The First
Had that day's conversation been a glimpse of the future?
Even I, who still clung to hope for some special regressor's privilege, found myself thinking so.
The Gwangju Irons had charged into the playoffs at the speed of light.
In the wild-card round, the Rhinos had already been staring down a near-certain defeat, yet they still pulled the extreme move of bringing Oh Jin-muk in from the sixth inning. The game never flipped.
In the semi-playoffs, Daejeon—still drunk on the joy of finally reaching autumn baseball after so long—turned into a library for two straight days. Meanwhile, Gwangju became a festival ground.
And the one who had loaded the Gwangju Irons onto that high-speed train bound for the playoffs was, of course, Ryu Hyun-seo.
And that same Ryu Hyun-seo was an incredibly sweet person.
"Ji-hoo, I saw the interview. I'm so glad! How much have you been suffering until now?"
Are Park Ji-han and Ryu Hyun-seo both actually from Busan?
That was how warm they felt.
"Ji-hoo, the game's about to start. What are you thinking so hard about?"
In the dugout, Park Ji-han shook my shoulder.
"I'm just shocked that the Busan I thought I knew was an illusion…"
"What the hell does that even mean?"
I told him what I'd been thinking—that the Busan people around me were far too warm to be actual Busan people.
"That's regional discrimination."
"Sorry…"
Fortunately, the kind Busan man accepted the apology from the prejudice-filled Gyeonggi resident right away.
"Aren't you nervous? It's your first autumn baseball."
He even worried about me warmly. For a moment I felt humanly defeated.
"Nervous, huh…"
I turned his words over in my mind.
I was always nervous. But to say it was because this was my first autumn baseball…
"Well, autumn baseball wasn't the only first for me…"
Getting pinch-hit with everyone's expectations on me. Having my name written into the starting lineup. All of those had been firsts after the regression.
I wasn't especially more nervous just because it was autumn baseball. So—
"This level of nerves is just right."
Park Ji-han nodded as if relieved to hear it.
"…But Ji-hoo. Do you know that person?"
"Who?"
"The one throwing out the first pitch keeps looking this way. I wondered if you two know each other."
I followed Park Ji-han's gaze and turned my head.
Right in front of the dugout entrance, a woman was staring straight at me.
Who the hell are you?
"You guys don't know Jina? She's a streamer who's been blowing up lately."
Lee Dae-beom, who had somehow already claimed a seat in the dugout, said that.
"If I watch that stuff, my girlfriend would kill me."
That was the answer from this era's romanticist.
And me—
"Do I look like I have time to watch personal broadcasts…?"
I was living the busiest life of anyone here. Dual jobber, after all.
"I knew she was a baseball fan… but throwing out the first pitch?"
Surprisingly, Lee Dae-beom seemed pretty well-versed in this kind of thing.
"But as far as I know, Jina is a Swallows fan."
"Well, if another team just pays her, she can throw the first pitch, right? Must be a money-lover."
"Is that so…"
Capitalism was a cold mistress.
"But her number's 22. Isn't she actually your fan, Ji-hoo?"
"You just said she was a Swallows fan. Logically speaking, no way a Swallows fan is my fan…"
"Yeah. Didn't think of that."
"You bastard."
While we were busy with that useless chatter—
Doo-doong!
Grand music rolled across the ballpark.
2024 KBO Playoffs! Suwon Wizards Starting Lineup!
— Waaaaaaaaah!!!
With a massive roar of cheers—
Lee Dae-beom.
An Sung-woo.
Senior Lee Se-ho.
Park Ji-han all charged out onto the field.
— Waaaaaaaaah!!
And as I listened to the fans' passionate welcome for them, I too—
—stepped out to stand beside them under the fans' cheers.
Looking straight ahead, the stands were packed with home fans. The game hadn't even started yet, and they were already pouring out enormous support.
I really don't want to lose…
Gong Ji-hoo's first postseason was beginning.
"We've always been cheering for you," they said—what the hell does that even mean. First time I've ever seen them today…
The words I'd heard as I left the dugout slowly faded from my mind.
The camera that had been showing Charlie throwing his warm-up pitches swung out to the outfield.
The camera that had been fixed on Gong Ji-hoo soon returned to the mound and home plate.
A batter walked calmly into the frame.
Ryu Hyun-seo's postseason stats appeared on the broadcast screen.
And then the first pitch.
The heavy mid-to-upper 150s fastball thrown by Suwon Wizards starter Charlie—
CRAAAAACK!!
—vanished over the wall in an instant.
Ryu Hyun-seo's fifth postseason home run. And his second leadoff home run.
To be honest, I had barely ever spoken with our starting pitcher, Charlie.
I'd been called up late in the season, so I still felt a little awkward even with some of the position players. Talking to a pitcher—especially a foreign mercenary—was impossible for the more timid version of me.
At best, after facing each other in a scrimmage, we'd exchange the obligatory "nice ball" or "nice swing." Even so, one thing I could say for certain about Charlie was this:
He was as cool as the balls he threw.
Thwack!!
