Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Comrades Beginning to Awaken
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As Geum Seong-muk bolstered his Sun God Vein, he cleanly shut down the fourth inning, pushing the game into the top of the fifth. Stepping up to the plate was the sixth batter, Ji Su-yong.
"Alright, let's give it a go…!"
He was pumped. He loved watching top-tier pitchers unleash their wicked breaking balls, but hitting them? That was even better.
Sergei's first pitch.
A fluttering knuckleball drifted toward home plate.
Whoom!
"Strike…!!"
His bat whiffed through the air in a big miss.
"Ugh………!!"
But Ji Su-yong grinned wide.
As wide as anyone could be, beaming with pure joy.
💬 Comments — User What the hell is up with this crazy bastard lol — User He's genuinely happy lolololol — User ↳ Reply He's just given up and reached enlightenment, right? — User ↳ Reply Yeah, looks like it. He's laughing like "How the hell do you hit this?" Most users in the chat were pegging Ji Su-yong's expression as 'despair', but that couldn't have been further from the truth.
He was just reminiscing about a childhood memory.
A happy one he'd all but forgotten for years.
"Whoa, I totally forgot about this…!!"
Ji Su-yong's kindergarten days.
One day, following his mom to the countryside, he spotted a flock of butterflies fluttering over a sunflower field.
'Whoa, butterflies…!'
In his childlike excitement, Su-yong charged into the field. He hopped around amid the butterflies.
'Haha, looks like Su-yong loves butterflies.'
His parents' smiling faces quickly froze. Blessed with beastly athleticism, Su-yong adapted to the butterflies' erratic paths, snatching one with each leap.
Splat!
'Whoa, Mom, Dad! Look at this…! The butterfly's split in half!'
'S-Su-yong…!?'
While his stunned parents processed it, Su-yong tore apart nearly a dozen butterflies.
After getting a sound spanking at home and bawling his eyes out, he never did it again—but the memory stuck with him hard.
'Order in chaos, rules in irregularity….'
That sparked his love for animals and insects. Among Munhyeok High's hitters, he had the deepest grasp of unpredictable movements.
"Hoo…!!"
Sergei's second pitch.
Staring at the fluttering knuckleball, Ji Su-yong felt bliss.
"Whoa…."
Watching the ball flutter like a butterfly, he thought back to that innocent day he split them apart. He yearned to relive it. His bat carved a pristine arc, cleaner than ever.
Crack…!!
"…That's the stuff!!"
Ji Su-yong caught the devious pitch dead center on the sweet spot. The moment it connected, everyone knew: that ball was gone.
[Whoa, Ji Su-yong's hit is screaming! It's huge! HUGE…!!]
[It smashes the center-field scoreboard…!! A massive homer! Ji Su-yong pulls away with another solo shot!!]
💬 Comments — User No way insane lololololololol — User Whoa that swing was gorgeous. Just timed it and crushed it ㄷㄷㄷ — User He already had it scouted and was grinning~ ⭐ Top Comment — User ??: Ahh, your knuckleball. Was that all it had? — User I thought Munhyeok High only had one lunatic, but Ji Su-yong's got that vibe too — User Fr, first time seeing someone grin while ripping butterflies then homer The Goya Gal users were stunned. No one expected an unknown hitter to go deep off Sergei, who rarely gave up fly balls, let alone homers.
"What a homer, Ji Su-yong…!!"
"Su-yong, that was badass!!"
Seok Un-gang and Seo Kyung-su led the cheers, pounding Ji Su-yong's helmet. Geum Seong-muk gave it a light tap too—but something felt off.
"Heh heh heh……."
'What, did this guy do drugs or something?'
Ji Su-yong looked dangerously unhinged. Then a window popped up before Geum Seong-muk's eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ji Su-yong's Power rises: B+ → A] [Ji Su-yong's Eye rises: B+ → A] "Huh……!?"
Sudden stat boost.
That at-bat had been a massive turning point for the player. Geum Seong-muk was floored—he'd rarely seen this happen.
'No special circumstances or anything?'
No matter how much of a gaming vet he was, he couldn't guess Ji Su-yong had awakened a hitting skill by reminiscing about shredding butterflies.
Munhyeok High stretched their lead to 2-0 with the solo homer. Geum Seong-muk took the mound again.
Thwack...!!
"Strikeout…!!"
"Woo-hyoo…!!"
As the Sun God Vein activated, he fanned the batter and let out a roar.
