Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Hey, You're the Challenger Now
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"Phew."
A no-hit no-run situation that only he himself was unaware of.
Seong-muk continued to unleash his powerful pitches.
But even if he'd successfully dominated the opponents up to the previous inning with his masterful pitch sequencing, a battle of attrition like this was all about stats—you couldn't win every time. And to top it off, the batter facing him now was one of the top contact hitters even among Seoul-area sluggers.
Crack!
A deep fly ball soaring toward center field.
The moment they saw the ball, Seong-muk and the rest of the team all sensed it instinctively.
'Damn, that's extra bases...!'
Ji Su-yong chased after the ball with everything he had.
But his defensive skills were still below average.
So no one had high hopes for him... but then...
"Uwoooooh...!!!"
Ji Su-yong charged with a roar and dove for the ball.
All eyes in the stadium focused on him as he rolled across the ground from the impact.
"Heh heh, big bros!! I got it...!"
The kid beamed as he raised his glove triumphantly.
The stadium erupted in cheers at the incredible fine play from Ji Su-yong, whom everyone had pegged as a defensive liability.
"Nice play, Ji Su-yong...!!"
"I thought for sure you'd miss it. Sorry, man..."
"Eek...!?!"
Seong-muk flashed a thumbs-up toward center field.
But the defense wasn't done yet. The next batter was Geumgang High's cleanup hitter, 4th in the order, Jo Hwi-gyeol.
Crack!!
A liner streaking like a clothesline toward the shortstop line. It looked certain to thread the gap in left-center, but someone leaped into its path.
"Hrah...!!"
Thwack!
[Oh, shortstop Choi Adam! He snatches a hit with an insane jumping catch!!]
[Jo Hwi-gyeol must be gutted...]
The 5th batter, Lee Seong-un, made a choice no one saw coming.
'No no-hit. Not a no-hitter!'
He couldn't be the sacrificial lamb for some no-name high school.
A record like that would haunt him forever.
With that in mind, Lee Seong-un broke an unwritten rule.
He bunted in the middle of a no-hit bid.
Thump!
[Oh man, Lee Seong-un with a safety bunt! Geum Seong-muk flinches—he clearly didn't see it coming!]
[Bunting during a no-hitter goes against the unwritten rules! That's gotta be why. Whoa, third base...?!]
Unlike Seong-muk, who froze for a split second, a shadow bolted from third like a bullet.
"Got it?"
Whoosh!
Ryu Ji scooped up the ball barehanded and fired a running throw to first.
As all eyes locked on, the umpire's hand shot up.
"Out...!!"
Lee Seong-un failed to advance and trudged back to the dugout, disappointment etched on his face.
It had been a close call that nearly let a runner on.
Thanks to Ryu Ji, Seong-muk escaped the jam and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Hey, nice play."
"Heh, no biggie."
Jeers began rippling through the stadium.
"Boo, that's bush league."
"They don't think they could get the same treatment?"
Geumgang High's pitcher Jang Tae-san was also working on a no-hitter. There was no guarantee Munhyeok High wouldn't pull the same trick.
"Uh...!"
Lee Seong-un realized his mistake too late and sheepishly apologized to Jang Tae-san.
"Sorry, Tae-san. I just thought I had to do whatever it took to stay alive..."
"Forget it. Your mistake gets diluted if we win here. Just focus on defense."
"Y-yeah...!!"
After consoling Lee Seong-un, Jang Tae-san climbed the mound with a steely expression. Facing him was Munhyeok's leadoff hitter for the inning, #2 Do Do-jin, who hadn't reached base all game.
'Honestly, I'm still not confident.'
Do-jin, who'd done a thorough self-assessment.
Making solid contact off Jang Tae-san didn't look easy.
'He's at 68 pitches now.'
Do-jin had Do-yeon's scouting report memorized too. Jang Tae-san's curve would start showing up around 80 pitches. He still had at least 12 balls to go.
'...I'm the setup man.'
Do-jin shelved his ambitions for a hit.
He resolved to run up the pitch count as much as possible for the heavy hitters behind him. Thus began his grueling battle of attrition with Jang Tae-san.
