Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: A-Rank New Pitch Debuts!
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“Ooh……”
“…Impressive.”
The showdown between Seok Un-gang and Geum Seong-muk.
The watching monks let out one admiring gasp after another at Geum Seong-muk's pitching.
>Pitchers are delicate creatures whose balance can waver at the slightest disturbance.
With a massive, eerie Buddha statue looming overhead where the ball needs to be thrown, and monks lined up on either side, it's no easy feat for a pitcher to remain completely unshaken.
Even pitchers counted among the top ranks of the high school league had shown some shakes after a few pitches in this setting.
>But Geum Seong-muk was different.
He hurled the ball as casually as if this environment was second nature to him.
>“At his age, to have such an unshakeable mind… He’ll become a great pitcher one day.”
>“And even while varying his deliveries like that, his control and velocity don’t falter. What remarkable poise.”
>Around the halfway mark of the matchup, Seong-muk began mixing in variations to his pitches.
Adding delay to his leg kick, throwing off-beats with a twisted delivery, and more. For a high school league player switching techniques pitch after pitch, the execution was impressively polished.
>Un-gang appreciated that too, but his thoughts diverged slightly from the other monks’.
>‘If I were batting, I might’ve fallen for it…’
>Paang!
>‘But as a catcher, it’s a different story.’
A batter forced to square up a small ball has no choice but to dance to the pitcher’s timing games. A catcher grabbing the ball with a big mitt, however, only needs to sync up the instant the ball leaves the pitcher’s fingertips.
>“Kuh…”
By deepening the deception, he’d managed to keep his left arm hidden behind his head right up until release, and the resulting curve’s bite was formidable.
But his opponent was Seok Un-gang, and piercing that mitt proved insufficient. Pitch after pitch piled up, signaling the matchup’s end.
>“30 pitches…”
“That’s it.”
Geum Seong-muk had called out the count with every pitch, and now he’d reached the final one: thirty. The result was a total defeat.
Seok Un-gang had snatched every single one of Seong-muk’s pitches without so much as a blink. Un-gang’s assessment was succinct.
>‘A pitcher with a bright future. But not ready yet.’
Geum Seong-muk had always been a one-tool fastball pitcher.
His shoulder was healed but still recovering, so his velocity wasn’t fully back. His curve and slider were solid but nothing special—decent at best.
Compared to all the pitchers who’d come seeking him out so far, there was no real standout edge here.
He’d hoped, before heading back to Hong Kong the year he turned pro, that some extraordinary pitcher would appear to drag his heavy feet out of Shaolin Temple and grant him new enlightenment. But it didn’t look like it.
>“Man, I came just in case, but yeah, as expected.”
“Geum Seong-muk, that was a fine arsenal. You’ll surely find a catcher who suits you better than me.”
As the two exchanged those words and shook hands, a nearby monk spoke up.
>“Counting them, it seems one ball is missing. Geum Seong-muk, you still have one pitch left.”
>“Ah!”
Geum Seong-muk jolted in surprise and dashed to the basket of balls. With an “oh no” expression, he picked up the one that had fallen behind it.
>“Oops, looks like I accidentally dropped one.”
>“What will you do?”
The monk who’d first spoken stroked his chin and asked Seong-muk.
>“No need to push it. If it’s a hassle for Un-gang, we can call it here.”
>“Not at all. Rules are rules. I’ll catch it.”
Un-gang pressed his palms together, returned to position, and began donning his catcher’s gear once more. Watching him, Geum Seong-muk flashed a sly grin.
>‘Right on plan.’
He’d orchestrated every bit of this situation.
His current skill level was too lacking to bulldoze the Seok Un-gang Challenge head-on.
His shoulder was only recently recovered from the Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian, so it wasn’t at full strength yet. And the Tingly Sensor (F) for reading opponents’ weaknesses? Useless in actual baseball games.
>If straight-up power wasn’t enough,
then what was the play?
>‘Make ’em drop their guard, obviously.’
No way a monk of his stature would just shrug and say, “Eh, too much hassle anyway~” and quit.
Seok Un-gang had sized him up by now.
A pitcher with no glaring strengths.
>Right now, this was surely just a bonus pitch due to an accidental miscount.
Even the loftiest monk couldn’t help but relax at a moment like this.
>‘Time to make my entrance.’
The secret weapon installed via one-on-one crash course with Grandpa Ma Deok-su.
This was the perfect timing to unveil it.
>
>
>########
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
>About 7 days ago,
I learned a breaking ball from Grandpa Deok-su.
