Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Translator Wjin
Chapter 52
“Um… by any chance, are you being hazed?”
“Why hazing all of a sudden?”
“No, um… how should I put it, you just seem to have no energy.”
Lee Seung-Tae chuckled.
“I get what you’re saying. Everyone I meet says the same thing you do, asking what happened. You’re wondering if I’m getting picked on here, right?”
Did he get a little sharper after coming to the baseball team? He understood perfectly.
“Something like that.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Everyone is nice. There are no trash like my old self here.”
It felt a little awkward. I hadn't intended to diss his past.
“But it’s not like there’s no senior-junior relationship at all… there is a line. You know what I mean, right?”
“As long as you don’t cross the line, they don’t bother you?”
“Right, exactly that. It's an atmosphere where they don't bother you as long as you don't cross the line. But… did you cross the line a bit?”
I think I knew what he meant by crossing the line without him even having to ask.
“Skipping rookie camp and doing self-training?”
“Right, that. Well, the seniors are all in a ‘let’s-play’ mood, so they probably won't care, but the coaches will probably be looking at you a little unfavorably. They’re quite the boomers.”
After hearing Lee Seung-Tae's words, I was convinced that choosing self-training was indeed a good decision.
“Ah, there is one tough senior. His name is Lee Su-Ho, and he's the only one in the Phoenix who has passion.”
“The only one? Didn't you say everyone was nice?”
“Well… everyone is nice. They're cheerful and have good personalities, but as players, I don't know…?”
So… is it something like, ‘My kid is lazy, but he’s a good person’?
“…This is just a team with no passion. Do you know what the seniors say? They say the Phoenix is a place where you come to rest after hitting it big with a free agent contract in your later years.”
Hmm…. Now I kind of get it. Why Lee Seung-Tae looked so lethargic. While the grasshoppers were playing their guitars and getting their salaries, how could the rookie ant, Lee Seung-Tae, have any energy?
“Anyway, let's go and greet the pitchers first, since that side is closer.”
“Yes.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
[The eternal number one starter of the Phoenix, Lee Su-Ho, re-signs with the Phoenix again!]
[Lee Su-Ho: My only team is the Phoenix.]
Although Lee Su-Ho had re-signed without hesitation because he loved the Phoenix, the Phoenix he loved could not honestly be called a good team.
└ I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but thank you for staying, Su-ho 😭
└ I’m sorry… and thank you.
└ No, Su-ho… why did you stay with the Phoenix again 😭
└ I feel so bad for Su-ho every time I see him now 😭
└His ERA is in the mid-2s, but he only has 7 wins. That's for real a legend.
└If it wasn't for the damn Phoenix, his ERA wouldn't be in the mid-2s, but in the low 2s or even the late 1s lol.
└Just let Su-Ho go, you Phoenix bastards. You're in last place anyway, for real.
└No, what can we do if our Su-Ho says he's not going?
└What can you do? He's been a Phoenix fan since he was born…
└I heard Su-Ho isn't going anywhere else until the Phoenix wins the championship…
└Then he's saying he'll retire with the Phoenix.
└That's a really harsh thing to say, WTF.
For people to say that their franchise star should go to another team and succeed… well…
“Hey, boss. Should we go to Seomyeon or something after this?”
“That sounds good. Are you buying today?”
“Hey~ boss, I bought last time.”
Even on a day when they had lost with a lethargic score of 12 to 3, his teammates were thinking of drinking right away and didn't seem to care about their ranking at all.
It felt like everyone else didn't care, and only Lee Su-Ho was working hard. Not everyone was like that, but most were.
“I’m Lee Seung-Tae! I will follow Lee Su-Ho and become a pitcher who can help the Phoenix!”
Still, he liked the rookie named Lee Seung-Tae. From his eyes, he could see that he was shining, unlike the existing teammates who had become accustomed to defeat, and he seemed full of passion.
…Of course, it only took a moment for that spirited rookie to have dead fish eyes.
“…Senior, I don't know what I did wrong…”
Wrong? There was no such thing. The fact that a rookie who had just graduated from high school immediately went up to the first team and finished the season with an ERA in the low 3s was truly amazing.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the Phoenix's hopeless defense, he would have aimed for an ERA in the 2s, reached 10 wins, and the Rookie of the Year award would have been well within his reach.
To have missed all of that because of those lazy bums who were only positive, how could his spirit not be broken?
Ah, there was one thing Lee Seung-Tae had done wrong. A very big mistake, at that.
“You should have gone to the Majors. Why did you come to the Phoenix? That was your mistake.”
“Isn't that the same for you, senior?”
He had intended to land a blow, but Lee Seung-Tae's reply had hit him right where it hurt.