The crowd roared back.
"Kaha, knew he'd yell it eventually…!"
"That's why I came, duh!!"
The fans had grown fond of Geum Seong-muk's wild personality, even starting to enjoy it.
Of course, it wasn't like he had some deep reason for skipping his 'Woo-hyoo!' till now.
'Ah shit, I forgot.'
He'd just blanked because his condition was off. Now, with the Sun God Vein fired up, he resumed. In the bottom of the fifth, he fanned every batter he faced, belatedly notching three 'Woo-hyoo!'s. Sergei looked pretty riled up watching it.
"What, Jum Seong-mukku…! Having all the fun yourself?!"
Sergei couldn't let that slide. He struck out Choi Adam and busted out a performance.
"Hup, hup, hup!"
He danced the Cossack dance, famous from Russian folklore. The reaction? Crickets.
💬 Comments — User ㄷㄷ dude has zero awareness;; — User This guy's got zero chill lolololol — User Anyone who voted for Sergei? Just drown in your plate water ㅇㅇ — User ↳ Reply That's me, grabbing water now wait a sec ㅠ.ㅠ — User Ahh, Gal Lord. So glad you're our Gal Lord…. The innings flipped quickly to the bottom of the sixth.
Trouble hit Geum Seong-muk on the mound.
Crack!
A scorcher rocketed past shortstop. Adam slid, snagged it, and tried throwing to first—but…
"Wh-what the hell?!"
The ball jammed in his glove and wouldn't budge. Adam panicked in this first-time fiasco.
[Oh! Choi Adam can't get the ball out of his glove...!!]
[Late throw, but the runner's safe at first! Kirin High gets their leadoff man on!]
[Great catch, but bad luck—the ball stuck. That's a shortstop error.]
Choi Adam had no face to show.
He raised a hand to Geum Seong-muk in apology.
"…Hey, Geum Seong-muk. Sorry, I should've handled that."
"Forget it, man. Make it up next time."
Geum Seong-muk patted Adam's shoulder and eyed the Kirin High dugout. His instincts tingled again.
'They're going aggressive here.'
Sure enough.
The next batter squared for a sac bunt.
One issue, though.
Pop!!
"Huh…!?"
The bunt popped up hard toward first base. It sailed over charging first baseman Lee Tae-kyung's head. Watching the mess, Geum Seong-muk bellowed.
"Do-jin, cover first!"
"Got it, hyung…!!"
Do Do-jin rushed to cover first and stomped the bag after grabbing it—but too late.
"Safe, safe…!!"
"Kgh…."
[Oh! Runner safe...! Errors piling up. Lee Tae-kyung rushed it a bit?]
[Yes, if he'd eased up on the charge when it popped, it was a potential double play. Freshman inexperience showing.]
"Ugh, Seong-muk sunbae. Sorry...."
"It's fine, kid. Chin up."
Pitchers aren't invincible.
Especially on days the defense lets them down.
Pop!
[Kirin High bunts again! Runners to second and third, one out!]
[They pinch-run their speedy No. 2, Tian Zufeng, to load the bases for the DP shot…!]
Crack!
[Oh, Seong Gyu-jin pops to right! Third-base runner tags! Second advances to third!!]
[2-1! Kirin High claws right back…!!]
'…Tch, can't do much about that.'
Geum Seong-muk hadn't allowed a hit.
But two defensive errors plus blatant small ball—bunts! sac flies!—made runs inevitable. Especially against contact hitters.
The announcers spotlighted Geum Seong-muk's frustrated look.
[This run's gotta sting for Geum Seong-muk.]
[Agreed. Silver lining: error runner scored, so his ERA stays at zero…!]
Normally runs inflate ERA, but errors don't count as earned. For stat-padding scouts, Geum Seong-muk—who'd game anything for pretty numbers—this was a win.
[Munhyeok High can't afford more! One out, runners on first and third: cleanup Dmitry Novik up!]
Of course, it was power bat Dmitry Novik facing him third time. No easy out now.
Geum Seong-muk toed the rubber tensely, rubbing rosin.
Then he spotted it.
Tian Zufeng fidgeting at first.
"Pangzu punk, I'll flatten that nose of yours…."
Like a dog desperate to poop, pacing back and forth. Dead set on stealing second.
'This could be free real estate…?'
Geum Seong-muk grinned wickedly.
They say the only good Chinaman is a dead Chinaman. Time to test it.