The stadium lights flickered as the pitcher wound up for the pitch, but to Shinjiro, everything moved in slow motion. The crowd, the players, the very essence of reality blurred into the background. All that existed in his world was the ball—hurtling toward him like a comet ready to strike Earth. His hands tightened around the bat as something deep within him stirred.
Suddenly, the pitch seemed to penetrate him—not his mind, nor his body, but his very dantian, the core of his being where his spiritual energy resided. In an instant, Shinjiro's entire existence shifted. The ball wasn't just a ball anymore—it was a vessel of universal energy, connecting him to something far greater than the game.
Shinjiro's eyes widened as the energy from the pitch surged into his core. This power... where is it coming from? His body began to glow, faint at first, but rapidly intensifying as he felt ancient techniques flooding into his consciousness. Techniques from realms beyond the stars, knowledge lost to time, all suddenly within his grasp.
"I've... awakened!?" Shinjiro muttered under his breath, feeling the very particles of his existence hum with newfound strength. The bat in his hand transformed into a celestial weapon, an extension of his will.
The First Technique: Galactic Insight
With the energy now pulsing through him, Shinjiro could see everything. The movement of the wind, the heartbeat of the earth beneath his feet, the curvature of space around the ball. He could predict the exact trajectory of pitches—no, not just predict—see them, as if multiple paths of the ball appeared before him in glowing, cosmic lines.
The pitcher threw the pitch, and as it neared, Shinjiro's mind fractured into countless possibilities, each one showing how the ball would move, how it would react to his swing. The sheer pressure of it all would have crushed a normal player, but Shinjiro stood tall. He now possessed the Cosmic Insight, and with it, a technique that would defy even the laws of physics.
The Cosmic Swing
With the ball only inches away, Shinjiro's entire body activated, every muscle moving in perfect harmony. The bat seemed to glow, the energy surging through him now radiating from the tip of the bat like the blade of a celestial sword.
"Celestial Strike!" he shouted, swinging the bat with the force of galaxies colliding.
As soon as the bat connected with the ball, there was no sound—just an intense, blinding light. The ball didn't just soar into the outfield. No. It tore through the sky, transcending Earth's atmosphere. The rest of the players stood frozen, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Beyond Earth: The Celestial Homerun
The ball pierced through the sky, leaving Earth behind as it raced through space, gaining speed and power with each passing second. It zipped past the Moon, barely grazing its surface before heading toward distant planets.
It slammed into a nearby alien planet, shattering its atmosphere. Aliens fled in terror as their cities crumbled under the force of the impact. But the ball didn't stop. No, it continued its cosmic journey, tearing through solar systems, devouring planets, and ravaging galaxies.
A group of advanced alien lifeforms stared in horror as their entire civilization was obliterated in the blink of an eye. "What... what was that?" one alien gasped, watching their world explode into stardust.
----
Back on Earth, the crowd stared up at the sky, jaws dropped. They couldn't see the ball anymore. It was... gone.
"Did... did that ball just... leave the planet?" someone in the crowd stammered, trying to process what had just happened.
A man's eyes were wide, his breath shallow. "This... this isn't possible. No human should be able to hit like that."
On the mound, the catcher's jaw dropped as he stared at the spot where the ball had once been. "He... he hit it out of that far....?" he whispered, gripping his glove tighter. "I didn't think... no, that shouldn't be possible."
"What are we supposed to do against that? He's not just a player anymore. He's..... he's a god."
"This power...." Shinjiro whispered to himself. But at the same time, a small part of him reveled in the sheer magnitude of his swing. He had never felt anything like this before.
As the energy within him began to settle, Shinjiro realized that he wasn't just a baseball player anymore. He had ascended to something far greater.
--
As the crowd tried to comprehend what had just happened, a single alien spaceship appeared in the sky, the survivors of the planet Shinjiro had inadvertently destroyed. The ship hovered above the stadium, its occupants staring down at the player who had become their unwitting destroyer.
"Find that human," the alien commander growled, his many eyes narrowing in fury. "He must be stopped before he destroys more of the universe."
----
Two figures descended through the fabric of space, their figures flickering into existence on Earth's surface. The air around them crackled with ethereal energy as they landed in the heart of a city, their long robes trailing behind them like flowing streams of celestial power.
The older brother stretched lazily, cracking his neck with a smirk as his eyes scanned the unfamiliar world. "Puny mortals," he chuckled. His gaze flickered toward a group of unsuspecting bystanders. "This world may be primitive, but the jade beauties... ah, brother, I'll enjoy them. I'll make my stay... entertaining."
The younger brother sighed deeply, his expression stoic as always. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the energy he had sensed from beyond the stars. "Focus, brother," he said, his voice calm but firm. "That energy we felt, it's powerful... and it's no ordinary force."
The older brother waved a hand dismissively, his eyes gleaming with arrogance. "You worry too much. Just find the source of the energy. I'll enjoy what this realm has to offer in the meantime heheh."