First Meeting? Ceremony

Before the group draw ceremony began, a teaser video promoting the Blue Dragon Flag tournament started playing.

—Some grand, epic background music

"Pfft—!"

"Hey, don't laugh!"

Right from the start, it showed the second- and third-years, including Yang Uijin and Heo Kangmin, dramatically entering while holding the trophy that only the Blue Dragon Flag champions could lift.

Everyone else looked fine, but...

"Puhahaha!"

"Damn it—!"

It seemed like Heo Kangmin and Yang Uijin hadn't managed their expressions very well and came off looking a bit silly... which caused the Haneul High players to completely lose it.

"Oh, there's Seoul High too." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ "What's that school over there?"

"Ah, that one had its baseball team shut down three or four years ago after the players got into some major trouble. Looks like the new freshmen revived the team and made it to the Blue Dragon Flag with a second or third-place seeding in their group. They're probably here to ride the hype."

"So Ryu Eunseong really went back to Daeji High after saying he wouldn't..."

'Oh, so Coach Kim and Coach Ryu Eunseong already knew each other?'

After that, graphic symbols representing various schools appeared one after another. The iron horse symbolizing Seoul High clashed with the white hawk representing Haneul High, while symbols for other schools' animals popped up too.

The tiger for Daeji High, the blue wildcat, the lion—there were so many. Once the heart-stirring teaser finally ended, the broadcast crew for the Blue Dragon Flag, all dressed in sharp black suits, slowly walked out onto the stage.

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

After that, the map of South Korea appeared with different colored regions, from Seoul A (where Haneul High belonged) all the way to the Busan region that included Busan High. The schools seeded 1 through 4 in each group were listed out.

'Wait, Daeji High is a 2-seed?'

In the original story, after the final 4-seed deciding match, Lee Taehyun had barely advanced as the 4-seed by shutting down the opponent's batter, Kang Mun-ho, in the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and third. After an infield fly, the next batter hit into a double play, and he somehow held them to no runs with runners still on first and third.

'Did their lineup suddenly awaken or something?'

At any rate, it looked like they couldn't overcome the absence of Na Hyunsu. Munhwi High had failed to advance as the 4-seed. Thanks to that, Taechan High had made it to the Blue Dragon Flag for the first time since founding their baseball team. We should congratulate them.

Busan High seemed to be suffering a serious collapse of their pitching staff, just as expected. Unlike the past when they always took the top seed, they were showing clear signs of decline. If a good pitcher didn't enroll next year, they might end up just like the second coming of Munhwi High.

"Then we'll begin the draw ceremony!"

The colored balls inside the four differently colored containers for each seed began spinning round and round.

'Ugh... Please let us get an easy school. Pleeeease...'

As the number one seed, the schools we could possibly face were every 4-seed except for Taechan High from our own Seoul A region.

Whether by cruel fate or not, the first number one seed ball drawn was Seoul High. And the 4-seed ball that came out for them was Taechan High.

'Oof, that's rough.'

Of all the number one seeds, they had to draw one of the toughest teams. Looked like Taechan High's miracle run ended here.

As the chaotic group draw ceremony slowly wound down, the ball with Haneul High's name finally appeared.

And their opponent was...

"Huh?"

"Seojun, didn't you say you went to Present Middle?"

It was Present High School—the same school that all the teammates I'd played with during middle school had advanced to.

...

...

...

Since Haneul High had a higher seed, the round of 64 would be played at our home field. Daeji High was scheduled to face Yacheong High, the 3-seed from the Busan region. I couldn't really remember much about that school, so they should be able to win comfortably and advance.

If both teams kept winning through the round of 64, we were projected to meet Daeji High in the semifinals. Assuming neither side lost, the final would likely be against Seoul High.

'Still... Present High, huh.'

Honestly, I didn't have many clear memories of that school. More precisely, my memories of my first and second years as a player there were pretty hazy.

