Tunneling 1
Tae-woong had come to Incheon with the team for the three-game midweek series against the Wyverns.
"Shall I check the baseball news before bed?"
Lying alone on the spacious hotel bed, Tae-woong pulled out his smartphone to scan the articles.
"What are they even wondering about? Win it, and we're even. Lose it, and we'll eat shit from every corner until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics."
Tae-woong was on the verge of making the Asian Games national team roster, but until recently, he hadn't held out much hope. He'd known around the start of the season that he'd made the preliminary list. But back then, he was just one of 109 names, one of 52 pitchers.
'And honestly, I didn't expect things to go this smoothly so fast. But looking at my stats now...'
His current numbers put him among the top lefty starters in the league. The only domestic pitcher matching him was Tigers' Yang Hyun-jung, whom he'd faced once.
"They need at least two lefty starters. Yang Hyun-jung's probably locked in, so there's one spot left... Final roster drops June 11th, so they won't decide for sure until the day before. I've got about three more starts till then—I'll just throw my guts out."
Ace, who had been happily watching a Major League live stream on the laptop at the desk, spoke up to Tae-woong.
Why you mumbling nonstop? Ghost got your tongue?
Tae-woong answered nonchalantly.
"Just plotting the big picture for dodging the draft."
Draft dodge? Oh, the army? Didn't you serve 21 months active duty pre-regression? Even did reserves. You've done it once—should be easier the second time, right?
For a moment, Tae-woong flashed back to his hellish army days from over a decade ago. Flipped day-night shifts at the coastal outpost, godawful chow like fried codfish and seafood bibim sauce slop with zero flavor. The suffocating isolation from the real world.
His face turned deadly serious for once.
"This ain't about easy or hard, you draft-dodging punk. That's exactly why I don't wanna go back!"
Whatever, your call. Get some sleep.
"Got it. Gotta squeeze in one quick round of Real Baseball Ace first."
Stick to real baseball—why bother with the game?
"I hear every damn word, asshole."
Crack!
-Following Choi Jun, Romel clears the fence! Back-to-back homers! The Wyverns add another run against the Eagles, leading 14-5!
-The Eagles got 5 back with Hoy's three-run shot and Lee Sang-yeol's two-run blast, but it's not enough. Their pitchers are elevating just a bit, and it's getting punished with extra bases.
The Eagles' third starter Kim Jae-yong had been lights-out through four, but he crumbled in the fifth after the homer, surrendering eight. Their lineup couldn't chase down the deficit.
The Wyverns took the opener of the weekend three-game set.
Crack!
-Romel fires another homer in his second at-bat! Consecutive homers! The Wyverns grab first blood today!
-If the momentum swings their way like this, it's tough for the Eagles to come back. The heart of the order needs to deliver.
Crack!
-Bases loaded, two out—Kim Tae-gun's three-run double clears the bags!
-Clutch as ever. He's older, lost some pop, ceded cleanup to Hoy, but still the Eagles' go-to guy.
Wyverns starter Sanchez went seven innings, four runs. Eagles starter Kim Min-wook lasted four, coughing up seven and forcing an early pen call-up.
From the bench, Tae-woong watched the relievers get shelled one by one, feeling bad for them.
'Feels like the bullpen gets torched extra hard in games before I pitch... Nah, just my imagination. Hope we win this one, though.'
They'd taken two of three from the Bears but dropped the finale, then lost yesterday's opener to the Wyverns—now on a two-game skid.
'Three straight if we lose today... I'll give it everything tomorrow either way, but it'd be nice to flip the vibe with a W.'
Not desperate, but Tae-woong's wish came true in the top of the ninth.
Crack!
-He yanks an inside pitch with authority! To right field—how far? How far? Over the wall! Gerard Hoy's game-changing grand slam for the Eagles' cleanup hitter! It's 8-7 Eagles!
The second the lead flipped, pitching coach Song Jun-woo checked the score and immediately phoned the pen—no time to celebrate.
"Get A-ram ready now."
The bats couldn't tack on insurance, and the top of the ninth ended there.
Screech.
And now the moment of truth—bottom nine. Jeong A-ram, leading the league with 28 saves, pushed open the bullpen door and strode to the mound, taking deep breaths.
