CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: THE HEISEI MONSTER

The moment the baseball was struck by Lin Guanglai, Koshien Stadium suddenly fell into a brief silence—whether it was the players on the field, the spectators in the stands, or the media in the press area, everyone’s gaze was captivated by the small baseball flying through the air, and no other thing was noticed within their vision.

In the commentators’ box, Tanaka Shuji was overcome with excitement and began to comment passionately:

"Hit it!!!"

"The ball is flying towards Right Field!!!"

"The ball is flying fast and far! The Right Field player from Kantou Number One is retreating rapidly to defend!"

"Will it fly out of the park!!!"

Infield, Fukasawa Kouta and Matsui Katsushi, who saw the baseball fly out, both left their bases and similarly turned their heads to watch the descending baseball—if the ball lands, they can advance; but if it’s caught by Kantou Number One, they’d have to return to their original bases and plan again.

The baseball was descending rapidly, and from the perspective of the fielders, its landing area seemed ambiguous, almost straddling the boundary between in and out of the park—this made the Right Fielder Shibazawa Aimi from Kantou Number One very troubled.

"Thud!"

The descending baseball ultimately didn’t fly out of the park, but hit the boundary wall of the field, bouncing back into the field after the impact.

"Ah——!!!" This was the sound of disappointment from the commentators and spectators, for if the descent angle was just a bit higher, the ball would fly out of the park, clearing the bases;

"Oh——!!!" But then they cheered again: after hitting the wall, the baseball didn’t stop at its collision point, but bounced back into the field, rolling all the way to the central and right field’s unmanned area.

This unexpected incident completely broke through the Right Field defense of Kantou Number One—Shibazawa Aimi was still in the deep Right Field unable to return, and the nearest central fielder was still some distance away from the baseball.

This was the perfect scoring opportunity for Waseda Jitsugyo!!!

From the moment it was confirmed that the baseball landed, all the base runners from the Infield started—they used all their strength to dash towards the home plate.

Fukasawa Kouta on second base was running, taking a huge stride past the third base, returning to home plate first; Matsui Katsushi on first base was also running, and after reaching third base, he didn’t stop and followed his teammate closely, becoming the second to return to home plate.

Koshien Stadium erupted again, the sudden change of events made everyone’s emotions extremely feverish.

"Fukasawa on second base returned to home plate!!!"

"Matsui on first base returned to home plate!!!"

"5:6!!! Waseda Jitsugyo is just 1 point behind!!! And there’s still no outs for them!!!"

"Next up... no—wait!!!"

Just as Tanaka Shuji thought that Waseda Jitsugyo’s offensive wave had ended and was ready to summarize, he suddenly noticed that Lin Guanglai was still running on the field.

"Pass the ball back quickly!!!!!!" Seeing their advantage reduced to just one point, Honma Ryosuke, who was already standing before the home plate, shouted loudly to his teammates in the outfield.

Under the gaze of nearly 50,000 spectators, Lin Guanglai continued to stride forward—his tall stature and long legs showed their advantage at this moment, as he dashed past the third base, heading directly towards the scoring area at home plate.

"Lin Guanglai! Lin Guanglai hasn’t stopped his steps! He’s still sprinting towards home plate! He wants to equalize in one go!"

"Fast! So fast! Incredibly fast!"

Tanaka Shuji, who was responsible for commentating the game, could no longer organize his language and could only use the simplest adjectives, expressing his feelings through his shouting.

"Faster, even faster—" Besides running, Lin Guanglai’s mind contained no other thoughts.

In Honma Ryosuke’s eyes, Lin Guanglai rushing towards him was like a fully loaded humanoid truck, with every step he took churned up the Infield’s flying dirt.

Just as Lin Guanglai was about to reach home plate, the second baseman Yamashita Yuuki from Kantou Number One received the baseball returned by a teammate from the outfield—without any adjustment, he directly threw the ball towards Honma Ryosuke, who had been waiting at home plate.

The spectators in the stands were all standing up, jumping and shouting, shaking the entire stadium for a moment.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!"

When Lin Guanglai was only one step away from home plate, he simply stopped running and lowered his body’s center, then dove forwards towards the home plate.

At the same time, Honma Ryosuke, who had received the pass from his teammate, also put his left hand on Lin Guanglai’s body—if he can tag him before Lin Guanglai touches the home plate, Kantou Number One will still be in the lead!

In an instant, dust filled the air—all eyes, whether from Waseda Jitsugyo or Kantou Number One, players or spectators, gathered on the Chief Umpire behind home plate: his decision might greatly influence the course of this game.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of spectators present and in front of their TVs, the Chief Umpire kept his palms down, fingers together, and slowly raised both hands in parallel.

"Safe on base!"

A ruling, two scenes—Kantou Number One’s players displayed despair, some even fell directly to the ground; as for Waseda Jitsugyo’s side, they were overwhelmed with joy, rushing up to encircle Lin Guanglai, embracing their teammate tightly.

When the celebrating crowd dispersed, Lin Guanglai’s figure was once again revealed to the public—his all-out sprint left him unable to catch his breath, panting heavily; the sweat on his forehead fell like a heavy rain.

But the physical exhaustion couldn’t hide the youthful excitement in his heart at this moment; he knelt on the ground, his handsome face showing a smile that could captivate countless girls, then raised his fists and cheered loudly:

"Ah——————!!!"

The supporters in the Alps Stand seemed to be singing in harmony with him, also cheering the same way; waves of people, music rising, and for a moment, the Waseda Jitsugyo stand became a sea of joy.

Dozens of reporters present simultaneously pressed their shutters, vowing to permanently capture and preserve this scene.

"Waseda Industries! Lin Guanglai!"

"3-run inside-the-park home run!!!"

"3rd total appearance in the tournament!!!"

"The ninth-inning miracle!!!"

"They’ve tied the score!!!"

Such developments in the ninth inning even left the veteran baseball commentator Tanaka Shuji from Gengyun High School somewhat out of sorts, besides shouting loudly, he didn’t know what else to say at this moment.

First-year student Lin Guanglai brought surprises in this Koshien, not only to him, the media, and the spectators but to the entire high school baseball community—this first-year seemed born to completely overthrow common sense.

For a talent of this level, Tanaka Shuji could only describe him with one word:

"Monster, an absolute Heisei monster."

After calming down, Tanaka Shuji refocused on the match:

"Sure enough, even though Mr. Lin hit a fantastic inside-the-park home run, it merely helped Waseda Jitsugyo tie the score—as for how this inning scores, Kantou Number One still holds initiative: they still have the opportunity to turn the tables on their opponents."

Within Waseda Jitsugyo’s player area, watching their excited seniors, Lin Guanglai echoed the same sentiment:

"Next, I’ll leave it to the seniors!"