At least no bad memories came to mind, so there probably weren't any problems like Na Hyunsu at Present High.

'It's all kind of vague...'

I opened the middle school graduation album photo saved deep in my gallery. There was a picture of me with the team. It was the one taken after we finished third in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠middle school league, with all the first through third-years smiling brightly. I was in it too.

I remembered this moment. After my transmigration, the Present Middle players had been considerate enough to take this commemorative third-place photo for me since I couldn't go to the hospital to take it.

'Looking back at the short time I was there after recovering from the injury...'

It didn't seem like there had been any bullying...

If anything, I'd received more attention than I deserved.

If I said I was thirsty, they'd bring me water right away. They helped with my rehab training and even trained with me. The seniors said a patient needed to eat a lot, so after class they'd take me out for all-you-can-eat samgyeopsal.

Minsu-hyung was probably still attending Present High.

He seemed to have watched the game footage and was even worried about the trouble with Na Hyunsu.

'What the hell? We were actually on good terms with Present High.'

In that case... I could just go, play the game safely, and come back.

While I was there, I could have a touching reunion with the guys too.

...

...

...

"Lee Seojun! A little faster!"

"Yes sir!"

—Beep!

[3.81]

"Wow, that's insane."

"What'd it say?"

"3.81. That's almost at the level of pro player Lee Dae-hyung."

I continued doing speed training to first base, defensive approach drills, and pitching practice back-to-back.

Even if three healthy players split the workload, the schedule was brutal enough to make someone pass out. Thanks to the durability increase and reduced stamina consumption from Iron Arm (H), I was able to keep going while maintaining peak condition and sharpening my senses. And just like that, the Blue Dragon Flag round of 64 had arrived.

We'd only play back-to-back games in the first week for the round of 64 and 32. After that, games would be held every Saturday, so a five-week journey was beginning.

"Ah, Seojun!"

After finishing training and showering, I was just about to leave the locker room to head home when Epinel appeared. She wasn't wearing her usual gym clothes but a pair of jeans and a white off-shoulder shirt.

"Epinel, where are you going today?"

She was dressed up so nicely. I couldn't help but wonder where she was headed.

"Um... well, if you have time tonight... do you want to get dinner together?"

'Doesn't look like the school cafeteria.'

Judging by her outfit, it seemed like she was suggesting we eat at a restaurant outside of school.

"Sure, let's do it."

I'd told her I wouldn't accept it, but the prize money I'd received as Weekend League MVP was pretty substantial.

I'd tried to give it to my parents, but they refused, saying it was the first money their son had ever earned and they absolutely wouldn't take it. So for now, the check card my parents had given me—along with the allowance they'd told me to save—was sitting safely in my wallet.

Though since the account was technically in my parents' names, it was basically like I'd just deposited money into their card.

Anyway, I should probably pay for dinner tonight.

"By the way, do you already have somewhere in mind?"

"Um, there's one place... Would it be okay if my parents came too?"

'......?'

"My parents really want to meet you..."

Ah, so that's what this was about.

Epinel had already briefly greeted my parents. The reason my allowance had suddenly increased recently was because my parents kept telling her to take me out for good food and dates. Even though we were only first-years in high school, they were giving us 90,000 won a week.

With that money, I'd bought Bitcoin back in middle school—back when it still hadn't exploded in value.

It was still around 1,400 won per coin at the time, so I'd bought about a hundred of them. That came out to roughly 140,000 won.

'I should sell the Bitcoin once it hits 20 million won.'

Wait, how did the conversation suddenly turn to Bitcoin?

Anyway, I hadn't met Epinel's parents even once despite the semester almost being over. To be exact, I'd wanted to meet them, but Epinel had kept blocking me.

While I was thinking about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our future combined assets, Epinel and I arrived in front of a fancy restaurant in Gangnam.

"Oh, so you're Lee Seojun!"

"Honey, you're going to scare the boy."

I finally met Epinel's mother, who looked exactly like her, and her father standing beside her.