Proctor strolled with me from the fire pit in the central part of the village, and we moved down the repaired road southward. We didn’t have any specific destination in mind, more just taking a brain break after our impromptu hiring fair.

Walking between rows of huts under repair, the smell of wood smoke filled my nostrils. Mixed with the crispness of the cold breeze, and that undefinable scent of winter, it was hard to conceptualize the idea of putting a baseball team together when instead I felt like I should be sipping cocoa near a skating rink. No, we didn’t have snow in Moonlight, but it was definitely chilly enough.

Barkley, and his bodyguard caught up to us as we ambled the mud road.

“Greetings,” he said. “Happy to have run into you.”

I had little doubt this wasn’t an inadvertent meet up.

“Likewise,” I said. May as well be polite, even though I wasn’t keen on the guy.

“Have you given thought as to my sponsorship?” Barkley said. Then I noticed he was reaching into one of his horse’s saddle bags.

“Well, I-”

He interrupted. “I’m willing to commit twenty currency per week to the team,” Barkley said. “And, here-”

He handed me a rolled up parchment. I unfurled the crinkly paper, and observed a capital letter ‘B’ inked in calligraphy.

“It’s… nice,” I said.

“‘Tis my moniker,” Barkley said. “A symbol representing my mercantile endeavors.”

“Right,” I said. I handed the scroll back to Barkley, but he held his hands up.

“Please, you keep it,” he said. “I seek its stitching onto your uniforms. I understand you’ve made decisions regarding your team’s clothing, yes?”

Interesting.

“Yes,” I said. “You’ve heard right. So, for twenty gold per week, you’d like this symbol sewn onto the uniform?”

“If you would be so gracious,” Barkley said. “Nothing garish. A small symbol, perhaps on the shoulder.”

Normally, my natural instinct would be to reject the idea outright because I’d want total control over the look of the team uniform, but what Barkley was proposing, considering how much gold he’d be contributing? It wasn’t horrible.

“You’d be alright with your symbol appearing dark in color?” I said. “Say, midnight blue?”

He smiled, and bowed his head. “It would be my honor,” Barkley said.

I held the scroll up in front of me. “In that case, I’ll get this to Mora right away,” I said. “She can add this our uniforms. I think it’ll look smart.”

“I agree.”

Barkley rode away with his man, pleased. I thought it was a good deal too.

“Perhaps you have a future as a business owner after all,” Proctor said. “That negotiation went smoothly.”

“Maybe,” I said, with a grin. “I’m still not sure how to feel about the guy.”

“Understandable.”

[HALT!]

My eyes nearly fell out of my head.

The System decided to burst onto the scene, as it often did. The text filled my vision, and I’d become accustomed to reading it aloud as a habit, for Proctor’s sake.

My initial thought was the System didn’t want any kind of sponsorship deals for the team involving the locals of this world. Wrong.

[Be advised:

Effective immediately, YOU will be a player for your baseball franchise.]

Uh… what?

[YOU will play a position on your team. YOU will be a regular ‘everyday’ player. YOU will not be a reserve player. It is at your discretion which position you will play, but YOU WILL PLAY.]

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Oh my,” Proctor said. The master of understatement.

“How can I be a player?” I shouted. The tone of my voice caused some villagers to turn their heads in our direction. “I have the entire franchise to run?”

“Hmm, yes,” Proctor said. “An unfortunate development. The only thing I can think is it highlights the importance of delegating. You have me, for instance. I will have to take on an increased role in overseeing various aspects.”

“So annoying,” I said. “There’s no way around this, either, is there?”

Proctor shook his head. “It is the System we’re talking about here,” he said.

[NOTICE!

You will announce to the System, this instance, the name of five more roster players. You will do this now.

You have less than: 60 seconds. Failure will result in penalty.

NOTE: Giants are exempt from play. Maximum height for players = 7 feet]

What? Wait!

Proctor didn’t say anything, and stared at me with mouth agape. He’d been caught as off guard as me.

A minute? I have a minute to give them five names? I didn’t even have time to go back, see if I could access my text archives, and see the scouting ratings for various villagers I’d met up to that point. What do you do?