“Haha…. That's right. I made a mistake too…. But what can I do? To me, the Phoenix is… the light of my life, the flame of my life, my sin… my soul.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I don't really know either. It's something I heard somewhere. But that's exactly how I think of the Phoenix.”
If the rookie named Lee Seung-Tae hadn't come, Lee Su-Ho might have really considered transferring. But thanks to Lee Seung-Tae, he had seen hope, and Lee Su-Ho had once again started to dream of a Phoenix championship.
Plus, with the monster rookie named Cha Tae-Hyun joining the Phoenix, wasn't it worth it to burn with passion for the Phoenix one more time?
Lee Su-Ho, who had been thinking that, was in a rather displeased state at the news that Cha Tae-Hyun had not participated in the rookie camp.
Was his goal of a Phoenix championship just a bluff?
It wasn't for a childish reason like, ‘How dare… a rookie be so arrogant as to do self-training on his own?’
He was just disappointed that he seemed to be following the path of those passionless people who were eating away at the Phoenix.
It's not my style to do this, but….
Lee Su-Ho thought as he glared fiercely at Cha Tae-Hyun, whom Lee Seung-Tae had brought over. For the player named Cha Tae-Hyun, and for the Phoenix.
I need to instill some discipline.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
Before long, we arrived at the place where the pitchers were gathered, and the ‘seniors who were nice but had no passion’ that Lee Seung-Tae had mentioned approached.
“Oh? Is this the legendary rookie?”
“The kid with the 2 billion contract?”
“Wow… a rookie with a 2 billion contract? How good is he?”
“Looking at his face, he's going to have a lot of female fans soon.”
As Lee Seung-Tae had said, no one gave me a hard time for skipping rookie camp. In fact, they praised me, saying they were envious or had high expectations, so it seemed the part about them having good personalities wasn't an empty statement.
However, there was just one person. A person who was glaring at me fiercely. His face was practically written with, ‘A rookie, being so lazy!’
That must be Lee Su-Ho. The senior who was said to be the only one with passion.
“Your name is Cha Tae-Hyun, right? You should be thinking of working harder now that you’re a rookie, but I heard you even skipped camp…”
As expected, Lee Su-Ho started talking to me, and Lee Seung-Tae hurriedly began to defend me.
“Um… Su-Ho, this kid is a junior from my school. He’s not the type to just mess around. Even though it was self-training, I’m sure he worked hard.”
Was he looking out for me because we were from the same school? Lee Seung-Tae had really changed a lot. But despite Lee Seung-Tae's defense, Lee Su-Ho's gaze was still sharp.
“Hey, Su-Ho, why are you being like that again? The player you were hoping for, the one who will lead the Phoenix, has come. It's okay for guys who are good at baseball to take it easy.”
Lee Su-Ho scoffed and said, “Really? Then shall we see if he's good even when he takes it easy? Let's see just one at-bat.”
That was fine by me. I had skipped camp, but that didn't mean I hadn't trained. I was starting to feel a little wronged.
“Yes. That's fine. If I get a hit, will you acknowledge that I did self-training?”
I heard some ‘oohs’ from around.
“A star is different, huh?”
“There’s a reason they call him Cha Tae-Hyun. Look at his guts in front of Su-Ho.”
“Follow me.”
Lee Su-Ho left with those words and coolly walked out to the practice field.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
“Su-Ho seems to be really serious. Why is he even warming up his shoulder?”
“Seung-Tae was planning to just introduce him and then go to the fielders, but isn't he going to be disliked by the fielders? For playing around with the pitchers.”
“What do you mean, disliked? You guys were the ones who kidnapped him.”
“Sang-Jin? How did you know to come here?”
“How did I know, you punk? All the pitchers were flocking over. It would be hard not to know. So what's Su-Ho doing over there now?”
The number four batter and leader of the fielders, Lee Sang-Jin, asked with interest.
“You know that Cha Tae-Hyun, right? The 2 billion one. Su-Ho said he's going to instill some discipline because he didn't participate in rookie camp and did self-training.”
“Really? That's great. The batting coach was giving me hell because the rookie skipped.”
Having finished warming up his shoulder, Lee Su-Ho briefly explained the rules to Cha Tae-Hyun.
“It's a one-at-bat showdown. If you get a hit, you win. If you're out, I win.”
“If I win, will you acknowledge that I trained diligently?”
At his confident tone, as if he had already secured the victory, one corner of Lee Su-Ho's lips twitched.
“Right. I hope you do too.”
Lee Su-Ho stepped onto the mound, touched the rosin bag once, and blew on it to dust it off. Then he stepped on the pitching rubber and looked at Cha Tae-Hyun.
His gaze is good.
