The Catcher's Mask
Right after class ended, it seemed Kim Sihu and his group hadn't left immediately. "Hmm, what's with that? Grinning like a kid who's about to cause trouble."
"Nah, I'm just resting." 'Hmm... how exactly did that episode go again?' If I'd had the novel on hand, I could've reread the original plotline. 'Well, I know the basic outline at least.'
[Haneul High 2nd Team vs. Daeji High Episode]
First, Lee Taehyun and Kang Ayul enroll at Daeji High. Second, the Daeji High baseball team collapses due to school violence issues, so they gather players with prior experience, but most turn them down. Third, after getting crushed in a practice match against the principal and soccer team—who wanted to disband the baseball club anyway—the sight of Lee Taehyun pushing through to the end moves the players who were watching, and they join up, pulling off a miraculous comeback victory. Fourth, the ten-man Daeji High baseball team then clashes with Haneul High's 2nd team. Fifth, in that practice game, they're getting hammered so badly that people are already calling it a mercy rule situation when one player takes a dead ball from Kim Sihu and goes down injured. Sixth, a former player who happens to be passing by—can't quite remember the name—steps in as a substitute. Seventh, Daeji High's reputation skyrockets after that. Players who had given up on baseball and resigned themselves to reality start showing up, filling out the depth of the Daeji High roster. Finally, hearing that Haneul High's 2nd team lost, Ryu Eunseong—the former coach who led Daeji High to their last Presidential Cup championship—takes over as the new head coach. That's the simple sequence of events marking the start of the Daeji High baseball team and the lead-up to the Weekend League episodes.
Also, since the Daeji High baseball team doesn't have the same arts-and-sports consideration schedule we do, they have to head to the batting cages the 2nd team uses right after regular high school classes end. 'Ugh... sorry, 1st team.' Haneul High's home field, Sky Stadium, might've worked if there were two of them. Unfortunately, there's only one, so the 2nd team has no space to practice. They have to use nearby batting cages, and if another school's kids suddenly take over the spot... well, they're already not starters, so they'd probably have plenty of pent-up complaints. 'Honestly, Lee Taehyun and the Daeji High kids are the ones in the wrong here, but...'
It's not really a batting cage so much as an empty baseball field they're renting by the hour. Thanks to the protagonist's plot armor, the guy running the place had already accepted the Haneul High baseball team's reservation, which is how this whole mess with the Daeji High group started. "Alright, better to head over early and wait." "Yeah, let's go, Sihu. Those guys... we're gonna teach them a lesson!" Sensing a game might break out, Kim Sihu leads the entire 2nd team toward the batting cages where Lee Taehyun is supposed to be practicing. "Seojun?" Epinel, who had rushed to the baseball club the moment class ended, looked at me as I watched Kim Sihu leave. "Epinel, wanna go somewhere with me?" "Sure, training today too... huh?" Since I had free dismissal, I could just make up an excuse about not feeling well. Epinel, being the manager, didn't have to participate in training anyway. Together, we took the bus toward the baseball field where the incident was about to happen... or rather, the batting cages converted from an empty field. But they weren't actually playing a game at the batting cages. 'The real game will be at the Daeji High baseball field anyway.' Might as well head there first and wait. So Epinel and I chatted about our day as we slowly made our way to Daeji High.
... ... ...
"Huh? Seojun, this is Daeji High." "Yeah, I figured something interesting might happen here." "Daeji High... I thought their baseball team got disbanded two or three years ago because of player misconduct and visits to entertainment districts... Wait, they're registered for this Weekend League roster?" "Yeah, I personally thought their pitcher would be worth analyzing, so I brought you along." "Hmm... I thought we were just going to hang out... Guess not..." 'That's not "a little" disappointed. That's very disappointed.' Epinel's cheeks puffed up as the lights came on, and she wouldn't even look at me. In times like this, I had the perfect strategy—learned from watching my dad survive every mess he caused (breaking plates, coming home drunk from company dinners) while my mom somehow never killed him. "We'll go to the baseball field to hang out later. Let's just relax and enjoy ourselves then." As I said that and hugged her from behind, she seemed to calm down a bit. Her puffed-up cheeks returned to normal. 'Thanks, Dad.' Probably wouldn't have worked if it weren't Epinel... but since it did, thanks anyway. "Well, if you're saying that, he must be an incredibly talented player. Shall we go take a look?" The facilities hadn't been upgraded yet, so we opened the slightly rundown baseball field's gate and slowly made our way toward the stands... "Eh?" Epinel let out a small, incredulous laugh. "Hmm... This is a lot different from what I expected." Haneul High : Daeji High 18 0 It was only the top of the first inning... That was a bit much, wasn't it? There was a girl in the stands wiping her tears with a handkerchief. I couldn't see her face clearly yet, but it had to be Kang Ayul—Lee Taehyun's childhood friend and the heroine who gets discarded later (or not). "Taehyun, what do we do...!" "Excuse me, is there a problem?" If things ended like this, no one would come to join after watching this game. 'Ah, the substitute thing is a bit awkward.' I was planning to just watch anyway. ... ... ... "Oh my, so much has happened..." "If they lose this badly, Taehyun might be fine, but... the other kids will all quit the baseball team. We worked so hard to gather them!" These were kids who had already hit a wall with baseball and given up on their dreams. Getting crushed one-sidedly by Haneul High's 2nd team—not even the starters—would be like pouring ice water on the tiny flame they'd just managed to spark.
