Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Stand Tall, Hassan! And the Grand Slam Reversal
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"Stand straight, Hassan!"
'...His control is way off.'
Hassan wasn't the type with great control to begin with, but he'd never been this wild before. There was one fact everyone had overlooked, though: Hassan had never actually played in a game with the team before today.
That meant this was his first time ever taking the mound in front of a crowd like this. Handing him the opening game starter spot on a platter was a burden so heavy it felt like he could barely breathe.
"Hoo, haa...."
It wasn't like Hassan had a weak heart or anything.
He'd dodged bullets and bombs like a pro back in Pakistan and even handled explosives without batting an eye to help his dad once he got to Korea. It took some serious guts to pull that off.
But today felt different somehow.
"Kim Jun-seong singles...!!"
"Crush one out...!!"
The cheers were deafening.
When the defense was out there, the pitcher had to shoulder every bit of the crowd's roar from the batting side. For the first time, Hassan felt like he was facing down that entire sea of people all by himself.
"Mm...."
Seok Un-gang caught Hassan's pitch and sized up the situation. Realizing this was more a mental block than a skill issue, Un-gang finally climbed the mound.
"Hassan, my layman."
".........Master."
Hassan bowed his head, looking utterly ashamed.
This time, he was ready to nod along and follow whatever Un-gang said. But against his fears, Un-gang didn't touch on anything remotely religious.
"Layman, don't look at my mitt. Look at the batter."
"Pardon?"
"More precisely, after you throw a fastball, take a peek at the batter's face. It'll help you a ton in a spot like this."
"Master, what do you...?"
Un-gang finished up and headed back to his spot.
Hassan just stood there, totally baffled.
"Hoo...."
The weight of being the opening starter still pressed down hard.
Even with Un-gang's advice, his control wobbled again.
Thwack!!
The 154 km/h fastball drilled deep inside.
Predictably, it was a ball.
Hassan was on the verge of losing it over yet another shaky pitch. But right then, Un-gang's words popped back into his head.
'Check the batter's face.'
The expression the batter made right after Hassan unleashed the pitch.
It was unmistakable tension, plain as day.
'...He's nervous. Against my pitch.'
They'd been too tense to notice, but the Hanbit High batters were on edge. Hassan's blazing fastball had them spooked.
"Hoo...!"
Only now did Hassan feel like he could breathe a little.
That tiny shift in mindset steadied his control like magic.
Thwack--!!
"Strike three!!"
He'd just painted the middle of the zone on consecutive pitches, but the eighth batter whiffed helplessly. Wiping away beads of sweat, he glanced at the scoreboard.
'Just two more outs..., huh?'
That's when music started blaring from the stands. Not from Hanbit High, the team at bat, but from Munhyeok High, the ones in the field.
'Wha...?'
####
"Kyaa~ Senior Seong-muk!"
I dropped by the practice room where Noah was rehearsing her cheer routine with her friends. She was drenched in sweat, toweling off as she greeted me.
"Here, drink up."
"Whoa, you even brought drinks! Thanks a ton, I'll savor 'em!!"
I handed over the bag stuffed with beverages, and she beamed her thanks. Technically, I swiped them from the baseball team's fridge, so yeah, a twinge of guilt, but I kept that to myself.
"Practice going well?"
"Super smooth...! Everyone's dying for fun content like this, so they're going all out!"
"Oh yeah?"
Her eyes sparkled—she was clearly having a blast.
"Aren't you slammed with the game coming up? What's the occasion!?"
"Got a proposal for you."
"A proposal?"
"You're prepping separate cheers for the batters, right?"
"Yep, should be ready by Game 2 at the latest!"
"Think you could whip up one for pitchers too? Like, for strikeouts."
"Ooh, genius idea...!"
To dominate the cheers, we needed something with real flair.
Something that'd pop off the screen.
"Hmm, what moves would work? Lemme think..."
"Here, check this out."
"Huh...?"
"Just once, so pay attention."
"......??"
Never thought I'd be doing this again.
I wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Waa...!"
I busted out the dance move right in front of Noah.
Thought I'd be rusty, but it flowed smooth.
'Tch, muscle memory's a helluva drug.'
Back in my rookie days, this dance blew up so much that the team kept shoving it on me for their YouTube channel as the star player. They'd guilt me with "Do it or we'll make the vets do it." Not fun, but hey, who knew it'd come in handy like this.
"......"
Noah stared blankly as I demonstrated, then her eyes lit up and she rushed over.
"Senior, this is perfect...! It just grabs you like that!"
"Phew, glad you like it."
"Watch me? Like this?"
She nailed the move after one look.
Perfectly memorized the choreography already—girl had skills.
"Spot on. Dance major for a reason."
"Eek, thanks...!!"
No exaggeration—she was legit good.
I could trust her with all dance stuff from here on out.
Noah giggled with delight.
Then her face shifted to something sly.
"Hehe...."
"...?"
She eyed me with that mischievous little devil grin.
Suddenly, she hit me with the cutesy voice.
"Ah, Senior! I think I'm mixing up the moves all of a sudden...."
"What?"
She'd crushed it seconds ago, now she's confused?
What kinda nonsense was this?
"One more demo and I'll get it. Pretty pleeease, just once!"
Caught her—total prank.
Time for a little lesson.
"Nope."
Pinch!
"Puuheeeng...!!"
I grabbed her cheeks and yanked hard. Smooth as silk, yet chewy like rice cake—wild texture.
