Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Golden Sun Fails to Control His Strength
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Munhyeok High had successfully turned the game around with a single home run from Seok Un-gang. From that point on, everything started falling into place for them.
>Whiff!!
>
>"Strike three... out!!"
>
With the tension eased, Hassan began to show his true colors. He turned Hanbit High's batters into scarecrows, putting on a strikeout clinic.
>♪ ♫ ♬~
>
In sync, the strikeout theme song blared from Munhyeok High's side.
With the cheerleaders' choreography added in, the Hanbit High fans felt an odd surge of irritation, but with their batters whiffing one after another, all they could do was twiddle their thumbs.
And just like that, the game entered the fifth inning.
Stepping up to the plate was Ji Su-yong.
The manager considered telling him to hold back his skills too, but in the end, he let it be.
'Asking Su-yong to do that would just mess up his hitting balance for no reason...'
For contact hitters like Choi Adam or Do Do-jin, it was actually better if the opponents paid them extra attention, so he left them alone. Seok Un-gang was already famous, so there was no point hiding him—he just told him to keep doing his thing.
They tried to hide the power hitters' strength, but more importantly, they couldn't let it affect future games. If it might cause issues later, it was better to let them swing freely now, just like this.
Crack!
"Ooooh...!!"
Another massive hit exploded.
Gasps erupted from the stands.
>Thwack!
>
Ji Su-yong's two-run homer widened the gap even further.
The score was now 8-3.
"Whoa, this is the stuff...!!"
Ji Su-yong pumped his fist as he rounded the bases.
He waved to the crowd with a big grin before heading back to the dugout, but...
"........"
"......."
His teammates were utterly silent.
All of them deep in meditation.
"Uh...?"
They were supposed to warmly celebrate his first home run. Wondering if something was wrong, he milled around, but his teammates kept avoiding his gaze, staring blankly at the field.
"Um..."
"………."
"Sniff, brothers, friends... I hit a home run..."
Ji Su-yong fidgeted and looked around anxiously.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Tch..."
"Knew Su-yong would pull something like this."
His pitiful, crumpled expression stirred sympathy in the onlookers. In the end, the team decided to end the indifference ceremony. Seong-muk stood up as the representative and tapped his helmet.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
"You punk, hitting a homer and crying about it."
"Uh, Seong-muk hyung...?"
Ji Su-yong's face lit up. Was he finally getting his celebration? But Seong-muk just flashed a devilish grin.
"Yeah, you really want our celebration, huh."
Crack!
The players cracked their knuckles loudly. Ji Su-yong sensed something was off.
"Benefactor Ji Su-yong, how could I sit idly by on a day like this?"
"Man, you should've said so earlier. We could've celebrated properly!"
"H-Hyungs...!?"
Led by Munhyeok High's cleanup trio, the players slowly gathered around Ji Su-yong. The celebration he'd been hoping for was finally here.
"Congrats, you punk...!!"
Thud thud thud!!
"Hyungs, wait a sec, gahhh...!!!"
A barrage of blows rained down on his helmet from his teammates. Ji Su-yong got more celebration than he'd bargained for—way more.
With the harmonious festivities over, Munhyeok High shifted back to defense.
Crack!
"Out...!"
The batter grounded out for the third out. Hassan, riding high, wrapped up the inning quickly.
"Hassan, nice pitching. You little rascal."
"Ah, Seong-muk hyung! Thank you...!"
Seong-muk patted Hassan's back with his mitt, looking pleased, then returned to the dugout.
Now it was Munhyeok High's turn to bat again.
The eighth spot in the lineup, Takahina Ryuji, stepped up.
"...Ah, this is boring~."
Following the manager's orders, he was thoroughly hiding his power. Back when they were down in the first, he'd thought about swinging for real, but with Seok Un-gang and the others exploding on their own, there was no need.
And what he was intentionally hiding in this game wasn't just his power.
Whoosh!
"Whoa~!"
"Strike...!"
Ryuji's bat whiffed big time.
A swing at a pitch way off the plate.
Hanbit High might think he had poor plate discipline, but reality was different.
Ryuji was concealing his greatest asset right now: his eyes.
In other words, even his excellent eye was hidden. Swinging wildly at pitches well off the plate was part of that intent. Of course, he wasn't just flailing carelessly.
"Here goes."
Crack!
Then he crisply met a sinking pitch in the zone. It dropped right in front of center for a hit.
The opposing battery seemed disappointed, thinking he'd gotten lucky on a sinking ball.
'You guys shouldn't be the ones disappointed.'
For a power hitter like Ryuji, getting a single off such a junk pitch was something they should be thankful for. Of course, Hanbit High wouldn't realize that.
The ninth batter, Seong-muk, stepped up. His line for the day: 1-for-1 with a walk. His concept today was the sneaky contact hitter.
