Haneul High Entrance Test Chaos [1]
The whole incident wrapped up pretty quickly. Coach Kim Taehwan told Kim Taekyung that quitting the team was his choice, and that if he wanted to stay, he could. But... Kim Taekyung apparently had some pride left after all. He withdrew from the baseball team on the spot.
The saying "Haneul High's backup players would start anywhere else" didn't come out of nowhere. He'd probably transfer to another high school.
The school was already buzzing. A huge crowd of promising players who'd come to apply for Haneul High had gathered. Most were from Haneul Middle School, but there were also students wearing uniforms from other middle schools, just like me.
"Oh, you're from another middle school too?"
A cheerful-looking kid with a good personality spotted me and immediately ran over, sticking out his hand for a handshake.
"My name's Oh Jihun. Let's do well together since we're both outsiders."
"Sure."
I shook Oh Jihun's hand and checked his skills.
Not bad for a first-year.
Unfortunately, my main position was center field, so I couldn't exactly say his shortstop skills were perfect for me... but they might come in handy later. I glanced at the copy conditions.
'Copy All.'
A golden window glowed brightly and began showing me exactly what I needed to do to acquire the skill.
Complete 15 double plays in coordination with Oh Jihun (0/15)
Easy enough.
If I joined the shortstop test with him, I could probably knock it out without much trouble. After that, plenty more students came in, but none of them had skills as tempting as Oh Jihun's, so I decided not to bother remembering them.
...
...
...
"Alright everyone, line up!"
Someone who looked like an upperclassman gathered all the freshmen together. Then Coach stepped up onto the prepared platform, took off his cap, and began with a simple greeting.
"Hello everyone. My name is Kim Taehwan. I'm sure you've all heard of me."
Of course we have.
Name: Kim Taehwan (Coach)
Age: 48
Skills: Battlefield Command, Master Manager, Quick Decision
Battlefield Command raises the entire team's defense. Master Manager slightly boosts pinch hitters' stats. Quick Decision... I think it increases steal success rate.
"The number of players we're recruiting this time is as follows."
Coach Kim Taehwan pointed at the screen, showing the numbers.
Pitchers: 5, Infielders: 4, Outfielders: 4, Catchers: 2
That's brutal.
Still, to be considerate of the students who would fail this test, Haneul High's entrance test period was set very short. In other words, even if you failed here, you could still go to another school. Scouts from other high schools had already come to watch this very event.
The stands were already filling up with Haneul High's dorm students and scouts from other schools.
"The test is simple. We'll run position-specific defensive tests first, then finish with a practice red-versus-white game. Any questions?"
"NO SIR!"
Damn, that's loud. My ears were ringing from how hard they shouted.
"Good. Then we'll start with the infield test!"
As soon as Coach Kim Taehwan's words rang out, everyone moved to stand in front of the signs for their respective positions... except me.
"Why aren't you moving?" Oh Jihun, standing in front of the infielder sign, asked me.
"Ah, I'm not sure where I should stand."
I should've just applied for outfield only.
"Oh right, there was one guy... Lee Seojun, step forward."
"Ah, yes sir."
I immediately stepped forward at the coach's command. He pointed at me and said,
"This idiot applied for every position except catcher."
At those words, the other students who hadn't seen me beat the crap out of Kim Taekyung and kick him out started laughing at me.
"So if you don't want to be laughed at, prove it. Show us whether you're cheap scrap metal... or real alloy."
"...Yes, sir."
One more goal added to the list. I was definitely going to force a gasp of admiration out of this coach's mouth.
...
...
...
Deal With Kim Taekyung
Kim Taekyung, consumed by inferiority, will become a major obstacle to your baseball club life! Take care of him now and enjoy a comfortable high school career!
Objective: Get Kim Taekyung to make three consecutive outs (3/3)
Reward: Epic Grade Skill Random Ticket
Before heading into the defense test, I opened the reward I'd received.
Would you like to use the Epic Grade Skill Random Ticket?
YES / NO
"Obviously yes."
The moment I tapped the YES option, a glowing roulette wheel began spinning rapidly.
-Spin spin spin spin spin-
-Ding!
Seojun Zone (L)
When playing center field, greatly expands defensive range.
Ah, so this is that thing.
In baseball they talk about the "command zone" or "sweet spot zone," and the system just mashed my name into it. What a nasty bastard.
Still, thanks. It was exactly the skill I needed right now... Wait, what?
-Fwaaaaah!-
The Plate Discipline and Seojun Zone skills I already had began to glow.
No way...?
Skills with similar tendencies have been detected.
Would you like to fuse the skills?
YES / NO
Skill fusion. A feature that lets you combine skills to create a higher-tier one. But this wasn't originally possible with player skills...?
Is it really okay to give me a system that was only meant for skill synthesis?
Normally if it failed you'd just lose money, but since there wasn't really any in-game currency here, I thought it'd be free... until the price popped up.
Price: 50,000 won
Automatic payment in progress... Payment complete!
Beginning fusion.
"God damn it, seriously."
Along with my curse, Plate Discipline and Seojun Zone were sucked into what looked like a blender and began to grind apart.
-Ding!
Professor (L) (New!)
The ball's trajectory and landing point are displayed as solid lines with a probability based on your defensive stat. However, the lines disappear if you do not watch the ball for more than 1 second.
............Whoa. Holy crap.
My current defensive stat was 89. How clearly would this show me the ball?
I thought that, but...
I had no idea defense could be this easy.
Whether it was irregular bounces or whatever, seeing the trajectory made it feel like I was just playing a simulation defense game.
"........So that's why you applied for every position."
With that, I passed the first round of infield and outfield tests with flying colors, along with the coach's highest praise.
...
...
...
Now the only position left was pitcher. It was the position with the most applicants, and naturally the most openings.
But where is he?
He definitely applied for pitcher... but I couldn't see Kim Sihu's face anywhere.
-Vroooom...!!-
Then came the familiar sound of a luxury car's exhaust.
-Screeeech...!-
The car drove straight through the school gate and stopped right in front of the baseball field. A guy who clearly looked like the son of a rich family slowly stepped out of the vehicle.
"Is the red-white game still going on?"
"What? You're late and you think you can just—"
"Huh? Does this guy not know who I am?"
A student from another school was talking smack to Kim Sihu, but Kim Sihu looked back at him with genuine disbelief.
"You... don't know me?"
"..........Who the hell are you?"
"You're disqualified. If you don't even know my name, you're clearly not good enough to be a starter at Haneul High anyway."
"What?! You're the one who's late and now you're saying you'll pass the test... This is ridiculous! Right, everyone?!"
Kim Sihu made a gesture like he was telling the kid to pack up and leave. The student, clearly heated, tried to rally the other students around him, asking if this wasn't unfair... but...
"......."
"What? Why is everyone so quiet?"
"What do you think? They're all kids who know exactly who I am."
Since most of them were from Haneul Middle, they clearly knew all about Kim Sihu. The student must have taken a serious mental hit, because he showed the absolute worst performance in the following pitcher test and was promptly sent packing.
"...Ah, sorry for causing a scene. Please continue with your tests."
It was truly the behavior of a perfect bastard.