Crack!
"Foul!"
Thwack!
"Ball!"
He'd cut at anything near the zone and lay off the big misses. Do-jin repeated this simple strategy. All to help the monster cleanup trio score off this pitcher.
'Cleanup's probably facing him for the last time this inning. So I'll hang in there even longer.'
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!!
Fouls.
And more fouls.
It dragged even the stone-faced Jang Tae-san into a grimace. But in the end, Jang Tae-san prevailed.
Crack!
[Caught by third! Throw to first! Do Do-jin is out at first.]
[What a battle. Too bad.]
Do-jin ultimately went down on a grounder to short. He gave Seong-muk a bitter look as he walked back from the plate.
"Hyung, sorry. I was aiming to get on base."
"Nah, that was perfect. You did your job 100%."
"...Hyung."
"Leave the rest to me, kid."
Seong-muk patted Do-jin's shoulder reassuringly.
No more hesitation now.
This at-bat, probably his last of the game.
Seong-muk murmured softly.
"Switch."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Sun God Vein stat changes have been reset! Power stat enhanced: B+ → A! Power stat enhanced: A → A+! Contact stat enhanced: B → B+! Seong-muk thought to himself.
This was the moment to crush Jang Tae-san.
'Thanks to Do-jin running up the count, his curve's coming sooner than expected.'
Jang Tae-san was at 76 pitches now.
A few more, and the one chink in his otherwise unbreakable armor would show. To win, he had to attack relentlessly. Jang Tae-san's first pitch came in.
Thwack!!
"Strike...!!"
A 155 km/h fastball right down the middle.
Bold choice. Seong-muk whistled and knocked the dirt off his cleats with the bat. Back in the box.
Thwack!
"Ball...!!"
Then a fastball and splitter off the plate.
Count: 2-1.
The battery stuck with velocity again.
Crack!
"Tch..."
A mishit foul into the back screen.
Seong-muk winced at the sting vibrating up the bat.
Count: 2-2.
What would the battery go to now? Seong-muk's answer was simple.
'Just see what they throw and react.'
Jang Tae-san lifted his leg high.
His right arm whipped like a lash.
And then Seong-muk saw it.
His shoulder opening early, for real.
'...Curve, come on.'
The curve dropped sharply from an insane height. Eye level to chest, chest to belt.
But Seong-muk's bat flowed like water. Eye level to chest, chest to belt, and—
Crack—!!
From the dirt to the sky.
The ball rocketed away.
[Oh, Geum Seong-muk! It's deep! Deeeep...!!]
Seong-muk had already tossed his bat.
The ball soared higher and higher.
The center fielder gave chase but soon hung his head.
Thud!!
It caromed off the scoreboard and dropped back into the field. No doubt about it—a homer.
[It's gone!! Geum Seong-muk shatters the deadlock of dueling no-hitters with a go-ahead solo shot!! Munhyeok leads 1-0!]
[He called his shot on that curve...! Incredible. Geum Seong-muk is owning this game single-handedly!!]
Munhyeok's dugout and the stands went berserk at the solo homer that demolished Jang Tae-san's no-no.
"Woooaaah...!!!"
"Damn, Geum Seong-muk, you're insane...!!"
Geum Seong-muk's bat had utterly crushed the historic bid.
No one had predicted Munhyeok would be the first to break the stalemate.
Led by Noah, the Munhyeok fans chanted Seong-muk's name fervently.
"Geum Seong-muk! Geum Seong-muk! Geum Seong-muk!!"
Amid the roaring cheers, Seong-muk circled the bases quietly. He replayed the swing in his head and let out a sigh of relief.
'...Good thing it came over the plate.'
No matter how nasty the pitch, one in the zone eventually gets hit. If that curve had dropped below, even Seong-muk would've struggled.
But that's hindsight.
He was the winner this at-bat.
After touching home, he approached Seok Un-gang and Ryu Ji waiting there and shared crucial intel.
"Confirmed. Shoulder opens early right after 80 pitches."
"For real...?!"
"Oho, message received."
