Diamond Ace: Monster Slayer

Chapter 43: The Pressure on the Army
"Players of the first team, begin defensive training, one by one!"

Supervisor Kataoka said as he stood at the edge of the First Army's training ground.

The summer competition is coming soon, and now is the time to check for deficiencies and fill them in.

The second team has just promoted four players, and they must feel the intensity and rhythm of the first team.

Chris is fine.

He used to be the main force of the First Army, and returning to the First Army was like returning to his own backyard.

And he is a catcher, so he doesn't have to participate in defensive training.

The main ones are Sawamura, Haruichi and Zhou Hui.

They are all first-year young men who are ready to fight.

That's true, but their ability can only be considered top-notch among first-year students.

Compared with the seniors who have been training for two or three years, they still seem so immature.

All of these were demonstrated in defensive training.

Zhou Hui was fine, he could barely keep up with the pace.

After a few trips, Haruichi and Sawamura were already exhausted.

After following the first army for a few rounds of training, the two of them were so tired that they knelt on the ground, and their hands could not help but tremble.

"What kind of training does the First Army go through?!"

Sawamura was so tired that he was panting and gasping for breath. He kneeled on the ground for a long time and couldn't get up.

This feeling is really suffocating.

Haruichi had the same feeling, but he didn't talk as much as Sawamura and just stayed there quietly.

But it can also be seen that his expression is not much better.

"Spring City."

A familiar voice came from behind Haruichi.

Haruichi looked back and saw his brother standing straight behind him.

Just now, Ryosuke was doing the same training as him, but in terms of facial expressions, Ryosuke was much better than Haruichi.

"If you are too tired, go and rest nearby. There are many people in the Second Army who want to replace you."

As he spoke, Ryosuke continued to wait with a smile on his face for the baseball that Coach Kataoka would hit.

The person in charge of the first army's defensive training is usually Supervisor Kataoka.

Although Coach Kataoka is the team's coach, he is not very old. He just graduated from college a few years ago and is still young and strong.

Providing garrison training to an army is no problem at all.

Slowly, Zhou Hui began to adapt to the rhythm of the First Army's training.

From the intermittent play at the beginning to now being able to handle every ball perfectly.

For him who is so good at defensive training, it is naturally not difficult for him to do the striking area which is his best.

His swings were also windy.

Coach Kataoka also asked other players to take Zhou Hui as a role model.

It can be said that as a first-year student, he accomplished many things that the third-year seniors had never done.

……

Time passed quickly and the day's training was over soon.

After training, Sawamura and Haruichi became completely different from their other classmates.

It's like they're not doing the same kind of training.

The other students all walked with brisk steps, without any pressure; they just wiped the sweat from their foreheads from time to time.

It's not just the members of the old First Army, but also Chris who just returned from the Second Army and Zhou Hui who just got promoted to the First Army.

Even if it was Akihiro Jōgiya, there was no sign of fatigue on his face.

He has been training with his classmates from the First Army for a while, and he has long adapted to the rhythm of the First Army, so it is normal for him not to sweat.

It’s just that Zhou Hui is unexpected yet reasonable at the same time.

This kind of "monster" cannot be compared with other first-year students.

Zhou Hui used an analogy, saying that he was like a child prodigy. When other primary school students were still learning addition and subtraction within ten, this child prodigy started reading newspapers and doing college entrance examination questions.

Who can I go to for justice?

From the very beginning, there was a big gap between me and my peers.

This is the advantage of talent.

In the face of absolute talent, any effort becomes insignificant.

There's no comparison at all.

These are innate and no one can change them.

After finishing a day's training, Sawamura returned to the dormitory building with his classmates.

Feeling the intensity of the First Army's training, Sawamura's legs are shaking even when he walks.

"Can you do this? It's only been one day of training and you're like this?"

Kuramochi walked in front, with his hands in his pockets, looking at Sawamura behind him.

Every step Sawamura takes now is a big test, but Kuramochi acts as if nothing happened.

“Ahhhhhhh, my legs are about to break, how come Kuramochi-senpai looks like nothing happened?”

Sawamura looked at Kuramochi who was walking in a swagger in front of him, and couldn't understand where he got the strength from.

"I just need to train more often. This training is not as intense as the fights I had back home."

As he said this, Kuramochi quickened his pace and shook off Sawamura.

"Kuramochi-senpai, Kuramochi-senpai, wait for me..."

Sawamura reached out his hand, but Kuramochi had already walked away, and he was the only one standing there screaming helplessly.

Sawamura's dormitory is Room 5, which is not on the first floor.

When he reached the stairs, he heard two seniors complaining, and the topic was related to himself.

"Really? Is Coach Kataoka out of his mind? Why did he let Sawamura join the first team?"

"That is to say, forget about Haruichi, after all, he is Ryosuke-senpai's younger brother, but what is Sawamura's right?"

The two people complained angrily, as if they were dissatisfied with Director Kataoka's decision.

Both of them are sophomores who wanted to make the first team but were unable to do so.

They both felt that Sawamura was not even as good as themselves and they really didn't know why he was able to get in.

But they didn't notice that Sawamura had come to them.

After hearing these words, Sawamura's uncomfortable feeling caused by shaking legs immediately disappeared.

It turns out that entering the first army is not a real victory.

The real victory is to have everyone recognize you.

Sawamura did not do this.

There are still so many people questioning themselves.

But there is no way, this is the pressure that an army bears!

Sawamura's strength has indeed improved a lot compared to when he first entered school.

But his condition fluctuates and he often makes low-level mistakes.

If Sawamura was in the second team, there would be absolutely no problem with his strength.

But if you join the first team, you will undoubtedly become the target of everyone's complaints.

Sawamura's mentality is fragile to begin with, and his face darkened when he heard these words.

Just as the two were complaining heatedly, one of the seniors glanced towards the stairs, and then a look of visibly panicked appeared on his face.

"Huh? Sawamura?!"

The other senior turned around and saw Sawamura standing there with a gloomy face, not moving.

It is not polite to talk bad about others behind their back.

"Ze... Sawamura, where did you start listening to this?"

……

(End of this chapter)