Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Long-Awaited Baseball Club Entry Test
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“Whoa, so this is the place.”
The test candidates gathered at the citizen's ballpark near the school let out exclamations of admiration. This well-maintained field with its pristine conditions would be Munhyeok High School Baseball Club's new home ground from now on.
Not only that, but there was a team bus exclusively for the players, along with pitching machines and all sorts of other equipment prepared just for Munhyeok High.
Word was that the chairman had shed bloody tears over the hefty sum it took to secure the exclusive contract here, but...
'Not my problem.'
The one student responsible for making that contract happen was said to have picked his nose without a shred of guilt.
“Alright, we have a total of 32 test candidates. Welcome to the Munhyeok High School Baseball Club entry test.”
With Manager Myeong Sin-u's greeting, the real game of gauging each other began. The candidates quickly scanned their competition. Most were from Munhyeok High, but there were a few unfamiliar faces.
Among them, the one who stood out most positively was none other than Seok Un-gang, the catcher with self-proclaimed and universally acknowledged top-tier potential.
“Man, his physique is insane. If it came to a strength contest, I wouldn't stand a chance.”
“Why clash with him? Having a guy like that on our team would just make us feel secure.”
On the flip side, the one drawing negative attention was unmistakably Hassan, the foreigner.
“Who the hell invited a foreigner to the test?”
“He's gonna drag our level down. I'm definitely beating that guy out.”
A few hopefuls were naturally looking down on him since there weren't any strong baseball teams in the Middle East. Little did they know, reality had Hassan pegged for a pass even if he took a dump on the field.
“Choi Adam from the baseball club is here too. He's always so damn small.”
“But his legs are seriously fast. They might pass him just for pinch-running duty.”
Choi Adam had come to take the test, cheered on by his clubmates. Despite his noticeably short stature compared to the others, he was putting up a cool front, but his tension was obvious.
“Hold up, isn't that Do Do-jin from Jinseong High? He's been crushing it in the practice league lately. Why's he here...?”
“He's a tough one. Is he the extra scout the manager mentioned?”
Do Do-jin was there too, waiting with a big grin in response to Geum Seong-muk's call. Having shown remarkable hitting form in a short time recently, quite a few people recognized him.
“That guy's got a fierce look. Like a wild animal or something.”
“Hmm, doesn't really have the face of someone who's gonna excel.”
“.........”
Ri Dong-hyeok was among the entry test candidates as well. Right up until he set foot here, he'd been agonizing over whether he truly belonged on any team.
But a few casual words from Geum Seong-muk had shaken him to his core.
'Being born that way isn't a sin, Ri Dong-hyeok.'
'Our team will be different.'
More than anyone, he loved baseball.
He couldn't abandon the dream his mother had left him with on her deathbed—to conquer the world as the 'People's Sinker.'
'Comrade Geum Seong-muk, I'll watch you closely. To see if you're the one who can show me a new path.'
With that thought, Ri Dong-hyeok sensed something off.
'Where is he?'
Geum Seong-muk was nowhere to be seen.
It was right then.
“Snore...!”
A snoring sound from someone sleeping cut through the previous bustle, now impossible to ignore.
Everyone turned disbelieving eyes toward the source in the right dugout.
And there he was.
Geum Seong-muk, sprawled out on a cushion in the dugout, dead asleep.
“Seong-muk, wake up.”
“Huh? Oh, is it test time already?”
Geum Seong-muk scratched his belly as he rose at the manager's call. Everyone there stared blankly at his utterly exhausted face, dumbfounded.
The only ones unfazed were Manager Myeong and Geum Seong-muk himself.
“Alright, we'll start with batter tests right away. Seong-muk, warm up a bit.”
“Yawn. Manager, why bother warming up? I'll just throw.”
Rubbing sleep from his eyes with stifled yawns, Geum Seong-muk stepped straight out of the dugout.
“What the hell is with that confidence?”
“Saying he doesn't even need to warm up against us?”
The waiting batters' eyes began to burn with fighting spirit.
They vowed to smash that cocky delinquent pitcher's junk and pass the test.
'Right on plan.'
