Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Team Self-Introductions
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I’m on the field! Time for self-introductions!
The day after the entrance test.
Under Manager Myeong Sin-u’s summons, we all gathered at school. But the purpose wasn’t to play baseball.
“Time’s tight, sure, but we can’t just skip this.”
Today’s gathering was none other than a team bonding session.
Now that we were all bound together in the baseball club, he said we absolutely needed time to build teamwork.
“I’ve got plenty of food ready, so dig in!”
Sports clubs at this age are basically human vacuum cleaners when it comes to food. There was more than enough delivery spread out—even if these guys went wild, it wouldn’t run out. And of course, it was all charged to the chairman’s card.
“Alright, freshmen first. Give us your self-intros and whatever else you want to say. Hassan!”
“Yes sir!”
Hassan shot up from his seat.
His face was practically screaming tension.
“Hello! I’m Hassan Iqbal from Pakistan! My position is pitcher. Nice to meet you all!”
Clap clap—
The other members applauded Hassan, who’d kicked off the intros.
As he started to sit back down, something seemed to hit him—he clapped his hands sharply.
“Oh, and my name’s Hassan, not Hassen. Ha, san! Please remember that. Thank you!”
Guess he’d been bugged by everyone calling him Hassen.
Got it, Hassen!
“Next up, sophomores!”
There weren’t many freshmen, so we quickly moved on to the second-years.
“Seok Un-gang here, from Hong Kong. I’m the catcher. I’ll be the pillar holding up this team and all of you. Amitabha.”
Everyone applauded his concise yet resonant intro.
He was already the team’s most famous player, and he’d put on an insane show during the test, so expectations were sky-high.
“Do Do-jin, from Jinseong High. Main position’s second base. I transferred to Munhyeok High on Captain Seong-muk hyung’s invitation.”
Do Do-jin paused for a moment after saying that.
Then he declared it to everyone.
“Anyone who’s rude to the captain is my enemy. I won’t forgive you. Take note.”
“Don’t get carried away, dude.”
Thwack!
“Ow...”
Do Do-jin, hit with an angry knuckle rap, slunk back to his seat with a sulky look. What the hell had gotten into this guy all of a sudden?
“Seo Kyung-su here, ex-basketball club! Main position’s outfield. Nice to meet you!”
Seo Kyung-su wrapped up his intro. His spiky hedgehog hair really stood out—he was the basketball team’s ace.
He scratched his head, then asked everyone,
“Hey, got a question...”
“What?”
“Does the baseball team need a girl manager, by any chance?”
“Manager...!”
The word tugged at the heartstrings of every baseball-crazed high schooler.
Girl manager!
Everyone nodded furiously, without a shred of doubt.
“A baseball team without a girl manager? That’s like a red bean bun with no filling.”
“Ah! The memories of that ice-cold drink handed over by a girl manager under the scorching sun!”
The members were already spiraling into fantasy territory.
And Seo Kyung-su poured gasoline on the fire.
“There’s this girl I know who wants to be the baseball team manager. Think that’d be okay?”
“Wooo...!”
The room erupted in ecstatic cheers. Even Manager Myeong was nodding, clearly on board with any extra help.
Was it just me?
Who smelled something fishy here?
“Hey, Kyung-su, cut it out.”
“Y-yes...?”
“What’s her name?”
“Uh...”
Seo Kyung-su suddenly hesitated.
I stared him down until he finally spilled.
“Ji-na. Lee Ji-na...”
“What’s your relationship with her?”
“..................”
Seo Kyung-su turned into a mute who’d eaten honey.
He soon dropped his head and confessed.
“...We’re dating.”
The fired-up atmosphere chilled to ice.
And a few members glared with burning rage.
“That little con artist—some of us don’t even have girlfriends...”
“Trying to play dating games even in the sacred baseball club?”
The entire club’s opinion demanded Seo Kyung-su’s execution.
There was only one way I could quell this fury.
“Kyung-su, you’re out!”
Wham!
“Guhhh!”
I’d personally judge this traitor.
It wasn’t jealousy or anything.
Seo Kyung-su tumbled across the ground from my back kick.
“Phew~”
“Finally, my stomach’s at ease.”
The members calmed down like they’d swallowed antacids.
The interrupted intros resumed.
Now it was the seniors’ turn.
“Ri Dong... no, Lee Dong-hyeok. Position’s pitcher. Nice to meet you.”
Lee Dong-hyeok finished his intro in flawless standard Korean—no one would suspect his background. He’d agreed to my suggestion of peeling back his origin story layer by layer.
‘We’ll reveal it after he’s become utterly irreplaceable.’
It might be a bit cowardly, but people are always harsher on those who can be easily replaced. Once this guy reigns as Munhyeok High’s guardian deity, no one will care where he’s from. That’s what I was banking on.
“His stuff was seriously nasty.”
“That sinker was insane.”
He was already getting rave reviews, but it wasn’t enough.
On this razor-thin ice where one loss ends it all, the moment he saves the team single-handedly—that’s when he becomes truly irreplaceable.
‘He’s got what it takes.’
I wasn’t worried about the rest.
I turned my gaze to Choi Adam, who’d stood for his intro.
Man, he was tiny—no matter how many times I saw him.
