Chapter 15
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Captain's Challenge
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"Confidence? Pfft!"
Shim Chae-geun grabbed his bat.
Without a moment's hesitation, he strode straight to the plate.
"Looks like you've gotten a bit faster lately, Hyun-jun, and now the whole world seems like a pushover to you. Fine. I'll show you."
His voice and expression brimmed with self-assurance.
He even refused the batting gear that Deok-gu offered him.
"Captain, here's your helmet and protective gear."
Shim Chae-geun glanced down at the helmet and guards Deok-gu held out, his face twisting in distaste.
That's the gear the Devils gave me.
Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him using the equipment I'd given him recently either.
"I don't need it. Save that crap for yourself."
"...Pardon?"
"Hey, I'm Seomun High's captain. Shim Chae-geun, the guy who hit five homers in last year's Blue Dragon Cup."
"..."
"I can handle a Song Hyun-jun fastball without any protective gear."
After brushing off Deok-gu's kindness, Shim Chae-geun raised his bat and pointed it at me.
I could feel the hostility toward me radiating from that gesture.
"Hyun-jun's all flash and no substance. You think a little extra speed means that weak sauce will fly in the Blue Dragon Cup?"
"...I don't think that way."
"What?"
Even as Shim Chae-geun furrowed his brows, Deok-gu—catcher's mask pulled low—said his piece.
"Hyun-jun sunbae is a good pitcher. Even as captain, I don't think you can just dismiss him like that."
After speaking up, Deok-gu ignored the captain's fierce glare and held out his mitt toward me with that solid resolve.
Deok-gu... you're the best.
"Ho, Deok-gu, you've turned into a total Hyun-jun fanboy."
"..."
"Then watch from back there. Watch me turn Song Hyun-jun's weak pitch into a homer. Just sit back and enjoy the show."
With those words, Shim Chae-geun settled into his batting stance.
He didn't forget his parting shot at Deok-gu.
"Not a single one of Song Hyun-jun's pitches will touch your mitt."
Then he glared at me, lightly gripping the bat.
Whoa, Chae-geun's really playing the villain here.
He wasn't like this back when I knew him... I wondered why for a second.
"What's the reason?"
"What reason?"
"There has to be a reason you're picking a fight all of a sudden."
At my question, Shim Chae-geun's face flushed with anger as he lowered his bat.
He jabbed it toward me.
"Why would a powerhouse like the Devils pick you, Song Hyun-jun?"
"What? Devils? Powerhouse... team?"
"Yeah! Why would the Devils back a pitcher like you instead of me?!"
Suddenly, Shim Chae-geun was genuinely furious.
"I'm a better player than you! I'm Seomun High's captain!"
"Ah...!"
"Don't get cocky just because you changed your delivery and picked up some speed! The Devils must've made a mistake! With pitches like yours, Song Hyun-jun, you won't survive in the pros—hell, not even the Blue Dragon Cup!"
"Shim Chae-geun."
"I'll prove in this matchup that I'm the better player than you, Song Hyun-jun."
With that, he picked up the bat he'd set down by his feet.
His eyes sharpened as they locked on me.
"Song Hyun-jun. Enough talk—throw the ball!"
His voice burned like fire, his gaze fierce.
Facing it, I couldn't help but chuckle.
No way words were getting through to him.
"Alright. Here it comes."
Fine, I'll show him with the ball.
My first pitch to Shim Chae-geun didn't need any overthinking.
I turned my back to him in a full, dynamic windup and fired the initial offering.
Fwosh!
Around the same time.
Devils scout team.
Chief Scout Cha Seong-won, who oversaw the whole operation, suddenly grew curious.
"What's the reason?"
"The reason, sir?"
"Yeah. Why'd Seo pick Song Hyun-jun from Seomun High over a national star southpaw like Sa Seung-jun?"
Cha was wondering about Seo Ji-hoon's motives for putting Hyun-jun's name on the rookie draft recommendation list instead of Sa Seung-jun.
"Why pass on all those good lefties for Song Hyun-jun?"
The head scout's blunt question.
"The reason is simple."
Seo Ji-hoon answered with an unflinching expression.
"He knows how to fight."
"What?"
"Song Hyun-jun is a pitcher who brings 100% of his abilities to the mound."
"What're you talking about?"
"Control."
"Control?"
"Yes. Control that's been overshadowed by his slow velocity and weak power. And his ability to mix pitches. Song Hyun-jun uses every bit of it to battle hitters."
"Hmm..."
"His boosted velocity unlocks that hidden potential to the max. Hitters fooled by 145 km/h will fall to Song Hyun-jun in the end."
Cha nodded slowly at Seo's explanation.
A pitcher who knows how to fight on the mound.
Even in the pros, that wasn't common.
"Hm... fighter's instinct. Definitely different from just winning mentality."
"Fighters are born, sir."
Only then did Cha's expression soften in understanding.
The 'fighter's instinct' that Seo saw in Hyun-jun.
A strong urge welled up to witness it in a real game.
"Song Hyun-jun..."
Devils chief scout Cha Seong-won etched Hyun-jun's name deep in his heart.
Before him, Seo Ji-hoon concluded with shining eyes.
"Song Hyun-jun is already pro-level when it comes to winning matchups."
His words rang with conviction.
“Song Hyun-jun! Enough talk—throw the ball!”
At nearly the same moment, Seomun High indoor training facility.
The instant the ball left Hyun-jun's fingertips, Shim Chae-geun's bat whipped through like lightning.
Last season's stats: .389 average, .651 slugging, 1.095 OPS.