-Thud!
"Aaaagh!" "Jaeho!" At that moment, a catcher whose name I didn't know failed to catch Lee Taehyun's fastball and collapsed, clutching his hand. 'Hmm, that one had some extra heat on it.' It must've been tough for a student who had quit baseball to catch 140 km/h pitches. Lee Taehyun had been holding back on purpose, which was why the score gap was so large... but this pitch looked like an accident with too much power behind it. "Epinel, I'll be right back. I pretty much heard what happened." "W-wait! He's not even a former player, and he's trying to catch Taehyun's pitches... Wait, that's...?!" Kang Ayul finally noticed my bag. I was already sprinting toward the Daeji High dugout... "Sorry, Taehyun. If only I were a little better..." "No, I'm the one who's sorry... If I'd just thrown a little softer..." -Click! "Hey, you know that's pretty rude to say to a catcher, right?" 'Haa...' "I've never seen you before. Who are you?" 'Ah, I really didn't want to do this.' "Ah, I'm Lee Seojun. I can play catcher too, by the way." How did I end up putting on the catcher's mask?
... ... ...
"Hey, can we even continue the game like this?" "J-just wait a little longer!" "If there's no catcher, we'll give you one run and call it a win!" Without a catcher, the game couldn't continue, and the Haneul High 2nd team threatened that without one, it would be treated as a forfeit and they shouldn't bother coming back to the batting cages. Kang Ayul called out from the stands, asking them to wait just a bit. "Seojun, you can play catcher too?" "Of course!" After reassuring Epinel, who had followed me into the dugout, I took a quick stance in the bullpen. 'I had my own form originally, but...' Yang Uijin's form had been better than expected. I'd just have to copy it properly. "Alright, just name two pitches you're confident in." As I said that and settled into the catcher's position, Lee Taehyun answered with his specialties—four-seam fastball and slider, just as expected. '...Now that I think about it, this is like Sun Dong-yeol vs. Choi Dong-won.' In this world, they're called Sun Dong-yeol and Choi Dong-il, but I'm the one who inherited Choi Dong-il's Iron Arm (H) skill... and Lee Taehyun has the Bomber (H) skill that symbolizes Sun Dong-yeol.
Skills:Bomber (H) (Locked) / Genius (H) (Locked) / Captain (H) (Locked)
'Even looking at it again, this guy's insane.' How does he have three history skills even while locked? Even as the protagonist, those abilities are ridiculous. "I can throw four-seam, slider, curve, changeup, and forkball." "Oh, that's more than I expected... Ah, don't hold back on my account. Throw at full power." "....." Lee Taehyun stared at me with an expression that said, How did you know I was holding back? But there wasn't much time left. He began his windup right away. <Professor (L)>The ball's trajectory and landing point are displayed as solid lines proportional to defensive ability. 'As expected, it works even when playing catcher.' If I could see the trajectory, I'd become the kind of crazy person who could catch a knuckleball barehanded. After cleanly receiving Lee Taehyun's fifth pitch packed with full power, I confidently took the catcher's mitt from the extra and headed up to the mound. 'Hmm... I wonder if I can avoid getting recognized.' I wanted to keep things low-key if possible... "You're Lee Seojun?!" "Ah, was it that obvious?" I even wore casual clothes instead of the Haneul High uniform to avoid standing out, but getting recognized in one second was a bit much...