Chapter 24
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Left-Handed Pitcher Equips Velocity
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A grin spread across his face.
After flashing a fierce, battle-ready smile at Baek Kang-ho.
Thud.
He took the ball back from Deok-gu and turned his body.
A cool, smooth motion.
Not a hint of intimidation anywhere in that crisp turn.
"Sending it to the stands with a broken bat...?"
His heart sank inside.
Baek Kang-ho's power, launching the ball into the stands even as his bat snapped.
It was a level of strength impossible at the high school level—no, something you'd rarely witness even once in a lifetime.
I hadn't been wrong to sense danger from him before the at-bat even started.
Suddenly, from our Seomun High dugout.
The murmurs of my teammates drifted into his ears.
"What kind of power is that..."
"His bat control is insane!"
"Normally, when a bat breaks like that, the ball should just roll around the infield, right?"
"But he sent it to the stands... That means his power and swing are already perfected."
Even the reserves waiting in the dugout were starting to sense it now.
The danger I'd felt with my whole body—they were beginning to realize it too.
A quick glance at the field, and the outfielders had already retreated deep toward the walls.
"Hup!"
Even the infielders had pulled back onto the outfield grass, smacking their gloves to heighten their tension.
The sheer intimidation from just one batter.
Tap, tap.
Dusting off his spikes on the mound, he glanced toward first base dugout.
At the Seomun High coaching staff.
"..."
The manager stood with arms firmly crossed, nodding deeply at him without a word.
Trust.
A silent signal to see the at-bat through to the end.
Alright.
No intentional walk. No pitch-type signs from the dugout.
It meant they were leaving this matchup entirely to him.
Slide.
He slipped his left hand into the glove, gently rolling the hard baseball's surface.
By now, a new batter had stepped up, gripping a fresh bat in place of the shattered one, waiting for him in the box.
Thud.
The grip fit perfectly in his hand.
Index and middle fingers hooked right on the seams, thumb lightly supporting the side.
With fastball, curve, changeup, and forkball out of his arsenal, what remained were...
Two-seam, slider, cutter.
He gripped the slider tight and signaled to Deok-gu.
A nod.
Deok-gu's mitt flashed the target.
Low and away.
On a clock, between 6 and 7 o'clock from the batter's view.
Staring at that low target, he unleashed a slider that started away but backdoored in.
"Whoa...!"
"What a slider break!"
Exclamations erupted from both dugouts in an instant.
He had no intention of letting their voices distract him.
All his senses right now had to zero in on the batter's reaction.
A flinch.
Baek Kang-ho's left shoulder twitched as the slider curled in from the backdoor.
But.
Crack!
He didn't swing.
The umpire's call followed.
"...Ball."
It was a ball.
Of course it was.
He'd thrown a ball on 3 pitches.
But it was an obvious lure, curling backdoor and grazing the bottom-left corner of the strike zone.
Baek Kang-ho hadn't bitten on that tempting pitch.
Count now: 1 ball, 2 strikes.
Straighten.
Suddenly, Baek Kang-ho straightened up, his tiger-like eyes softening as he stared at him for a moment.
Hard to read his true intent under the helmet's shadow.
No room to react to every glance from the guy.
Thud.
Ball back from Deok-gu, gripped loosely in his left hand as he slowly adjusted.
Deliberately showing it off to the batter.
Four-seam grip, curve grip, forkball, changeup.
Quick handwork like a magician's sleight.
"Whoa..."
Joo Min-ho at first base let out an awed gasp watching head-on.
Why? Anyone could do this with a little practice.
He gripped various pitches outside the glove, then thud back in.
The lure wasn't working.
Even a strike-zone slider would get chopped.
Once he got used to the trajectory, he'd full-swing it into a homer.
Ready.
The batter reset in the box.
Silent pressure to throw already.
Calling time or hesitating here would be trouble.
The starting pitcher was the team's face.
His hesitation would become Seomun High's.
