The Maw of Ruin (Part 1)
The article had gone up targeting him, and yes, he had every right to be furious about it.
But the part Noh In-seong was actually angry about was strictly limited to the first article.
"...Seriously? This bastard got completely neutralized for two straight games without so much as a single hit, and now he wants to trash-talk?!"
It had seemed like Kim Seong-ju came back to life in Game 3, parking a few home runs over the wall.
Those bastards walk me anyway, so why don't we just walk their guy right back?
...Oh?
When he'd floated the idea to the manager and it paid off exactly as planned in Game 4, Kim Seong-ju apparently caught on — that if Noh In-seong kept getting walked in Game 5, he'd return the favor again.
The countermeasure had been set up in advance, and it felt like a psychological gambit aimed squarely at his pride.
If you don't want to look like a coward, come out tomorrow as the starter and settle it face to face. Something like that, no?
"...Hmm. Do I take the bait... or do I just keep shoving it right down his throat..."
No matter how well the guy was hitting at the moment, In-seong didn't think he'd lose a head-to-head duel.
Sure, the man's confidence was running hot enough to be abnormal, but he'd also cooled off his own barrel somewhat by playing yesterday's game.
Still, judging by how long that bastard's tongue was, he clearly had a strange surplus of confidence.
Single-handedly absorbing an entire game in Game 3 must have inflated his ego far past healthy levels.
"Goddammit. Go fluff something else, you impotent piece of trash."
However brutal Noh In-seong's assessment was, the man remained the single most dangerous threat on the Grizzlies roster.
As for why he wasn't angry about the follow-up article, the reason was simple: more than half the material in it had been supplied by Noh In-seong himself.
"I can't exactly get burned by an article I asked for, can I."
The writer was an intern reporter, brought in by someone In-seong knew well.
"Think of it as repayment for all the exclusive scoops I've given you so far."
"Hey, that's what helping each other out is all about."
Reporter Jeong, seated across the café table, grinned and continued.
"It's the final work of an intern about to quit anyway, so tracing the source will be next to impossible."
The content was attributed to the standard 'anonymous insider,' so there'd be nothing to pin on anyone.
And for the record, nothing was fabricated — the sourcing was dead accurate, so it wouldn't even draw criticism.
I heard it with my own ears. The guy was scowling like his face was going to split open at second base, cussing up a storm every single time I got walked.
The AI would no doubt stamp it 100% APPROVED like some red-spined porcupine, certifying it as fact, not fabrication.
Expensive labor went into this one, so I hope it pulls some real numbers.
Since I'm the one driving this, I'd at least like the view count to beat the site average.
"But why did you want an article like this published? To cement their hypocrite image?"
Reporter Jeong seemed to read it as a strategic move to harden the Grizzlies' public image.
"Nah. You think one article cements anything? It'll get written off as one rogue journalist going off the rails."
Noh In-seong knew full well that a franchise-sized image didn't shift over something so small.
What he wanted was modest.
"If you won't take my leash off, then I'll drag your own dog down with me, still choking on his collar."
Either free him, or sink together with him. He'd published the article simply to force a choice between the two.
"We're already in Game 5, and I honestly can't remember the last time I swung a bat."
Before the series ended, shouldn't he get at least one swing in?
The day before Game 5 — a game that might be his last — Noh In-seong made his move.
The next day, during the pre-game interview window.
The man fielding the most questions was the Grizzlies' manager.
"The Grizzlies are walking Noh In-seong, yet your own player Kim Seong-ju is being— isn't that a textbook double standard?"
"Public opinion is saying this is deliberate pressure tactics against the Doubles—"
"Give us a straight answer, Manager! Just one clean statement!"
Desperate to find some angle of drama in a series that had been relentlessly one-sided, the press squandered question after question on the Grizzlies' manager.
Naturally, unless they'd planted the article themselves, there was no way he knew anything.
This was a manager who, as of yesterday, had only gotten as far as worrying, 'What do we do if Kim Seong-ju gets walked again?'
With no time to even find out which member of his own organization had made such a confession—
"Uh... no! We've never done anything like that!"
"Woooo--!! Caught in a lie! Stop lying!"
The reporters pressed harder, clawing for even a scrap more of material, and the Grizzlies' manager, enraged, shouted something that was less a denial than a scream.
"No, I said no! We have never put out an article like that!"
The real problem was that interviews aren't a one-sided affair.
And Noh In-seong — this man — poured an entire jerry can of gasoline on a bear that was already charging into the fire.
"That's right! We ARE walking Kim Seong-ju at the team level, on purpose! And we'll keep doing it! Eat shit!"
"What?!"
Leaving that final flourish aside, the man had personally confirmed the article's contents were true.
Under normal circumstances, both sides would have denied everything and waited for the heat to die down.
But this human blast furnace, shoveling fuel into the fire like a maniac, had ruined all of that.
Declaring it openly, to their faces, for everyone to hear: 'We're going to walk you!'
