Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 570 - 135: Celestial God, Buddha, and Lin Guanglai

When Lin Guanglai, in front of more than 40,000 SoftBank fans and tens of millions of television viewers, hit what could be said to be the most important home run of his life so far, time inside the Yahoo Dome seemed to come to a complete standstill.

The middle-aged man sitting in the stands behind home plate was almost the first to realize the incredibility of this ball. The bright yellow towel in his hand had just been waved over his head, his eyes widened like copper bells, and his mouth formed a perfect "O" shape, as if the muscles of his whole body were about to burst apart in the next second.

Not far from him, a young female fan wearing a Lin Guanglai number 21 jersey had already been infected by the intense atmosphere in the stadium. As the baseball soared to the dome, she seemingly realized something, and tightly covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes turned red, and tears were swaying at the corners of her eyes, filled with disbelief, relief, and an overwhelming surge of emotion.

In the central stands, a group of students who had come together to watch the game suddenly bounced up from their seats, their bodies suspended in mid-air, arms outstretched, with expressions on their faces contorted by the extreme emotional rollercoaster they had just experienced.

Turning to the outfield stands, an elderly man with white hair wearing a Daiei Hawks cap, unlike the young people around him who jumped up excitedly without screaming, just sat in his place staring blankly at the field. One hand tightly grasped the clothes over his chest, while the other firmly clutched the railing in front of him, with somewhat cloudy eyes revealing a hint of clarity.

As for that small section of the stand designated for the visiting team's fans, the Hanshin Tigers fans dressed in the iconic striped jerseys and painted faces had hit rock bottom:

Some held their heads in their hands, slumping back into their seats, burying their faces deep into their knees, unwilling to confront reality; others stood there in a daze, expressionless, gazing hollowly at their home's players in the center of the field, as if their souls had been completely stripped away; some tightly clenched their support towels, their knuckles whitening from the force, faces etched with anguished expressions.

And at the moment the pause button was released, all the anticipation, pressure, enthusiasm, and passion built up over today's entire game, the entire Japan Series, and even the entire 2014 season, burst into a sonic boom inside the Yahoo Dome! The roar erupted on all sides of the stands and spread like an earthquake or tsunami, from the center of the Yahoo Dome across the entire Fukuoka, across Kyushu.

In the Fukuoka City, a family old and young sitting around the TV held their breath simultaneously at the moment Lin Guanglai swung the bat; and as the baseball flew out of the park, the outcome dust settled, they simultaneously erupted into deafening cheers. Children rolled excitedly back and forth on the tatami mats; elders enthusiastically slapped their thighs, with everyone tightly embracing in celebration.

In northern Kyushu, at an izakaya where people previously sat watching the television intently, they collectively jumped up from their seats the moment the ball flew out, with shouts of "Yassa—!!", the banging of tables, and the clinking of glasses echoing throughout. The red-faced owner excitedly waved his hand, "This round is on me!", and his words induced an even greater uproar.

On a seaside town in Miyazaki Prefecture, at the fishermen's association base, fishermen who should have been discussing the matters relating to going out to sea the next day were all crowding in front of the small TV, just so they could be closer to the screen; when the baseball flew out, they erupted with rough cheers in front of the TV, appearing as overjoyed as if they had personally caught the biggest fish of the season.

In a student apartment in Kumamoto City, several foreign student tenants danced in the cramped room, with somewhat uncoordinated moves. Nonetheless, their excitement was evident as they sang and danced, all shouting Lin Guanglai's name, not caring even if they flipped over the table.

In the onsen inn in Kagoshima, in the public TV area of the lobby, tourists from across the nation and even the world were all awed by the grand slam. Aside from the Tiger fans, who visibly supported Hanshin and were crestfallen, almost everyone else couldn't help but join in the applause and cheering with the ecstatic SoftBank fans around them.

The entire Kyushu was united by this home run, with every corner vibrating, every street cheering: the phone lines busily engaged, social media abuzz with terms like "grand slam" and "SoftBank Japan's Number One" quickly trending.

Meanwhile, the Osaka Metropolitan Area adjacent to Kyushu was swiftly engulfed in an almost suffocating low-pressure atmosphere. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

In Dotonbori, where usually brilliance lights and boisterous crowds gathered under Glico's advertisement board, the Hanshin fans gathered this moment were silent: for those wearing stripes here, the beer in their hands had long lost its flavor.

Veteran fans gathered in a nearby Koshien pub placed their cups and chopsticks heavily on the tables before them, devoid of appetite to pick up and taste the feast laid out.