Chapter 47, I Wasn’t Afraid
The method for handling Kim Byeong-hee was simple.
Work him like crazy.
“Run thirty kilometers on the treadmill.”
“Yessir.”
Kim Byeong-hee ran without a single complaint.
“From now on, except for the day before your start and the day of your start, you’ll always run like this. Fixing your lower-body balance and building stamina through cardio are the most important things.”
Velocity and control came afterward.
After giving Kim Byeong-hee his instructions, I went outside.
It was my first day off in a while.
My injury risk refused to drop below double digits, so I had personally asked the manager to leave me out because of a mild sprain.
Manager Rodriguez readily agreed.
I had never been aiming to play every single game anyway.
If anything, I was even more careful to avoid overworking myself.
“I wonder if we can win today.”
Kim Hak-seong, who had recently been called up from the minors, sighed when he saw I was missing from the lineup.
My temporary role as captain ended there.
It had been annoying from the beginning.
The job mostly involved listening to players complain and passing their concerns to the manager.
After giving Kim Byeong-hee his training program, I ran Choi Seong School together with Yoon Jae-jun.
The league leader in home runs.
If I did not exist, Yoon Jae-jun would probably have been praised as the greatest rookie of all time.
Instead, he had somehow become more like my assistant.
He even went around spreading the so-called Choi Seong Effect Theory...
There was nothing I could do about it.
[Kim Byeong-hee, the Next Student of Choi Seong School?]
[Kim Byeong-hee Begins Complete Body Transformation in Busan]
[Why Was Kim Byeong-hee Chosen by Choi Seong?]
[Manager Rodriguez, “If Kim Byeong-hee Changes, He’ll Be Our Permanent Fifth Starter”]
[Average Velocity 140 km/h, Can Choi Seong Change Him?]
[Choi Seong’s Miracle Is Everywhere Now]
All kinds of articles were being uploaded.
I sighed while reading them.
The school named after me was nothing more than a way to motivate the players.
Yet both the players and the media were treating it like something huge.
I was simply playing my own baseball.
Everyone improved because they believed I was teaching them, almost like a placebo effect.
We had professional coaches.
Why did everyone keep looking for me instead?
“Finished running?”
About ninety minutes had passed.
Kim Byeong-hee walked in drenched in sweat.
“Yessir!”
He looked like a soldier standing at attention.
He had served active duty, right?
In any case, Sangmu had never selected him.
After watching his pitching motion several times, there was one thing I noticed.
“Senior, you’re too ordinary. We need to make you better.”
He was a sidearm pitcher with a decent fastball and a slow curve.
A classic two-pitch pitcher.
His ability fell a little short compared to his passion.
“What should I do?”
“Your velocity is fine, so how about changing the grip on your four-seam fastball?”
I calmly began teaching him.
The first issue was the grip.
When we measured his RPM, his spin rate was not particularly high.
I carefully showed him the grip I used whenever I threw.
“Throw it like this.”
“Like this, sir?”
When I made him pitch afterward, he had absolutely no control.
The ball missed the strike zone by a huge distance.
Kim Byeong-hee awkwardly scratched his head.
“It’ll be difficult because it’s your first time. For now, let’s just get used to the grip.”
Game 7 was against the Incheon Dolphins.
The Incheon Dolphins were not in a good situation either.
They were currently on a losing streak.
After being purchased by a powerful conglomerate, they had briefly won a championship several years earlier and created a golden period in the late 2000s.
But strangely, almost no good news had followed since then.
Other players took the field instead of me today.
Starting Lineup
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Starting Pitcher: Wright
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1st Batter: Kwon Geon-woo, Center Fielder
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2nd Batter: Kim Hak-seong, Designated Hitter
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3rd Batter: Daniel Sanchez, Third Baseman
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4th Batter: Yoon Jae-jun, Catcher
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5th Batter: Yugam, Right Fielder
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6th Batter: Gu Ji-won, First Baseman
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7th Batter: Kwon Seon-ho, Shortstop
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8th Batter: Park Hyeong-hwan, Left Fielder
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9th Batter: Go Gyeong-tae, Second Baseman
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Kim Hak-seong smiled and tapped my shoulder.
“Looks like even the almighty Choi Seong doesn’t have an indestructible body.”
“Haha, wouldn’t that make me way too perfect?”
We laughed while talking.
Manager Rodriguez gave me one request.
“Can you take one at-bat during the game?”
He was asking me to pinch-hit.
I nodded.
I did not know about several plate appearances, but one should be fine.
My injury risk rose in proportion to the number of times I stepped to the plate.
It worked the same way as throwing too many pitches.
Choi Seong
Pitcher Status, Super Rookie +10%
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Stamina: 116/200
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Fastball: 88+9/100
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Slider: 59+6/100
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Circle Changeup: 34+3/100
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Power Curve: 24+2/100
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Curve: 12+1/100
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Screwball: 3/100, Championship Mercenary
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Injury Risk: 44.7%, injury risk increases when more slots are added
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Batter Status
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Power: 76+8/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Contact: 66+7/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Speed: 34+3/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Injury Risk: 10.0%, injury risk rises with increased pitching and plate appearances
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Potential, activates when conditions are met
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Indomitable Will: Choi Seong from his previous life created miracles in any situation. Emotional disturbance decreases.