As Geum Seong-muk headed to the mound and glanced back, a sly grin crept across his face.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The day before the entry test,
I'd met with Manager Myeong ahead of time to lay out the plan for test day.
“You're gonna pretend to sleep on the bench that day? Why?”
“Technically pretending, but anyway, it's all the manager's fault.”
“M-My fault...? Why?”
Manager Myeong looked utterly confused as he asked for the reason.
“Because you hyped me up as some amazing pitcher from the podium, I can't show a lame side now.”
I said that while pulling up my status window on the side to check my current pitching stats.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Stamina: A+ (*S) 🎯 Control: C+ ⚾ Fastball: B (*S+) 💪 Velocity: B (*S+) ✨ Breaking Balls: B (*S) ├ Curve: B ├ Slider: B └ Circle Changeup: A Lefty Three-Quarter Arm Honestly, not bad.
No, actually pretty good.
Treating the Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian bumped my breaking ball stat up two whole grades, and my stiff shoulder from all the rest was gradually regaining its form.
The issue was how far I still had to go.
Compared to when I first possessed this body, it was like night and day.
But my current stats were, at best, on par with a mid-tier high school ace. To dominate with this spec, I needed strategy.
“Ahem, sorry if I got carried away during the announcement. But how does that connect to pretending to sleep early on test day?”
“If I warm up diligently from the start and then toss some low-140s crap balls, what would everyone think?”
“Oh, uh. That delinquent's all hype!”
“That's your real take, right, Manager?”
“...Ahem, what do you take me for!”
His flinch told me I'd hit the nail on the head.
“Yeah, they'd think something like that. Now, what if it was the opposite?”
“Opposite?”
“I wake up from sprawling out asleep, don't even warm up, just chuck 'em, and they clock over low 140s?”
“Whoa, straight out of bed, no warmup, and that's the heat? Impressive.”
“Exactly.”
The manager had already called me a Fireballer, and with my natural delinquent vibe, no one would suspect the deception.
“I get it, and I'll play along. But you sure?”
“About what?”
“If you pull that, won't they get all fired up? If they tee off on you, your rep as captain might take a hit.”
I just laughed at the manager's concern.
“Right, you haven't seen me pitch yet, have you?”
“Nah, not yet...?”
“Take a look then. See how I throw.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thwack!
“Strike, out...!”
“Gah!”
Seo Kyung-su, the basketball team ace, whiffed hard on Geum Seong-muk's curve. He trudged back to the dugout, berating his own futility.
Every batter in the entry test so far was an out.
None could keep up with Geum Seong-muk's pitching.
The ball's power was one thing, but Geum Seong-muk and Seok Un-gang's battery seemed to read the batters' intentions, stabbing at their weaknesses with sharp pitches. Against amateur hitters, they could roughly tell what was coming from subtle body cues.
“Curve coming? Nope, fastball. Fastball? Slider!”
“This is bullshit—throwing like that right after waking up?”
The grumbling from the batters reached Geum Seong-muk's ears from afar.
'Phew, the act's holding.'
In truth, he'd warmed up hardcore an hour before the test and was in beast mode, but to the clueless candidates, he'd cemented the image of a pitcher who toyed with foes without even trying.
“Priest Geum Seong-muk, your stuff is sharp today. I almost wanted to step in myself...”
“Don't kill the vibe. At my current level, I couldn't stop you.”
Geum Seong-muk calmed Seok Un-gang, who was itching to bat. Manager Myeong called the next name.
“Alright, let's see. Next up: Choi Adam.”
“...Hoo.”
Munhyeok High's earmarked leadoff hitter, Choi Adam, stepped up.
Seong-muk licked his lips and opened Choi Adam's status window.
'Let's see what this guy's got...'
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Name: Choi Adam Age: 19 | Height: 160 cm Skill: Bad Ball Hitter (A) - Increases hit probability on balls. Potential Keywords: Gale (S+), Hitting Prodigy (A+), Defense Prodigy (A+) 💥 Power: D 🎯 Contact: B+ (*A+) 🏃 Speed: S (*S+) 👁️ Eye: D+ 🛡️ Defense: B+ (*A+) 💪 Arm: B Righty, Left-Handed Hitter Solid contact skills, but his eye was way behind.
