After the Meeting with Commissioner Heo Gu-yeon: Nothing But Practice

After the meeting with Commissioner Heo Gu-yeon at the Blue Dragon Flag finals, it was truly nothing but practice from then on.

-BOOOOM!

The intense crack of the ball slamming into the mitt echoed through the practice facility. The pitchers, including Jeong Taehun, stared with their mouths hanging wide open. Coach Kim muttered something like, It's a real relief that this kid came to Haneul High. Inside Kim Sihu's head, his entire perception of me was shifting once again.

".......Can you even catch these?"

"No, it's killing me. My hands are completely numb."

Just as he said, on pitches that broke 160 he couldn't show his usual composure. His receiving looked just a little shaky. Well, no matter how much of a genius catcher he is, Yang Uijin is still only a second-year.

Even at his best, he still couldn't match the Heroes catcher who had received my pitches back in the day. That was the current reality of Yang Uijin.

"Then should I just throw against the wall..."

"No, no. If the great me tells a rookie throwing 160 that I'm scared to catch his fastball and makes him throw to the wall, my pride would be completely shattered."

With those words, Yang Uijin reset his stance. That's the pro mindset for you, I thought, gripping the seams even tighter.

.....This time, I'll go with that one.

The fastball carried power that had been massively amplified by Korean Express. Every pitch I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thrown until now had been a low-spin four-seamer, but he looked like he'd grown accustomed to the velocity. I figured he could handle a pitch with true rising action now.

-CRAAAACK!!

"........Wow. That's actually insane. I have no words."

Revolver (E) and Fireball (L) were gone now, but even if you combined—no, multiplied—those two skills, they still couldn't hold a candle to the value of Korean Express (H).

Thanks to that, stamina management has gotten a lot easier too.

Even with Iron Arm (H) helping, the stamina drain from Revolver (E) had been a serious threat to me as a first-year high school student. And here was something surprising...

I didn't expect to be able to see the hot and cold zones...

With all my stats rising, I wasn't sure if Professor (L) had evolved or what, but it had always felt like a pure batter skill. I never imagined that switching to the mound would let me see the batter's hot and cold zones.

The hot and cold zone. A data indicator that divided the areas a batter liked to swing at and the areas he didn't into red and blue sections. Thanks to it, I could exploit even hitters I was seeing for the first time. Especially in a short-tournament atmosphere like the WBC, if I faced overseas teams or players who couldn't possibly have my data, the effect would reach its peak.

The practice pitch count had already passed forty. Yang Uijin seemed to have adapted to my fastball; the number of awkward catches had dropped dramatically. We even had Haneul High's batters stand in for live batting practice against the heat.

How much time had gone by?

"Huu......."

"Hey, is your arm okay?"

"I don't know. It's a little stiff... but it doesn't feel broken or anything?"

It was also the perfect chance to fully practice reading hot and cold zones, so I'd thrown happily until my arm finally started to complain.

Whoa, first time I've ever thrown this many.

290 pitches.

It was the stubborn total I'd pushed for despite Coach's attempts to stop me. Even with nearly KBL-MVP-level stamina stats and Iron Arm (H)'s help, this seemed to be my limit.

Out of those 290 pitches, only three batters had managed hits: Lee Surin, Lee Yuta, and Heo Kangmin, who barely connected in the final stretch. It was a little disappointing to give up hits to three guys who'd made the youth national team, but...

Well, if stats alone could completely dominate, most pitchers would have sub-1.00 ERAs.

In a sport as full of variables as baseball, producing a number that converged on zero was insane. It made me newly appreciate just how incredible Sun Dong-yeol had been, recording a sub-1.00 ERA in the pros. Having a career ERA in the 1.00s and posting sub-1.00 three separate times was obviously no easy feat.

Still, the fact that I'd allowed any hits at all felt a bit disappointing. I'd thrown only four-seamers, but I thought I could have finished them all with strikeouts or weak contact. It stung a little. If I said that out loud people would call me crazy, but haha.

...

...

...

".....Is this for real?"

Meanwhile, inside Seoul High School's baseball clubroom ahead of the Blue Dragon Flag final. Naturally, the room was on fire with analysis of me—Lee Seojun—the expected starting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pitcher for the championship game.

