New Skill: Copy All (L)

The novel's setting was one where soccer had lost its domestic popularity due to the association's constant trolling, corruption scandals, and parachute appointments for coaches. In contrast, baseball had begun producing record-breaking rookies in international competitions, achieving results that matched their hype. Add in the debut of a legendary player's son on his father's old team, and in this story's version of South Korea, the country carried the image of a baseball powerhouse.

Out of every four or five apartment complexes, one would have its own amateur baseball field. Thanks to that, the apartment complex where I lived and the one where my father's colleague lived were right next to each other, so we ran into each other often. It was nice. People from complexes A, B, C, D, and F would gather on weekends for casual games. The losing team had to collect the baseballs or buy dinner. You could call it a social club, I guess.

'Mom even said she enjoyed playing baseball with me more than going golfing every single day.'

Ever since I joined recently, our team had been undefeated against the opponents. It helped that our side had more young blood, but still...

-Crack!

The familiar grip of the softball settled into my hand. I rolled it casually half a turn before firing a quick throw to the uncle already stationed at second base. Our team, with its former player at shortstop, smoothly caught the ball and turned a perfect double play.

"Whoa, Seojun's flying out there! You better end up with the Tigers..."

"Come on, Seojun's already playing in the middle school league. Of course he's flying around. And Seojun, don't listen to this guy. Everyone knows the best team has always been our Dragons..."

"Hey now, Seojun was born in Seoul. Obviously he should go to a Seoul team. Heroes or Devils..."

"Nonsense! You trying to ruin the kid's career? At the very least, send him to a team that's won a championship within the last five years!"

When I finished my defensive stint and returned to the dugout, they were already deciding my future team. Never mind that I hadn't even chosen a high school yet. They were assigning me to one anyway.

'The protagonist... went to the Devils, right?'

In the original story, the protagonist Lee Taehyun made his name crystal clear by destroying Haneul High during the Blue Dragon Flag, Phoenix Flag, and Presidential Cup tournaments. Because of that, they exceptionally skipped the local territorial first pick—who was supposed to be Haneul High's captain at the time—and selected Lee Taehyun as the number one overall pick instead. Since the territorial pick and main draft first pick were handled together, they still managed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to grab the Haneul High captain in the immediate main draft that followed. But that captain must have been pretty upset.

Along with Lee Taehyun's growth, his rival also grew to the very end and eventually followed him to the majors, but...

Anyway, if I went to Haneul High... I'd inevitably have to meet that guy. I'd hoped to debut in high school a year ahead of Lee Taehyun, but since Kim Sihu—who would later become Haneul High's captain and was the son of a high-ranking GL Group executive—was already on Haneul Middle School's third-year roster, it was confirmed that I was the same age as Lee Taehyun.

In that case, it made sense to transfer to either the school Lee Taehyun or Kim Sihu would attend, or simply to a school with a baseball team that had the highest chance of competing in the major tournaments.

'But in the Seoul region, which schools even make it to the Blue Dragon Flag...'

Seoul had a huge population, so it also had plenty of seeds. Which meant what? It would be hard to secure a starting position against the opponents the protagonist would face steadily in the weekend leagues.

'Personally, I'd like to go to the school with that nice kid.'

Well, I'd find out once some time passed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and entrance exams began.

"Seojun! It's our turn to bat!"

"Ah, coming."

For now, I'd focus on finishing today's game—the one that would decide who bought the dinner.

...

...

...

'...His level is higher than I expected.'

Sixty-seven miles per hour... that was roughly 107 kilometers. He even had a skill I didn't possess yet.

'Experience, huh... That's a perfect skill for a closer.'

"Is that Seojun?"

"Ah, hello, sir."

"If you come to the Oceans later, I'll make it easy for you."

'Yeah, right.'

Looking at the pitcher in front of me, those eyes definitely didn't look like they were going easy.

-Thump!

"St-rike!"

'Amateur baseball has such a wide strike zone. What a pain.'

If this were pro ball, that would've been a ball for sure.

"Alright! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's catch this middle school prospect today and eat happily!"

The uncle raised the mood by tossing the ball back to the opposing pitcher.

Okay, let's assess the situation. It was the top of the sixth, score still 0-0. A muddy, even battle. Since amateur games only went six innings, this was the last chance. There were two outs. My dad was standing on base.

'With Dad's baserunning, he won't score from here in one go.'

I needed to hit an extra-base hit that cleared the outfielder's head.

-Thump!

"Strike two!"

"You're being careful, but... if you just stand there, you'll end up with a called third strike, you know?"

'He's walked me on four pitches every time until now.'

The next batter was the start of our team's leadoff hitters—a contact-oriented lineup. In this situation where a single could be lethal, it seemed he'd decided to challenge me directly.

'.......Hoo.'

The feeling of my spikes digging into the dirt. My breathing was steady, my vision clearer than ever. The pitcher in front of me seemed to be throwing with full power toward the strike zone.

'Slow.'

-CRAAAAACK!

I hit it with ridiculous ease. The baseball flew with a sound like it might split apart, and the outfielder chased after it, but... no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up to one that cleared the fence.

"Sir, beef sounds good today."

"Ugh... My wife's gonna kill me. Seojun, I don't mind spending money on meat for our next Oceans player... but tell your dad to take it easy, okay?"

'I keep telling you it's not decided yet.'

It was a clean two-run homer.

...

...

...

Bottom of the sixth.

"Whoa, Seojun's coming out to pitch again? Does he think he's Kim Sung-han or something?"

'Ah, Ohtani hasn't debuted yet in this world.'

Before Ohtani, the famous two-way player in Korea was Kim Sung-han. In this world, it seemed he went by Kim Sung-hoon.

"Hoo!"

-Thwack.

I gripped the softball simply and began light warm-up throws with Dad, who was wearing the catcher's mask. Since I'd discovered this talent late, I needed to leave room to grow on the pitching side too... If things went well, I might be able to play both ways like Ohtani.

"Oh, now that I think about it..."

When I reached out and fiddled with the air, the people around me gave me slightly strange looks, but when I said it was just my routine, they all understood.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Of course I'm using it now."

When I pressed the button labeled YES, a glowing golden roulette wheel began to spin.

-Spin spin spin...

'A gacha ticket is an item that randomly changes three skills on a character card. Low-grade cards only have one skill, so using the ticket won't increase the number of skills, but... wait a second. I don't even have a single skill right now...'

'It won't just do nothing, right?'

"Thank goodness."

At that moment, the roulette began spinning rapidly. An alarm sounded as the needle stopped on one spot.

"Huh?"

This was a skill I'd never seen even in the game.