As Linus lay on the floor, his muscles trembling from the intense plank session, he gazed at the system screen hovering above him. He was excited to see the familiar glow of the notification:
[*Daily Mission Complete!*]
He tapped the icon that followed, eager to see his progress.
[Linus Edberg]: Level 2
[Exp]: 55/100
[Physicals]: D
[Pitching]: F-
[Fielding]: F
Batting: F-
[Mentals]: E
[*Attribute Upgrade Available*]
Linus let out a satisfied sigh. His hard work was paying off, and now it was time for a reward. He had already come a long way from his clueless beginnings. Now, he faced a decision, one that would help shape his baseball journey even further.
As he stared at the screen, his mind began to whirl, evaluating the importance of each attribute. The first option was Physicals. He knew it was an appealing choice. After all, being physically stronger would never hurt, and with a better physique, he'd feel more confident in every aspect of the game, whether it was running faster or enduring long practices.
Then there was Pitching, which Linus immediately dismissed. He hadn't pitched yet, and while it was something he wanted to try someday, it wasn't urgent now. "I'll get to it later," he muttered to himself.
Next up was Fielding. He hesitated here. He had been doing well enough during practices, but still, there were moments where he felt like he was falling behind compared to some of the more experienced players. Having a more reliable fielding attribute would certainly help prevent any embarrassing mistakes during games.
He moved on to Batting, and this is where Linus paused the longest. He enjoyed batting the most out of everything he had learned so far. The thrill of hearing the ding of the bat connecting with the ball gave him an unmatched sense of satisfaction. Even though his attributes were low, he knew that getting better at batting would be the most noticeable improvement to his game. A small smile crept onto his face as he recalled how proud he had felt when he hit that awkward ball toward third base in the game in the US.
"But…" Linus mused, "it might not be the smartest choice." He frowned, knowing that batting would naturally improve over time. And besides, it was at its lowest, making him question whether it was wiser to go for an already better attribute to speed up his overall progress.
Then there was Mentals, and Linus couldn't help but think of how important these attributes could be, they could possibly be helpful in his general life outside of baseball and also might be the hardest to improve on his own. But when he was looking at the individual attributes…
[Mentals]: E
- Clutch: E
- Vision: E
- Discipline: F+
He felt that only 'Discipline' would have an effect on his general life. Linus was also not entirely convinced on what it would help him with in baseball compared to the other attributes that would show him clear improvements. So Linus thought that, at least in the beginning of his journey, it would probably be better to wait to upgrade them.
He pondered over what the upgrade should be spent on between Physicals, Fielding, and Batting—until something caught his attention.
[Fielding]: F
- Fielding: F
- Arm strength: E-
- Arm Accuracy: F-
- Reactions: F+
'Wait a second'. Linus blinked, sitting up straighter. Hadn't Fielding been lower before?
He stared at the screen, eyes widening as he remembered. The stat had definitely been 'F-' before, right? But now it was sitting at a plain 'F'.
His mind raced. He hadn't done anything special with his fielding yet—just the one practice with the team. Sure, he had focused on not messing up too badly during the drills, but could that really have made a difference?
"Did I... actually improve?" he muttered to himself.
The answer stared back at him. He had improved, even if he hadn't noticed it. That one practice had been enough to lift his Fielding stat from 'F' to 'F.' A wave of excitement washed over him. If that was all it took to see results this early on, then what could he achieve with real, focused effort?
His confidence surged, but then another thought entered his mind.
"If it's this easy to improve when I'm starting out," Linus reasoned, "then it'll probably get harder once I'm better." He had always felt that it was easier to see improvement when you were bad at something—there was just so much room to grow.
But once you got good, the progress slowed down, and every bit of improvement became more challenging. He had experienced that in other areas before, like school sports, where getting the basics down came quickly, but reaching higher levels of mastery took more and more effort.
His eyes drifted to Agility. It was already sitting at 'B-', a stat far above the others. Linus had always been naturally quick on his feet. Improving that further could give him an edge, maybe even make him one of the fastest players on the team.
But his heart wasn't fully in it.
Linus sighed, looking back at Batting. He knew upgrading his Agility was the more logical choice, but every part of him still craved that rush—the satisfaction of connecting with the ball, sending it flying across the field. It wasn't the smartest decision, but something in him leaned toward Batting, knowing that even a small upgrade could make the game more fun.
He shrugged, accepting his own irrationality with a grin. "I can always level up again," he rationalized. "I'll have more chances."
[Batting]: F-
- Contact: F-
- Power: F-
- Bunt: F-
His hand hovered over Contact. More Power would feel amazing, but what use was strength if he couldn't hit the ball in the first place? And that clean ding—that satisfying sound that rang through him when he made contact—that's what he wanted to experience more of.
With a quick press, he selected Contact, the screen flickering as the upgrade took effect.
[Batting]: F-
- Contact: F
- Power: F-
- Bunt: F-
Linus smiled, feeling a rush of excitement. The next time he stepped up to bat, it was going to be different. The numbers were starting to shift, and so was he. Slowly but surely, he was becoming a better player, and with each small step, his love for the game deepened.
"Next time" he thought, clenching his fists.