'Oh, nice and squishy.'
Lowkey addictive.
Gonna have to pinch her again next time she acts up.
"Hing...."
She pouted post-scolding.
I chuckled, told her to keep practicing, and bounced.
#####
"Strike three...!!"
Hanbit High's batter struck out, nabbing the first out.
Munhyeok High's cheering squad pounced on the gap.
With the next batter stepping up, the offense's cheers had to pause. Right then, music blasted from Munhyeok's side—cheerleaders and all.
"Whoa, what's this? Cheerleaders on defense too?"
"Thought they only came out for offense?"
Cheerleaders up on the cheering section platform.
Dancing to the beat.
♪ ♫ ♬~
"Oh...?!"
A simple hip pop with thumbs-up arms flexing in and out. Nothing fancy, but impossible to look away. The moment the infamous "Ppikki Ppikki" dance made its debut.
"Whoa, what even is that...?"
"...Kinda digging it?"
Male fans sat there, jaws dropped.
Didn't matter what else—they wanted an encore!
That vibe hit the cheers instantly.
Count at 2-2, the stadium would've been drowned in Hanbit's cheers before, but...
"Strike three, strike three...!!"
"Hey, Hassan! Wrap it up quick and let's go!!"
Munhyeok fired back with their own strikeout calls.
Hassan took a breath and fired his fifth pitch.
Thwack!!
"Strike three!!"
The batter whiffed on the high heat.
Two straight strikeouts.
Hanbit's hitters couldn't touch him.
"Waaaaaaah.........!!!"
Munhyeok's stands erupted. Strikeout music rang out again.
The crowd's roar after two K's was enough to restore Hassan's swagger. What came next was no surprise.
Thwack!!
"Strike three!!"
156 km/h fastball—three straight strikeouts.
Hassan let out a relieved sigh as he slowly stepped off the mound.
"Ah...."
Seong-muk and the rest waited by the dugout. Hassan hung his head low.
"Seniors, sorry. I messed up the control...."
Thud!
"Nah, you did great."
Seong-muk clapped his glove on Hassan's shoulder.
Sure, they'd spotted three early, but with eight innings left, the rest mattered more. Holding the line without more runs and eating innings? Solid pass.
"We'll get the runs back. Just watch."
"Yeah, kid. Trust us."
"Seniors...."
The team's bats were fired up now.
No way were they letting this spring tourney stage end quick.
Meanwhile, as Munhyeok's hitters marched to the plate with fire in their eyes, one guy slunk awkwardly back to the dugout bench.
"...Shit, forgot I'm ninth."
"Haha, me too. Knew it was strategy, but batting low sucks the life outta ya...."
Seong-muk, stuck at nine with eight-hole Ryu Ji after all the cool talk, felt pretty sheepish waiting out the long lineup.
Leadoff: shortstop Choi Adam.
One guy you could bank on for contact.
Crack!!
Adam laced the first pitch through the 5-6 hole.
"Yesss...!!"
Munhyeok got their table-setter on base right away.
Up next: No. 2, Do Do-jin.
Do-jin fouled off strikes with laser focus, finally poking a single to right. Runners on first and third, no outs.
"Never thought I'd see a lineup this stacked. Kinda overwhelming, honestly...."
No. 3: Ri Dong-hyeok.
Trained in North Korea's elite baseball system, he had real pop at the plate too. He laid off the iffy pitches, drawing a walk to first.
Bases juiced, no outs—the nightmare scenario for Hanbit.
In strode nationwide star Seok Un-gang.
"Ugh, of all people, Seok Un-gang...."
His power stat? A whopping A+.
No way you could ignore that cannon—pro-ready right now.
So catcher and coaches all rushed the mound.
"What do we do, pitch around him...?"
Even loaded, Un-gang's presence made you think twice about intentional walk and eat the run. But the manager and coaches disagreed.
"Challenge him! He's just a high schooler like you guys, good contact or not!"
"...Got it!"
Even top high school hitter, batters still make outs two-thirds of the time. Hanbit banked on that probability, but...
Crack--!!
"......!!"
Shaolin Temple's pride and Hong Kong national teamer.
Seok Un-gang was no ordinary high schooler.
The crack echoed crisp across the yard.
Ball floated high, then slammed the upper deck.
Un-gang's grand slam flipped the game.
"...Hm!"
Un-gang rarely showed emotion, but figuring this homer would boost Hassan big-time, he pumped his fist rounding the bases.
Un-gang's blast made it 4-3.
Munhyeok fans lost it over the instant counterpunch: surrender runs, then boom—grand slam reversal.
"Whoa, that power's insane!"
"Seok Un-gang, Seok Un-gang...!!"
Heard the hype nationwide, but Munhyeok fans seeing his bat live for the first time? Hooked on that first-inning moonshot, chanting his name.
"Amitabha."
Un-gang pressed hands together in thanks to the cheers, then headed to the dugout. Seong-muk and Ryu Ji greeted him.
"Damn, prime Munhyeok cleanup. We could sit this one out."
"Right? Thinking I should just hand it to Un-gang and chill low in the order."
Un-gang chuckled at their griping.
He clasped his hands and murmured low.
"I shine brightest alongside sluggers like you two. Join me from the next inning on, please."
"You got it, man."
"Missed the top air anyway. Let's mash together."
Clap!
Seong-muk and Ryu Ji gripped Un-gang's hand tight.
One homer unclogged the veins.
Now Munhyeok High called the shots.