Chapter 38. The Great Comeback
[Sub Mission: Stop the Daejeon Hawks from reaching 10 wins!]
Description: At this rate, the Daejeon Hawks will become the first team in the league to reach 10 wins. Their chances of winning the championship will rise even further, won’t they? Stop the Daejeon Hawks from getting their 10th win!
Reward: Title [Spoiler Squad] / Failure means death!
There were no detailed explanations about the reward.
But they were telling me to lead a team that was already losing 4–0 in the top of the first inning to victory...
It made my competitive spirit flare up.
No.
Since I would literally die if we lost, rather than competitive spirit, it was probably desperation.
Days like this would keep coming in the future.
This was only the first crisis.
Fortunately, Norman calmly retired the remaining batters.
The score stayed 4–0.
When his expression remained gloomy, his teammates came over and patted him on the shoulder.
Norman kept looking directly at me.
Why?
I got the answer soon enough.
He came over, sat down beside me, and fiddled with his glove.
“How should I approach the game from here?”
Even when our fourth and fifth starters completely ruined games, I usually didn’t say much.
I just kept repeating one thing.
Throw the ball into the strike zone first.
But Norman was different.
Right now, he needed something that would steady his mind.
“They figured out that your defense is weak and attacked that.”
“Really? No wonder they kept bunting. Damn it. When did they even analyze something like that...?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“What?”
“They can bunt all day if they want, but hitters three through seven are too slow to rely on it. Challenge them directly.”
“Okay.”
Norman looked at me with shining eyes.
“Right now, you’re thinking too much about defending against bunts, and your form keeps breaking whenever you pitch. Fix that first.”
“Got it. I’ll pay more attention to that.”
“And don’t let it get to you mentally. We’ll get those runs back soon.”
We were already down by four runs in the first inning.
Still, I believed we could catch up.
Martinez was the kind of pitcher whose mentality wasn’t particularly stable in other ways.
In my previous life, Martinez had been released before the All-Star break.
And right on cue, Daejeon Hawks starting pitcher Martinez took the mound.
—155 km/h.
As expected, his first pitch was a fastball.
Martinez had survived through the overwhelming power generated by his right-handed overhand delivery.
Kwon Geonwoo, batting leadoff, sighed after seeing the strength of the pitch.
Then, on the second pitch, Kwon Geonwoo suddenly dropped a surprise bunt.
“That’s right.”
Even in my eyes, that was the textbook approach right now.
He had quickly realized that, with his current ability, trying to square up Martinez’s pitches normally would be difficult.
The bunt rolled toward the third baseman.
The third baseman rushed forward and tried to throw to first.
But before he could finish the play—
“Safe!”
The umpire’s call rang out.
Kwon Geonwoo had already reached first with a headfirst slide.
“Nice one, Kwon Geonwoo!”
The players on our bench shouted loudly.
“Let’s gooo! Nice!”
Kwon Geonwoo even flashed a V-sign toward the bench while making a huge fuss.
Martinez watched every bit of it with a deep frown.
“That’s not good...”
The Daejeon Hawks dugout had also noticed the unpleasant aura coming from Martinez on the mound.
If he got like that...
“Hit by pitch!”
Sure enough.
He threw a fastball straight into the shoulder of the number-two hitter, Yoon Jaejun.
The important part was that Yoon Jaejun didn’t try to dodge it.
“That crazy bastard!”
Curses and angry shouts erupted from our players.
Martinez didn’t even apologize.
Just as everyone looked ready to charge out of the dugout, Yoon Jaejun raised a hand and stopped them.
“He’s saying he’s fine...”
Holding his aching shoulder, Yoon Jaejun walked to first base.
No outs.
Runners on first and second.
Anyone could tell it had been intentional.
Martinez hadn’t changed at all.
Those kinds of crazy actions always came from his personality.
“I’ll get on base somehow so you can hit a game-tying home run.”
The number-three hitter, Go Gyeongtae, leaned toward me in the on-deck circle and whispered before heading to the plate.
His face was full of tension.
Tap.
But despite looking nervous, Go Gyeongtae caught them completely off guard.
“Ha! He’s bunting again here?”
“Man, that guy really is crazy. If you watch Gyeongtae closely, he’s got some serious guts.”
“If it were me, I’d be thinking about swinging there. I wouldn’t even consider bunting...”
It was similar to the tactic they had just used against Norman.
Martinez’s face twisted horribly.
After all, who would expect the heart of the lineup to bunt for a hit with runners already on first and second and nobody out?
Especially in the bottom of the first.
It seemed Manager Rodriguez’s decision to change the batting order had worked to some extent.
Bases loaded.
No outs.
I was batting cleanup.
I have to hit it.
I took a long breath and stepped into the batter’s box.
My batting average was .400.
Thirteen hits in thirty-two at-bats.
Of course, there were a few hitters whose bats were even hotter than mine right now.
Still, I had also been playing pretty well lately.
The sound in my heart started speeding up.
As the game went on, that sound would only grow louder and louder, putting more pressure on me.
But I loved that sound.
I would die in the ninth inning if we lost.
And if I simply proved my ability, I could change that fate.
What an entertaining destiny.
—159 km/h.
“Ball!”
He put too much power into the fastball and practically buried it in the dirt.
It was almost a wild pitch, but the catcher managed to block it and prevented a run from scoring.
Martinez was extremely wary of me.
Even so, it looked like he intended to challenge me head-on.
He really was an entertaining guy.
I already knew the trajectory of his pitches.
After seeing just one pitch, I felt like I could naturally read what pattern he would use next.
The next one would probably be a slider breaking outside.
He would use it to get a strike.
—137 km/h.
A fairly fast, high-velocity slider came in, looking as though it would break away outside.
CRAAAAACK!
A loud sound exploded from my bat.
At the same time—