He didn't know what his actions had been like until now, but it seemed he had concentration at the plate. Lee Su-Ho was a left-handed fireballer so good that he was said to be able to be brought back even from hell.
Although he was a bit past his prime at the age of 34, he was still a top-class pitcher whose fastball could reach up to 154 km/h.
It might seem a little cowardly for such a pitcher to pitch with all his might against a rookie, but if he was going to instill discipline, he had to do it properly.
Lee Su-ho, who had made a big windup, threw the first pitch with all his might. The ball that left his fingertips flew fiercely, and just as it was about to enter the strike zone, it broke its trajectory and went outside the zone.
“Oh…. Su-Ho must have really gritted his teeth. That slider's break is insane.”
It was an artistic slider that even his teammates who were watching would have admired. However,
“Ball!”
“But what's with Cha Tae-Hyun not falling for it…?”
Even the top-tier batters in the KBO would have at least moved their bats a little at that slider, but Cha Tae-Hyun had just watched it like a statue, without flinching.
“Isn't he just frozen because the pitch is so good?”
“Seems like it.”
I don’t think so….
The fielder, Lee Sang-Jin, had very good eyes and could faintly see Cha Tae-Hyun's expression. He had definitely seen one corner of his lips go up slightly.
If he had really been surprised by the pitch and frozen, would he have made that expression? Well, even so, it was still ambiguous. Even Lee Sang-Jin would have at least twitched his bat at that pitch.
Soon, the second pitch. It was a forkball that dropped slightly below the zone again. This time too, it was a forkball with a beautiful drop worthy of Lee Su-Ho's name, but Cha Tae-Hyun's bat was still motionless.
“Wow… it really looks like he's watching and letting it go.”
“I know, right? That forkball just now was a work of art too.”
The teammates were starting to stir. It wasn't just them who were flustered.
It definitely dropped well….
If the batter had been a top KBO batter instead of Cha Tae-Hyun, it was a pitch that would have likely resulted in a swing and a miss.
He seems to have a good eye for pitches, huh?
“Then… let's see if he's strong against fastballs too.”
Lee Su-Ho switched to a four-seam grip, wound up big, and stepped forward hard with his stride foot. Then he turned his upper body with enough force to seem a little excessive. The four-seam fastball over 150 km/h that had made Lee Su-Ho a top-tier pitcher in the league.
Good.
The moment he threw that four-seam, Lee Su-Ho's lips curled up slightly at the thrilling sensation he hadn't felt in a while. Just as he was feeling disappointed at the fact that there was no speed gun.
Cha Tae-Hyun's bat, which had not moved an inch until now, swung fiercely.
CRACK!!!!
A terrifying sound of impact hit Lee Su-Ho's eardrums and vibrated through his entire body. The batted ball flew toward Lee Su-Ho in an instant, grazed his hair slightly, and soared.
Even though it had been a situation that could have turned into a big accident, Lee Su-Ho was more curious about the trajectory of the ball than surprised and hurriedly turned his head.
The launch angle wasn't very high. Hadn't it just grazed his hair? It shouldn't have gone very far… it should have… but the ball, as if ignoring Lee Su-Ho's common sense, stretched out further and further, and finally, it went just over the top of the fence.
“Wow… no, haha…”
“That kid is crazy, for real.”
“Sang-Jin, wasn't that pitch just now ridiculously fast?”
Lee Sang-Jin was just as dazed as Lee Su-Ho, who was stunned on the mound.
Wasn't the ball fast…?
It was fast, but… the greatest strength of Lee Su-Ho's four-seam was not its speed. It was the heavy movement that came from its terrifying spin rate. He had faced it a few times himself, so he knew well how nasty of a pitch it was.
But… to hit it over the fence like a clothesline… with that launch angle?
Lee Sang-Jin, who had laughed in disbelief, muttered.
“…I'm going to be pushed back to the 5th spot.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
After chasing the ball for a moment, I saw Lee Su-Ho approaching and thought, ‘Oh no.’
Did I hit it without thinking? I had just hit a home run off the senior who was said to be the only one with passion, as soon as his pitch entered the zone.
And it seemed like it was a showdown to instill some discipline in a junior, so wouldn't this be what they call a moment of losing face?
I could almost hear the probability of a Phoenix championship dropping.
“Cha Tae-Hyun…”
His voice didn't sound good either. How should I handle this smoothly?
“Why…”
“Pardon…?”
“Why…!”
Lee Su-Ho suddenly put his hands on both of my shoulders and raised his voice.
Is the hazing starting?
But Lee Su-Ho suddenly smiled brightly and spat out some incomprehensible words.
“Why did you come so late!!!!”
Uh….
It seems a lot had happened to this person too.