February.

Nippon Professional Baseball teams gather players for spring training.

Hanshin 2nd Division's spring training base is in Anyun City, Kochi Prefecture, in the southern part of Shikoku Island.

At the Anyun Citizen Stadium surrounded by mountains and forests, Hanshin players from the second team are training enthusiastically.

In one of the designated areas, Zhang Zhe breathlessly repeated the action of kneeling down to block the ball, one after another, one group after another.

When the last set was completed, he lay directly on the ground, gasping for air.

"Huh...huh..."

The pitching coach's stern scolding could be heard next to him.

"Is this the limit?!!"

"stand up!!"

"continue!!"

If spring training had just started a few days ago, and hearing these "harsh" shouts, the young and energetic Zhang Zhe would inevitably get up and do a few sets angrily.

Now, I am too tired to be angry.

Seeing that the provocation method didn't work, the capture coach ended the training. After explaining to Zhang Zhe, he remembered to do stretching exercises, and then went to guide the training of other groups.

Zhang Zhe lay on the ground and looked at the blue sky.

"I really want to lie down all day without getting up."

After spring training began, Zhang Zhe immediately experienced the intensity of professional baseball training.

I don’t know if it’s because the coaching staff has mastered the physical examination report, but the number of training sets assigned to me is always just a little bit more than the limit. Every time I am so tired that I just want to lie down.

Moreover, the team has implemented the training plan very well. The pitching coach, infield coach, outfield coach, and hitting coach took turns to provide special guidance to Zhang Zhe, and very strictly urged Zhang Zhe to complete the training.

The coaches have a very stern attitude, shouting and scolding at every turn, which makes people feel particularly fierce.

After a few days of observation, Zhang Zhe discovered that the coaches' behavior was like this. When training others, they would yell so loud that the entire stadium could hear them. They did not intentionally target any one person.

Most of the coaching staff of the Hanshin Tigers are veterans who have retired from the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Perhaps when they were still professional baseball players, the management method of "Good! Very energetic!" was popular.

Feeling that the soreness in his muscles had subsided a lot, Zhang Zhe got up from the ground, did a few stretches, then packed up the scattered training equipment and returned to the locker room for a brief cleaning.

This concludes today's training.

Going straight to the canteen to ask for a good meal, Zhang Zhe found an acquaintance and sat next to him.

As soon as he sat down on the stool and put down the dinner plate, Zhang Zhe immediately held his waist and took a breath of cold air.

"What, your back hurts?" Takadera asked in his dream.

"yes."

"Hey, stop talking, it's me too." Gao Si Wangmeng said sympathetically.

In the 2020 draft last year, almost all the Hanshin Tigers named were college graduates and players from corporate teams who were ready to play. The only high school graduates were Zhang Zhe and Nozomi Takadera.

Being in the same class is one of the most important seniority relationships in the Japanese workplace.

Because all the other newcomers who were considered as immediate combat forces followed the first army to Okinawa for training, the only newcomers in the second army were Zhang Zhe and Takadera Nozomi.

Takadera Nomumu, who is also a high school freshman, was born in Ueda Nishi High School in Nagano Prefecture. He plays the fielding position as an infielder and is half a head shorter than Zhang Zhe.

As they helped each other during training, the two of them became more and more familiar, to the point where they could call each other by their first names.

The two of them chatted while eating.

"Actually, becoming a professional baseball player is not as good as I imagined, and the money is not much at the beginning," Takadera sighed, "but just the usual training is not much more tiring than an office worker."

After finishing speaking, Gao Siwangmeng glanced at Zhang Zhe with a complicated expression.

Compared to Zhang Zhe, who received a large signing bonus and the maximum annual salary for rookies, Kodera Nozomi, who was named seventh and had a low signing bonus and an annual salary of only a few million, felt even more uneasy.

With a salary that is slightly higher than that of ordinary company employees, and taking on uncertain risks in the future, high school graduates are under a lot of pressure.

Zhang Zhe lowered his head and took a mouthful of noodles, acquiescing to Gao Siwangmeng's words.

However, his annual salary is much higher than that of Nomu Takadera, so if he extends this topic at this time, he may be misunderstood as showing his superiority.

Let's change the subject.

"Awang, let's go take a bath together later, do you want to go?"

"Okay."

Takadera Nozomi just complained a little because of the intensity of training, but he started to give up so quickly. Becoming a professional baseball player is the dream of many people when they were young, so how can they give up so easily.

"My body has accumulated a lot of fatigue in the past few days, so I might as well take a medicinal bath." Takadera Wangmeng said.

The two made an appointment to change into private clothes after dinner and go to a nearby bathhouse to take a bath and stroll around the streets of Anyun City.

Kodera Nozomi is 18 years old and Zhang Zhe is 17 years old. After all, they are just high school graduates who have not been involved in the world.

Not only do they need to adapt physically to the intensity of professional baseball training, but they also need to mentally complete the transition from students to players and have the ability to withstand the pressure of professional athletes.

In a nearby bathhouse.

Kodera Wangmeng and Zhang Zhe sat in the bathtub, soaking in the scalding milky white hot water, slightly relieving the accumulated fatigue in their bodies.

The hot water washes away tiredness and the brain becomes clear.

Even Zhang Zhe, who practiced a lot in high school, doesn't mean he admits that it does take some time to get used to the intensity of professional baseball training.

Although Zhang Zhe believes that he needs to train in the Second Army, he also hopes to join the First Army as soon as possible.

If you can't cope with the physical fatigue at the beginning, there is no point in joining the first army as soon as possible, so no matter how tired or hard you are, you must not think about quietly lowering your training completion level or anything like that.

During spring training, the Second Army will have several warm-up practice games.

In order to win the main position at the beginning of the Second Army League, Zhang Zhe plans to strive for a good performance in the warm-up practice match.

This is also the common thought of all the second-string players.

The opponents in the warm-up practice games are generally not particularly strong, and the coaching staff will try their best to let everyone take turns to play, giving everyone a chance to show off the results of spring training.

And Zhang Zhe has only been in the group for less than two months, so it is difficult to occupy the main force of the second army. He must at least perform well in the warm-up practice matches.

After taking a bath.

Kodera Wangmeng and Zhang Zhe went to the supermarket to replenish some daily necessities.

After paying the bill, the two people saw the store manager's child watching an old baseball cartoon, so they stopped to watch curiously.

"'Baseball Heroes' is a bit old," Takadera said.

After standing and watching for a few minutes, Takadera Wangmeng suddenly turned around and said happily: "We are all professional players, and we still have time to watch anime. Haha, it's really funny."

"Haha." Zhang Zhe also laughed.

Their current appearance is really no different from ordinary high school students hanging out.

Looking at the time, although it was still early before the 11 o'clock night gate, Gaoji Wangmeng and Zhang Zhe returned to the hotel early.

It's okay to take a break from your busy schedule to relax occasionally, but you can't lose your work attitude as a professional player.

Get a good sleep tonight, and when you wake up tomorrow, it will still be monotonous, repetitive and extremely important training.
Chapter completed!