Seok Un-gang clasped his hands; Ryu Ji stroked his chin. Seong-muk returned to the dugout amid cheers, unworried about the next two.
'They've got Heavenly Hitting Bodies, after all.'
Crack!!
A crisp hit echoed through the stadium.
Cleanup hitter #4 Seok Un-gang crushed a curve over the right-field wall. Back-to-back homers after the no-no shattered.
"...Tch."
Jang Tae-san's composure cracked—he'd stayed cool after Seong-muk's but now glanced at the dugout, pleading for a hook. The manager shook his head. He'd ride Jang Tae-san to the end.
'No one else on the staff matches Tae-san.'
The two runs stung, but they were already in the books.
He wasn't ignoring Takahina or Ryu Ji's power, but that big fly early was off his nastiest pitch, the splitter.
Best to put it behind them. Finish the inning, and the lineup turns over to the bottom.
But that was a fatal miscalculation. A man on the verge of bloodshot eyes waited in the on-deck circle.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Name: Takahina Ryu Ji Nationality: Japan Age: 19 Height: 189cm Team: Munhyeok High School Skill: Dragon Blood (S+)
>When destructive instinct surges, Power stat rises dramatically. ⚡ Power: A+ → S (*S+) 💨 Contact: B (*A+) ✨ Speed: B 💪 Eye: A (*S) 🍀 Defense: A (*A+) 🛡️ Shoulder: A+ (*S) Batting: RHB / LHH His base A+ Power had jumped to S. The meaning was clear.
'Ryu Ji's Dragon Blood has activated.'
His earlier outs had ignited his destructive urges. Ryu Ji licked his lips with gleaming eyes.
"Hey, catcher buddy."
"...What?"
"You know what 'bon appétit' is in Japanese?"
"No clue."
That was normal—no one would bother learning Japanese when Korean was the world's #2 language. Why learn some foreign tongue when foreigners flocked to Korean anyway?
But Ryu Ji shattered that notion.
"Tch! Thinking Japanese is inferior to Korean is colonialist nonsense, buddy. If you don't know, learn it."
"......??"
"Listen up. The answer is—"
"...?"
But Ryu Ji clamped his mouth shut and said no more. The catcher felt oddly irritated.
'So what's the answer?'
Jo Hwi-gyeol had fallen for the mind game. He got his answer after Jang Tae-san's fourth pitch.
Shoulder opening early, curveball incoming. Ryu Ji grinned wickedly and swung.
"The answer is—"
"Itadakimasu."
Crack!!
".........!!"
[Oh, Takahina! He crushes it! Carrying deep!!]
Another towering fly.
The liner screamed forward at breakneck speed—so low-angled it seemed it'd hit the wall, but—
Thwack—!
It cleared the fence at that trajectory. A line-drive homer. Takahina Ryu Ji's signature power debuted on the pro stage.
[Gone! Munhyeok's back-to-back-to-back! The international cleanup trio pounds Geumgang High!]
[What is happening?! The untouchable ace with a sub-1 ERA, Jang Tae-san, is crumbling!!]
Munhyeok's dugout was in a frenzy, drunk on dopamine. Ryu Ji rounded the bases to chants of his name, flashing a grin at catcher Jo Hwi-gyeol.
"Ryu Ji's Japanese Classroom: Class dismissed!"
"........."
'This guy's nuts too...' Jo Hwi-gyeol thought.
His thirst quenched by the homer, Ryu Ji beamed his way back to the dugout. First to greet him: Geum Seong-muk.
"Nice one, Seong-muk. Thanks to you, I got one."
"Grateful? Then go deep next time I start too."
"Ooh, already counting on Game 4?"
"Obviously, man. We're winning Sejong Cup."
"Pfft...! True that!"
Munhyeok was smashing expectations today.
They'd thrashed the national ace Jang Tae-san with three straight homers, while their no-name pitcher Geum Seong-muk chased a no-hitter.
As the game entered its final act, Munhyeok were no longer the challengers.
Now, powerhouse Geumgang High were.
Who would emerge victorious from this reversal?
The game headed to its climax.