The First Pitch
I changed back into my clothes and listened to the event schedule. Apparently, the ceremonial first pitch would take place after the opening ceremonies, and I'd have a brief moment to greet the crowd beforehand. Usually, people just gave a short greeting and wished the team victory.
But since we had arrived quite early, we had nothing to do. Left with no choice, my sister and I toured the stadium before deciding to head to the indoor practice facility.
As expected... the place was crawling with hot-blooded young men. The stares they threw my way as I walked past felt incredibly sticky. I wanted to snap at them, but I forced myself to hold back. I couldn't go causing a scene with my sister right next to me...
Anyway, a professional baseball player was supposed to teach me how to throw. We arrived at the practice field before our instructor did.
So this is where they practice throwing indoors, I thought, picking up one of the baseballs laid out for us.
Compared to a tennis ball, it was much harder and significantly larger. Before the player arrived, I tossed it around to get a feel for it. The larger size definitely gave it a different grip. Unlike a tennis ball, where the seam felt almost indented, a baseball had raised red stitching that popped outward.
Strangely enough, those raised seams made the ball feel much better in my hand.
"Want to try throwing it?"
"What?"
Seohee, looking bored, gestured for me to throw.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm an Awakened and a Hunter. What's the worst that could happen?"
With that, she took a few steps back.
"Alright, throw it!"
How confident... I worried a bit since she wasn't wearing a glove. If it were soft like a tennis ball, it would be one thing, but this was rock-hard.
"Don't blame me if something happens."
I stood at a reasonable distance, tossed the ball in the air a few times, and caught it. Then, I took a stance, mimicking the form of a professional baseball player as best as I could, and threw it lightly—completely relaxing my muscles.
Whoosh!
The ball tore through the air.
"Kyaah!"
Thud! Thump, roll, roll...
Seohee shrieked and threw herself out of the way.
"Why did you dodge?"
"B-Because it was dangerous!"
Was it? It did look a bit fast.
"W-Was that really you holding back?"
I nodded and checked the ball. Sure enough, unlike a tennis ball, its hardness kept it from bursting. The wall it hit wasn't damaged either.
"Yeah. Did it... look that dangerous?"
"Uh, yeah..."
Did I need to hold back even more? Seohee only managed to react and dodge because she was a highly capable Hunter. If I threw like that to a normal baseball player, it could end in disaster.
"Should I throw with even less strength? Actually, can anyone even catch this?"
I was starting to get worried.
"Unni, you don't need to throw it that hard," Seohee said, pulling out her phone to show me a video.
It was a clip of a female celebrity throwing a ceremonial first pitch.
"Oh..."
She couldn't throw it properly at all, sending the ball in a massive, high arc. In another video, the celebrity literally bounced the ball straight into the dirt.
"See? You don't actually have to be good at it."
So that's how it is...
This time, I drained every ounce of strength from my body and lobbed it lazily.
Flutter.
The ball flew in a gentle, looping arc.
"Is this too weak?"
Seeing Seohee catch it with ease, I figured this level of effort was probably the safest.
A moment later, a player arrived accompanied by a club staff member. He was a young man in his twenties—well, obviously, the whole place was full of men.
"Hello. I'm Kim Minhyuk, and I'll be teaching you how to throw the first pitch today."
"Ah, hello."
I gave a half-hearted greeting, having zero interest. I didn't know anything about baseball players anyway, so hearing his name didn't mean anything to me.
"First, your stance should be like this..."
The man demonstrated the posture, explaining the mechanics.
"And for the grip..."
He stepped closer to show me how to hold the ball.
"You need to grip it like this to snap the ball."
He explained that by snapping the raised seams with my fingertips, I could add spin to make the ball fly faster. As he explained, he reached out and grabbed my hand, pretending to guide my fingers.
But... if he was going to pull something like that, he should have at least tried to hide his sleazy intentions. Caressing my hand so openly was just asking for it.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I yanked my hand back.
"Hey. Get lost."
"E-Excuse me?"
Both the player and the staff member froze, completely flustered. Seeing their reactions only confirmed that I had made the right call. There was no reason to endure this. I wasn't about to tolerate someone touching me so blatantly.
"Do you think I don't know what you're trying to do? Back off."
"N-No, that's not..."
He was panicking, but it wasn't the reaction of someone falsely accused—it was the look of a man whose dirty secret had just been exposed.
"Excuse me? Is this how your club operates?" Seohee immediately stepped in to back me up. "My sister is an S-class Hunter. Are you looking down on her? Why would you bring someone like this to coach her?"
Only then did the club staff member realize the player's sleazy behavior.
"Minhyuk! You idiot!"
"I-I'm so sorry!"
The player bowed his head in a frantic apology.
"We'll—we'll bring someone else right away!"
The staff member grabbed the player by the ear and dragged him out of the room.
"Nice job, Unni."
"Uh, yeah..."
I was slightly taken aback by her praise. I had half-expected her to ask why I had to make such a big deal out of it or tell me to just bear with it.
"Seriously, even I could tell how creepy that guy was. His eyes were totally impure, and he was staring straight at your chest the whole time he walked over."
"R-Really?"
It seemed Seohee had noticed things I hadn't. No wonder she reacted so fiercely.
A short while later, a different player arrived with the anxious staff member. This one looked a bit older.
"T-This time, everything will be fine," the staff member assured us, his posture incredibly polite.
"I deeply apologize for my junior's behavior," the new player said.
"It has nothing to do with you."
"Still, he is my junior."
Apparently, this player was in his mid-thirties and married. Perhaps because of that, he was much better at managing his gaze. He couldn't completely control himself, occasionally stealing a glance at my chest, but I decided to let it slide. I knew well enough that men couldn't help it, so I chose to be understanding.
