Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: A Life-on-the-Line Gamble
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Crack!
The ball rocketed high into the sky.
No need to watch any further.
It was a game-changing home run that cleared the fence with room to spare.
Geum Seong-muk let out a sigh as he watched Choi Seok-ho round the bases and return to the dugout amid cheers.
Manager Myeong Sin-u hurried up to the mound.
The fielders gathered around him too.
"Seong-muk, you okay? Can you keep pitching?"
"What, over one home run? I'm fine."
As they talked, a sniffling sound came from somewhere.
The culprit behind this whole mess.
The first-year third baseman, whose big error had let the opponents take the lead this inning, was now in tears.
"S-Sniff, Senior Seong-muk. I'm sorry. It's all my fault..."
"........."
The other fielders, unable to help, hung their heads in shame. Seong-muk could have said something, but he just chuckled like it was no big deal.
"Man up, kid. Quit crying."
He ruffled the underclassman's hair, then beckoned the players closer.
The Munhyeok High members huddled up, arms around each other's shoulders.
Seong-muk asked them lightly.
"Guys, isn't this fun?"
"......!"
"This is baseball. Ups and downs. You take a hit, you hit back harder. Whoever lands the most punches wins in the end."
"......"
"It's just a one-run game. Am I the only one who thinks we can still do this?"
They exchanged glances, then voices rose one by one.
"Yeah, it's not over yet."
"Hey, we already scored three. What's a couple more? Let's go!"
Seong-muk grinned at his fired-up teammates.
"Okay, let's do it!"
With his shout, the Munhyeok High players scattered back to their positions.
Maybe it worked. The next batter popped up to the outfield for an easy catch.
"Hoo..."
Seong-muk exhaled deeply as the inning ended.
He stepped off the mound and stood at the dugout entrance.
"Coach, gotta hit the bathroom real quick."
"Uh, sure."
Manager Myeong Sin-u looked flustered.
Seong-muk's face, which had been smiling as he rallied the team moments ago, was darker than ever.
"Nngh..."
He could guess what came next, but there was nothing to do but let him go.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Shit...!!"
Bam!
Seong-muk hurled his glove hard against the wall.
As captain, he'd acted unfazed in front of the team, but he was the most pissed.
He swept back his bangs and slumped against the wall.
The team's repeated defensive errors, the weird feeling in his body lately.
If he'd truly pitched like an ace, he could have contained it.
But he hadn't.
"You fucking idiot. You set everything up just to blow it like this."
He'd thought he could do it.
He had the goods, after all.
But what was this result?
'Was I getting cocky? Me...?'
A Cy Young winner in his pro days, the top grinder in this game after retirement.
Plus, he'd overcome the Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian wall, something he couldn't have without game knowledge. Maybe he'd subconsciously thought nothing could block his path anymore.
"Haa..."
As bone-deep helplessness sank in, a question hit him.
'No, I haven't been cocky.'
If anything, he'd busted his ass every day just to avoid dying.
Yet the results weren't coming.
Something was off.
'Am I really making the most of this body?'
He'd given his all, scraped every limit of this given physique, thought he was using it right. But what if not?
"Stat screen."
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Name: Geum Seong-muk 📋 Pitcher Stats (*Potential) / Left-handed Three-Quarter
💪 Stamina: A+ (*S) 🎯 Control: C+ ⚡ Fastball: B (*S+) 💥 Power: B (*S+) 🔄 Breaking Balls: B (*S) - Curve: B - Slider: B - Circle Changeup: A 📋 Batter Stats (*Potential) / Left-handed Left-handed Batter 💥 Power: B+ (*S+) 🎯 Contact: C+ (*S) 🏃 Speed: B (*S) 👁️ Eye: C 🛡️ Defense: D 💪 Shoulder: B (*S+) He'd thought it before, but overall stat growth was way too slow.
He was the owner of Heavenly Hitting Body and Heavenly Pitching Body.
Given Geum Seong-muk's potential plastered with S-grades, stats should have shot up to A at least. But aside from the Circle Changeup he'd specially trained before treatment, nothing had hit A.
"I definitely cured the Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian. Why...?"
He'd figured it'd rise eventually, but this was weird.
Really weird.
Tingle!
"......!"
A familiar sensation prickled his lower body.
Different from the hot feeling during pitching.
'The sensation when spotting a weakness...?'
Tingly Sensor, his F-grade skill.
Useless in games, but handy for screwing over the Chairman.
Alone in the bathroom, it suddenly triggered.
As if answering his doubts.
"Above the stat screen...?"
The Tingly Sensor hinted via intense urges. Drawn like a moth, he scrolled up his stat screen.
Name: Geum Seong-muk Nationality: South Korea Age: 18 (Senior) Height: 192cm Weight: 89kg Affiliation: Munhyeok High School Skill: Tingly Sensor (F) You were born with an extraordinary tool. Sense your opponent's weaknesses through your lower region's sensations. Cannot be used during games.
Potential Keywords: Heavenly Pitching Body (EX+), Heavenly Hitting Body (EX) "So, why show me this...?"
Tingle!
Tingle! Tingle!
"What...?"
