On the next day’s match, Lin Guanglai didn’t play; he watched the entire game from the bench—Japan’s team abandoned the small-ball tactics that helped them win yesterday and instead faced off directly with Team USA’s pitcher.
The disparity in physical talent was indeed a factor, which decided the outcome of the game—United States City Youth Academy Team defeated Japan High School Team 2-1, successfully pulling one back; both teams would break for a day and hold the final match of the Japan-USA Friendship Exchange Games the day after.
Though they lost, the Japanese players weren’t too disappointed. Instead, they cheerfully gathered with the American players to talk about baseball—the two days of interaction had forged a deep friendship between the players from Japan and the United States.
"Kelly, your pitching is incredibly impressive; batters find it difficult to hit." Walking alongside Lin Guanglai and Kelly, Yamada Tetsuro used his Japanese-accented English and accompanying gestures, giving a thumbs-up to Kelly beside him: "Kelly, you are a genius pitcher."
In today’s game, Kelly, who started the previous day, served as the closing pitcher to seal the win for his team: in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a runner on third, Kelly won his head-to-head duel with Yamada Tetsuro using three straight pitches—his performance left Yamada both frustrated and deeply impressed.
Upon hearing praise from his international friend, Kelly first expressed gratitude, but then he shook his head:
"Yamada, I don’t deserve the label of genius, you’re flattering me."
"On this land of the United States, there’s never a shortage of baseball geniuses."
After saying this, seeing the confused Asian faces around him, Kelly smiled, then shared a story with Lin Guanglai and Yamada Tetsuro:
"My hometown is in Nevada, and this is a story from when I just started high school—back then I had just joined the school team and was appointed by the coach as the team’s number three pitcher."
"You know how it is—you Japanese call it ’Chuunibyou’—at that time I also thought I was a genius, thinking that if I kept working hard, maybe I wouldn’t even need to go to college and could be directly scouted by Major League teams."
"Until that day, the coach took us to Sunrise Manor in Las Vegas, where we played a friendly against Las Vegas High School, and I was entrusted with the role of starting pitcher for that game."
Kelly squinted his eyes as if recalling something he didn’t want to face:
"Also on that day, I remember it particularly well; my initial state wasn’t good, two walks and a hit, the bases quickly became loaded."
"Then, that sophomore catcher from Las Vegas High School came on—this guy stood about six foot two (around 191 cm), very strong, and looked particularly arrogant."
"And then he came up and smashed a grand slam off me—our team ended up losing by more than ten points in that game, and that catcher alone had at least 6 to 7 RBIs."
"Later I found out that he was the real genius—from the start of his freshman year, many scouts from Major League teams would write reports on him at the sidelines during every official game, and several media outlets dedicated news sections just for him."
At this point, Kelly smiled self-deprecatingly: "Do you know what nickname the media gave that guy?"
"’Baseball’s LeBron James,’ the chosen one!"
With the story told up to this point, Kelly didn’t continue—but Lin Guanglai and Yamada Tetsuro were evidently interested in the subsequent developments, so they hastily inquired:
"And then? What happened to that catcher afterward?"
Seeing them so eager, Kelly shrugged and leisurely replied:
"After the sophomore year ended, this guy found high school games uninteresting, so he simply took academic tests early and went to play in college leagues."
"Whilst other players were still in their junior year, that person was already competing in college games against players typically four or five years older—and he succeeded again."
"Guess what? Before turning 18, he directly won the College League Most Valuable Player and the Golden Spikes Award—the latter being the highest honor in amateur baseball in the United States."
"Earlier this year, he went directly to the Major League draft and was naturally selected by the Washington Nationals with the number one pick."
At this point, Kelly somewhat helplessly spread his hands, saying: "So, Yamada, don’t call me a genius—in front of a true genius, I’m nothing."
After hearing the story, Yamada Tetsuro was deeply shocked—even with the most expansive imagination, he couldn’t conceive such a level of genius; at this moment, his only thought was, "Even in a comic, such a character would be criticized by viewers as unrealistic, right?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI[F]ire.net
Meanwhile, Lin Guanglai felt somewhat eager—just thinking about a talented player like this, who was around his age, on the other side of the ocean ignited a flame within his heart;
Lin Guanglai was not intimidated, because he always believed he was a genius too—a battle of geniuses can only be truly understood when they face off.
"Indeed, to compete against players of this level, coming to the United States seems necessary?" Lin Guanglai thought.
As the coach announced the end of the training session, Kelly waved at Lin Guanglai and Yamada Tetsuro and then ran toward his team.
Before leaving, he turned around and looked at Lin Guanglai with a complex gaze: "Lin, I heard you’re a pitcher too. Trust me, you definitely wouldn’t want to face that guy—as an opponent standing in the batter’s box, every minute is torment for a pitcher."
"Oh, by the way, remember that person’s name; maybe one day you’ll meet him on the international stage."
"That guy’s name is—"
"Bryce Harper."
Kelly left, but the story he told was like a deepwater bomb thrown towards the Japan High School Team.
Back at the hotel, amid the team’s gathering, Yamada Tetsuro vividly retold the story, causing a wave of astonishment among everyone.
Sure enough, there’s always someone stronger, and there’s always something beyond—everyone present was a top player in the same age group within Japan, excelling in pitching and hitting; yet it was today they learned that there was such a rare genius in this baseball nation across the ocean.
While others fervently debated Harper, Lin Guanglai’s thoughts had long drifted toward the match the day after—"Let’s use the match the day after tomorrow to test my own strength."