One Ball, One Soul
The notification popped up right as I opened the chapter. It seemed the author had some urgent things to say.
(MUST READ!!!)
If you're confused by the sudden shift in tone from the previous chapter, please know that the last upload was a revised version that filled in the missing parts from chapter 20. I recommend rereading chapter 21 before continuing with this one.
For more details, please check the full notice.
Separately from the already posted chapter 21, this is a double update as an apology for the inconvenience some readers may have felt due to yesterday's unfortunate incident. I hope you chew on it, savor it, and enjoy every bite.
I will do my best to ensure nothing like this happens again.
(There's not much the author can actually do... but I'll try my hardest.)
Choi Dong-il : NO.11
Teams: Korea Electric Power Baseball Club, LT Oceans, SS Lions, HA Falcons
Iron Arm (H)
Meister (L)
Rising Fastball (H)
Legend (H)
One ball, one soul. Pour your entire spirit into every single pitch. That is the fate and destiny of an ace. You must say, "Let's give it a go" and stake your life on every ball.
Greatly reduces the rate of stamina consumption. As stamina decreases, pitching power, velocity, control, and strikeout probability increase dramatically.
Significantly increases arm durability. Injury probability is greatly reduced.
Greatly increases pitching power and control stats. Additionally raises the opponent's whiff rate.
Significantly increases fastball movement and strikeout probability.
The figure before you is data recorded at the peak of this player's prime.
.....Holy shit.
A legendary player who once dominated an entire era. Faced with Choi Dong-il's appearance, I couldn't even form a single word. Most of his stats were over 100—the realm of major league elites. And his stamina... 118. The highest number I'd ever seen.
With stats like these... winning four games in the Korean Series wouldn't even be considered overwork. He could probably do it like it was just another day at the office.
Staring at this unprecedented status window that defied all common sense, Choi Dong-il approached me with a rough, crooked smile.
"Ah, can you not see yourself, Senior Choi Dong-il?"
He already knows.
It seemed that anyone possessing the Legend (H) skill had no other abilities beyond manifesting the peak form of the historical player who inspired the History skill. This felt like one of those encounters where he'd deliver a simple message to the person who would inherit Iron Arm (H) and then vanish forever.
Choi Dong-il's Request
📍 Objective: Show your best 100 pitches!
📊 Progress: (0/100)
🎁 Reward: None
❌ Failure Penalty: The History-grade skill Iron Arm (H) will be permanently lost and can never be obtained or copied again.
Oh my god, what the hell.
The penalty for failure was brutally harsh. Before I could even collect my thoughts, I was already standing on the mound.
"....Alright. Let's do this."
I gripped the ball so tightly it felt like the seams might burst. The pressure of throwing in front of a legend was immense. I couldn't show anything sloppy. I started warming up my body properly.
"Hup—!"
[152km/h]
"Huuup—!"
[154km/h]
"Haaap—!"
[157km/h]
After that, I threw about twenty fastballs, then twenty of each of my current pitches—fastball, two-seam, slider, curve, and changeup.
"Thanks to teachers like you, player rights and a lot of other things have improved. Those kinds of things barely happen anymore. These days, even a little bit of school violence on your record can get you kicked off the national team or expelled."
-Whoosh!
When Choi Dong-il clapped once, my view suddenly switched to the batter's box. He was now standing on the mound, wearing a different uniform from the current Oceans one—a blue base with orange stripes and only the LT logo. A massive flag with his number 11 fluttering brilliantly behind Sajik Stadium seemed to amplify his overwhelming presence even further.
-CRACK!
[163km/h]
".............."
I couldn't even swing the bat. The joy of seeing Choi Dong-il's pitching form—which I'd only ever watched in videos—with my own eyes, the thrill of facing such a pitcher, and the overwhelming excitement all hit me at once.
-Whoosh!
The trajectory... suddenly changed?
I'd definitely swung according to the trajectory the Professor (L) skill had shown me. But Choi Dong-il's curve broke even sharper, leaving me looking ridiculous as I whiffed.
Yet I didn't feel the slightest bit ashamed. If anything, I hated that my fall had given him an extra moment to throw another pitch.
Can I even hit that? Those insane pitches?
Balls with such overwhelming power. Even if you knew where they were going, you simply couldn't touch them. That's what a true unhittable pitch felt like.
Five at-bats, five strikeouts. Until the very last strikeout, I couldn't lay a finger on a single pitch.
"Yes. Let's give it a go."
Apparently pleased that I'd echoed his famous line, Choi Dong-il began his windup.
-Crack!
Yes! I made contact...!
It was just an ordinary ground ball, but... at least I'd managed to touch that waterfall-like curveball.
The trajectory was impossible to predict... probably because my defensive stats couldn't keep up with his pitching power stat.
The Professor (L) skill scaled with defensive ability. Which meant that if the opposing pitcher was a monster, the blue trajectory lines were nothing but a distracting nuisance.
Still... if I dig lower than the predicted path, I can respond to some degree.
-Crack!
I'd swung thinking it was a curve, but it must have been a changeup because my timing was completely off. This time the ball flew into foul territory.
Choi Dong-il's second pitch came immediately.
High fastball...!
My gut told me this was a ball, but—
-BOOM!
[165km/h]
Now there was only one strike left until I was out.
Now!
I swung the bat with everything I had. It didn't matter if I missed. It didn't matter if I looked ridiculous falling over. The legends had fallen far more times than I had, and they'd gotten back up every single time.
Unlike other players, I'm the one walking around covered in all these system skills. I can't afford to fall to a trial like this...!!
-CRAAAAACK!
".....Did it go out?!"
Even when you're at a huge disadvantage, the fact that you can still pry open a path to victory is what makes baseball so fun. Unlike soccer or basketball, in baseball it's not impossible for the last-place team to beat the first-place team. Which meant that even someone like me could hit one of Choi Dong-il's pitches.
But the gap in level was simply too vast. The ball soaring through the sky... unfortunately didn't clear the fence and fell weakly. However—
"........!"
At that moment, a strong wind blew in from behind. It gently pushed the weakly falling ball, and it barely managed to clear the wall of Sajik Stadium.
......I did it!
I might never be able to do it again if I tried. In fact, I probably wouldn't have cleared that pitch in my entire life. But... I had cleared it. Choi Dong-il's waterfall curveball.
"Thank you so much. I feel like I've learned an incredible amount."
After those words, Choi Dong-il slowly transformed into a brilliant blue light brighter than the sun and gradually faded away...
"Yes. I'll definitely remember."
Before I knew it, my view had changed from Sajik Stadium to the interior of the Choi Dong-il Museum.
...
"Where the hell did you go?"
"Nice to see you too, Jihun."
Judging by Oh Jihun's appearance, it looked like he'd gone with Lee Yuta to explore Busan Station and all the nearby attractions.
"Oh, there was a hotel right in front of Busan Station. The price was about the same as a regular PC bang."
"Oh, for real?"
"Yeah. They even had a screen baseball setup, so I went and took some swings with Yuta-hyung. What about you?"
When Oh Jihun saw the blue uniform-shaped keyring with the number 11 hanging from my bag, he seemed to figure out exactly where I'd been.
"Ah, the Choi Dong-il Museum?"
"Yeah. It was the most valuable stop of this entire Busan trip."
It really had been an incredibly rewarding museum visit.