I hadn’t noticed with the batter’s helmet on, but his bangs were styled up like a cockatoo crest.
“Yeah, name’s Choi Adam. Position’s shortstop.”
Swoosh—
He combed his bangs up with a comb.
Then, with a cynical expression, he warned everyone.
“Don’t mention my height. Could end badly. That’s it.”
Choi Adam sat back down.
Pricklier than I’d expected.
‘All the teasing around him?’
I didn’t know the reason, but I figured it hadn’t been easy. I shifted my eyes to the next guy.
“Hello. I’m Park Chan-jun.”
Park Chan-jun bowed deeply, his kindly face beaming.
With his thick beard, black horn-rimmed glasses, plump build, and insane baby face—in reverse—he looked the part.
He seemed more suited to running a butcher shop than being in a sports club.
‘Why’s he listed as 20?’
Same grade as us seniors, so he should be 19.
His looks? I’d buy 30, not 20. Anyway, the reason came out soon enough.
“Haha, some of you might’ve heard the rumors, but last year my family hit hard times out of nowhere. I took a leave from Munhyeok High and worked construction for about a year.”
He’d repeated a year of high school.
The tragic circumstances left everyone solemnly quiet.
“No matter how tough it got, I couldn’t give up my baseball dream. I’m honored to be here with you all thanks to this miraculous chance!”
“My skills might be lacking, but as the big bro, I want to help in every way I can! I’ll give my all!”
Park Chan-jun revealed his ambitions, removed his cap, and bowed deeply. Everyone’s jaws dropped.
“Th-that...”
“No way...?”
Something was missing from the top of his head.
A bald spot gaped emptily next to his grown-out bangs.
Yep. Park Chan-jun, young as he was, was actively sporting an M-shaped receding hairline.
“Sniff...”
Manager Myeong Sin-u covered his mouth, voice thick with emotion.
As a fellow middle-aged guy, he got it on a visceral level.
He approached and gave Park Chan-jun a warm hug.
“Chan-jun, if anyone bullies you, tell me. I’ll take care of ’em.”
“Y-yes...?”
Thus, Park Chan-jun imprinted his warm big-bro image.
Someone might say it’s bad for the captain to have an older teammate, but I saw it positively.
‘Buffers like that? The more, the better.’
If I chew out the team, the underclassmen can vent to Seok Un-gang, and the seniors to Park Chan-jun. Classic good cop/bad cop. Obviously, I’m the overwhelming bad cop.
“Alright, last up—our team captain. Seong-muk, wrap it up.”
“Yes sir.”
I rose casually from my seat.
Off the record, I hadn’t wanted to be captain at first.
I’d planned to dump the hassle on Seok Un-gang and lurk in the shadows as the real power broker, picking only what I needed.
‘Then I quit.’
‘...?’
But Manager Myeong had flopped dramatically, so it failed.
Curious later, I asked again.
‘Manager, would you really have quit if I didn’t take captain?’
‘Am I crazy? Why toss this sweet gig?’
‘......…’
Felt a bit duped, but captaincy accepted.
I’d give it my all, at least.
“Munhyeok High Baseball’s inaugural captain, Geum Seong-muk. First and last time I’m using polite speech with you all. Note that.”
“......?!”
The members looked shocked—probably wondering why bother saying it.
I kept going, unfazed.
“I’m dead serious about baseball. So I’ll be bitching at you a lot. But it’s all for your own good. Don’t take it personal—let it sink in like blood and flesh.”
This wasn’t boomer talk.
In this selfish age, who else dishes out straight talk like me?
“If something’s tough, don’t come to me unless you have to. Odds are sky-high it’s my fault.”
The members stared like, Is this guy nuts...?
“But if it’s a problem too big to handle? Come to me no matter what. I’ll fix it, come hell or high water.”
“...!”
Seemed I’d flipped their expressions back to awe.
Yeah, even a thug like me’s reassuring on your side. Get it together, kids.
“Let’s conquer the nation together. I’m dead serious. Fail, and you’re done for. Figure it out. That’s all.”
“Puhaha...!”
The intro session ended in laughter.
My closing line was real, but they took it as a joke.
‘Kids, I’ll really drop dead—so hustle.’
Whether my desperate wish got through? Time would tell.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Captain Seong-muk, got it!”
“Oh ho, so this is the report.”
I took the mysterious document from Do Do-jin.
This stack of papers? None other than Do Do-yeon’s “special analysis report.”
‘The one they say’s so overpowered in the game?’
It microscopically breaks down both teams’ strengths to predict the winner and exact win probability.
Apparently, some Mansour player had tested it by save-scumming hundreds of times, and its accuracy was eerily spot-on.
‘We have to beat Cheonghyeon High in this friendly.’
To give a deep impression to the player we were scouting, winning the game came first.
Sure, we were a brand-new high school with inferior raw power to Cheonghyeon.
But Munhyeok wasn’t pushover material.
And they say the ball is round, right?
The talents I cherry-picked were future stars of the world’s top leagues. My gut win probability? Around 40%.
“Alright, let’s take a peek.”
Word was, it slapped you with the win rate right on the first page.
Heart pounding, I flipped it open.
⚙ ANALYSIS REPORT ⚙ Munhyeok High Victory Probability: 1% “...What the fuck?”
This is fucked, isn’t it?