Incredibly, the sensor pointed to the skill itself.
He couldn't make sense of it.
"No, how is this a weakness...?"
Tingle!
"Argh, fine!"
As if it had a mind of its own, the persistent lower-body prodding made him reread the skill description.
"You were born with an extraordinary tool, sense through your lower region's sensations..."
The tingling stopped.
It didn't need to continue.
He'd spotted the oddity now.
"Has my junk ever gotten bigger?"
Sounded ridiculous, but he was dead serious.
Geum Seong-muk, the character he'd possessed, was a prime-of-life hot-blooded youth.
With insane physique, his urges should be off the charts too.
But mornings? Dead quiet down there.
Despite the status proclaiming it a "congenital marvel."
Like it was in deep hibernation, no reaction even to beauties like Do Do-yeon or Olivia Ramsey. As if he were asexual.
"...This doesn't add up."
In the game, enemy Geum Seong-muk had cracked up players and viewers with non-pitching antics. Namely, his heavy "presence" mid-game.
— Bro, this guy's pitching a tent? Geum Seong-muk's gay... — Geum Seong-muk's name origin: Golden Sun Heavy Dick lol Fr ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Some users worried seriously.
— Doesn't that hurt when throwing mid-game? Fr, must be brutal Viewers who watched him pitch after were stunned.
Geum Seong-muk performed better in that heavy state, even against power hitters.
— How tf does he throw heat with that dangling? His dong's the counterweight lmao Doki Doki Baseball's GOAT entertainer Two inferences:
1. Geum Seong-muk gets heavy even mid-game—insanely virile.
2. That state correlates meaningfully with performance.
Not certain. But one thing was: his current body hugely diverged from game Geum Seong-muk.
The doubt snowballed.
Next suspect: Geum Seong-muk's skill.
"World-top potential with an F-grade skill? Doesn't add up."
This game was rich-get-richer extreme.
God-potential guys usually had busted skills too.
S-class potential x8 monster Geum Seong-muk with mere F-grade? F-grades went to no-talent scrubs.
Tingly Sensor wasn't typical F, but another possibility hit.
"Skill degradation from severe physical defect."
He'd skimmed a post once.
📰 Breaking News Guys, my player's skill grade dropped?? — OP My guy had Steel Shoulder (A), took a massive collision mid-game. Turned into C-grade after ㄷㄷ Folks demanded proof, but OP ghosted. Dedicated testers failed to replicate.
'What if OP was right...?'
Geum Seong-muk's skill tanked from some defect, underperforming. Defect persists post-Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian cure—hypothesis formed.
He called someone without delay.
["...Hello?"]
"Mr. Seo Hyeok-jun, sorry to call out of the blue. It's urgent."
"Hm, no idea what's up, but talk."
He spilled everything: sluggish training gains, hot inner-body sweats mid-game, dead-quiet groin.
No skill talk, but Seo Hyeok-jun groaned knowingly.
["Got a hunch, but your body's in a nasty state, Seong-muk."]
"Tell me."
["How much do you know about male hormones?"]
"Male hormones...?"
Random med term threw him.
Still, he answered what he knew.
"Related to strength? Steroids boost 'em abnormally for power."
["Right. Where are they produced?"]
"No way...?"
["Testicles. Yours aren't secreting properly."]
"......!!"
What? I'm impotent? That's the gist...?
Seo Hyeok-jun explained to his stunned self.
["Meridians link testicle hormones to the body. We call 'em Penile Dual Meridians."]
"Penile Dual Meridians..."
["Yours are blocked."]
Shoulder meridians before, now dick meridians.
'Fuck, this body's got it all.'
Per Seo, blocked meridians rare; lower-body cases ultra-rare. Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian was legendary rare in-game; this rarer, explains ignorance.
["Likely tanked training efficiency to half-of-half. Breaking balls worked 'cause fingertip feel's unrelated to strength gains."]
["Mid-game sweats? Squeezing scant hormones causing pain."]
"How to fix?"
["Similar to Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian: slam inner energy to open Penile Dual Meridians. But..."]
"...?"
["Twice as risky."]
"How much?"
["Pitching fail = shoulder tear. Penile fail = cripple."]
"......!!"
["Don't do it. Good news: post-unblock, self-heals in 3 years. Rest from baseball, wait it out."]
"........."
Silence.
Then quietly:
"Thanks for the advice."
["Phew, smart choice."]
"Sorry, no time."
["W-Wait, Seong-muk! What do you—!"]
-Beep, beep, beep.
Ignoring Seo Hyeok-jun's frantic voice, he powered off his smartphone.
"Only thing left to lean on now."
He sat cross-legged on the bathroom floor.
No three years to chill.
He needed win-power now.
'Jackpot if success, cripple if fail.'
Hands-off meant death anyway.
Sealed "true skill" power unknown, but it'd be turnaround-level, no doubt.
Lost stats too.
Proper nutrition after? Backlogged training converts straight to stats.
Seo'd guided energy fiercely during treatment; he remembered every bit. Solo? Why not.
"Fuck it, all or nothing...!!"
Vrrr—!
Inner energy coalesced fiercely.
Let's go all the way, you damn body!