The countdown timer at the corner of my vision blinked incessantly. Thirty seconds.

“Well, uh, um…” I stammered. I was panicking. Five names!

“Proctor,” I announced.

Proctor immediately reacted. “No!” He shouted. Unusual for him, but I understood.

“Uh, Dillard?” I said. “Gak. Oh, what’s his name? Torag? Denton.”

The blinking timer stopped with fewer than ten seconds remaining.

[ACCEPTED]

Proctor and I stared at one another with wild eyes. We were both standing in the middle of the muddy road on the south end of Moonlight, but I doubt either one of us could feel our feet.

“I’m not a baseball player,” Proctor said.

“And I am?”

“No,” Proctor said. “This is…”

“Don’t say ‘unfortunate’,” I said. “This is a freaking disaster waiting to happen.”

“I’m afraid its already happened.”

“Is the System purposely trying to sabotage us?” I said.

“I doubt it.”

“Well, all evidence to the contrary,” I said. “I can’t play baseball to save my life. Neither can you. Dillard? What was I thinking?”

“You were rushed,” Proctor said. “You said the first names that came to mind. Cannot blame you for that.”

“I’d rather have Trevor play,” I said.

“Too large, obviously,” Proctor said.

“Gak? That arrogant guy, Torag?” I said. “I don’t know. I don’t know how this is going to work. We don’t even know if they’ll agree to play.”

“It doesn’t sound as though they’ll have much choice,” Proctor said. “The System gets what the System wants.”

“This sucks.”

“Indeed.”

[ATTENTION!]

“Oh, here we go again,” I said.

[The April tournament will be here soon. You must put your team through spring training sessions in order to be prepared.

Prior to the tournament, you must finalize your team’s 26-man roster.

The 26-man roster will consist of 13 pitchers (5 starting pitchers, 8 relief pitchers), and 13 position players (2 catchers, 6 infielders, 5 outfielders).

You will derive this roster from a larger 40-man roster which you will determine based upon your assessments of players’ spring training performances.

Your 40-man roster, as with your 26-man active roster will be completely your choice, your decision. But, you must have a finalized roster of 26 players (13 pitchers, 13 position players) before your first tournament game.

For your spring training sessions, you must invite 60 players to attend, from which you will name your 40-man roster. i.e. You will cut 20 players of your choosing based upon your performance assessments of those players.

A minimum of half of your 60 invitees must be pitchers. The remaining can be any position you choose.

Your finalized 40-man roster must consist of 20 pitchers (the ratio of starting pitchers to relief pitchers from this number is your choice), and 20 position players (the numbers of players per position are your choice).

Your finalized 26-man roster at the conclusion of spring training must follow the guidelines given above.

You have already named six players. Do you wish to perform an ability wipe for these players, and build them from the ground up effective immediately? You have five seconds to answer.]

Whoa! Wait!

“Uh… yes?” I said.

[NOTE:

You have chosen ‘Yes’. Players scouting attributes RESET.]

“What did I just do?”

“We were starting at ground zero anyway,” Proctor said. “We’re going to need to train to build up our skills. This isn’t news.”

“But, five seconds though? To make a crucial decision like that?” I said. “It’s like the System is trying to make things more difficult.”

“This surprises you?”

“Maybe resetting wasn’t a great idea. I don’t know. I panicked. Maybe it’s for the best? I feel like I had better potential than zero though,” I said. “Did I just make a huge mistake? Proctor, what is this going to look like? What about that Torag guy? His scouting numbers were better than others we’d seen. So, what? Now he’s back at zero with us?”

“Apparently.”

[NOTE:

Your attributes will improve as you train, practice, effectively rest, and feed nutritiously.]

“Ha. It’s almost as if the System is reading my mind,” I said, sarcastically.

“Imagine that,” Proctor said.

[As you build attributes, as you complete performance benchmarks, you will earn gold.]

“How is this going to work?” I said, and I was aiming the question at Proctor, not the System. “We haven’t even given our friends the bad news.”

“That might be our next priority,” Proctor said. “I don’t know how these conversations will go.”

“Great,” I said. “Well, if you’re worried, I suppose I should be catatonic.”