Chapter 21
Chapter 21
The second game between the Marines and the Friends ended with the Marines winning 5 to 0, a shutout.
Two straight wins to open the season.
If someone had said they would start the season with two straight wins when Max Dalton caused chaos in the bottom of the first inning on opening day and left the mound, they would have been called insane at minimum.
That was how unbelievable this situation was for the Marines fans.
They came back to win a game that was already lost, and on top of that, Gail Davis, who no one had particularly expected much from, dominated the Friends hitters with a presence no less than that of an ace.
That alone was enough to fill them with happiness to the brim, but Gail’s interview pushed it to the peak.
“Is there anyone who helped you with your great pitching today?”
The reporter who asked this question expected Gail to mention fans, family, or at least a coach or the manager.
But an entirely unexpected name came out of Gail’s mouth.
“Park Siu gave me a lot of strength. My performance today would not have been possible without Siu.”
The sudden mention of Park Siu’s name.
The Marines community exploded the moment they heard it.
“So you are saying they brought in Park Siu, and now they got an insane trainer for free who even does pitching coaching?”
“But hearing it, it kind of makes sense. Watching a knuckleball and then seeing a normal four-seam? The hitters’ eyes must be completely messed up.”
“Even his pitching form and build are similar lol this is seriously the perfect optimization for a partner.”
“Baek Hogi interview just came out. He said he could not keep his head straight the entire game.”
“I do not get what you are saying, but can I just understand it as Park Siu threw 16 scoreless innings?”
“There is something called a pitch tunnel when hitters watch pitchers’ balls…”
“The Friends hitters were affected by Park Siu’s pitching the day before, pitch tunnel this and that, boring and overly academic. Park Siu threw 16 scoreless innings, clear and simple.”
“Wow, we already have a pitcher who threw 16 innings!”
“That is overworking him no matter how much of a knuckleballer he is, you crazy bastards lol”
But this was only the beginning.
The Marines players arrived in Suwon for the next game, and their expressions were bright without a doubt.
“When was the last time we swept the opening series?”
“At least we will not get cursed at when we go back home.”
Until just before the season started, most of the players were thinking not about sweeping, but just avoiding getting swept.
To put it bluntly, even if they got just one win in the Suwon away series, they could head to Busan with a winning percentage above half.
That fact alone made the players feel their burden lighten.
And at the center of it all was Park Siu.
Even if Park Siu had been strutting around arrogantly, the players would have just laughed it off.
But he did not do that.
“Senior, here it is.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Though in his fourth year, Park Siu was still one of the youngest among the pitchers, and as soon as they arrived at the lodging, he rolled up his sleeves and started unloading luggage.
Naturally, the Marines players found themselves thinking as they watched him.
“He is a good kid.”
They did not show it, but their initial impression of Park Siu had not been very good.
He went to the United States right after being traded and did not participate in the first spring camp.
On top of that, it was common for him to leave during the second spring camp together with Song Minseok, so he did not have enough time to get close with the players.
And then he suddenly made the opening roster, so there were some who viewed him negatively.
But Park Siu proved himself with skill, and his skill did not turn into arrogance.
Humble, and quietly stepping up to do the hard work without showing off, his attitude naturally earned favor.
As a result, people naturally started seeking him out.
Park Jeongwon, the closer who had moved from Phoenix to the Marines the same year Park Siu joined, was one of them.
“They said the kid was weird back in Phoenix.”
But seeing him in person, he was polite and likable.
“Siu, come to my room tonight. Let’s have dinner with Geonwoo.”
“Ah, senior. Would tomorrow be okay?”
“Why?”
“I have a dinner appointment with senior Lee Donghun. I am sorry.”
“No, prior plans come first. Okay, then tomorrow. But with Donghun? Just the two of you?”
“We are eating with senior Park Hyunwoo as well. The three of us.”
“Alright. With Hyunwoo there, it should be fine. Still, be careful.”
“Pardon?”
“Donghun hyung is at his most sensitive right now.”
Seeing Park Siu’s confused expression, Park Jeongwon explained.
“It is like a jinx. Whenever he comes to Suwon, he has bad luck.”
