Chapter 60, Hit for the Cycle
No outs, runners on first and second.
Kwon Geon-woo had barely reached safely.
My earlier plate appearances had created this opportunity.
The atmosphere changed in an instant.
Our chances of taking the lead had risen again.
The red numbers on the scoreboard shone coldly.
4-3.
We have to win.
The ticking inside my heart was faster than ever.
If I failed, that was the end.
My heart would explode and I would die.
I smiled bitterly.
145 km/h.
A fastball rose just above the strike zone.
I did not touch it.
“Ball!”
At the umpire’s call, I adjusted my grip on the bat.
I needed to produce a hit that would reach the wall.
144 km/h.
A confident fastball entered directly through the middle of the strike zone.
And I needed to reach second even faster than Kwon Geon-woo, who was currently standing on first.
Kwon Geon-woo had taken a huge lead.
There was exactly one thing that guy did better than me.
Baserunning.
There was no way I could compete with the naturally fast legs he had been born with.
Then I simply needed to run faster.
“Our guy’s pitches are good, aren’t they?”
The catcher spoke because I had not swung at either of the first two pitches.
“Not bad. He’s leading the league in saves, right?”
“Watch your tone... Yeah. He’s an incredible player, just like you.”
The catcher did not get angry even though I spoke casually to him.
He was definitely calm.
That was why he had firmly secured the starting catcher position.
He never fell for provocations.
Instead, he talked inside the batter’s box until the hitter became distracted.
But I did not care.
That kind of provocation only worked on inexperienced players.
“Slider, right?”
The moment the pitcher began his windup, I said it loudly enough for the catcher to hear.
“What?”
The catcher sounded confused.
This pitch was probably going to be a slider.
They thought they had already thrown me off mentally.
So they would change things up and try to break my timing once more.
A slider entering the strike zone.
Because the pitcher had good control, it would probably attack the low outside corner.
That was the only cold zone where my batting average was in the high .200s.
CRACK!
I immediately swung.
The ball met the bat almost perfectly.
Without hesitation, I threw the bat away and ran.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick...
The ticking in my heart rang like crazy.
There was no physical pain.
But it was more than enough to flood my body with dopamine.
Kwon Geon-woo at first and Go Gyeong-tae at second were both running hard.
That meant the ball had not been caught for an out.
The first-base coach raised both arms and signaled for me to keep going.
I ran with everything I had.
Then I threw myself feet-first into second base.
“Safe!”
I heard the second-base umpire’s voice.
The ball was already heading toward home.
Kwon Geon-woo crossed the plate easily.
The players began running toward me.
The ticking stopped.
While the entire world shouted and rushed toward me...
For a brief instant, everything became quiet.
Only for a tiny moment.
All the tension suddenly left my body and made me feel completely empty.
“I did it...”
Notifications announcing my mission success filled my vision.
Then disappeared again.
Kwon Geon-woo, Go Gyeong-tae, and the others were already running toward me to spray me with water.
The cool water hit me.
I could not stop myself from smiling.
Either way, the longest day I had experienced in a while was finally over.
Even after the player-of-the-game interview ended, I still felt dazed.
“That was your first walk-off double in your entire life, wasn’t it?”
I calmly nodded.
Come to think of it, it really was my first.
I had hit walk-off home runs before.
I had hit walk-off singles before.
“Yeah. First time in my life.”
The relief of surviving a life-or-death crisis and the satisfaction of ending the game myself continued rushing over me.
The other players laughed at my answer.
Their faces were flushed with excitement.
“As expected, our junior does everything.”
Kim Hak-seong’s words did not sound unpleasant.
Today really did feel like a day when I had done almost everything.
I calmly fixed my shoelaces.
The sensation of the cool water was still vivid.
So this is what being alive feels like.
I can still experience things like this.
I smiled.
[Sub Mission Complete!]
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Description: Choi Seong has written another record into history. This achievement came at a crucial moment where his team’s victory was hanging in the balance.
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Reward: Gain the [Hit for the Cycle] Potential and Baserunning +5
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After everyone returned to the locker room, I checked my abilities.
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: 42+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, activates when conditions are met
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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 of the standings 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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Hit for the Cycle: All stats increase by 20% during the first plate appearance.
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A twenty-percent increase to every stat during my first plate appearance...
At this point, all my stats could become heavily boosted during the first plate appearance.
I had so many different bonuses increasing them at once.
Of course, plate discipline was a separate issue.
In the end, you still had to hit the ball to reach base.
I calmly organized my thoughts and drank some water.
There were still many games left in the season.
And...