And I progressed at a terrifying pace.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Receiving guidance from a legend. Coaching growth rate increases dramatically.] [Legend's guidance perk: For the first coached pitch type, growth limit rises from B to A.] [Proficiency increased by 23!] “Hoh hoh, that last one was pretty decent.”
“Whoa, praise from you sounds so good—keep it coming.”
“Tch, quit yapping and throw. You brat.”
With the Pitching Yin Blocked Meridian healed, warmth flowed better into my left arm, boosting breaking ball training gains even more. Add Legend-level coaching on top, and my acquisition speed rocketed sky-high.
The result? I’d acquired an A-rank breaking ball.
Not a curve or slider, but a brand-new pitch.
>“Ahem, it’s about done. Better than my early pro days, even.”
Grandpa Deok-su, who hadn’t expected me to master it so fast, wore a faint smile. But even after completing it, I was half-doubting.
>“Grandpa, this’ll fool ’em, right?”
“Quit whining, kid. Even if I telegraph ‘Here’s the circle change~,’ they won’t snag it till they’ve seen it a bunch.”
“What if I throw it without warning?”
>“…Hoh hoh, and that catcher’s the best of your age group?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Deok-su grinned.
He turned away, snorted, and declared:
>“Even his old man couldn’t catch it.”
>
>#########
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
>“Hup…!”
Seong-muk’s right leg kicked high. Then, twisting his hips like a corkscrew, he wound up huge—as if pouring every trick he had into this one pitch.
All the short variations he’d flashed to steal Un-gang’s timing up to now were packed into this final one.
It looked utterly inefficient and chaotic, something you couldn’t sustain for more than one pitch.
But for a single toss? Different story.
>Paat-!
The ball streaked straight out.
>Drop-
The ball’s speed suddenly plummeted.
Slider? No, something was off.
It hadn’t died like that before.
That’s when it happened.
>Prrrrr----!
“…………!!”
The ball started spinning like mad.
The pitch that seemed headed for a rightward bend
>‘…Reverse spin!?’
snapped viciously the other way.
Un-gang’s eyes flew wide, his whole body snapping into motion.
>And in that instant,
the matchup ended.
>Thwump…………!!
>An alien sound echoed through the hall.
Every watching monk’s eyes bulged.
>It wasn’t the clear, crisp catch sound Un-gang always made in this hall.
This was the thud of a ball skipping off the mitt into the dirt.
>Thwump.
Thud.
Thwump…
>““………………………!!””
Everyone doubted their eyes.
>“That pitch…”
“…Circle Changeup?”
Setting aside how Seong-muk had flawlessly thrown one of the hardest breaking balls to master, the temple buzzed at Un-gang failing to catch a pitcher’s offering for the first time.
>“No way…”
“Un-gang missed a ball?”
“The Buddha’s Palm Catch pierced…?”
Even the deeply trained senior monks, unshakable in most things, couldn’t hide their shock. Only the head monk stayed calm.
>‘…A terrifying setup.’
The head monk had sensed it again before the pitch—unyielding fighting spirit from the kid.
He might’ve been the only one who foresaw this outcome.
A pitcher wasn’t just about heat or nasty break. He inwardly sensed that the bronze-skinned youth before him would one day be the world’s best.
>“…………….”
Un-gang was speechless too.
He felt ashamed.
He’d vowed to Buddha never to let his guard down against any foe, yet he had.
It wasn’t as if he’d had no chance to notice.
>‘A perfect loss.’
Un-gang scooped up the rolling ball and gripped it tight.
He acknowledged his shortcomings, but deep down, he was glad.
He’d finally met someone who could fill them.
>“I lost. Magnificent Circle Changeup.”
“You recognized it.”
“Yes. That insane reverse spin movement ranks among the best Circle Changeups I’ve seen. Worth catching as a mitt man.”
“You’ll catch my pitches from now on too?”
“Of course.”
With that, Geum Seong-muk secured his first teammate: an undisputed S-rank catcher. The two grinned and clasped hands firmly.
>Clap clap-!
Shaolin Temple monks applauded in unison.
They were truly grateful to Seong-muk for giving Un-gang a chance to see the wider world.
In truth, they’d laid this stage and supported it wholeheartedly hoping Un-gang would one day shed his stubbornness and seek new horizons outside.
>Thus, the prized prospect recruitment project ended in triumph.
>‘Alright, time to build that baseball team.’
Now for the sweet reward.