Weekend League Round 6, Munhwi High [3]
".......Overwhelming."
"No kidding. That's Haneul High at full strength.... They're probably sitting at the absolute peak among all high schools right now."
From the Munhwi High bleachers, the Daeji High baseball team—including Park Minhu—watched the game unfold. Most schools without a match today had come to scout these two teams, the ones most likely to fight for the national championship. Naturally, since it was Munhwi High's home field, the players' parents had gathered in droves as well......
"Oh my, isn't that Minhu?"
Among them was Na Hyunsu's mother.
Since there was nothing to gain by telling his Daeji High teammates about this, Park Minhu had moved to the Munhwi High cheering section and was forced to listen to Na Hyunsu's parents brag about their son.
"So our Hyunsu made it to the round of 16 last year, and this time a Bears scout even...... Oh my, after the injury I thought he'd given up on his dream.... but it looks like he joined a baseball team?"
"Yes, he's with the Daeji High baseball club."
"Well, it's good he joined a team at least."
Na Hyunsu's parents adjusted their glasses and checked records about Daeji High on their smartphones.
"Thank you."
"Daeji High, huh.... Before those incidents happened, it was prestigious enough that we considered sending our Hyunsu there. Hmm.... If Munhwi High doesn't produce good results... Ah, by any chance, if our Hyunsu transfers there next year, could you put in a good word for him...."
Park Minhu hated this situation. The way Na Hyunsu's parents, blinded by a bit of success, could so casually talk about transferring to another school. In fact, he suspected that the reason Na Hyunsu had become a tyrant in the Munhwi High baseball club was largely because of this woman.
"By the way, that kid really seems to have a terrible personality. He injured our Hyunsu's hand and didn't even apologize before just walking away?!"
The anxiety felt like Na Hyunsu was standing right in front of him, spewing venom. Park Minhu's old trauma began to surge. The way Na Hyunsu had pretended to tag him before slamming full force into his leg......
-THUD!
"Ughhhhhh......!"
"Hyun-Hyunsu!!"
And then Lee Seojun and Na Hyunsu collided violently at home plate. Na Hyunsu lay there unable to get up, just like Park Minhu had back then. Lee Seojun was clearly mouthing harsh words at him.
Then in the bottom of the first, Lee Seojun took the mound and used an underhand pitching form he'd never shown before to completely shut down Munhwi High's 1-2-3 batters in a flawless inning.
As he walked back to the dugout, their eyes met.
'See? It's nothing special, right?'
".........!"
"That little bastard! He injures someone else's son and then laughs about it?!"
Even though Park Minhu—the very person Na Hyunsu had crippled—was sitting right there, Na Hyunsu's parents shrieked as if they were the victims.
But their words didn't reach Park Minhu's ears. Because it seemed Lee Seojun had deliberately caused that collision with Na Hyunsu just to deliver that one message to him.
"Well then, I'll be going now. My friends are waiting."
"Oh, uh... sure."
As he spoke, Park Minhu looked at his teammates—including Lee Taehyun standing before him. At that moment, his legs began to feel just a little lighter.
......
......
'I've set up the trigger. Whether he overcomes it or not is up to Park Minhu now.... Guess I should focus on the game.'
After giving Park Minhu those words of encouragement and sitting back down, Coach Kim immediately signaled that it was already his turn to bat. The lineup had come around again—in just the second inning.
The ninth batter, Moon Kyung-ho or whatever his name was, had drawn a walk after a stubborn battle at the plate. As Lee Seojun stepped into the batter's box, Na Hyunsu—who had been waiting for him—didn't start running his mouth.
"Oh? Did you put a muzzle on or something?"
"......."
'Hmm.... Just as expected.'
A blue line was heading straight for his face.
Should I test how far Iron Arm (H) can reinforce my body? With that thought in mind, he'd already stuffed plenty of padding inside his helmet.
-CRACK!
The helmet flew off with a powerful impact sound.
'......Did it hit?'
He hadn't even felt the ball make contact. Wait, maybe he had a concussion..... but apparently not. When he gently pinched his cheek, it hurt just a little, which meant he really hadn't taken any significant damage.....
That pitch had to have been over 140 km/h, yet there was no pain at all.... It was truly amazing. Iron Arm, I love you.
'Ah, I should calm things down over there first.'
In an instant, both dugouts froze over as if a fight could break out at any moment.
"Don't come out."
He quickly raised a hand to stop anyone from leaving the dugout, preventing a bench-clearing brawl, then checked the expression of the pitcher who'd hit him in the head.
'Hmm..... Looks like it's not Na Hyunsu behind the plate?'
The kid's face had gone completely pale. He probably hadn't expected Lee Seojun to lean into a pitch he should have avoided. If Na Hyunsu had been the pitcher, he wouldn't have worried about Lee Seojun's safety..... he'd just be furious that he'd been ejected.
Deliberately taking one for the team—if he could force the opposing starter out in the second inning, that was a huge win. Na Hyunsu seemed to have noticed him deliberately moving his head into the path of the ball; his expression had changed to one of staring at a monster..... But Lee Seojun had come out with the cheap bat the school provided, anticipating the hit-by-pitch. The bat Kim Sihu gave him was expensive, so if he was going to do a bat flip, it had to be with a cheap one.
-KWAANG!
He hurled the bat hard toward Munhwi High's dugout. Of course, aiming directly at the dugout would get him ejected, so he made sure it was only in that general direction. But it was still powerful enough to plant the fear that it could have hit someone.