We lost the next game against the Gwangju Jaguars with Norman starting.
As the season continued, Norman gradually seemed to lose his strength.
It looked like something was troubling him.
Still, I did not ask about it separately.
It was still early in the season, and until now he had continued showing good performances.
[Choi Seong Wins Again, 7 Innings, 2 Runs Allowed]
[Choi Seong Hits 14th and 15th Home Runs in Consecutive At-Bats, First Pitcher Ever]
[Choi Seong Ranks Second in Home Runs, First in Wins, ERA 0.78]
[World Focuses on Choi Seong’s Historic Pace]
[Choi Seong Continues Writing a Legend]
Forty games had passed.
Choi Seong was writing a legend, and all of Korea was in an uproar.
Even so, he always looked calm.
Meanwhile, Kim Beom-jin clenched his lips and threw his phone away.
Everyone was paying attention to Choi Seong.
26 wins, 1 tie, 13 losses.
The Busan Oceans were currently in first place, two games ahead of the Gwangju Jaguars.
At the center of everything was Choi Seong.
Even when he had a poor game, at some point he would suddenly take over and carry the team.
[Professional Baseball All-Star Voting Begins]
Choi Seong would probably dominate the All-Star voting too.
That was simply the kind of pitcher and hitter he was.
He was overwhelming everyone in almost every game.
Compared to him, what about Kim Beom-jin?
2 wins, 1 loss.
3.89 ERA.
Average of 5.2 innings per game.
He had made four starts and only produced decent results.
Of course, the media and other players told Kim Beom-jin otherwise.
“You’re fine. Those are good numbers for a rookie.”
“You’re doing well. Next year, you might become part of our one-two punch.”
“You’re the future of this club.”
Everyone supported him.
Even so, he could not feel satisfied.
He had always been number one.
He had always been good.
Kim Beom-jin bit his lip.
Other evaluations were simple.
[Kim Beom-jin Overshadowed by Choi Seong, What If the Oceans Had Drafted Kim Beom-jin?]
[Should the Hawks Laugh or Cry? Choi Seong Has Already Become a Complete Superstar]
[Korean Baseball’s Present, Choi Seong, Its Future, Kim Beom-jin]
[At This Rate, Choi Seong Wins Both Rookie of the Year and MVP, Kim Beom-jin Fighting Hard in an Unfortunate Era]
[Rookies Born in the Wrong Era, Everyone Overshadowed by Choi Seong]
The internet was filled with comparison articles.
As a professional, he could understand it.
No.
He could not understand it.
Baseball communities compared him with Choi Seong every single day.
, Honestly, the Hawks being third is fine, but damn it, couldn’t we have just finished last last season?
, Kim Beom-jin is good and all, but upvote if you’re a Hawks fan who gets triggered every time you see Choi Seong.
, Beom-jin, I’m sorry... I’m a Choi Seong fan now.
There were even plenty of fans making comments like that while putting Choi Seong’s name on Hawks uniforms.
Every time Kim Beom-jin saw it, his mentality was slowly ground away.
One day, he even cursed during training.
He was frustrated because his pitches were not as fast as Choi Seong’s.
“You’re starting the next game.”
Then finally, he received an opportunity to face Choi Seong.
Manager Park Pil-seong gave Kim Beom-jin the chance.
Their number-one foreign ace had been injured, so Park Pil-seong inserted Kim Beom-jin into the empty rotation spot.
“Thank you, Manager.”
Thank you for giving me the chance for revenge.
Of course, Choi Seong had never actually done anything to Kim Beom-jin.
“Beat Choi Seong this time. At this rate, that guy is going to finish the season undefeated and set another record.”
“I’ll definitely stop him.”
Kim Beom-jin’s eyes shone brightly.
He absolutely did not want to lose.
Unlike the previous season, the Daejeon Hawks were currently third overall.
They were five games behind first place and three games behind second.
If they swept this series...
They could create a real change in the standings.
“Good. Beat him.”
Daejeon Ballpark.
Game 1 would take place at the Hawks’ home stadium.
They had absolutely no intention of giving the game to Choi Seong.
Seeing Kim Beom-jin’s fighting spirit, Manager Park Pil-seong spoke again.
“If it looks like you really can’t beat him, hit him. If Choi Seong gets injured, his form will fall.”
“B, but he’s on the national team now. There’ll be massive public backlash...”
“Does that matter? We need to win now. Have you ever seen Daejeon have this kind of chance since 1999?”
Kim Beom-jin simply nodded.
But the wound inside his heart became even deeper.
If I can’t beat him, injure him...?
This was...
Exactly the same as high school.