Lee Donghun had once been the ace of the Marines and was an outstanding pitcher.
But for some reason, he was particularly weak against the Suwon Knights.
Especially in away games at Suwon, he had yet to record a single win, and his ERA was as high as six.
The coaching staff knew this, but they could not adjust the rotation of Lee Donghun, who was slated as the third starter, from the beginning of the season.
Maybe because of that, Lee Donghun became especially sensitive whenever a game against the Knights approached.
“It is not like he snaps at juniors, so do not worry. Just be a bit careful with what you say.”
“Ah, thank you.”
As Park Jeongwon said, nothing particularly happened that evening or the next day.
But on game day.
Lee Donghun did not show it, but he could feel the players watching him carefully.
“Tch. If they are going to do that, at least do not make it obvious.”
Rather than enduring this uncomfortable atmosphere, Lee Donghun chose to be alone.
He had his routine to follow anyway, so this was better.
After settling down, he took out his phone and launched a game.
His routine was simple.
Before a game, he would log into a mobile game he often played and draw a character to test his luck.
He had started this routine because the day he first encountered the game, he pulled a good character and had a solid performance that day.
Now he had become a regular player beyond just a routine, but he still kept it up.
“Looks like this game is finally dying.”
The ability of the newly released character was absurdly good.
And the next character would be even better.
Grumbling about the obvious business tactics, he still ended up paying and preparing to pull.
“Let’s get it in one go.”
At that moment, someone approached him.
“Did you get assigned to come here?”
Park Siu looked slightly flustered at the question.
“No. I came because I said I would.”
“As if.”
Lee Donghun knew well that players avoided being the one to call him on a day like this.
“So what is it?”
“The manager is looking for you.”
“Ah, really?”
He could not refuse, so as he was about to turn off his phone, he noticed Park Siu.
“This kid has been lucky lately.”
After a brief moment of thought, Lee Donghun handed his phone to Park Siu.
“If you press here, it does ten pulls. Want to try?”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
“You can use it all, just pull until you see gold. Do not look at the results.”
After saying that, Lee Donghun headed toward Kwak Gubeom.
After hearing the usual words the manager gave to starting pitchers, he quickly returned and took back his phone.
The screen was filled with gold light.
“How much did you use?”
“Ah, I only pressed it once.”
“Really? Guess you really are lucky these days.”
Without much expectation, Lee Donghun started flipping through the results.
The probability of getting gold was four percent.
Among that, the chance of getting the newly released character was only one percent.
“If it shows up, great.”
As he continued, his eyes widened.
“Already?”
The one he wanted appeared on just the second pull.
There were still eight left, so there was still a chance.
And in this game, to fully unlock a character’s performance, you needed four copies.
That meant three more were still needed.
As he kept going, the screen shone gold again.
The more he flipped, the more his eyes refused to shrink back.
“This is insane.”
With just nine pulls, he got four copies.
A probability too ridiculous to even calculate.
But there was still the last one left.
The screen shone gold once again.
“Oh, this time something else came out.”
“…I see.”
Lee Donghun stared at the screen for a moment, then looked at Park Siu in disbelief.
It was neither the new character nor a particularly strong one.
But it was a character he had never pulled even once despite thousands of attempts.
How much money had he poured into the game just for this?
“…Come with me for a moment.”
Taking Park Siu to his locker room, Lee Donghun soon pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him.
“This is from my sponsor. You take it.”
“I am really fine. Yesterday’s meal was already more than enough.”
“How often do you think I will use this? You use it. If you really do not need it, give it to someone who does.”
In the end, Park Siu accepted the equipment ticket.
“Thank you.”
“If you need more, tell me. Or want me to introduce you to the sponsor? They are decent. They were already asking to get in touch with you.”
“…I am really fine.”
Manager Kwak Gubeom watched Lee Donghun preparing to pitch with a complicated expression.
“That is unfortunate.”
This was not one or two years. Records built over several years were no longer coincidence.
Lee Donghun being weak against the Suwon Knights was an undeniable fact.
As one of the few reliable pitchers on the Marines, the manager would have preferred to avoid using him in a game like this if possible.
But both Kwak Gubeom and Lee Donghun knew that was impossible.