Kim Seong-ju, who had come out for the interview, could only stare at Noh In-seong, dumbstruck.
"What, you scared?! You hear me call you out and you won't even fight?!"
What kind of bastard even was this? In-seong had thought the man's arrogance reached the stratosphere, but apparently—
'Damn it, if this was going to happen, why did I even take my meds today...?!'
But no. Wrong assumption. Noh In-seong did love himself, it was true.
"Come to think of it — if I just quietly duel you here, isn't that only good for you?"
"...Huh?"
And if there was a man who might crawl on his belly, smiling, if it meant someone else felt worse or fell further — it was this one.
Like a water ghost dragging its victim under, he went straight for the ankles of the man already drowning.
"Why on earth would I hand you exactly what you want?"
"...W-well, the fans come to see—"
"The fans must've loved watching you shove pills up your nose. If you're going to make excuses, at least make them decent ones."
With a mocking snort plastered across his face, Noh In-seong delivered his verdict to Kim Seong-ju.
"Isn't it better if I walk you every time, then punch out the next hitter and throw myself a little ceremony?"
--You'll be furious. So will he. So why exactly would I gift you a showdown?
Counter it this way, and there was very little left to say.
"If I weren't walking you — if I faced you every at-bat — then maybe I'd give it a thought."
--But I'm not, so why would I bother?
The camera drones kept zooming in on that insolent bastard's face, again and again.
"Either take my leash off, or you and I walk to first base together for this entire series."
Tit for tat. The strategy of answering a walk with a walk.
Walking him was a losing proposition in run-expectancy terms for the Doubles — so the justification sat squarely with the Doubles too.
'...Damn it. The more of these I swallow, the more my head starts to ache...'
And the profit was on the Doubles' side as well — one of their players was visibly falling apart in real time.
In checkmate, the Grizzlies entered Game 5.
The reason I built this interview strategy was simple.
"Even if only part of the article proves true, people will believe all of the interview was true."
People have neither the will nor the energy to dig into how much of a story is real.
They're too busy with their own lives, and they don't have the professional resources to check.
Of course, a few percent would diligently try to verify the facts.
"How much can that possibly matter."
Noh In-seong admitted it! -> It partially matches yesterday's article! -> Whoa! It's all true!
Running through that pipeline, the frame was set as if the Grizzlies themselves had given exactly that kind of interview.
"Now then. Time to make your choice."
You called me a coward, so either unhook my leash—
"—or I'll just pitch like a coward too, I guess."
How many men in this world would pull a stunt this insane just to slip their own collar?
"...You are a genuinely insane human being, In-seong."
Jo In-soo, who would have to handle Kim Seong-ju at the plate today, shook his head slowly after hearing the whole scheme.
"The crazy one isn't me. It's the bastards on the other teams who walked me forty-four times in the regular season. They're the lunatics."
For the record, that's the single-season intentional walk record in KBO history.
The thought that he'd have to live like this next season too made him dizzy. Utterly dizzy.
"Wouldn't it be smarter to show everyone in advance what I'm capable of if they keep walking me?"
"...Ugh. Fine. Do whatever the hell you want. All of it."
Telling him to stop would be pointless — the words would bounce right off — so Jo In-soo decided to get his hands dirty alongside him.
And with that air of resignation, he began organizing the psychological warfare he'd wage against Kim Seong-ju today.
Even after getting savaged by the press all morning, the Grizzlies' fundamentals hadn't changed.
'If we free that maniac, we get hammered and lose.'
'He's a run-producer you might walk even with the bases loaded — take him out of the equation entirely.'
Whether they got cursed at or not, taking that abuse for the sake of winning was simply what a manager did.
"...Walk him."
"Old school."
J-Lo signaled to the home plate umpire behind the catcher as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Top of the first inning. The leadoff hitter, Noh In-seong, strolled quietly down to first base.
"Aww. Look at you, all out of ideas, you bastards."
Unlike Noh In-seong, who complained exactly once and let it go, the fans were furious.
BOOOOOO---!!!
[Ah, and there it is. The fans are sending down a chorus of boos.]
[After that recent interview and all... Haha. The folks in the stands want to see everyone giving it their all, after all.]
True, the fans wanted their team to win above all.
But they'd come hoping for an honest contest — a duel between hitters and pitchers.
Instead, the two most dangerous bats on each side were in a rush to jog to first base, and what remained was barely a game at all.
For a baseball fan paying hard-earned money — expensive money — for Korean Series tickets, this kind of game was impossible to swallow.
(Top of the 1st, Noh In-seong walks to first.jpg)
I get it, you fill the bases automatically and slug it out from there, but isn't this just pathetic?
Noh In-seong hasn't taken a single swing all postseason lol
↳ Reply: It's fine, their side's got a druggie getting the exact same treatment
↳ Reply: OP — Fine my ass you dick, the efficiency gap is like tenfold
↳ Reply: And that's exactly WHY they're walking each other, to kill that efficiency lol
After Song Jin-wook and Dustin drove Noh In-seong home on a base hit and a fly ball, Jo In-soo struck out to end the Doubles' half of the inning.
