugged and smiled.
Yuki chuckled.
"You really are something."
"China's national sport is ping-pong," Yuki said calmly.
"But baseball is Japan's."
"If you want to learn it seriously…"
"You came to the right place."