Blue Dragon Flag Round of 64: Current High [2]
"Out!"
"Whoa, if I hadn't caught that ball just now, I would've been dead meat."
The third batter sent a lazy fly ball straight at me. It was an easy catch without even needing to move, so I stayed put and snagged it cleanly.
Am I gonna get chewed out?
Hey, I got us two outs. He wouldn't rip into me that hard…
"Don't overdo it. I know you want to make flashy plays, but one error can let a run score, and that single run can decide the whole game…"
Oof.
More than a light scolding, my ears were getting absolutely roasted.
"If you heard me, grab your bat and get out there."
"Yes, sir."
I quickly gathered my gear and headed out, where Current High's catcher and pitcher were already waiting.
"Good work."
"Yeah."
Stepping into the batter's box, I took a slow breath and fixed my eyes on the opposing pitcher.
Whoosh!
"Stee-rike!"
[138 km/h]
Hmm… I guess the average velocity at Haneul High and the other schools we've faced so far was just ridiculously high.
I'd noticed it during the Weekend League too, but high school pitchers generally sat in the mid-130s to low-140s. The occasional guys who touched 150 or even 160 got slapped with titles like "once-in-a-generation prospect," became first-round draft picks, or jumped straight to the majors only to smash into the wall of international competition and come crawling back broken. In the original world, the only player who went straight to MLB and actually succeeded was BK, right? Even the commentator Kim Sunwoo, who was once a promising pitcher, had only flashed briefly in the majors.
The majors were a brutal place. Even a pitcher good enough to throw a shutout at Coors Field—the nightmare of every pitcher—would get sent straight to the minors if he couldn't keep proving his value. If a raw talent still needing time in the KBL got lured by scouts' whispers and jumped to America to face already-polished players, what would happen? They'd get crushed, obviously. Their flashy high school highlight reel would vanish, and even if they returned to the KBL in tatters, regulations would keep them from playing.
Going straight to the majors… honestly, it's a little scary.
The safest route was probably getting posting eligibility through the KBL first. Heroes was famous for fast-tracking talented players to the majors, so maybe aiming to get drafted by them was the move…
Well, there's the international tournament too… Maybe I should test the waters there first?
In the original world, MLB players avoided international events because of injury risk. But in this world, the prestige of international tournaments was sky-high. A WBC or Premier12 championship ring was valued more than a World Series ring. Naturally, even major leaguers had to join.
I'll use that world tournament to test my limits.
If my talent held up there, going straight to America was fine. If not, I'd just rack up more skills in the KBL and try again.
Whoosh!
"Ball three!"
While lost in thought, the count had reached full. The pitcher looked completely drained from facing me and seemed ready to just walk me.
Does he not know about the last game against Moonhwi High?
If I got on base, that would be a huge problem for them. I glanced sideways and saw the catcher frantically exchanging signs with the pitcher.
Even if I run, I doubt this catcher can throw me out.
I was the guy who posted a 98% success rate stealing against Yang Uijin. A Current High catcher wasn't going to stop me.
Whoosh!
"Ball four!"
"Tch."
I trotted down to first base.
...
"Man, everyone's way too focused on me."
I was thinking about stealing, but instead of throwing to the second batter, Heo Kangmin, they kept firing pickoff attempts at me.
"Just deal with it. After what you pulled in the Weekend League, every pitcher in the country's gonna do the same."
While I was joking around with first baseman Minsoo hyung, the pitcher's blue helmet flashed toward the catcher's mitt.
No throw this time…!
"Is that so?"
Matching Minsoo hyung's words, I feinted back to first, then exploded toward second. The pitcher and catcher had clearly read the steal—the catcher was already out of his crouch, setting up for a pitchout—but…
So, can you actually throw me out?
The catcher fired to second. The second baseman caught it.
"Safe!"
My hand was already on the bag.
Tap tap!
Almost got me.
My first step had been a little messy, costing me maybe two-tenths of a second, but I'd still made it in cleanly.
Alright, the possibilities just multiplied.
Runner on second, nobody out. Heo Kangmin could bunt to move me to third for a sacrifice fly, or he could drive a long ball so I could score from second. Or we could take a walk and load the bases. The battery seemed to sense the danger too—they'd already thrown three straight balls to Heo Kangmin.
Whoa, he looks super frustrated.
He wanted to swing, but the pitches kept missing his zone. Still, Heo Kangmin's hitting wasn't at a level where he could turn borderline balls twenty centimeters off the plate into hits. How were you supposed to hit an obvious ball anyway? It wasn't like he was doing a frog bunt.
Crack!
This time they finally threw a strike. Heo Kangmin's eyes lit up as he ripped a hard swing…
"Out!"
Perfect, now's my chance.
The ball was caught right in front of the warning track. I immediately took off for third, turning it into a runner-on-third, one-out situation.
Crack!
Right on cue, Yang Uijin laced a short single over the second baseman's head. I jogged home without any trouble.
[Current High] : [Haneul High] 0 1
The lead was already starting to stretch.
...
Huh, they're even streaming this game?
Ain's stream had been hovering around twenty thousand viewers, but during the baseball broadcast the numbers spiked to forty-five thousand. Unlike the paid pro baseball and soccer streams on Tving, Ain was broadcasting the Blue Dragon Flag tournament for free on her own platform. Basically just a virtual scoreboard overlay.
"Oh, the trolls are here."
The usual illegal betting spam that infested every sports stream.
... (the same spam flooded the chat repeatedly) ...
The illegal gambling accounts were getting banned one after another. Viewers started piling on with mockery…
".....I really shouldn't get into gambling."
Anyway, Ain handled the situation like a pro, cleaning up the trolls and restoring order before continuing the broadcast.
"Lee Seojun, let's go play defense."
"Yeah!"
Still can't forget that incident.
Back when the Lions dynasty collapsed because several key players got caught up in a gambling scandal and suffered a miraculous upset loss to the Bears… Gambling was lethal for athletes. Thinking about it, gambling was just plain harmful to life in general. I swore once again that I'd never touch it as I stepped onto the mound.