Full of Vigor! World's Strongest!
Bottom of the ninth.
Runners in scoring position.
Just as the tension thickened enough to make even the fans in the stands hold their breath—
PH Gong Ji-hoo
An unexpected name lit up the scoreboard.
A low murmur rolled through the stands.
The word "gamble" the commentator had used hung in the air, and the home fans themselves couldn't quite decide what to make of pinch hitter Gong Ji-hoo.
Some fans howled that the manager had lost his mind. Others sighed that Gong Ji-hoo couldn't hit a thing and were already bracing for extra innings. Still others clasped their hands and prayed, begging him to come through.
Uneasy, yet beginning to nurse a fragile maybe…, the home crowd watched.
Then something happened that shattered that fragile hope completely.
Three characters burned across the scoreboard. The moment the Wizard fans saw the name, they clutched their heads.
Oh Jin-muk.
The undisputed best bullpen arm in Korea, a pitcher already locked in for a Major League move two years from now. A top velocity of 168 km/h—pure despair for any hitter.
Season numbers: 0.63 ERA, forty-five saves, zero losses. Even the best closers eventually blow a save. This season he hadn't recorded a single one. An invincible finisher.
Thwack!!
Even his warm-up pitches registered 160 km/h on the board. The Suwon Wizards' home fans sank into despair.
"Skip, should we pull Ji-hoo?"
The Wizards' dugout was no different.
Thwack!!
"Who am I supposed to put in instead of that kid?"
"…"
"If the situation's hopeless either way, better to send up the one guy who might still have a chance."
"You actually think Ji-hoo can hit Oh Jin-muk's stuff, Skip?"
"…"
Manager Kim Tae-sik fell silent for a moment.
"Truth is, among the guys we have left, Gong Ji-hoo's the only one with half-decent defense…"
Thwack!!
The fastball was so violent it seemed ready to rip the catcher's mitt clean in half.
I waited for Oh Jin-muk to finish his warm-ups. I did not tremble with fear.
"Man… Gong Ji-hoo's grown a lot."
Instead, a strange pride welled up at the sight of the national-team closer taking the mound against a worthless Minor League Yeopo. I started looking forward to the matchup.
"Heh…"
Even I had to admit it was ridiculous. All I'd done was regress.
Maybe the word "just" didn't belong next to a miracle like regression.
But the situation I was in right now—and the way I was facing it—felt completely different from the past, far more than a simple regression should have allowed.
"I didn't even get any system help or anything…"
You know those novels. The ones where the protagonist rides a special system all the way to the top.
Compared to those guys, I was just an ordinary regressor.
"Guess I liked baseball a whole lot more than I thought."
Looking back now, the claim that I'd cut every last attachment to the game when I retired had been a bald-faced lie.
Clenching my teeth and staying away from anything baseball-related. Refusing to watch games or even read baseball articles.
All of it had been attachment.
I was afraid that if I let myself, I'd start missing the stadium again—start thinking that maybe this time I could actually produce in the first team. So I'd unconsciously avoided the sport altogether.
My first at-bat back in the first team after a miraculous regression. I could feel even the last tiny shred of lingering doubt evaporating.
Oh Jin-muk finished his warm-ups and the game resumed. My first first-team plate appearance, and I was already facing the final boss.
"Whatever. Let's just enjoy it with no regrets."
You never know—maybe a miracle will happen.
"Appreciate the hard work~"
Gong Ji-hoo stepped into the box and greeted the catcher and the home-plate umpire.
He's not as rattled as I expected?
Rhinos catcher Kang Ho-san found himself remembering something second-team player Kim Kang-tae had told him not long ago.
"That Gong Ji-hoo kid… something's off about him. I swear he must've hit his head."
Looks fine to me.
Watching Gong Ji-hoo loosen up in the box, Kang Ho-san opened his mouth.
"Ji-hoo. Been a real long time. You disappeared so completely I figured you'd gone off to the army. Guess that's what happens with a player who's there-but-not-there."
It wasn't personal malice. Just Kang Ho-san's trademark trash talk, designed to rattle the batter's head.
He joked that instead of baserunning he was a five-tool player with a mouth, and trash talk really was his specialty. Young hitters especially would freeze up under the constant stream of insults and completely lose their swings. Gong Ji-hoo, who had faced him only once in the first team, had been no exception.
"Ah, hyung-nim. I'm exempt from the military."
But his reaction this time was nothing like before.
"Huh? Exempt?"
"Both my parents are gone, so I got a military exemption."