"Strike three!!"
Just like right now.
Standing on the mound after a long time. The pressure of starting the first game of the postseason. Even after that first pitch had flown over the wall—
Charlie remained unfazed.
Unfazed enough to throw the exact same pitch to the exact same location against the next batter.
After taking out the second hitter with nothing but fastballs for a three-pitch strikeout, as if working out his frustration, Charlie then—
broke the next batter's bat with his signature cutter for an infield grounder.
The cleanup hitter couldn't beat him either.
Whoosh~
Thwack!!
"Swing and a miss! Strike three!!"
The bat that had stirred a cool breeze came around far later than the ball, and just like that the inning was over.
The way he walked off the mound with a blank expression had a certain cool that you simply couldn't associate with a starter who'd given up a leadoff home run.
Bottom of the first.
In an era when "strong leadoff hitters" and "strong number-two hitters" were the trend, Manager Kim Tae-sik had prepared a truly classic lineup.
Park Ji-han and An Sung-woo as the table setters.
A leadoff hitter who saw the ball well and hit solidly, followed by a number-two who was good at executing plays.
The gukbap of forty years of KBO tradition.
"For the first game, there's a high chance the feel hasn't fully returned yet, so I set the lineup this way."
That was what Manager Kim Tae-sik had said.
In the postseason, the team that finished higher in the regular season held an overwhelming advantage.
The players could rest properly. The security of opening at home.
Those were obvious advantages.
But even for the higher seed—especially for the hitters—there was a tiny yet, in some ways, massive penalty: dulled game sense.
The Gwangju Irons had been playing games until just a few days ago. Meanwhile, our Suwon Wizards—
We ran our own scrimmages and even got help from teams that had been eliminated early, but…
Practice and real games were completely different.
Therefore, quickly restoring dulled game sense to peak condition was more important than anything. And if we failed at that—
We'd end up like Daejeon.
The Daejeon Powderz, who had finished third in the regular season only to get swept in three straight and exit autumn baseball early.
I did not want my first autumn baseball to end that way.
"Strike!!"
With that thought, the first offensive inning began.
Leadoff hitter Park Ji-han's swing was—
Whoosh~
"Strike!!"
—truly unlike him.
The precise swings from the regular season were nowhere to be found; he kept swinging and missing.
"Aren't you nervous? It's your first autumn baseball."
Why was that thing Park Ji-han had said earlier coming back to me now?
That guy has way more experience than me. Nervous for what. His feel just hasn't come back yet.
Ever since Manager Kim Tae-sik took over, the Suwon Wizards had been a powerhouse consistently invited to autumn baseball. Including this year, it was a full four years.
For someone like me, experiencing autumn baseball for the first time, to worry about him was arrogant. Even so—
Thwack!!
"Strike three!"
Please, just get back to your usual self as soon as possible.
Leadoff hitter Park Ji-han had gone down helplessly on strikes, but fortunately the next batter, An Sung-woo, scratched out a short infield single and reached first base.
And then—
— Number three hitter, left fielder, Gong Ji-hoo
"Appreciate the hard work~"
I offered the now-familiar greeting, settled into the box, and lowered my stance.
A stance I had repeated hundreds—or thousands—of times.
But for me, this was essentially a true first experience. And not just because it was autumn baseball.
Everything from the moment I started preparing for this game had been a first.
I had even put the novel I was serializing on hiatus for once, and then I had started studying.
The Gwangju Irons were a team I was meeting for the first time after the regression. There hadn't been any games against them after I was called up to the first team.
The Irons' starting pitchers. The Irons' bullpen pitchers. The ones I would face.
I had analyzed them in my own way.
I had never done something like this before.
Originally, heroes weren't supposed to study.
But I really wanted to do well in autumn baseball…
So the Gong Ji-hoo of right now was not just Gong Ji-hoo.
He was model-student Gong Ji-hoo.
"On this beautiful land of rivers and mountains~"
The song came out on its own.
"Pffft!"
The opposing catcher, carefully exchanging signs, burst out laughing.
"Why the hell are you singing that song…"
"Today's version of me is a model student. I figured I'd sing a song that the kids who are good at studying like."
I hadn't exactly been good at studying either, but that didn't seem right.
The opposing catcher, holding back his laughter, said,
"I'd heard about you, but you really are a total weirdo."
Hearing that, I realized something else.
Just like I'm meeting the Irons for the first time, the Irons are meeting me for the first time too.
More precisely, facing the post-regression renewed Gong Ji-hoo was a first for the Irons as well. So—
Shuuuuk—!!
The result of model-student Gong Ji-hoo's studying.
Today's Irons starter had a similar tendency to Charlie.
A pitcher who enjoyed overpowering hitters with raw stuff. A pitcher who actively used high fastballs that could be dangerous for a pitcher. And high fastballs were—
CRAAAAACK!!!
—especially a pitch I loved.
"Don't know it? Then you gotta get hit!"
I felt like I could hear my high school teacher's voice from somewhere, the one I'd heard while slamming my head against the desk.