The Monsters Strike Back
We'd held them off in the first inning, so I figured we'd keep it going through the second and into the planned third. But then—
CRACK!
Lee Taekgeun, the cleanup hitter, ripped a double. Jung Seonghun followed with a walk, and during the at-bat, Lee Taekgeun advanced to third on a wild pitch. Even though Yang Uijin was considered one of the best catchers in high school, he was still only a sophomore. There was no way he could handle pitches that even pro catchers struggled to frame when they sailed way outside the zone.
After that, Seo Dongwook and the rest of the lineup started spraying hits everywhere. Three runs scored in the blink of an eye. That was the full story behind the "Aww, Sihu, three runs? Seriously?" incident.
"Anyone in the bullpen warmed up?"
"Uh, Woojin says he's ready!"
"Then send Woojin up first!"
"Yes, sir!"
Manager Kim Taehwan grabbed a ball and headed for the mound, clearly signaling a pitching change.
["Ah, Haneul High's Manager Kim Taehwan is coming out with the ball...."]
["Yes, Jung Woojin is now taking the mound. As a current member of Haneul High's bullpen, he's expected to bring a different kind of threat compared to Kim Sihu!"]
The bullpen was in chaos. The real problem wasn't just that Kim Sihu, who was supposed to eat at least three innings, had suddenly gotten lit up. The bigger issue was that everyone had underestimated the Strongest Monsters, treating them like some retirement-home all-star team.
THUD!
[142 km/h]
His velocity looked solid. His stuff was there.
"Haa... I got careless because they're retired players."
Ah, right. Manager Kim Taehwan played with Yoo Hee-gwan back in the day and even won a championship with him. He would've known exactly what these guys were capable of.
Back in the dugout, Manager Kim let out a long sigh. I watched Jung Woojin throw from the side, and without meaning to, I started imagining what it would've been like if I were in that spot instead.
First pitch: a high-velocity four-seam right down the middle of the third zone. Second pitch: same location but a touch slower to induce a foul or ground ball. If it went to two strikes or a foul, finish with a curve or a high changeup. It was a perfect plan on paper.
WHOOSH!
"Strike, batter out!"
Jung Woojin made the most of his sidearm delivery and started carving up the hitters. Yeah, he read that their eyes might be a little rusty. The Monsters' batters weren't reacting to the high inside fastballs at all, so Jung Woojin and Yang Uijin used that to shut them down cleanly through the second and third innings.
"Haa... We got through the urgent innings, but how am I supposed to manage the bullpen now..."
Yeah, the damage Kim Sihu took in the second inning was the real issue. My eyes drifted over to him—he'd already showered and changed into Haneul High's training clothes instead of his uniform. The look on his face was pure frustration.
His family, especially his grandfather, had probably been looking forward to seeing him dominate. Instead, he'd handed the opposing team three runs that could easily cost them the game.
THUD.
"Why are you moping? Our role in Strongest Baseball was always to be the villains. And yeah, they're retired, but none of them have been out of the game for more than five years. They've still got that pro-level feel. We were never meant to compete with them at a high school level."
"........"
"So stop acting like a villain who's beating himself up and trust the pitchers behind you. If we're gonna be remembered as villains, we might as well be the greatest ones in history—like the Black Mage or Thanos, right?"
"Enough. I'm not disappointed in my own skill or anything, so don't make weird comparisons. You're the worst at that stuff."
"Haha, really?"
"Yeah. Your batting average is trash except for that one time you told Park Donghwan you were coming for him."
"I try to cheer you up and this is what I get."
"Anyway, why don't you go throw some pitches? Looks like you'll be handling the fifth through eighth innings."
Even Jung Woojin, who we'd expected to hold the line, started getting hammered once the Monsters figured him out. He hadn't given up any runs yet, but he had zero outs recorded... and the bases were loaded? If those runners scored, the score would balloon from 3-1 to 7-1. No pitcher in their right mind would want to inherit that mess.
One inning was bound to get exposed. The Monsters are so good they could probably cold-game even a Blue Dragon Flag or Presidential Cup champion team.
Without needing to be told, I headed to the bullpen to warm up. Manager Kim took one look at my pitches and immediately called me in.
Yeah, I figured. At first he'd probably thought of this as just an exhibition game, but now he clearly understood what losing would mean.
"Don't push yourself. If your arm feels even a little off, give me the signal. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
He's probably still worried about that perfect game I threw last Sunday. Originally, I was supposed to start tomorrow, but the way he said it made it sound like he was planning to start me again.
Fine by me. Who knows? The copy condition for Copy All (L) still hadn't triggered, but if I could rack up strikeouts against these legendary players, maybe I'd unlock another Legend data set the same way I did with Choi Dong-won.
"Good work out there."
".....Sorry. I'm counting on you."
I watched Jung Woojin trudge off the mound with a dejected expression, then turned to Yang Uijin with a relaxed smile.
"How's the overall level of their hitters?"
"Definitely not high school level. These guys all played in the pros, so of course they're different."
"Right. Just the fact that they reached the pros puts them in a completely different league from most high school teams."
"Haa... I have a feeling we'll be doing practice games with them again next year too...."
"Well, there's one thing we can be sure of."
"What?"
Yang Uijin looked puzzled.
"For the next three years, Haneul High isn't losing to the Monsters."
"Yeah... that's true."
Zero outs. Bases loaded. The batter stepping in was none other than Jung Seonghun—the man who thrived in this exact situation. His eyes were sharp. Kim Sun-woo, who commentated the Blue Dragon Flag, was also calling this game, so he'd probably been warned in advance that I wasn't your average high school pitcher.
That moment was seriously insane. In the game against the Wiz's second team, Lee Dae-ho had been the usual cleanup hitter, but when Manager Kim Seong-geun put him in the four-hole instead, he answered with a majestic grand slam that still ranks among the Strongest Monsters' all-time highlight moments.
Now that same grand-slam threat was at the plate with the bases full.
Whoa, the pressure is real.
Because my pitching style splits the strike zone into precise sections, the ABS zone was faintly visible to me thanks to my improved control. But the 9th and 6th zones gave me this instinctive feeling that if I threw there, he'd definitely foul it off.
What happens if I throw it anyway?
The runners were Jung Woojin's responsibility, so even if I gave up a three-run triple, it wouldn't count as earned runs against me....
Whoa, what kind of evil thought is that? That kind of dirty play was a no-go. Time to focus on the hitter in front of me.
Besides, this was still the early version of the Monsters. They weren't running any fancy situational baseball yet. They probably had my data, so they'd be looking to cash in with a sacrifice fly.
"....Hup!"
I activated Revolver (E) on the first pitch. The low-spin four-seam painted the very edge of the 9th zone, forcing Jung Seonghun to swing.
THUD!
[159 km/h]
This is why Revolver (E) is broken. My max velocity on paper was 157 or 158, but with the stat boost from Revolver, my four-seam was pushing well past its usual limit.
From what I've tested, factoring in the stamina drain and recovery from Iron Arm (H), I can probably use Revolver (E) about 27 times in a single game. That was assuming I pitched on one day of rest. With a normal starter's four-day rest, I could probably push it to around 120 pitches. Thank goodness for Iron Arm—without it, this skill would wreck me after 30 or 40 pitches. That's why it's only Epic despite its value.
THUD!
[139 km/h]
Second pitch: a changeup that barely caught the top of the zone.
CRACK!
[159 km/h]
Third pitch: a high-spin fastball right down the middle for a called strikeout. The next batter hit into a double play, and just like that, we were out of the jam.
We'd definitely have enough footage for the Strongest Baseball episode.