Chapter 56, Reversal
Unexpected news appeared only a few hours later.
During my previous life, Lee Jun-ho had never returned to the field after being fired.
[Lee Jun-ho Suddenly Appointed National Team Hitting Coach]
[Club Insider, “Yes, He Was Fired,” Manager Heo Jun Made the Offer]
[Panthers Fans, “This Year’s National Team Is Finished”]
[Why Did Heo Jun Choose Lee Jun-ho?]
[Lee Jun-ho Makes the Worst Choice, He Should Have Rebuilt Public Support Before Returning]
Public opinion toward Lee Jun-ho instantly became cold.
Then again, becoming a national team coach immediately after being fired as a manager was certainly unusual.
Still, I could only ask one question.
Why?
In my previous life, he had declared that he would never return to the field.
Yet this time, he had chosen to challenge himself again.
Even though the road ahead looked incredibly difficult, he stepped onto it anyway.
“Not a bad choice.”
Even if fans cursed him.
Even if players complained.
He would probably perform his role properly.
It did not matter how great a superstar someone was.
In the end, every player was still human.
They had to continue learning forever.
More importantly, there was another piece of news.
[Kim Beom-jin Returns with Complete-Game Shutout]
[Unfortunate Second Pick Kim Beom-jin, Is He Finally Showing His Ability?]
[Daejeon Hawks Baseball Has Emotion Because of Players Like Kim Beom-jin]
[Kim Beom-jin, “My Greatest Rival Is Choi Seong, Someday I’ll Beat Him”]
[Kim Beom-jin, “Without Choi Seong, I Couldn’t Have Pitched Like This, He Hurt My Pride”]
Article after article appeared.
I quietly thought while reading them.
He isn’t supposed to break out yet...
Apparently my influence was affecting these people positively.
Well, what did it matter?
Good things were good.
Even if everyone improved this much, they still would not become my match.
I could guarantee it.
In my previous life and this life alike, Kim Beom-jin would never create some miracle where he surpassed me.
I would always become the best.
In any case, we had now played against every professional team in Korea.
Our record was 20 wins, 1 tie, and 4 losses.
We were three games ahead of second place and showing overwhelming results.
“Good. That means our championship probability is above sixty percent.”
The statistic saying the first team to twenty wins had over a sixty-percent chance of winning the championship gave me peace of mind.
I quietly became lost in thought.
My next start was approaching.
I needed to do everything possible to win.
[Update Complete!]
A notification appeared across my vision immediately afterward.
I calmly looked at it and laughed.
[We did not expect you to record a no-hitter this early! This result exceeded expectations!]
Only around two months had passed since the beginning of my first professional season.
Yet I had already thrown a no-hitter.
The pace was extremely fast.
[A special reward will be given! Choi Seong, the one who walks toward glory, will eventually lead his team to a championship. We have no doubt.]
A celebratory fanfare rang through my vision.
Virtual fireworks appeared for two seconds, then disappeared.
[Potential: No-Hit Pitcher]
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Description: Choi Seong has become a legend by recording a no-hitter in the shortest period after his professional debut. Every move he makes is now attracting public attention. When there are no runners on base, all stats increase by 10%. However, this potential disappears once a perfect game is recorded.
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It was not over.
This time, a strange drumbeat echoed near my ears.
Boom. Boom.
[All stats permanently increase by 3.]
For a moment, excitement rushed through me.
Stats were something that barely increased no matter how much I trained.
Choi Seong
Pitcher Status, Super Rookie +10%
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Stamina: 121/200
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Fastball: 94+9/100
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Slider: 67+7/100
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Circle Changeup: 42+4/100
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Power Curve: 31+3/100
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Curve: 17+1/100
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Screwball: 7/100, Championship Mercenary
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Injury Risk: 17%, injury risk increases when more slots are added
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Batter Status
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Power: 79+8/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Contact: 70+7/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Speed: 37+4/100, Limit Break available after exceeding 100
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Injury Risk: 5.0%, injury risk rises with increased pitching and plate appearances
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Potential
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Indomitable Will: Choi Seong from his previous life created miracles in any situation. Emotional disturbance decreases.
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Sweet Revenge: Activates when hit by a pitch or intentionally walked during a game. It also activates when Choi Seong experiences strong emotional disturbance. All stats temporarily increase by 20%.
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Championship Mercenary: Activates when the team finished near the bottom during the previous season. One chosen breaking ball may be used during the season without increasing injury risk. Selected pitch: Screwball.
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Super Rookie: All stats increase by 10% during the first professional season. Additional stats are awarded and the potential evolves if he wins awards such as MVP or Rookie of the Year.
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Spoiler Squad: When facing a higher-ranked team or a team on a winning streak, all pitching and batting stats increase by 1.
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One Who Leads to Glory: All stats increase by 1.
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Record Breaker: Whenever a new personal record is set, all stats increase by 10% in the next game.
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No-Hit Pitcher: When there are no runners on base, all stats increase by 10%.
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Countless potential abilities were now becoming part of me.
As my stats slowly increased, I began wondering what existed beyond the next level.
Higher stats did not simply increase velocity.
They improved the trajectory of my pitches, spin rate, and other details as well.