"You walked me, so naturally you get walked too."
After being disrespected, the same treatment was waiting in return.
First, Kim Seong-ju's lead-in hitter, Sung Ji-chang, went down on a five-pitch groundout.
And to Kim Seong-ju, stepping in as the number-two hitter, the intentional ball came flying back without a moment's hesitation.
"Kim Seong-ju! Intentional walk!"
"...Ha..."
BOOOOOO---!!
The fans jeered at the prospect of yet another day of intentional-walk warfare, and—
[And there it is... yes, Noh In-seong walks Kim Seong-ju as well. An eye for an eye, folks.]
[Bottom of the first. One out, runner on first.]
Once again, a lazy, mistimed swing at a dropping slider rolled over into a ground ball toward shortstop.
[6-4-3. Double play! With all three batters retired, we'll step away for a word from our sponsors.]
"You motherf—!"
Unable to contain himself at second base, Kim Seong-ju kicked at the dirt again and again, fury pouring out of him.
And through all of it, that lunatic was prancing around on the mound, taunting.
This is my style-♪
Noh In-seong had gone so far as to request the team prepare a walk-up song exclusively for him.
The flow of the game shifted slightly in the top of the third, during our team's at-bat.
"...Ball."
"...Hm. What's this, then?"
He asked Jeong Han-sol, but the only answer was silence.
J-Lo's fastball, buried deep and inside, toward his body.
For a pitch that was supposedly challenging him to a duel, wasn't it coming in awfully far inside?
"...Ball."
The next pitch came inside again. A touch further out, maybe, but the taste of it was ugly.
[Should he really be throwing pitches like that toward the batter's body?]
[It genuinely looks like Noh In-seong might get plunked. I have no idea what J-Lo is thinking here.]
Can't walk me, so now he's thinking of taking me out physically?
But I'm the starting pitcher right now...? Is this guy actually insane?
And grinning through it all — so, throw me four garbage balls and dare me to stop walking him? That the play?
Watching him shovel in trash pitches with that smirk on his face, irritation came flooding up.
Pitch three. Inside again, toward the body.
But the bat was already leveled.
Tak-!
Whether it was the surprise of a bunt laid down against a fastball, the ball spun away toward first base at high speed.
[Noh In-seong with the surprise bunt! But oh, that's a terrible spot for it — the pitcher's fielded it!]
[Is J-Lo going to attempt the tag on Noh In-seong charging down the line?!]
The first baseman chose to hold his ground on such an awkward ball.
In his place, J-Lo scrambled desperately after it, and the moment he scooped it up with his glove near first—
"Right there! He's right next to you!"
"!!"
Noh In-seong was already close enough that a throw would be too late — or so J-Lo must have judged.
He moved his glove instead, trying to tag In-seong directly.
"...Huh?!"
"Die, you steroid-popping gutter dog!"
It would have worked — if the man barreling head-on hadn't been braced for the collision the entire way.
'Surprise attack,' they might call it, but anyone who knew the truth would call it 100% premeditated. The human bullet named Noh In-seong slammed into J-Lo.
THUD!
"GRAAAAAGH---!!"
"Oh, dear..."
Bodies collided. Noh In-seong had shielded himself properly, so his damage was minimal.
"AAAAAGH...!!"
J-Lo, caught completely off guard, took the human artillery shell named Noh In-seong square in the ribs.
In the split second of setting up the tag, he'd collided with something no one could have anticipated.
Inside his own body, he could have sworn he heard something crack.
Noh In-seong, watching J-Lo writhe and roll in the dirt, quietly circled around behind him.
An out call was waiting there.
"Noh In-seong, violation of the three-foot lane... you understand?"
"He stepped onto the line first and we collided while I was running. That's not interference, now is it!"
Noh In-seong, naturally, played the picture of innocence — brazenly acting as though none of it had been deliberate.
The umpires argued for a while, then seemed to give up, smacking their lips as Noh In-seong trotted back toward the dugout.
"Damn it, AGAIN?! Stretcher! Somebody bring the stretcher!"
"His flank is nearly caved in... like someone drove a boulder into him? Jesus Christ."
The collision had been violent enough to make the medical staff nearby gasp.
Unsurprisingly, J-Lo's condition, sprawled on the ground where he'd fallen, was anything but normal.
He was carried off on the stretcher with an oxygen mask clamped over his face.
And that was the end of it. Even after his wounds healed, he would never return to Korean baseball again.
For the Doubles, the bases-loaded situation had become one out instead.
"We sent down the one guy who could actually pitch, so they'll figure out the scoring on their own."
They'd gained something far greater in exchange, so no complaints there.
Only the Grizzlies, having just lost their starting pitcher, would be weeping bitter, bitter tears.