Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: National Power Circle Changeup
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Crack!
"Okay, my ball!"
This time, the center fielder cleanly snagged a fly ball without any collision.
The pitcher who had taken over for Im Tae-yul retired the fifth batter, Seo Kyung-su, with a pop fly, bringing the top of the eighth inning to a close.
"Argh, sunbae. I'm really sorry...!!"
Ji Su-yong apologized to the center fielder in his usual energetic, fighting-spirit voice.
"Hoo, whatever. Just get back out there. Go apologize to Tae-yul."
"Yes, sir...!!"
The center fielder brushed it off matter-of-factly—it wasn't the first or second time this had happened.
Ji Su-yong approached Im Tae-yul to apologize as well.
Normally, he'd play it cool for the sake of his image, but Im Tae-yul—freshly raked over the coals by Geum Seong-muk—was more sensitive than anyone right now.
"Hey, Su-yong."
"Y-Yes...?!"
"Where the hell do you leave your damn head every day? Huh?"
"I'm sorry...!!"
"Hey, hey. You screw up so bad you get yanked, and you think a single 'sorry' ends it?"
Everyone thought to themselves, 'That's because you gave up the homer...', but no one said it out loud. Ji Su-yong, though, wasn't the sharpest when it came to reading the room.
"But sunbae, you gave up the homer—gahk...!!"
"Holy shit, look at this punk crossing lines left and right."
Im Tae-yul drove his elbow into Ji Su-yong's gut.
Ji Su-yong doubled over in pain, clutching his knees.
"I knew you were a blockhead, but you got no manners either? Need me to beat some sense into you?"
"Hey, hey! Im Tae-yul! What the hell are you—?!"
"Seok-ho hyung, wait, just wait a sec!"
Choi Seok-ho stepped in, judging the scolding had gone too far, but the team's juniors held him back. He tried to shake them off, but one word stopped him cold.
"The manager said to let it go."
"The manager...? Why the hell...?"
"Su-yong's the one who gave him an opening with that error, and he talked back, so he said just leave it."
"...Hah."
Choi Seok-ho smacked his forehead.
The manager playing favorites with Im Tae-yul wasn't anything new.
Choi Seok-ho, who always spoke his mind even to the manager, versus Im Tae-yul, who joked around daily to stay on good terms. With a manager like Kim Dae-seop, it was obvious who got the favoritism.
"No angle to bond with that damn old fart."
Choi Seok-ho, who'd long thought Kim Dae-seop was the one ruining the already sour team atmosphere, stormed out of the dugout with a scowl.
Confirming the meddler was gone, Im Tae-yul approached Ji Su-yong with a wicked grin.
"Su-yong, you really sorry?"
"Yes, yes sir! I'm sorry!"
"Then go hit one out. Minimum double."
"No way...!!"
"Can't do it? Then you're benched all year."
"........!!"
"You know the manager eats outta my hand. Think I'm bluffing?"
Thwack!
Im Tae-yul held the bat upside down and shoved it at Ji Su-yong.
Ji Su-yong could only take it dumbly.
"Phew, feel better already!"
Im Tae-yul left with a relieved expression, having used Ji Su-yong purely as a stress ball.
"………."
And so the bottom of the eighth arrived—Cheonghyeon High's turn to bat.
Ironically, the leadoff hitter was Ji Su-yong.
"Hoo, hoo."
Gone was his usual fired-up energy; he stepped up to the plate with a deathly pallor.
His face, normally lit with joy at everything, was now filled with obsession.
The compulsion to make up for his error just now and secure his playing time for the year. To Geum Seong-muk, it was a pitiful sight.
"Tch, why'd he have to end up in a place like that."
Such teams existed sometimes.
Teams where the hard workers just ended up looking like idiots.
Geum Seong-muk thought to himself:
Ji Su-yong was too good for a team like that.
If the kid stayed with Cheonghyeon High, he'd just keep getting hurt and never grow properly.
'You're a perfect fit for Munhyeok High, Ji Su-yong.'
Decision made, Geum Seong-muk murmured from the mound.
"Switch."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Stat changes from Sun God's Vein (EX) are reset!] [Fastball stat enhanced: B+ → A] [Fastball stat enhanced: A → A+] [Circle Changeup stat enhanced: A → A+] [Circle Changeup stat enhanced: A+ → S] His choice: boost the fastball and Circle Changeup.
With this upgrade, the Circle Changeup had reached a whopping S-rank.