"Throw it like that again. But if you can't take me out with it.... the one who dies next is you."
Out of the umpire's earshot, he scratched at Na Hyunsu's nerves just enough before jogging to first base. Normally it was good manners to jog slowly to first, but Lee Seojun walked at his usual leisurely pace. Since he'd been hit in the head, the umpire only told him to hurry a little and didn't impose any further penalties.
The Munhwi High pitcher was immediately ejected for the headshot. Whether they had given up on the game or not, a player who looked like he belonged in their closer role slowly climbed the mound.
-CRACK!
The next batter, senior Lee Yuta, hit a fly ball that was sadly caught at the edge of the third-base fence. But Moon Kyung-ho, who had been on second, reached third with quick feet—not quite as fast as Lee Seojun, but fast enough.
'Ah, this is getting fun.'
If things went like this......
'Second base is wide open again.'
He took an enormous lead. So big it looked like he could steal second at any moment. He was deliberately irritating Na Hyunsu, who had already had second and third stolen from him in the first inning.
The left-handed Munhwi pitcher was clearly bothered by such a large lead......
-WHOOSH!
"Safe!"
No matter how many pickoff throws he made, since Lee Seojun could see the blue line coming, there was no reason to fall for such obvious moves.
'Should I go? Or not?'
He made exaggerated movements as if he were about to sprint to second at any second, scratching the opposing pitcher's mentality. In pro terms, it was called "Mahwang behavior." A broken high school pitcher couldn't possibly maintain his composure against mental attacks strong enough to shake even pros.
-BANG!
"Run! Run!"
The opposing pitcher threw a wild pitch that hit Na Hyunsu right in the face. Moon Kyung-ho, who had been on third, came home. Of course, Lee Seojun didn't run to second.
-WHOOSH!
"Safe!"
-WHOOSH!
"Safe!"
Twice in a row. After the wild pitch had already shattered the pitcher's mentality, Lee Seojun personally delivered the finishing blow.
"Too easy."
Yang Uijin pulled a pitch that came right down the middle for a two-run homer. The score stretched to 8-0.
Haneul High : Munhwi High 8 0
......
......
"Seojun, what form this time?"
"This time..... I'll go with my usual. I need to crank up the velocity a bit."
In the second inning, Lee Seojun's pitching form was three-quarters. At the moment, it was the delivery that let him reach his maximum velocity. While overhand could theoretically produce the highest speed, since he hadn't practiced every form equally, three-quarters still gave him a slightly higher peak velocity.
The batter stepping in was Na Hyunsu.
'He's got Blocking (R) but his defense is only 62?'
What the hell? That skill should raise defensive ability..... yet he's still stuck at 62? And he's a starter, a second-year, and the only catcher on the bench?!
'He can't even use Jealousy (which slightly boosts all stats when there's another player at the same position) because he's the only catcher.'
A bug who was so consumed by selfishness that he couldn't even use the few skills he had. That was Lee Seojun's evaluation of Na Hyunsu as a batter.
'So, what should I do?'
Yang Uijin's sign was pointing to the inside of the plate, clearly intending to get revenge for the headshot earlier. If Lee Seojun's fastball slammed directly into Na Hyunsu's head, that would be the end of his playing career.
'But if I do that, Park Minhu can never become the national team second baseman.'
He'd thought about it for a while. He wasn't some saintly sponsor for the protagonist's party, nor did he have enough sense of justice to personally resolve the bad blood between Park Minhu and Na Hyunsu.
"Time."
When he called time to the umpire, Yang Uijin took off his catcher's mask and slowly walked out.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I'm only throwing fastballs down the middle to Na Hyunsu."
If the fact that he was looked down on so much that the pitcher would only throw straight fastballs down the middle—and that Na Hyunsu couldn't even hit those—was broadcast live, what would happen?
Rather than having his body destroyed, the ending of being known as 'a batter so pathetic that the pitcher only throws him fastballs down the middle, yet still can't hit them' suited Na Hyunsu much better.
-THUD!
[155km/h]
"St-rike!"
-CRACK!
[154km/h]
"Foul!"
-CRACK!
[152km/h]
"Fou....."
"........!"
It only took three pitches for Na Hyunsu to realize Lee Seojun's intention and glare at him with murderous eyes.
'Hmm.... Shall I get him ejected now?'
To generate between 2800 and nearly 3000 RPM, he gripped the ball with a normal four-seam fastball grip instead of the strong, claw-like grip Oh Seung-hwan used. Of course, even this grip produced decent RPM. Still, it would have slightly less spin than the 'rising fastball' he'd been throwing so far, so it wouldn't fly in like a clothesline.
And without hiding the grip in his glove..... he showed Na Hyunsu his four-seam grip as if saying, 'I'm about to throw a four-seamer.'
Na Hyunsu didn't fall for the provocation this time and stared at him calmly..... but his hands were still gripping the bat with full strength.
No windup needed. He simply pulled his arm back like a trigger, then used his body's flexibility to throw like he was hurling a spear.
-WHOOSH!
Na Hyunsu's bat, which had been perfectly lined up with the previous straight pitches, couldn't even touch this one.
"Strike three, batter out!"
Na Hyunsu swung so hard he couldn't control the momentum and fell over comically. Watching him, Lee Seojun felt what could only be described as a rush of dopamine.
"Nice."
It was a clean strikeout.