"Uh…"
The answer was so far beyond anything Kang Ho-san had imagined that he was the one who froze. Of course he did.
"Ahem!"
Even the umpire was so startled he cleared his throat.
Meanwhile the guy who'd said it was calmly settling into his stance.
"Full of vigor! World's strongest! Made of iron!"
Singing under his breath.
Come to think of it, Kang-tae mentioned something like that… said Gong Ji-hoo's singing kept ringing in his ears.
The pitch was weirdly off-key.
"Do kids your age even know Mazinger Z?"
"Huh? What's that?"
"The song you just—"
Gong Ji-hoo gave him a look of pure disbelief.
"Isn't it common knowledge that this song is perfect for a pinch hitter?"
Kang Ho-san could only stare, speechless, at the kid who finished with a breezy "Anyway, that's how it is."
"Warning. Let's get the game going."
The umpire's bark finally snapped him out of it.
First time I've ever been the one who got shut down…
Without another word he exchanged signs with Oh Jin-muk.
When I'm battery with Jin-muk there's not much to think about.
That was the truth.
Thwaaack!!!
"Strike!"
A pitcher who could overwhelm hitters with nothing but pure velocity.
Oh Jin-muk's heater was pure magic.
Even Gong Ji-hoo in the box had to feel fear at that velocity—
"Man… that ball's scary."
Gong Ji-hoo was smiling. As if the whole situation was pure joy.
One more heater in the zone.
Whoooosh!!
Once again a blazing fastball exploded from Oh Jin-muk's hand. The first pitch Gong Ji-hoo had simply watched. This time the bat moved.
Tick!
Timing this thing is a real bitch.
The ball popped high and sailed behind the plate.
Kang Ho-san flung off his mask and chased it. His steps stopped right in front of the Wizards' dugout.
Foul.
"Knew you couldn't hit it."
Kang Ho-san picked up the mask that had fallen to the dirt and looked at Gong Ji-hoo as he handed it back.
"If you give me the exact same pitch one more time I might hit it, you know?"
Might hit it? Fine. Go ahead and try.
Oh Jin-muk's fastball was the kind countless KBO hitters couldn't even foul off. A guy they called a Minor League Yeopo seeing it once and still not being able to touch it was only natural.
Thinking that, Kang Ho-san called for another heater.
That was the mistake.
Oh Jin-muk lifted his leg into the delivery. Gong Ji-hoo matched the timing and steadied his breath.
The ball that left Oh Jin-muk's fingertips after the kick was even faster than the last one.
Gong Ji-hoo's swing path shifted by the tiniest fraction and locked perfectly onto the pitch's trajectory.
And then—
CRAAAAACK—!!!!
Everyone in the stadium froze solid.
Only Gong Ji-hoo, the one who had swung, gently set the bat down and started walking toward first.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
The stadium shook. Home fans roared themselves hoarse at the miracle Gong Ji-hoo had just created.
Feels good…
Rounding the bases, Gong Ji-hoo's face was flushed with pure exhilaration.
First. Second. Third.
And home plate.
The second his foot touched the dish, the Wizards' three infielders swarmed him, screaming like maniacs.
"You!! You crazy bastard!! You!! Holy—"
They couldn't even form real sentences, just hammered on his helmet in pure awe.
"Ow! That hurts! Easy!"
"You absolute lunatic! Who cares if it hurts?! Do you even realize what you just did?!"
Lee Dae-beom hoisted Gong Ji-hoo onto his back and tore around the field, bellowing.
Minor League Yeopo.
The moment Gong Ji-hoo finally stripped the first two words off that nickname.
"Hey… so how come when I watch the broadcasts they always dump water on the guy after a walk-off? Our team doesn't do that?"
"…That's because nobody thought you'd actually hit a home run, you crazy bastard!!"
After the game came the player interview. Naturally the star of the show was Gong Ji-hoo.
He stood in front of the microphone looking surprisingly put-together for a guy who'd just hit a walk-off, though his face was still flushed red from the afterglow.
Caster Lee Han-yeong's voice still sounded a little raw from the walk-off call as he greeted him.
"Yes! Hello. Baseball player Gong Ji-hoo."
Gong Ji-hoo broke into a bright smile at the question.
"I feel amazing!"
His voice still trembled a little.
"Thank you! Hyung-nim!"
Gong Ji-hoo bowed toward the unseen booth. Kim Jung-eop let out a warm laugh and continued.
Kang Ho-san's trash talk was legendary among anyone who followed the game.
"Well, you see…"