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Sweet Revenge: Activates when hit by a pitch or intentionally walked during a game. It also activates when Choi Seong experiences strong emotional disturbance. All stats temporarily increase by 20%.
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Championship Mercenary: Activates when the team finished near the bottom of the standings during the previous season. One chosen breaking ball may be used during the season without increasing injury risk. Selected pitch: Screwball.
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Super Rookie: All stats increase by 10% during the first professional season. Additional stats are awarded and the potential evolves if he wins awards such as MVP or Rookie of the Year.
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Spoiler Squad: When facing a higher-ranked team or a team on a winning streak, all pitching and batting stats increase by 1.
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One Who Leads to Glory: All stats increase by 1.
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Record Breaker: Whenever a new personal record is set, all stats increase by 10% in the next game.
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For the first time in a while, I sat in the dugout and watched the game.
The game was being held at Incheon Dowon Stadium.
“Strikeout!”
The Incheon Dolphins were currently eighth.
Wright shut them down without much trouble.
Yoon Jae-jun and Kwon Geon-woo occasionally produced hits.
The disappointing part was that there had been no decisive blow, so the score remained 2-2.
Even so, the dugout atmosphere was cheerful.
We were currently three games ahead of second place.
There was no reason to worry much.
Even if we lost once, everyone seemed ready to simply accept it and move on.
Hmm...
I did not like this team atmosphere.
Manager Rodriguez was not trying to discipline anyone either, probably because the team was in first place.
But everyone was overlooking one fact.
We were the kind of team that shined briefly during spring, then collapsed during summer and autumn.
Every spring, we went on a winning streak and shouted that this year would be different.
That hope never lasted long.
We had to win.
We always had to give our best.
During the entire pennant race, there could not be a single moment when we lost focus during a game.
“Ah...”
A disappointed groan escaped the bench during the seventh inning.
Third baseman Daniel Sanchez had made a throwing error.
Wright had comfortably held them to two runs through six innings.
But Park Geon-woo, who came in afterward, suddenly started shaking.
“Walk!”
In an instant, there were runners on first and second with no outs.
Crack.
Another hit.
Bases loaded, no outs.
Noh Jae-hyeon had been an expensive free-agent signing and had performed well with an ERA in the low 3.00s.
He possessed the best results among our middle relievers.
Now he was collapsing.
Baseball could change in a single moment.
No matter how well someone had performed until then, everything could break apart instantly.
Daniel Sanchez kept digging at the ground with his spikes, looking apologetic.
But Noh Jae-hyeon raised his thumb toward him as if saying it did not matter.
There was a reason we had paid for him in free agency.
He was a prepared pitcher.
“Looks like he’s just unlucky, sir. His pitches still have life. What a shame.”
Kim Byeong-hee calmly spoke beside me.
He was right.
Noh Jae-hyeon was simply unlucky.
Would it have been different if he had cleanly retired the first batter?
This was why baseball truly was a team sport.
Even if one person played overwhelmingly well, an error from somewhere else could still create a problem.
Noh Jae-hyeon gave up two runs with the bases loaded before leaving the mound.
Daniel Sanchez later hit a solo home run, but the score was 4-3.
We had no choice but to keep chasing.
The one-run game continued nervously.
“Choi Seong, get ready.”
Manager Rodriguez seemed ready to use me for at least one plate appearance.
I did not refuse.
I gripped the bat tightly.
My heartbeat sounded slightly louder.
We have to win.
The opportunity arrived at the perfect time, in the ninth inning.
Top of the ninth.
The score was 4-3.
Two outs, bases loaded.
[Sub Mission: Reach Base as a Pinch Hitter!]
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Description: This is a moment when your team can take the lead. You have been chosen as the player who can create that opportunity. Live up to the manager’s expectations and succeed in your first pinch-hit appearance!
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Reward: Power +1 / Failure means only death!
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These sub missions seemed to be getting more difficult lately.
The average on-base percentage in Korean baseball usually hovered around the low .300s.
If I applied the average here, that meant I had roughly a seventy percent chance of dying.
The timer in my heart rang violently.
Still, I loved this moment.
You could say it guaranteed a certain amount of thrill.
The Incheon Dolphins changed pitchers the moment I stepped into the batter’s box.
Instead of their regular closer, they brought in a right-handed submarine pitcher.
Apparently this was what they had found when analyzing my weaknesses.
Sidearm and submarine pitchers were types I rarely encountered, so they were indeed somewhat difficult for me.
But...
That did not mean I was weak in this situation.
I was not weak.
The pounding in my heart and my desire to win were gathering into one place.
Even though we were in Incheon, the stadium was filled with the cheers of Busan Oceans fans.
I absolutely...
Did not want to disappoint them.
I gripped the bat with all my strength.
“Ball!”
The pitcher threw deep inside.
It almost hit me, so I twisted my body away at the last moment.
I glared at the opposing pitcher.
He silently began his windup again.
Who would win?
In the end, this was a battle between us.
Another inside curve.
“Strike!”
Apparently they believed my weakness was inside pitches from submarine pitchers.
Judging from my batting average, inside pitches should not have been my weakness.
Even so, the battery continued trying to avoid my hot zones as much as possible.
One strike, one ball.
The catcher suddenly spoke to me.
“You’re a rookie. Aren’t you scared?”
I did not answer.
The pitcher threw his third pitch.
It came inside again.
I swung without hesitation.
I wasn’t afraid.