'Hiding power is one thing, but I can't let my average tank!'
Call it petty stat-padding if you want.
Getting drafted in the first round was one of his goals, so stat management was crucial. Seong-muk wasn't about to waste a chance to pad stats against a weak team.
'Just gotta hide the power, right?'
The Solar Deity Meridian skill was overkill here, not even activating its first stage against such weak pitching. He gripped the bat short and focused on hits.
That's what he planned this time too.
So he just pushed an inside fastball lightly.
That was all.
Crack...!!
"...Huh?"
The ball flew off too well.
It rocketed deep.
Seong-muk started running, dumbfounded.
'...Why is this flying so far!?'
He didn't want to get marked as a threat and dissected. Especially after grinding his concept up to the previous at-bat—it'd be infuriating if it went out.
"Argh, come on!"
Did his desperation work?
A strong headwind blew in, slowing the ball a bit.
>Thwack!
>
It hit the bottom of the fence and caromed high. The center fielder chasing it lost track entirely.
"Huff, haa...!"
Seong-muk had just reached second.
He had no idea where the ball was.
He was just following Do Do-jin's signals from third, where he was acting as baserunner coach. The signal was 'Run to third!'
'Run...?'
It wasn't that kind of hit, but realizing something was off in the defense, Seong-muk accelerated toward third without slowing.
'Okay, triple...!'
Seong-muk neared third, and Do-jin quickly assessed. Center was just cocking to throw. With Seong-muk's speed for his size, it was doable.
"Hyung, go for it!!"
'Again...!?'
Any further and it was home.
That seemed too much.
Seong-muk wanted to hit the brakes, but Do-jin had high baseball IQ—he wouldn't call it lightly.
'Screw it...!'
So he dashed for home.
As Seong-muk had about 10% left to go, the ball reached the catcher.
"Outta the way, punk...!!"
"……!"
The catcher flinched at Seong-muk's roaring charge. He barreled in like he was about to bulldoze him, but...
Swoosh!
It was a fake.
He dropped low and slid headfirst. The catcher tried a late tag, but Seong-muk slipped his glove and slapped the plate.
"Safe, safe...!!"
Cheers exploded from the dugout and stands at the safe call. Seong-muk had circled all the bases without clearing the fence for an inside-the-park homer—his first official homer of the season.
"Sneaky bastard, stealing a homer all by himself."
"Tch, didn't see that coming."
Slap!
Seong-muk high-fived Ryuji, who'd arrived home first, then returned to a hero's welcome in the dugout. He was thrilled but conflicted.
'I was trying to stay low-key.'
It wasn't a standard homer, so maybe it wouldn't flag him for analysis, but on paper, it was still a homer. Who knew how Geumgang High would see it.
'Whatever, it's already hit.'
Seong-muk sprawled in the dugout, letting it be. His ground-rule homer added two more runs, making it 10-3. The game had tilted completely toward Munhyeok High. Turning it around wouldn't be easy.
Munhyeok kept tacking on runs steadily, and while Hanbit scored off Park Chan-jun in the eighth, it wasn't enough to shift the momentum.
Crack!
"Okay, first!"
Do Do-jin fielded a grounder toward second and fired to first.
The final out clinched the game.
Final score: 14-5.
Munhyeok High notched a satisfying win and advanced to the next round.
"Everyone, good work...! Sniff!"
"Sniff, boo... Coach..."
Hanbit High's coach and players shed tears of regret. They'd have to wait a full year for another shot at the tournament.
It was brutal how one loss ended their season, but with baseball's massive popularity in Korea, it was unavoidable with so many schools competing.
"Yo, good work."
"Nice play!"
In stark contrast, Munhyeok High was in full party mode.
The players exchanged high-fives, celebrating their first tournament win.
The fans were just as thrilled.
Hassan's fiery meltdown in the first had them on edge, but the offense poured in refreshing runs like soda, blowing open their hearts.
And the cheerleaders' spirited support was the perfect garnish.
"The cheerleaders were hot today, especially the pink-haired one."
"She's a second-year in dance. Cute, and her moves had real flow."
The male fans' eagerness to return was entirely thanks to them. But Munhyeok High had another reason to savor the victory.
"Mm, right on plan! Seong-muk."
"Yeah, Coach."
"If you hadn't hit that homer."
"...Ahem."
An unexpected fly ball aside, they'd won while hiding some power. Geumgang High had no clue Ryuji was a homer threat, Ri Dong-hyeok's real job was pitching, or that Geum Seong-muk was an ace.
Come game day, they'd face a lineup nothing like expected. By the time they realized they'd been sucker-punched, it'd be too late—they'd already be reeling.
'Alright, time to hunt a giant.'
Down with Geumgang High!
Tough as nails, no doubt.
But winnable.
Munhyeok High's eyes were now fixed on their next-round powerhouse foe.