The Final Boss School's Baseball Manager, Epinel

The barbecue restaurant we went to for dinner was packed with people. Seeing baseball bats and gloves sticking out of their bags... it looked like they had just come from playing baseball too.

The meal wrapped up simply. The uncle from the apartment next door tearfully handed over his credit card to pay, and with that, the dinner gathering came to a smooth end. It was during that process that I finally figured out how to use my Copy All (L) skill.

First, the condition for Copy All could pop up even if I had no prior connection to the person.

Second, every person had different skills, and the difficulty of copying those skills varied wildly from one to another.

Ah, I just picked up Lucky Shot. It belonged to the uncle I struck out at the end. The condition was riding in the same car to the restaurant. The effect was exactly as the name suggested — it raised the chance of “lucky” hits. In other words, bloop hits.

When you watch baseball, there are countless ways it can happen. Fielders colliding with each other. Losing the ball in the sun. Weird hops on irregular turf. A shift that wasn’t adjusted in time. The list goes on.

Whether it’s a cheap hit or not, it still increases the chance of getting a hit. No reason to turn that down.

With this, I now had one Epic-grade skill and one Rare-grade skill. A glowing red Epic skill window, a shining blue Rare skill window, and eventually a golden Legendary skill window. The History-grade ones had a luxurious black background with gold trim. If I ever obtained one of those, it would probably feel like opening an insanely ornate jewelry box.

“……One month from now. The entrance test.”

Haneul High was a private high school run by a corporation. Unlike public schools, they could be selective with admissions. Since I didn’t come from Haneul Middle School, the only way for me to get in was to pass this practical skills test.

Right on cue, I received an email asking me to submit my desired position and middle school records. I was currently sitting at the computer filling out the documents.

Position… I’ll just put every position except catcher for now.

Catcher… I learned that lesson the hard way back on the youth national team. That position wasn’t meant for humans. If you asked people to pick the three most brutal positions in baseball, shortstop, second base, and catcher would probably top the list.

Besides, Haneul High already has someone guarding home plate until the protagonist becomes a senior… Applying would just make me a backup anyway.

There was one catcher who was endlessly generous to skilled players and brutally strict toward the unskilled. So much so that I even wondered if that was where Kim Sihu got his influence from.

…Yeah, I’ll skip catcher. I’ll only jump in when it’s absolutely necessary.

What I was really aiming for was the strategy the protagonist had used to crush Haneul High in the original novel — an outfield demolition tactic.

Haneul High’s defense and pitching have traditionally been trash.

They won with an overwhelmingly powerful batting lineup that no other school could match. I had never once seen their pitchers throw a shutout. That would gradually change once Kim Sihu enrolled, but for me, the plan was simple: ride that wave of improvement like a pro, secure a starting spot, rack up an insane team career, farm every grade of skill available, and then turn pro.

…This life, I’m definitely going to make it happen.

“You should try writing that story sometime.”

That was what the author bastard had said to me back then.

“There’s no way I’m losing to a bastard who abandoned his girlfriend and ran off to the majors.”

I would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoroughly crush him so he could never even reach the majors. I wasn’t sure what would happen once the protagonist awakened later on, but…

…

…

Time passed. One month later.

Excluding stamina, my stats had already reached a level where I could survive in a decent professional league. I smiled inside the car heading toward Haneul High as I looked at my massively improved numbers.

Just how brutal was that training…

Well, to be honest, it was the result of thoroughly devouring every quest the system threw at me and playing against quite a few talented players from clubs in other districts.

Especially Meister (L). That one’s seriously huge.

I only had to watch the movie Perfect Pitch, which contained the legendary duel between Seon Dong-yeol and Choi Dong-il, for the condition to unlock that skill for free. As expected ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from a film featuring the legendary matchup of two all-time greats — the reward was every bit as magnificent as its reputation.

The condition was throwing 1,200 pitches, which was pretty tough…

But if I threw about 80 pitches at a moderate speed without overworking my arm, it only took me two weeks. The effect was incredible. Even when I threw nine straight fastballs right down the middle, the movement was so filthy that batters couldn’t square it up no matter what.

The additional effect synergized perfectly with Pitching Machine (E), which further boosted stuff and velocity when throwing the same pitch consecutively. If I mixed it properly with Decisive Pitch (R), two fastballs followed by a sweeper on two strikes basically handed me free strikeouts.

The downside is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I don’t have any batter-specific skills…

On the hitting side, I had simply raised my raw stats a lot. The only batting-related skill I had was Plate Discipline.

Still, I’m not particularly worried…

With stats like these, I could walk into any independent league stadium and immediately contribute more than one win above replacement. Even at Haneul High, where monstrous genius prospects swarmed like ants, I should be able to lock down a starting position without too much trouble.

—Screeech.

“Son, we’re here.”

When I looked out the window, a massive school gate with Haneul High School written on it greeted me.

“The test is until six, right?”

“Yes. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Alright. If I’m not working overtime, I’ll come pick you up after work.”

My father’s car headed straight back to the office. Since we came during his commute, I had arrived quite early. It was still a little chilly since spring hadn’t fully arrived yet… but wandering around the school slowly should kill enough time.

“………”

Is that swimming pool really the size of our apartment parking lot?

“……Crazy.”

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

I understood that Haneul High was a prestigious school that held the record for the most titles in the Blue Dragon Flag, Phoenix Flag, and Presidential Cup combined, but still…

“Why is the field so damn big?”

It was on a completely different level from the baseball field at our apartment complex. While the apartment field had a warning track distance in the low 90-meter range from home plate, Haneul High’s field measured 95 meters to the shorter corners rather than dead center.

This is basically pro stadium size.

And on top of that, it was a dome stadium.

I can only imagine how much the GL Group has poured into this place.

There was a reason they were a powerhouse. No doubt about it.

While I was looking around in awe at the baseball facilities, I suddenly heard a voice.

“Huh? Are you a transfer student for the baseball team too? You’re not wearing a Haneul Middle uniform… so you must be here for the test!”

I had run into her.

“Nice to meet you! The kids from Haneul Middle are already waiting in the dorms… but since this is your first time at Haneul High, you probably don’t know your way around, right? I came out for a walk anyway… Alright, I’ll tell you all about Haneul High!”

One of the characters who appeared in 3X3. She showed up as the manager of Haneul High’s baseball team and would later become the first female foreign coach for the NHK Heroes.

Even though it was a novel, her white hair and purple eyes made her look unmistakably non-Korean at first glance. She also carried a baseball bag that seemed far too intense for a first-year high school girl.

“My name is Epinel. Nice to meet you?”

The manager of Haneul High School — and the incredibly important person in charge of their data-driven baseball approach.