You're Not Swinging at All

“Ugh… How does this feel harder than during the season?”

In winter, every baseball player becomes a temporary unemployed person.

Of course.

Not me.

Having safely finished today’s word count, I stood up from my seat and stretched.

“This novel’s end is finally in sight…”

Before I knew it, four months had passed since my regression. That also meant four months had passed since I started serializing The Genius Batter Regresses.

And.

Once you’ve won the championship in a baseball novel, isn’t it about time to wrap things up?

Of course.

“In real life, winning once doesn’t mean anything ends.”

Plenty had happened even after the championship.

First, the long-awaited KBO Awards ceremony.

Surprisingly.

Not a single player from this year’s champions, the Suwon Wizards, claimed the honor of a Golden Glove.

Some fans were apparently saying things like “They’re just dunking on an unpopular team!”

Honestly, though.

“They didn’t really deserve them…”

This team did have players who could challenge for Golden Gloves. However.

At shortstop there was Ryu Hyun-seo, who had hit 40-40. On the mound there was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Do Jeong-hoo with eighteen wins and Oh Jin-muk with forty-five saves and a no-blown-save season. At first base there was Changwon’s foreign slugger who had cleared the fifty-home-run mark and taken the home run title.

Park Ji-han. Charlie. Lee Dae-beom.

All excellent players, but compared to those names, falling a little short was inevitable.

Still.

“Heh~ But we still won~”

Winning was enough, wasn’t it?

“Time…”

I checked the clock. Not much left until my appointment. I hurriedly grabbed my wallet and left the house.

Should I get a license…

I had thought I already had one. Turns out I didn’t.

A perfectly ordinary misunderstanding any regressor would experience. Anyone who’s gone through regression like me would probably understand.

What a pain…

The so-called three sacred treasures that symbolize a successful baseball player.

Gold necklace. Clutch bag. Sports car.

I didn’t like any of them. Especially the sports car.

If I’m going to ride around in an expensive car, I’d rather just take taxis.

Sitting in the back seat of a taxi, I checked the sports section of the news.

The off-season is front-office time. The period commonly called the stove league.

Transfers. Releases. Signings. Re-contracts.

A time when powerless players get tossed around by the front office, and conversely when the front office sometimes loses the initiative and gets dragged around by a single player.

And me.

Honestly, it’s ambiguous…

I held the enormous title of the Suwon Wizards’ first Korean Series MVP, but looking at my career, I was still just a guy who’d hit well for two months. So I was simply hoping my salary would go up a little. Even so, I needed to earn more from my main job than from my side hustle.

“Oh, so he decided to go that way.”

Right after the season ended, I had met Ryu Hyun-seo for a farewell gathering of sorts.

The surprising part was that we met neither in his hometown of Busan nor with his home team in Gwangju, but in Jeonju.

He said Busan was too far and there was nothing to do in Gwangju…

Did you know? In Jeonju they wrap bulgogi and kimbap in lettuce leaves. It was surprisingly delicious.

While we were at it, I also got the chance to build friendships with the Irons players I had traded blows with in the playoffs. I was able to talk for a long time with Han Seong-gon, the Irons catcher I had especially wanted to get close to.

Though.

For some reason he seemed a little uncomfortable around me…

Of course that was just my imagination. There was no way a senior like him would feel burdened by a junior like me.

I, Gong Ji-hoo, had been famous since childhood for getting along well with adults.

Anyway.

At the time, Ryu Hyun-seo still hadn’t decided which team to join.

“There are too many good offers, but I’m trying to decide between two teams. Either the Dodgers or Cincinnati.”

The Dodgers were far ahead of other clubs in signing bonus, and Cincinnati looked like it would have a more relaxed competition for the starting job, or something like that.

Honestly, the way he talked about picking and choosing MLB teams was pretty cool.

Just like that, Ryu Hyun-seo had climbed right up to the threshold of boarding the national-pride train by advancing to the big leagues.

Having sent their captain off in good spirits, the Gwangju Irons filled the vacancy by buying the shortstop from the Daejeon Powders.

