VS Seoul High [1]

The notice at the beginning of the novel stated that all schools and character names appearing in this work are fictional, and any events that occur within the schools in the story are purely imaginary incidents that do not happen in reality.

'An exhibition game already?'

"The time is right after class tomorrow. If anyone can't make it, raise your hand now. We'll call up a replacement from the second string immediately."

The starters answered with a silence that clearly meant yes. Well, it was an exhibition game starting right at the beginning of the new semester. It made sense that their first thought would be how to impress the coach.

'.......Ahem. I was supposed to watch anime today.'

Unfortunately, it looked like I'd be getting home pretty late that day.

"We'll keep the game simple and play only up to six innings."

"Coach, who's the opponent?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that."

Coach Kim scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly and pulled up a screen displaying one school's logo.

"The high school we'll be facing is... Seoul High. They were the champions of both the first and second halves of last year's Seoul B Division Weekend League."

"Seoul High, huh... You picked a pretty strong opponent."

"Is Seoul High that strong?"

When I asked out of sudden curiosity, Heo Kangmin kindly began to explain.

"Well... yeah, they are. Their number one starter is a pitcher who's heavily favored to go in the first round of this year's draft. And I've been hearing for a while that their batting lineup can go toe-to-toe with ours. So they're definitely not an easy opponent."

One overwhelming left-handed ace supported by a powerhouse batting lineup... This was basically...

'Just a budget version of Haneul High?'

By his third year, Kim Sihu would grow into an incredibly powerful left-handed fireballer. Even though Yang Uijin, the top high school catcher prospect, would graduate... their supporting lineup would still be formidable.

"Kim Sihu will start against Seoul High. The lineup stays the same... Lee Seojun, you might come in around the fifth or sixth inning, so prepare well."

"Yes, sir."

Once the meeting ended and I was about to head home, Kim Sihu stopped me. It was to hand over the equipment he'd promised.

"Here. I specially included two gloves—one for pitching and one for the outfield."

"Whoa."

I examined the gear Kim Sihu gave me. There was a white-based outfield glove with black lacing, and a black-based pitching glove with clean white lacing. Plus the black-and-gold bat I'd brought him before, and another bat with my name engraved in silver on a black base. And a huge bag that could hold all of it.

'Oh.'

He'd had my uniform number and name engraved on every single piece of equipment?

'This might actually be a little touching.'

"I wanted to say it's a custom bat optimized for you based on data... but there was already a bat ordered by a player with physical specs similar to yours. We just repainted it in your colors."

"Thanks. It feels great."

I gripped the bat and twisted it around. It had a solid, hefty weight, yet the grip was perfect and didn't interfere with my bat control at all.

'Even at the worst, this should easily clear three or four hundred...?'

No matter how I thought about it, the reward for that bet was ridiculously generous. The glove I'd been using before was so broken in that the leather was about to fall apart, and my old bat was reaching the point where it would snap any day. To receive all this at the perfect timing...

"If the bat breaks, just call or text this number. We'll send you a new one right away."

"...?"

"Well, thanks to you, my path forward seems a bit clearer, so consider it a gift. Even if it's from someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I don't get along with, I was taught to repay both favors and grudges twice over."

Wow. All that swearing I threw at him back then got me this insane reward?

"In return, when you go to the national tournament later, make sure our brand shows up nicely on camera and put on a good show. If you want to sign an official sponsorship deal, you can call this number."

'Ah, so it was advertising money after all?'

Normally when a player gets sponsored, they receive both the product and cash... but for my current situation, this was actually better. Instead of being forced to switch gear for an ad, they were giving me equipment that was already perfectly optimized for me, completely free. It was good enough that I didn't even need to ask for extra advertising fees.

"By the way, this glove is already nicely broken in?"

I'd expected a brand-new glove to feel stiff, but the grip was surprisingly comfortable and easy to handle. There was no way a ball would slip out of it.

"Yeah. It's GL Group's leather conditioning technology. Pretty impressive, right?"

With my new gear in hand, I immediately headed to the mound to test it out... but it looked like the seniors were already doing batting practice.