The player taught me the basic mechanics. He explained that I needed to twist my wrist slightly and push the ball off my fingertips... but that sounded like it would make controlling my strength even harder.
"Ahem. Would you like to try throwing one?" he asked, putting on a glove and stepping back to a reasonable distance.
"Right now?"
"Yes. Just a light throw."
Well, it should be fine, right?
I took a proper stance and threw the ball exactly as he had instructed. I had tried to hold back as much as possible, but...
Was it because of the change in throwing technique?
With a terrifying, wind-splitting roar—
Whoosh!
The ball shot forward at an explosive speed and slammed directly into the center of his mitt. I hadn't even aimed particularly hard, but it landed exactly where I wanted it to.
"U-Uh... ah..."
The player stood frozen, staring at his glove in utter shock.
"Y-You're a Hunter, so your ball is incredibly fast."
"Is it?"
Was this okay?
"Yes. I think you can throw just like that for the actual first pitch."
Hmm...
"Unni, hold back more. You're going to kill someone," Seohee whispered.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Yeah. I think he only caught that out of pure survival instinct."
I had a feeling she was right.
"Ha... haha..."
The player's awkward laugh confirmed Seohee's suspicion.
Still, with his help, I was able to practice throwing a few more times. Out of curiosity, we even decided to measure the pitch speed.
"O-One hundred and sixty-three kilometers per hour?!"
"Is that fast?"
According to them, there wasn't a single player in the current domestic league who could throw a ball that fast. Even in the US Major Leagues, it was an extremely rare velocity.
"But I was holding back."
"Y-You were...?"
So, I decided to check the speed using only about thirty percent of my strength.
The ball thrown with thirty percent power flew straight ahead and embedded itself deep into the wall.
The radar gun flashed a ridiculous number: 267 km/h.
The staff member and the player stared at the screen, swallowing hard as they began to tremble.
"Now I see why they banned Awakened from playing professional sports," Seohee muttered, seemingly the only one who understood the situation.
"Is that so?"
"If you went all out, it would be even faster, right?"
"I could probably throw it twice as fast."
At the mention of "twice as fast," the staff member next to us let out a sudden hiccup.
"Unni, are you some kind of gorilla?"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
Without a word, Seohee stepped up to show me her own throw. Since she was also a high-ranking Hunter, her pitch was naturally fast. It clocked in at 190 km/h, and once she got used to the motion, she hit 200 km/h. It was an absurd speed in its own right.
"This is my limit."
"Oh, I see..."
"And that's with my full power, including buffs." She sighed. "But I still don't think I could ever match you, Unni."
Tsk. My strength really was on a different level.
Afterward, I helped Seohee adjust her batting stance, just giving her a few tips on how to look cool while standing at the plate.
In any case, we had practiced more than enough. I had a clear grasp of how much I needed to hold back. Instead of trying to throw a cool, fast pitch, it would be much better to just lob it in a gentle arc.
With that settled, we quietly waited for the game to start.
After surveying the world, Yu Jin made his decision.
The other world no longer needed a Hero. It was time to go home.
Of course, before he left, he met with his comrades to say his final goodbyes. Balder and Eina were the same as always, and he bid farewell to the temporary companions who had joined them along the way.
He also said goodbye to Reina, the Nightmare demon.
The last ones he visited were Marcus, the barbarian, and Liselotte, the mage, who had married.
Perhaps because some time had passed since their wedding...
"A child..."
A baby boy had been born to them. The child was still an infant, so they couldn't share a proper greeting, but it felt incredibly surreal. The couple expressed their deep worry for Yu Jin, who was leaving after doing nothing but suffer for their sake.
Honestly, if he wanted to rest, returning to his original world would be far more comfortable.
With his farewells complete, he headed to the temple of the Goddess. The Pope, who seemed to have anticipated his arrival, politely guided him inside.
"I am returning the Holy Sword."
Yu Jin drew the weapon that had been like a part of his own body for over eight years and severed the contract. As the connection to the demigod weapon vanished, a sudden emptiness washed over him, but it was accompanied by a profound sense of relief.
"The Holy Sword has been safely returned," the Pope acknowledged.
Finally, guided by the Pope, Yu Jin went to meet the Goddess.
The moment the Goddess saw him, she knew exactly why he had come.
"Hero Yu Jin, through your efforts, our world has been saved."
"I only did what needed to be done," Yu Jin replied.
"It was not a burden that someone from another world should have had to bear."
Perhaps she was right. Still, receiving praise from a deity made him feel a bit self-conscious.
As the Goddess continued to praise him, a portal gradually manifested before his eyes.
"If you pass through this gate, you will be able to return home."
"Thank you."
"Those are my words to you. Hero Yu Jin, you have my deepest gratitude."
Flustered by the praise, Yu Jin practically fled, leaping headfirst into the portal.
Finally, he was going home!
As he traveled, an old prophecy the Goddess had once given him crossed his mind.
Didn't she say that if I returned to Earth, I would meet someone precious to me?
Someone precious...
Naturally, his family should have been the first to come to mind, but instead, Yu Jin found himself thinking of the Saintess.
At some point, she had become more precious to him than even his own family.
Even though she was already gone...
Could the Goddess's prophecy really be true? A prophecy that he would meet someone precious...
If it were true, did that mean he would see the Saintess again?
Doubt immediately crept into his mind. She's dead. How could I possibly meet her again? The prophecy must have been referring to my family.
As he continued through the illusory space, an exit came into view. Beyond it, he could see Earth...
Ah, I'm finally going home!