"This concludes today's program."
Despite Mike's loud voice, Lucas's gaze was fixed solely on the water bottle Mike was holding.
"Some water."
Lucas gulped down the water and asked after regaining his breath, "Is this what strength training is like? It's so hard."
"Of course, exercise should be difficult."
"That's true, though."
Lucas asked someone for the first time in his life today if this level of intensity was right for him.
"This is the hard training you've been looking for, sir."
"Isn't this my first day?"
"What can I do? There's no point in being lazy, right?"
Mike's people management skills were no joke.
'Is this the hell of the Celestial Empire?'
Lucas had played baseball in middle school, but that was still baseball. It was his first time doing strength training, and starting with a weight of 40kg seemed ridiculous. Most of them managed to lift the weight with Mike's help, but it wasn't easy.
Mike glanced at Lucas, who had a dejected expression on his face, then sat down on a folding chair and asked quietly, "How is the baseball club?"
"Well, as expected, our school's power isn't that great. Except for a few."
"You got robbed by Alexander this time? Pfft."
Where had Mike picked that up? Lucas nodded.
"He was definitely a hard hitter."
"Alexander is also an incredible talent. I heard he hit 60 home runs in 30 games in a middle school league."
"A middle school student?"
"Oh, but there's another player in California right now who can be compared to Alexander."
Lucas's eyes lit up at the mention of baseball. "Who is the other one?"
"Dave from Santa Monica High School is a monster too. Now Dave will surpass Alexander."
Alexander won the California middle school MVP but is now playing football. Dave, who focused solely on baseball, had better stats in high school.
"Just looking at league performance, Dave is on top."
Lucas's eyes sparkled. In America, where monsters ran rampant, he had belatedly entered a world ruled by such talents.
'Is this really the home of baseball?'
His heartbeat began to dominate his mind, and his palms started to sweat with excitement. Tension and curiosity enveloped his senses simultaneously.
'I want to stick with it.'
Mike caught Lucas's blazing eyes. "Aren't you scared?"
"Are you scared?"
"No. Alexander broke it properly too. But Santa Monica is not only more powerful than FS, but that guy Dave is even more of a monster than Alexander."
"So, why is that?"
Was this guy completely crazy? Mike didn't notice his jaw slowly opening.
During that time, Lucas continued speaking leisurely.
"If I was scared of something like that, I wouldn't have even started in the first place. By the way, what is baseball? They say that a batter wins if he hits the pitcher 3 times out of 10. It's a sport where pitchers try to reduce that number of 3 times to 2 or less."
Mike just nodded faintly. "Yes?"
"I've lost to Alexander once now, but if I win all of the remaining nine games, wouldn't that mean I'm going to win? Of course, the results might not come out as planned, but you're working towards that result, right? That's baseball."
Mike licked his dry lower lip. "That's right."
Then Mike quickly hid his bitter expression.
"I have a wish."
"Already?"
Lucas trembled. He hoped Mike wasn't suddenly going to increase the weight.
Fortunately, Mike wasn't a villain trainer. "Both of you win."
"Who? Alexander and his friends named Dave?"
"Uh."
"Isn't Alexander on the same side?"
"I know, Lucas. But we'll meet up sometimes during training."
There was a slim chance of meeting them in a practice match within the team, but it was very unlikely.
Instead, Lucas understood what Mike was trying to say. 'Did Mike quit baseball because of those two monsters?'
He glanced at Mike and turned away from Lucas's gaze. 'That's right.'
Mike knew all about the benefits of school baseball. Above all, he was a member of a baseball club and caught his own pitches amusingly. That meant Mike must have also received an offer to join the baseball team.
'No matter how much I think about it, that's all there is to it.'
But for some reason, Mike refused, and Lucas now knew why. 'I sensed a difference in talent among the monsters Mike was talking about.'
Lucas felt Mike's dedication to his training. Maintaining his body just to enjoy baseball seemed like a commitment of its own.
Of course, Lucas didn't know Mike's tastes, so this was just a guess. That being said, Mike was more interested in the school baseball team than anyone else.
'He still want to play baseball, but he can't do it. It would be nice if we could do it together.'
But this was America. Forcing things on others was not right. Lucas, who thought that gaslighting was okay, clenched his fist and hit his chest a couple of times.
"Okay. Once I finish rehab, I'll win everything."
At those confident words, Mike slowly turned his gaze to Lucas. "What crazy confidence. What a broken piece of shit."
"Hey! It broke once. Once."
"If you had thrown a changeup, I would have won!"
The excuse from Lucas's side was so pitiful that he held back his words.
Instead, he said, "I will try hard and definitely win next time. I'll try my best, so you just watch from behind."
He didn't know what a proud American would think of that. He himself had neglected baseball for some time, citing family circumstances and various other excuses.
'But when I got to play baseball again, I felt like I had everything in the world. You will too, Mike. Of course, the choice is yours.'
Mike helped with both Lucas's diet and strength training. Lucas wanted to repay his benefactor.
'I know best that it is not easy to rekindle a dying flame in your heart.'
So, first of all, he needed to make his body strong. It would be best if he could show Mike in person.