The shortstop Golden Glove race, which had been peaceful until now, was expected to become extremely fierce once the pacifist Ryu Hyun-seo left.

Park Ji-han of the Wizards and Han Si-ha of the Irons would probably lead the charge.

The Gwangju Irons weren’t the only ones seeing changes.

The Seoul Wolves had replaced their manager.

Managerial changes happened fairly often in the league, but when the target was Dong Sang-guk, who had shared the Wolves’ golden era, the news was bound to be shocking. And under him, hadn’t the Seoul Wolves finished first in the regular season this year and advanced to the Korean Series?

“Is this… a snowball that started because I regressed?”

Thinking that made me feel a little sorry.

Do Jeong-hoo seemed pretty shaken himself. Softening his statement, it meant something like:

“Our loss wasn’t the manager’s fault. We just weren’t good enough.”

Even so.

As befitting a manager who had led a perennial Korean Series powerhouse, Dong Sang-guk found a new job quickly.

“Ugh, that suddenly gave me the chills.”

It was an article with nothing special in it. Did a ghost just walk by?

While every club was making various moves for the coming season, the champion Suwon Wizards—

—aside from appointing a new non-player GM, showed no movement at all and simply crouched beneath the surface.

“I heard Manager Kim Tae-sik’s contract is also up… No re-contract article, though.”

Surely they wouldn’t replace a championship manager. Not unless the front office had lost its mind.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Thank you!”

Reaching my destination, I paid the fare and got out of the taxi.

Unlike last time, there was no request to just sign and leave. I felt like I should work a little harder.

“Hmm…”

Ah, those fries look delicious.

A familiar burger joint. With a plate of mouth-watering fries right in front of me, all I could do was stare.

Because.

A foreigner I had never seen before was sitting across from me with his eyes wide open.

“You said you needed my help?”

“Yes… I did ask for help.”

“Do you know how expensive the time of someone as great as me is?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am?”

Honestly.

I had no idea. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Since he was part of the old man’s network, I knew he had to be someone impressive, but—

“Enough. You weren’t exactly famous in your playing days, so it’s possible he doesn’t know. This is Korea, my friend.”

“Tch… Countless big-league players are dying to receive my coaching, yet this guy knows nothing.”

“You haven’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forgotten that I helped you, right?”

“That’s why I came all the way out here. Why are you trying to waste this precious opportunity on that dumb-looking kid? Is he your secret son or something?”

“…I don’t have parents.”

“So what.”

Unbelievable. There were people who didn’t even fall for the orphan card. Was this the spirit of a superpower nation?

“He’s the kid who’ll fulfill my dream in my place. I’m really counting on you.”

Seeing the old man bow his head, the man said,

“Fine. If I was going to refuse, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

Then he turned to me.

“Hey, you. Gong Ji-hoo, was it?”

“Yes, sir!”

“From now on, call me Coach. I’m going to show you hell.”

“Yes! Coach!”

“First…”

He shoved the burger and fries on the table into his mouth in one go, then stood up.

“Let’s start the evaluation right away. Follow me. Hey, you’ve got training facilities set up, right?”

“Of course. It’s been a hobby ever since I retired not long ago.”

“Still a ridiculous guy… Why would a burger joint owner build a training center?”

Listening to the two old men’s nostalgia talk as I followed them out, all I could think was—

Ah, I really wanted those fries…

I was hungry.

.

.

.

“Damn it! You’re not swinging at all!”

After that, I just swung in complete chaos.

The fans of the Suwon Wizards—

Looking at the new GM who had declared such grand ambitions, fans had expected the Suwon Wizards to take the lead in the stove league.

But as months passed with no movement from the club, they slowly began to grow exhausted.

Then.

The sudden news of Manager Kim Tae-sik’s re-contract.

At last the silent Suwon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wizards had begun to move—or so the fans hoped.

But for the next several weeks, the Suwon Wizards showed no further movement of any kind.

Still.

What could the fans do? All they could do was wait for more news to arrive.