The Countdown on the Bench

Lin remembered. Three years earlier, the closer had struck him out on three straight pitches in rookie ball. Lin had watched the video two hundred times afterward and found a tell: before a slider, the pitcher's ring finger made a shallow ridge against the outside of his glove. “I remember.” “Then don't look at the scoreboard. Watch the ball.” Zhou tapped his shoulder. At the instant of contact, the world went silent. Zhou's red pain became a thread of molten iron. New words appeared before Lin. 【Tradable state detected.】 【Trades remaining this game: 1.】 【Initiate equivalent exchange?】 Lin froze. Behind Zhou's pain, another line appeared: 【Probability of permanent damage if pitching continues: 72%.】