This was Blue Dragon Cup semifinals.
Every little action, expression, even a slight pause broadcast nationwide.
Showdown.
No other way.
No dodging it.
Only head-on battle!
Whoosh!
Fourth pitch, windup.
Tough pitching form channeling full-body power.
All that strength and enhanced velocity aimed...
At the body again.
Thwack!
Leaving the lefty's fingertips, the fastball flew threateningly toward the batter's midsection.
Like a massive truck merging without signaling, forcing the batter to shrink back.
No right-handed hitter could stay relaxed against this.
But the pitch was a two-seamer.
Heading inner-half, it'd tail off with two-seam movement, grazing the strike zone.
Could be a strike or ball depending on the ump's view.
He'd chosen that inner two-seam as his finisher against Baek Kang-ho.
And the batter...
Crack!!!
Made contact.
Left elbow tucked tight inner-half, compact swing chopped short.
But the monster instantly extended it to a full swing, following through.
"Whoaaaa!!!"
"That batter's insane..."
Mokdong Stadium filled with sighs or cheers in a flash.
"Whoa..."
Even he was purely awed for a second.
He handled it like that?
Crazy genius.
"Foul."
Luckily a foul several meters past the left pole, but the power carrying it to the outfield and bat control was pure art.
Busan High's cleanup hitter Baek Kang-ho elevated innate power to artistic heights.
Still 1-2 count.
Pitcher-dominant, but it didn't feel advantageous at all.
Thud.
Caught the ump's toss.
Straight to the next finisher grip.
Cutter.
Same spot, just swap to cutter.
No way he'd square it this time.
No matter the genius bat control, hit the taper—the handle—and it snaps.
And.
Snap!!
Baek Kang-ho's bat broke again.
Then once more.
Crack!!
Three bats shattered.
Bats snapped, but his eyes burned undimmed.
"Hmph."
Even on the third break, he grabbed a fresh one like he'd found the real deal and stepped back in.
Atmosphere saying no matter how many bats broke, he'd crush a two-seam instead of the cutter into a homer.
Fine. Ditch inner two-seam.
Two-seam away, cutter in.
Shake up his inner-outer strike zone with those two pitches and spots.
Snap!
"Ball."
Thwack.
"Foul!"
A few more exchanges.
Drip.
Sweat trickled down his temple, but no time to wipe—prep the next pitch.
More fouls.
Bat grazing ball in endless battle, crowd's heartbeats syncing with the game.
Lost count of fouls.
Just win.
Focused solely on targeting courses to break him.
Held his breath.
Converted even swallowing energy to mental focus, heightening concentration.
The giant in the box.
To conquer him, once more—he fired his best finisher.
Whoosh!
Seomun High dugout.
Song Hyun-jun vs. Baek Kang-ho.
"Whoa..."
The players watching the duel.
As the breathless battle stretched past 10 pitches, they exhaled held breaths and slowly spoke.
"This is real baseball...!"
Still freshmen.
The reserves' awe triggered an outpour of pent-up words.
"Hyun-jun sunbae... he's such a badass pitcher."
"Gutsy as hell. If it were me, I couldn't even breathe in that spot, let alone throw strikes..."
"Busan High's cleanup—that power! Could've been a homer if he'd grooved one."
"But sunbae went right at him...?"
Seomun High underclassmen's exclamations flooded out.
Not just them—the broadcast booth brimmed with overwhelming praise over the airwaves.
"This is baseball. This is the romance of the game!"
Kim Dae-hyung commentator lauding the matchup.
His voice then ramped up every viewer's focus.
"The pitcher's about to throw his real finisher!"
"And right as you say that—he delivers!"
"No!"
Shocked voices from the booth.
In the midst, Hyun-jun's dynamic form—evoking Tim Lincecum—unleashed the tenth pitch at Baek Kang-ho.
Crack!!!
A thunderous sound filling the stadium.
Quite different course from the prior nine.
Away.