The small consolation was that Lee Donghun’s expression looked better than expected, and even if they lost today, they already had wins secured.
“He is not the kind of pitcher to be shaken by this.”
Since he had put Lee Donghun in as the starter, trusting him was all the manager could do.
Crack!
But as the Knights’ leadoff hitter got a clean hit, Kwak Gubeom’s face hardened as he looked at the mound.
The strength of the Suwon Knights, who finished third last season, was their powerful third, fourth, and fifth hitters.
Lee Junho, Park Junseo, Martin James.
They were especially strong against Lee Donghun, their batting averages rising by more than a tenth against him.
How he handled these three would likely determine the outcome of his performance today.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
“Out!”
“…Huh.”
Each hit sounded so clean it made his heart ache.
But every result was an out.
A hard shot to third base, a line drive to shortstop, and the last ball was caught at the edge of the center field wall by Ha Seojin.
If the trajectory had been even slightly better, it could have easily been at least a hit, even extra bases.
Soon, as Lee Donghun returned to the dugout, Kim Mingi approached while removing his catcher’s gear.
“How about it, should we change the pitch mix a bit?”
“No. Let’s keep it as is.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Well.”
After answering, Lee Donghun glanced briefly toward where Park Siu was.
“I just have a good feeling today.”
“Okay.”
Bottom of the second, the Knights hitters still swung confidently.
This time, a runner reached second, but no runs.
In the bottom of the third, an error by the Marines made things tense.
But Lee Donghun escaped the crisis with his first strikeout of the game, then built momentum and created his first three-up, three-down inning in the fourth.
Clearly, the Knights had the early momentum, but the score remained 0 to 0.
In this strange atmosphere, it was the Marines who scored first.
Crack!
Ha Seojin admired the hit for a moment before tossing his bat.
“Wooooah!”
Now it was just 1 to 0.
The Knights had the momentum, and it seemed obvious they would be the ones to score, but the first run belonged to the Marines.
Lee Donghun remained the same even after taking the lead.
Unstable, but unbreakable.
Meanwhile, the Knights bench grew frustrated. Even using pinch hitters and trusting their core lineup, the score stayed at zero.
Bottom of the seventh, they finally managed one run with a hit in scoring position.
“Strikeout!”
That was all.
Meanwhile, the Marines lineup added runs little by little, making it 4 to 1.
Park Hyunwoo shut down the eighth, and Park Jeongwon closed the ninth cleanly for three straight wins.
And then.
“Senior, here is the ball!”
Lee Donghun looked at the ball Song Minseok handed him with a smile, then chuckled to himself.
Just like that character he could never pull no matter how hard he tried, his first win in Suwon came somewhat anticlimactically.
And after the game, the interview.
“There were a lot of well-hit balls today, but thanks to the fielders’ help, I think I was able to get through it well. Um. And.”
Lee Donghun looked at the camera for a moment and grinned.
“Since Siu joined our team, it feels like our luck has improved. Yes. I am thankful to Siu.”
Breaking news Park Siu records 3 wins with 26 innings and 1 run in 3 games
“Is there really something about Park Siu? Why does every interview mention him?”
“Max Dalton, the reason I pitched badly on opening day was all for Park Siu.”
“Even so, get out.”
“Lol this is getting scary because it actually feels real now.”
“These guys never learn. Last year they also talked about luck and then collapsed in the second half, already forgot?”
“Go watch your own team.”
“We already won.”
“It is not over yet.”
“Are we the losers? Opening game was just bad luck, how do you lose a five run lead?”
“?”
“???”
“Lol grand slam, Phoenix about to collapse in one second.”
“Junwoo… I hope you are happy there…”
“Lol where did that guy go?”
“It is still a one run game.”
“Say it without crying.”
“Lol this is so satisfying.”
“Wasn’t Park Siu originally unlucky?”
“I remember laughing at his zero wins with a two point ERA.”
“Yeah, but the moment he left Phoenix his luck skyrocketed.”
“It is kind of funny. As soon as he joins the Marines, they do well, and Phoenix collapses lol”
“Considering what happened last year, it is still too early to get excited.”
“Phoenix tied the game lol”
“This actually became a tie lol”