He fanned leadoff Han Dong-man on three whiffs, then Choi Jun the same way.
"A-ram hyung's stuff looks filthy. Fastball touched 147 km/h, nasty movement."
"Games ended quick the last two days—he got full rest."
"Romel's 3-for-4, two homers, four RBIs today? Dude's insane. Everything he connects on is gone..."
"You'd shave your head bald like Romel if it meant 30 homers a year?"
Yang Sang-woo asked Ha Jun-seok, whose hairline was already forming an M.
Ha Jun-seok got serious.
"Hyung, how much FA money does a Gold Glove shortstop with 30 homers get?"
"Dunno, never thought about it... Probably north of 10 billion won."
"Then I'll go bald first, stack the cash, then get plugs. 10 bil covers head to toe."
"Uh... yeah, sure."
Whoosh!
-Jeong A-ram whiffs Romel too! Three whiff Ks in the bottom ninth! Eagles defeat the Wyverns!
-Han Dong-man, Choi Jun, Romel—over 80 homers combined this year, yet they couldn't touch A-ram's changeup.
-Teams split 1-1, tomorrow's rubber match: Wyverns' Kim Kang-hyun vs. Eagles' Seo Tae-woong! We'll see you then!
Tae-woong shared the thrill of the comeback win with his teammates, cleaned up, and headed back to the hotel. Late dinner out front, shower—clock struck nearly midnight.
But he didn't waste the late hour. He pored over video of tomorrow's Wyverns hitters for scouting.
Exhausted? His eyes sparkled. This reality felt like a dream.
"Me, starting twice a week... In the first team, not Triple-A... Never imagined this."
Moved to tears?
"Damn proud of myself. Though I didn't get here on raw talent alone."
You know it.
"Wyverns' lineup's no joke lately. Any pitch up even a hair turns into a double minimum."
He was confident, but their power was a real threat—five guys over 20 homers, Choi Jun and Romel leading the league.
Ace had watched the tapes too.
Wyverns lead KBO in team homers and runs, right? Yet not in first—shoddy D and shaky staff mean runs scored against them too. Homers are baseball's flowers, but not the whole garden. Wyverns proving that.
"True. Their fans rag on the hitters: 'No homer, no run—even with ducks. Quit chasing bombs in scoring position, poke some singles!' "
Yet 2 through 6 are all uppercut swingers. Big asks from loft swingers.
As they chatted, the footage wrapped with nine-hole Kim Kwang-min.
Tae-woong set the laptop on the desk, flopped onto the bed.
"Whew, my turn now."
Your turn. Time to get lit up. Saw how they rake anything flat? Feel's unreal—power's always been there, turns contact into XBH.
"That's other pitchers. I'm different now."
Different how? Shitballs?
"No, you psycho. Remember the complete game achievement reward?"
Oh, fuck me. Forgot about that. CG reward was +1 km/h max velo, and... what else?
B-Grade Enhancement Tickets x10, and a new skill.
With Tae-woong's words, a message popped up before their eyes.
Pitch trajectory begins changing 19.5 ft (594 cm) before home plate.
*Hitters cannot distinguish trajectory differences between pitch types before 19.5 ft (594 cm).
*Curveball excluded (elevated release point).
Tunneling? Holy shit. This system's creator lost it—not 180, full 360 spin.
"360 spin's back to square one, no?"
Oh yeah. Anyway, skill I never had. Why hand it to a shitballer off one CG? I've got dozens!
"Don't you have every skill? I saw like 20."
Not Pokémon master here—can't collect 'em all.
Skill looks good, right? First I've heard of tunneling.
Tunneling was alien to Tae-woong, whose pre-regression career was mostly minors and KBO farm.
Ace explained.
You know rubber-to-plate distance?
Like 18-19 meters? Heard it once.
Close enough. Exactly 18.44m.
"Call it rounded right."
Liberal arts major vibes... Anyway, over 18.44m, hitters spot your non-curve pitches at ~23 ft (7m)—trajectory diffs visible.
"Ugh, numbers triggering my migraine..."
Damn... Fine, video demo for our liberal arts star Seo Tae-woong.