'Wondered what it'd be like.'
The first taste of S-grade.
He planned to savor it slowly.
'First up, a heater!'
Geum Seong-muk unleashed his first pitch.
The ball rocketed toward Seok Un-gang's mitt at ferocious speed.
Thwump--!!
"Kgh...!"
"Strike!"
A chest-high fastball—Ji Su-yong's bat whiffed completely.
154 km/h straight heat, higher than his usual zone, but he wasn't in his normal state right now.
"...Okay."
The battery went fastball again for pitch two.
Thwack-!
Ji Su-yong's bat got pushed back, the ball smacking the backstop screen.
Count now 0-2.
A hugely hitter-unfriendly count.
'Hoo, backed into a corner. Cut everything similar!'
Ji Su-yong decided to foul off sliders leaking outside and fight from there.
But Geum Seong-muk had no intention of letting him hit it.
'Time to sit down, Su-yong.'
His choice: Circle Changeup.
The S-rank beast left Geum Seong-muk's hand.
Swoooosh-!
"………?!"
The ball sailed high and far outside—well beyond the zone from Ji Su-yong's view.
Everyone assumed it was a wild pitch.
It was that far off.
But the ball broke.
Reverse-spinning, it dove back toward the zone.
'No way...?'
Like a dragon snatching a wish-granting pearl, plummeting diagonally with unstoppable momentum.
Paang!
The ball lodged cleanly in the catcher's mitt, untouched.
Ji Su-yong stared, entranced by the beautiful arc.
It caught the top corner of the zone perfectly.
"...Strike three!"
The umpire, stunned, called the strikeout a beat late.
He hadn't imagined a Circle Changeup from Geum Seong-muk threading the zone either.
"Ha, ha...!"
Ji Su-yong laughed as he struck out, then walked off with a relieved smile.
"Whoa, there's pitchers like this out there...!"
His eyes sparkled like he'd witnessed something wondrous. Deeply impressed by the nasty pitch despite getting shelled, he headed back happily—Im Tae-yul's abuse a distant memory.
The next batter fared no better against Geum Seong-muk's stuff.
Count 2-2.
Once more, the S-rank Circle Changeup.
Tick!
"Ngh...!"
A desperate foul tip—weak pop-up.
The batter hung his head and trudged off.
Shallow enough for anyone to catch.
Do Do-jin, Seo Kyung-su, and the right fielder all charged in.
"Hey, wait, this one's...?"
"……!?"
But perfectly, it plopped into the gap between all three.
A lucky infield single that sapped the defense's momentum. Not their fault, but the three fielders glanced sheepishly at Geum Seong-muk, signaling apologies.
'Fuck, getting every bad break today.'
Tough to blame the fielders.
Weak contact dropping in triangles like that happened all the time. Only the pitcher, who'd timed up the hitter perfectly, felt deflated. But that was baseball's charm.
"………Khm!"
In the chaos, Asan Black Tigers' Choi Seok-ho stepped up right-handed.
The guy who'd yanked a homer off Geum Seong-muk last at-bat.
"Losing without swinging is against my style."
Not for the manager or Im Tae-yul.
For his teammates' morale as they chased big goals this year—he had to deliver here.
'Harsh truth, but no one else can score off that guy but me.'
Choi Seok-ho pulled one trick.
To force Geum Seong-muk not to dodge the challenge.
Shwick—
He pointed his bat at the fence.
The message was crystal clear.
"A, a called shot homer...?!"
"That crazy bastard—even after a homer last at-bat...!"
Both sides recoiled in shock at Choi Seok-ho's blatant homer signal.
A provocative promise to go yard again off Geum Seong-muk.
Cheonghyeon High was stunned—he'd never pulled that stunt before.
Munhyeok High saw it as a direct taunt.
"Now sunbae can't back down, right...?"
"Yeah, guy's got fire in his eyes. He'll fight."
His teammates figured Geum Seong-muk wouldn't duck.
And they were right.
"Oh ho...?"
Never planned to anyway, and he hadn't expected the provocation.
Geum Seong-muk's lips curled.
"This pig bastard wants to die? I'll grant it."
Licking his chops for another taste of Asan black pork, Geum Seong-muk loved these pride battles.
He'd barely ever lost one.
The game deep into the late innings.
Bottom eighth, one out, runner on first.
Munhyeok High's sun versus Cheonghyeon High's tiger.
The revenge match between them sparked to life.