"I mean, during that practice game his velocity was only mid-150s... Wait, even that number is already crazy. But what are we supposed to do if he's faster than Sanghwi hyung?"

"You saying that to me?"

"Gaaahhh, Sanghwi hyung, spare me please!"

My highest recorded velocity in recent games was 158 km/h. According to the manager who had secretly scouted Haneul High's practice, there were even reports of an insane 161 km/h reading. On top of that, I'd still hit 160 after throwing two hundred pitches. The Seoul High baseball team had been utterly shocked when they heard the news.

"It's definitely not doping... At that level, isn't he just throwing with a mechanical arm instead of a real one?"

The high school baseball association had already run doping tests on me four times. Every single one came back negative. I'd even openly shown annoyance at being tested so frequently, so they probably knew it wasn't doping, but still...

"Logically, it's impossible to understand. But he's still a first-year in high school. We failed to solve him in the last practice game, but this time we'll..."

"Coach! Seojun is a first-year but he got selected for the WBC!"

"Ahem....... Even so, just calling him a first-year doesn't feel right anymore."

His presence was so overwhelming that even the opposing coach briefly considered giving up on the game entirely.

"But if we give up here, you'll never break through the wall called Lee Seojun in your three years! Think of it as facing a pro and......"

The coach spared no effort to raise his players' morale, but...

"Good luck out there, Donghwan. Hyung's going pro this year."

"Yeah, I'll just pray that the team Seojun ends up on is ours. Best case scenario is he goes straight to the majors though."

"These guys are actually insane."

The Seoul High students, having faced me directly in the practice game, were calmly accepting reality. Still, they began mapping out strategies to try to beat me in the finals.

First, I had to join the national team camp immediately after this game. So I would probably pace myself. Second, many Haneul players had also made the U-18 WBC roster. Stamina management for key players wasn't a problem exclusive to Seoul High. Third, combining with the first point, I would likely only pitch until the fourth inning at the earliest or the seventh at the latest. After that, they could attack the bullpen.

With that plan in mind, the Seoul High baseball ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠team...

-BOOOOM!

"Strike, strike three! You're out!"

"Ahem. Uijin must be thrilled. He gets to work with a pitcher like that for the next two years."

"Won't all the catcher prospects start flocking to Haneul High now? Lee Seojun's going to be their ace for the next three years."

"Well, one thing is certain......."

"Anyway, there's no way we're winning today. Though it does look like he's at his weakest right now."

Watching me complete the shutout, the Seoul High students muttered among themselves.

"We're supposed to face that guy for three whole years?"

"Ha, I don't know. I should've just stayed at Haneul High..."

"Oh, you left Haneul and came here?"

"....Yeah. They promised they'd start me next year."

"Still, shouldn't you at least feel a little bitter about it?"

Park Donghwan, who had gone 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, asked Lee Byungkyun and Lee Sanghwi.

"How do you fight someone who shows up to a toy gun fight with a real grenade? After playing for three years, I've learned that there are monsters you simply can't beat no matter what you do. Some things exist on an entirely different level."

"Anyway, we'll only meet them once each in the Phoenix Flag and the Presidential Cup, so it's not our problem. Looks like Donghwan will have to suffer one more year though?"

"Isn't it too much for the seniors to just abandon us like this?"

"Yeah, once we're on the national team we're all teammates ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyway~"

"Yeah, good luck as captain next year~!"

"Gaaaaaaaahk...!!"

Park Donghwan collapsed clutching the back of his neck. The third-years looked on with pity at the first- and second-years who would have to face the out-of-spec monster called Lee Seojun for the next two or three years. Even Seoul High's coach was clutching his head, feeling envy toward Haneul High's manager Kim Taehwan for the first time in his career.

"Sigh..... Looks like I'll be suffering from Kim Taehwan's bragging for the next three years..."

With that, the Seoul High dugout slowly began to pack up their gear.

-WHOOSH!

"Strike, batter out! Game set!"

"We won!"

"Waaaaaaaah!"

"Damn it, it's Seojun again. I have no choice but to worship him!"

"Hey wait, stop pushing! Oof!!"

Yang Uijin and the rest of the team came sprinting out of the dugout and piled onto me. In every sense of the word, it was a chaotic Blue Dragon Flag final.