Geum Seong-muk knew exactly how to attack a hitter like this.
'Hmm, start with this for the first pitch.'
After exchanging signs with Seok Un-gang, Geum Seong-muk fired the first pitch.
The fastball spun fiercely into Seok Un-gang's mitt.
Thwack!
“Ball!”
141 km/h fastball,
He'd aimed high in the zone, but it missed. Choi Adam's short height narrowed the zone too.
'Okay, this for the next one.'
Geum Seong-muk's second pitch came.
High fastball again.
Whoosh!
“...Guh.”
Choi Adam's bat swung through empty air.
He'd predicted the bat would chase if he dipped the trajectory just a bit, and it worked.
'You barely held off the first one, but it showed all over your face.'
Now 1-1.
Time to show a breaking ball.
'Let's test his inside handling first.'
The ball flew sharply inside from Seong-muk's hand.
The kind that'd chill a lefty's spine.
It bore in like it would hit, then broke big.
Sweeping horizontally toward the strike zone.
Most hitters would've frozen at that location, but
“...Hup!”
Crack!
Choi Adam pulled it technically, sticking his butt out.
The sharply driven ball down the first-base line made Geum Seong-muk's blood run cold.
“Foul!”
It barely slipped outside the foul line.
If it'd stayed fair, considering Choi Adam's speed, it'd have been at least a double, maybe triple.
'Damn, that's good.'
Nearly stung, but a pleased smile tugged at his lips. This was just a test. Snagging talent like this was a win.
“Hoo, doable. Doable.”
Choi Adam spun his bat repeatedly, psyching himself up.
Then Seok Un-gang's sign came to Geum Seong-muk.
Their minds aligned; he nodded and gripped.
'Wonder how you'll handle this.'
Count: 1-2.
Geum Seong-muk unleashed from his kicking stance.
The ball headed low-inside strike zone.
Choi Adam licked his chops at the clean zone pitch and swung.
“Whoa...!”
It broke then.
Too late realizing the horizontal slider sweep, but the bat was already moving.
Thwack-!
“Strike, out!!”
Whiffed on the slider tailing away.
“Argh, you fucking bastard...!”
Unable to contain his frustration, Choi Adam pounded his helmet with his bat in self-reproach. Seong-muk found the sight memorable.
'Overly fierce competitive spirit could be a flaw, but he's got tons of strengths as a player.'
Fix the picky eye and rough swings, and he'd be a rock-solid leadoff pillar for Munhyeok High—no doubt about it.
“Next batter: Do Do-jin!”
After Choi Adam came someone Seong-muk knew well.
The first player he'd met post-possession, the first he'd recruited.
“Hyung, long time no see.”
“Yeah.”
Do-jin removed his helmet, bowed slightly, and entered the box.
Seong-muk nodded back and pulled up Do-jin's status.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Do Do-jin 💥 Power: F 🎯 Contact: B+ (*A) 🏃 Speed: B 👁️ Eye: A (*A+) 🛡️ Defense: B+ (*A+) 💪 Arm: B Righty, Right-Handed Hitter 'Holy shit.'
He'd heard Do-jin's stats had shot up after that one coaching session.
But contact up two ranks to B+, eye hitting A-grade? That was beyond expectation.
With BQ to boot, fooling him with average stuff wouldn't fly. As Seong-muk pondered how to attack Do Do-jin, his eyes caught someone in the stands.
“.....................”
A beautiful woman scribbling in a notebook, watching intently.
More vibrant than her game illustration, but definitely Do Do-yeon, Do-jin's sister.
'Wait, if Do Do-yeon's here...'
It meant she had major sway in his transfer.
Seong-muk's task was crystal clear.
'...Gotta snag him no matter what.'
No room for half-measures.
She'd helped him grow, but he wasn't begging her to come.
Just prove it.
No matter how much you'd grown, he was the milestone on your path forward.
He had an ace up his sleeve.
One he hadn't thrown yet today.
'Circle Changeup, unlocked.'