Sakota, the Spiders bullpen coach, observes that Bonda regularly retires hitters who have lower salary than he has and players who make more than 100 million yen but gives up hits up to batters with salary in the range between those amounts. Sakota wonders what will happen when Bonda pitches against a player with exactly the same salary. Bonda's friend and team-mate Shibuya Akira, who makes twice what Bonda makes in a year, is frustrated because all his starts this season have resulted in a loss.