The classic power slugger who carried the Blue Dragon Cup champions: Shim Chae-geun.
Whoosh!!
His full swing crashed toward Hyun-jun's first pitch.
And the result came quickly.
Crack!!
"Huh?"
Shim Chae-geun's mighty swing.
At the same time, Hyun-jun's first pitch settled neatly into Deok-gu's mitt.
The pitching tracking system Hyun-jun had left on just in case announced the verdict.
Ding-dong.
A bright, cheerful chime.
Ding-dong for strike, beep for ball.
Deok-gu spoke for everyone upon hearing it.
"Strike one. Left side."
"...Huh?"
"Strike one. Outer half."
Chae-geun's dumbfounded look turned toward me as Deok-gu called it like an umpire.
I took the ball back from Deok-gu and smirked at Chae-geun.
"Two left."
"Ah...!"
"I know you've got great hitting, Chae-geun. Homers galore, insane power."
To crush an opponent's spirit, lift them up first, then drop them.
After the praise, I laid out his weakness that I knew all too well.
"But you're weak on the outer half."
"What?"
"Especially low and away. Zero average there. Ten at-bats, no hits last season. Six this year. Cold zone batting average is zilch."
"Th-that's."
"You're a extreme pull hitter. With a catcher cold zone that obvious, why would a pro team like the Devils draft you? Think they'd miss what even I know?"
"I..."
"Fix that weakness, or you won't make the Devils—and you won't repeat last year's Blue Dragon Cup heroics. Their batters will eat you up."
"..."
"Second pitch coming."
Advice for Chae-geun, and with it, my second pitch to him.
I considered announcing the pitch.
Forkball, outer strike zone, low.
Like that.
But Deok-gu was watching, and totally demolishing the team captain's pride wasn't ideal.
Moderation.
Whoosh!!! Crack!
Ding-dong.
"Strike two. Left side again."
"..."
Deok-gu's call, and Shim Chae-geun's tightly pressed lips: whiff, strike two.
Last pitch, the third.
I set it as another low-and-away strike brushing the zone.
The elements he'd attacked me on.
Weak power.
The forkball was one of my weakest-power pitches.
The tracking monitor confirmed it with pitch data.
Slower velocity and lower spin than a fastball.
Shim Chae-geun couldn't touch the very pitch he'd ragged on so fiercely.
"Last one."
Another weak-powered fork.
Placed even farther outside, barely grazing the strike zone.
If he ditched his stubbornness and pushed it, maybe he'd foul it off.
But.
Whoosh!!
Crack!!
A whiff in the end.
Fooled by the first fastball, he swung way early at the slow fork.
Ding-dong.
"Strike three... left side again."
"...Shut up!"
Shim Chae-geun snapped at Deok-gu for no reason.
His bat-gripping hands trembled, face flushed red.
Three pitches, three strikes.
He was mad because all three were strikes.
If even one had been a ball, he could've rationalized it away, but now he couldn't.
Before he could vent on Deok-gu, I stepped up and said,
"Buy the kids pizza."
"Song Hyun-jun, you!"
"They'll love it. Captain treating? Pure bliss."
"You little—!"
"Chae-geun."
I spoke softly to the fuming captain.
"Fix your weaknesses if you want to go pro."
"...Don't give me advice after one win!"
"Nah, it's cool. Go for it."
"What?!"
He'd started it, but no need to burn bridges.
He was the team captain, king of the home turf.
Butting heads with the starting catcher gained me nothing as a pitcher.
Same for him.
"You and me? Teammates. Not enemies."
"That's..."
"I know your weaknesses, you know mine. Why not team up and fix 'em? Makes sense, right? Win Blue Dragon Cup again, go pro."
"Acting all high and mighty..."
He slammed his bat down and grumbled for a while.
But at the mention of Blue Dragon Cup and pros, he bit his lip.
"...Fine. Gotta go pro."
Huh?
This easy?
Guess he's not a bad guy.
Just really wants to make it in baseball.
Yeah, pros are the goal.
That's how baseball becomes a job.
"Gotta go pro, so yeah, let's work on that fix."
"Good."
In that shared goal.
The next day, Shim Chae-geun, having lost our bet, coolly sprang for pizza.
"Captain! Thanks for the food!"
"Yeah. Eat up and let's crush Blue Dragon Cup."
"Yes, sir!"
Shim Chae-geun encouraging the underclassmen with a warm smile.
No wonder he's captain.
After accepting the result, he came to me without grudge.
"Song Hyun-jun."
"Yeah."
"Your control's solid."
What, now you notice?
"But velocity's still meh, and the ball's light."
"...Should've kept my mouth shut."
I chuckled and grabbed a slice of his pizza.
Should I spread the word about the captain whiffing three straight?
Nah.
No need to publicize yesterday's showdown.
Captain's face, and catcher relations matter.
"Sunbae, you must be thirsty. Here."
"Oh, thanks, Deok-gu."
Deok-gu handed me a canned drink.
But what's this?
"Wait, a can with pine needles on it?"
Sol's Eye? Never heard of this drink...
"Kid, what're you drinking this for? Go trendy... Huh? What's this?"
"Sunbae, everything okay? Want me to swap it?"
"No! Don't touch it!"
"Pardon?"
I snatched the can before Deok-gu could grab it.
Rubbed my eyes and checked.
Familiar text popped up in my vision.
Sol's Eye
Velocity Enhancement Potion (D)
My heart pounded.
"...Found it."
"Pardon?"
My head whipped toward Deok-gu.
"Deok-gu, where'd you get this?!"