Maybe I could finally maintain 160 km/h for longer.
Until now, once I reached around sixty-five pitches, my velocity often collapsed into the low 150s.
Hopefully this would make the 160 km/h range my normal velocity.
I did not have any other particular wish.
Kim Mu-won calmly prepared for the upcoming game.
The first round of meetings against every club had ended.
From this fourth meeting onward, the games would probably carry a slightly different meaning.
“We can win.”
The Gwangju Jaguars would face the Busan Oceans next.
After hearing one specific piece of advice from Choi Seong, Kim Mu-won had improved his feel at the plate.
Fortunately, he had firmly maintained the Jaguars’ seventh batting spot with an average around .270.
People considered both his hitting and defense fairly solid.
Looking more closely at the situation inside the Jaguars made his performance seem even better.
“The rookies this year are all strange.”
“Is anyone other than Kim Mu-won actually doing well?”
“No, but honestly, the coaches are kind of...”
Players constantly whispered things like that.
An old-fashioned pitching coach.
An equally old-fashioned hitting coach.
They wanted every player to use the same simple pitching motions and batting forms they preferred.
They blocked nearly every kind of experiment, as though forcing clothes that did not fit onto every player.
The manager had not realized it yet.
Kim Mu-won was the only one who openly resisted the hitting coach’s instructions.
He stubbornly insisted on keeping his own batting form.
Fortunately, the manager selected players based on results.
The hitting coach had repeatedly requested that Kim Mu-won be removed from the lineup.
“Is my unusual batting form really the problem?”
Kim Mu-won still did not know.
But after listening to Choi Seong, he simply decided to trust him.
There had been absolute confidence in Choi Seong’s words.
Kim Mu-won decided to follow them.
“Haha... So we’re facing each other again...”
Choi Seong was no longer someone he considered a rival or an opponent he needed to defeat.
He had become someone Kim Mu-won admired.
While other rookies still struggled to establish themselves, Choi Seong had spent only two months completely destroying Korean baseball.
There was a reason Japan wanted to bring him over so badly.
Their lives could not even be compared anymore.
“Mu-won, the manager put you second in the lineup.”
The hitting coach spoke in an openly unpleasant tone.
Anyone could tell he disliked Kim Mu-won.
But what could he do?
Kim Mu-won had recently been hitting .310.
More importantly, the Gwangju Jaguars were currently second.
If they swept this three-game series against the Busan Oceans, they would rise into first place.
These games could not have been more important.
“Yes.”
Kim Mu-won gave no other reaction.
The game began the next day.
Choi Seong calmly threw the ball.
He simply pitched calmly...
“His pitches got even better. That’s insane.”
“Isn’t he seriously a monster? He looks like a video game character.”
The Gwangju Jaguars became even more nervous just from watching his warm-up pitches.
Choi Seong’s pitches were that sharp.
His delivery looked that calm.
A four-seam fastball in the 160 km/h range.
It even had a slight rising effect.
According to their analysis, his velocity fortunately started falling during the middle innings.
Only then did his pitches become remotely hittable.
“We have to win.”
The manager spoke simply.
Unfortunately, their opponent today was Choi Seong.
The unprecedented man who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous start.
“Don’t worry about how good the opposing pitcher is. Just play your normal game.”
There was no clever strategy available anyway.
In the previous game, the plan of using nine left-handed hitters because they believed Choi Seong struggled against them had been completely destroyed.
Instead, Choi Seong had answered by writing a no-hitter into Korean baseball history.
Choi Seong’s ERA was around 0.28.
Forget being a rookie.
Korean baseball had never seen a starting pitcher like this.
Relievers occasionally produced ERAs below 1.00.
Among starting pitchers, it had basically never happened.
It was almost a miracle.
Crack.
The game was being played at Sajik Stadium.
Top of the first.
The Busan Oceans were on defense.
The leadoff hitter weakly attacked the very first pitch and made an out.
Now it was the second hitter, Kim Mu-won.
He wanted to show Choi Seong the batting skills he had polished until now.
He calmly removed his helmet and bowed toward Choi Seong.
Choi Seong removed his cap and expressionlessly returned the greeting.
Cheers filled the stadium.
The crowd applauded the gentlemanly exchange between two twenty-year-olds.
Now came the first pitch.
165 km/h.
Insane velocity.
Kim Mu-won could only stare.
Still, after seeing the pitch, he did not look toward the sky or sigh.
Right. This is what Choi Seong is like.
Every time I think I’ve grown a little, he’s already far ahead again.
140 km/h.
The next pitch was a slider.
He could not match the timing.
Two strikes, no balls.
He’ll probably throw a chase pitch.
Or maybe not?
Kim Mu-won calmly thought about Choi Seong’s usual style.
He had endlessly watched recordings of Choi Seong’s pitches.
He kept imagining what Choi Seong would do.
He had trained so that someday he could hit those pitches.
The next pitch would be...
A four-seam fastball straight down the middle.
Even if he knew it was coming, there was a high chance he still would not hit it.
Early in games, Choi Seong had a habit of intentionally throwing his best pitch to crush the opposing hitters’ confidence.
160 km/h.
Kim Mu-won swung without hesitation.