"Uijin-hyung, can I shag some balls from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outfield?"

"Oh, if that's the case, I guess I'll have to hit some absolute trash balls your way?"

'This crazy bastard?'

When I got to the outfield, Lee Surin and Jeong Jiman were already there, apparently having come out for defensive drills. The only third-year outfielder, Lee Hyunbin, was over there feeding balls to Yang Uijin.

"Alright, Hyunbin-hyung! Give me a good one!"

"Haha, you're always so bright and insane."

Yang Uijin crushed the ball Hyunbin threw from the mound. The ball shot off at incredible speed.

"Whoa, that's gotta be a home run...?"

-Thud thud thud...!!

'That one... I can get it.'

I accelerated quickly, like a supercar racing across the outfield. At first glance it looked like a home run that would clear the fence... but according to the trajectory line, it was well within my reach.

Which meant...

"Got it?"

The moment I leaped into the air, I could tell the reactions around me were far from ordinary.

'Can't look surprised here.'

I stepped off the fence for an extra boost, soaring even higher, and snatched the would-be home run ball right out of the air. Only then did I get the reaction I'd been hoping for.

-Thwack!

"He actually caught that? That crazy bastard!"

"Whoa, Seojun's defense is insane today!"

I rolled lightly as I landed to avoid injury. Yang Uijin looked utterly shocked. The other two outfielders who had been watching also seemed a bit stunned by my jump, which honestly felt pretty good.

After that, whether the other outfielders were impressed by my defense or just didn't like Yang Uijin very much...

"Wow, that's the first time Uijin's batting practice has been completely shut down since his first year."

"Aaaaaaaaagh! My record!"

Yang Uijin failed to record a single hit during batting practice. To be precise, about twenty of them had been stolen right in front of him... but that wasn't really my problem, so whatever! Nice!

After practice, I was in the middle of being called over by Epinel every day for tiny adjustments to my pitching and hitting form when...

-Vrrrrrrrrrr...!

'Oh, it's today.'

An old-school bus with Seoul High written on it passed through Haneul High's front gate and pulled into the parking lot.

"Ugh, what the hell is this hill?"

"These kids must hate coming to school if the escalator breaks."

"A dome stadium really is nice. You can play no matter how cold, rainy, or hot it gets. Should we ask them to build one for us too?"

"We're graduating next year anyway, you idiot."

Watching the Seoul High baseball team stride out confidently in their uniforms...

'.....They're here. My experience point shuttle.'

I was apparently drooling at the sight.

...

...

"Hey, Kim Taehwan. Long time no see."

"You been well? Still mad about us stealing the Presidential Cup from you last year?"

".........Just play the damn game."

Lasers looked ready to shoot out of both coaches' eyes.

"Are your pitchers still completely insane?"

"No, you'll find out soon enough if you face them. This year's freshmen... we've got a 'monster.' A really scary one."

"Haha! If Kim Taehwan is talking like that, I guess I should be nervous?"

After the two coaches finished their tense handshake... since the starting pitcher was already decided, we headed straight to the mound and stared down the Seoul High players.

'Too bad. If I were in the batter's box, I could freely copy all the Seoul High kids' skills.'

Watching Park Donghwan step up to the plate from the outfield, the first exhibition game began.

'A copy ticket, huh...'

I guess it meant I should watch the Seoul High players' skills and copy the most useful one.

Kim Sihu was on the mound. The moment he threw the ball with a confident expression...

-Crack!

Park Donghwan pulled Kim Sihu's pitch and sent a screaming line drive that raced toward the fence at blinding speed. An ordinary outfielder would lose track of the ball's direction, panic, and drop it. That was true—this was a ball even a pro might have trouble catching.

Park Donghwan, knowing that, was already sprinting hard toward first base, but...

'My defense is already Gold Glove level.'

There it was—the bright blue line clearly showing exactly where the ball would land.

"Hup!"

-Thwack!

The sight of me leaping backward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and snatching the ball at the last possible second left Park Donghwan frozen in place on first base, staring at me in disbelief.