The Old Baseball Player System

He noticed a pair of men\'s shoes at the door but still remembered not seeing his father\'s car in the garage. Shun seemed to realize something as he smiled and ran straight to the living room, not caring about his dirty state.

"Grandpa Jack!" - Shun exclaimed excitedly as he looked at a tall man with gray hair and blue eyes. His body was definitely stronger than usual for someone his age. This was Shun\'s grandfather, his mother\'s father, also known as Grandpa Jack.

"Hey, kid!" - Grandpa Jack greeted with a smile. Shun could hear the accent in his Japanese, but he was already used to it since Grandpa Jack was an American who married a Japanese woman and moved to Japan.

Jack quickly moved toward his grandson to give him a big hug, but just as he was about to reach Shun, he caught a whiff of the unbearable smell.

"Damn, boy! Haven\'t you ever heard of deodorant?" - Jack asked, stepping back and covering his nose. Shun was at the peak of puberty, and considering he had played an entire game under the sun, watched another game under the sun, and then completed a long list of exercises, it wasn\'t surprising he smelled like hell.

"Ehhh..." - Shun was speechless at his grandfather\'s reaction. He raised his arm to sniff himself but instantly regretted it. Maybe it really was time to start using deodorant...

"Shun Takahashi!" - Shun heard his mother\'s cold voice calling his name, sending shivers down his spine. He didn\'t need to look to know that she was glaring at him with a deadly stare.

"I\'m going to take a shower!" - Shun didn\'t waste a second and sprinted toward the bathroom, leaving his mother and grandfather in the living room without looking back.

"Pft! Aren\'t you scaring the boy a bit too much, Aiko?" - Jack chuckled warmly, speaking affectionately to his daughter.

"Hmph! That\'s because you\'re just as much of a baseball idiot as he is, Dad!" - Aiko huffed. Neither of these men understood the struggles of a housewife who had to take care of a baseball idiot like Shun.

SPLASH

"Ahhh," - Shun sighed in relief as he sank into the bath. Not only could he finally relax, but he was also safe from the life-threatening danger called his mother.

"I didn\'t think I\'d see Grandpa at this time of year. I guess that means he was eliminated..." - Shun murmured thoughtfully. His grandfather was the coach of an elite school in Tokyo, and during the summer, he was always busy trying to lead his team to Koshien.

Seeing his grandfather here at this time of year, Shun concluded that his grandpa\'s team had failed to make it to Koshien this year, and he sighed. Shun still remembered when he was younger and went to Koshien to watch his grandfather\'s team play. Although they hadn\'t won, he still vividly recalled the magical atmosphere of Koshien.

Takenodai High School, the team his grandfather coached. An elite school in Tokyo that, at its peak, had been Koshien runners-up. From what Shun knew, his grandmother had passed away before he was born, and since then, his grandfather had dedicated himself fully to coaching the Takenodai High School baseball team.

And the man had done a fantastic job. When he started, Takenodai was just another school in Tokyo, but thanks to his methods, Jack had transformed it into an elite school that dominated Tokyo for years.

However, Shun knew that his grandfather hadn\'t yet achieved his ultimate goal, winning the Koshien title, the trophy that had slipped from his grasp several times. The biggest and most coveted trophy for anyone involved in high school baseball in Japan.

Shun had always dreamed of helping his grandfather win the long-awaited Koshien title, but after everything that happened to him at Tokyo Nakano, he gave up on that idea. After all, Takenodai was an elite school that only accepted the best of the best. There was no way someone without talent, who had been kicked out of his Junior League team, would be accepted.

And even if he were accepted as the coach\'s grandson, there was no way he could help the team on the field.

"That was before... Now that I have the system, maybe I really can do it!" - Shun clenched his fists tightly. Without even realizing it, he had regained something very important that he had lost. Shun had started dreaming again!

[Hey kid, you used the wrong word!] - The old man\'s voice echoed in Shun\'s head, startling the boy.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" - Shun asked, confused.

[Don\'t tell me you forgot? Your main mission is to win Koshien! You shouldn\'t be saying that maybe you can do it, you need to say that you will do it! Otherwise... who knows what punishments you\'ll get if you fail, hahahaha!] - The old man laughed enthusiastically, clearly enjoying teasing Shun.

"You..." - Shun was left speechless. At first, he wanted to curse the old man, but as irritating as his words were, they weren\'t wrong. He really needed to win Koshien. It wasn\'t the time for "maybes" because who knew what kind of punishment he\'d face for failing a main mission.

Shun then finished his bath, making sure to scrub extra hard with soap to get rid of all the bad odor. He quickly came out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed and dressed in clean clothes. He went downstairs excitedly and finally gave his grandfather a tight hug.

"Hahaha, you\'ve grown, kid!" - Jack said, surprised. Not only had Shun\'s height increased, but his body had also gotten stronger. In fact, his body had become much stronger, making Jack wonder what the hell his grandson had been taking.