Two-seam fastball sailing through the upper-left strike zone, rising above.
The scoreboard and broadcast screen lit up clearly, but no one mentioned Hyun-jun's velocity right now.
"..."
Instead, focus on the umpire's sharp gaze through his mask, heavy silence.
Then.
"...Ah."
Umpire's mouth opened.
Legs spread wide from statue-still, right fist clenched tight, thrusting between them forcefully.
"Strike, batter out!!"
A dynamic strike-three call after slight hesitation.
Ten pitches.
The end came via Hyun-jun's first official-game two-seam fastball against Baek Kang-ho.
That struck out the generational monster hitter.
"Strikeout! Song Hyun-jun's heat silences Busan High's genius cleanup Baek Kang-ho!"
Caster's booming voice, followed by Kim Dae-hyung gripping the mic, filling the booth.
"An unbelievable pitch. Inner two-seam, cutter. Outer two-seam and slider. Targeting bottom-right, bottom-left—Song Hyun-jun's finisher: upper-outer, perfectly exploiting the batter's blind spot with pinpoint control!"
"Exactly!"
"Slow-mo now. Too far for the swing, but the two-seam clips the top of the zone and rises. Even genius Baek Kang-ho can't touch that. Perfect."
Rave reviews.
Detailed enough to paint the scene like a picture.
True baseball fans watching exploded in comments.
What? Baek Kang-ho took a looking K? First strikeout of the season, right?
Insane... Baek Kang-ho handles inner-outer perfectly... but poked that hole for the K?
Song Hyun-juuuun!!!!
Hey pro teams watching? Korea's baseball future is this bright!
Grab both ASAP!!
Song Hyun-jun first!!
Real-time.
Hundreds of comments flooding in seconds.
Praise for the matchup and outcome.
He didn't know any of that yet, just flustered.
"I got him...? Me?"
Hard to believe.
Honestly.
That last pitch missed the strike zone by a ball's width.
Clear ball.
After throwing it, watching it thud into Deok-gu's mitt, instinct told him.
Ah... missed outside.
Full count. Walk.
But.
"Strike, batter out!!"
The statue-still ump called strike.
With a flashy strike-three performance.
His call made it feel undeniably a strikeout.
"..."
Even struck-out Baek Kang-ho shot the ump a baffled look, glanced at him, then left the box without protest.
Wait, what.
Did I really win?
"Sunbae!"
Deok-gu, new ball from ump, dashed to home plate front and tossed it back, snapping him to reality.
"Last pitch was gold."
"For real?"
"Yeah, badass, sunbae!"
Deok-gu wouldn't lie.
The last one was really good?
Side-to-side, it clipped the zone...
But up-down, a clear ball missing by a ball-width.
In high school ball without ABS like the pros, umps blow calls sometimes.
But a good miss is romantic.
With that mindset.
He breezed through the next batters with easy tosses.
"Out!"
Second pitch, 5-hole groundout.
"Out!"
6-hole one-pitch grounder.
Inning over quick.
Compared to 10 to the cleanup, too easy.
13 pitches in the 2nd, down he came.
"Whoa, sunbae! Our sunbae!"
"Incredible, Hyun-jun sunbae! Total pro!"
Fielders' praise heading to dugout.
What.
Why are the kids like this.
Last pitch was a ball.
Ump gifted the strike.
"Uh, yeah."
He responded half-heartedly.
Back in dugout, realized things differed from his take.
"Song Hyun-jun."
"Yes."
Manager's call. Then a deep smile.
"Now you look like a pitcher."
"Huh?"
"Good job."
Manager meant it.
Good pitches.
Praised him openly in front of everyone.
Even reticent Shin Su-ho sidled up.
"Song Hyun-jun."
"Yeah."
"Last pitch, good."
Whoa, even Su-ho.
He felt embarrassed...
But teammates and manager praised him.
A bit puzzled, but if everyone's happy, fine.
Just prep well for the next inning.