Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 276

#275. I’m Going to Kill Him

After suffering a complete defeat in their first match against Han Su-hyeok, including a cycle hit [hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game] and a perfect game, the New York Yankees were out for revenge.

They traveled to Seattle for a rematch with Han Su-hyeok.

What fueled the Yankees’ anger even more than the cycle hit and perfect game was Han Su-hyeok’s arrogant attitude throughout the game, like admiring his own home run.

United under the banner of ‘One Yankees,’ with the belief that no player is bigger than the team, they considered it an unbearable insult, even removing the starting pitcher’s name themselves in protest.

In the final four-game series of the regular season against Seattle, the Yankees players, filled with animosity, faced Han Su-hyeok.

But,

Thwack!

In the bottom of the first inning, with no runners on base, Han Su-hyeok launched another tremendous shot.

After hitting his 37th home run of the season, he tossed his bat into the air and stood still, watching the ball soar.

The Yankees players glared at him, their eyes burning with rage.

But no one actually charged at him.

It was an instinctive fear.

Han Su-hyeok was acting strangely that day.

He ignored the catcher’s taunts at the plate and the pitcher’s brushback pitches [pitches thrown intentionally close to the batter], as if oblivious to everything.

Then, he hit that ridiculous home run.

The Yankees players who made eye contact with him could sense it.

If they touched him then, something big would happen; he was clearly enraged by something, whatever it was.

The fear of the strong is a primal instinct.

As humans first, and baseball players second, they felt an instinctive fear of Han Su-hyeok, and no one could overcome that fear.

It wasn’t just the opposing players who noticed the tense atmosphere.

Of course, Han Su-hyeok’s Seattle teammates were also aware of his state.

But they mostly ignored it.

They didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like a personal matter, and Han Su-hyeok was fulfilling his role on the field. So there was no need to pry.

Han Su-hyeok, after hitting his massive home run, bumped fists with his teammates a few times and then slumped down on the bench.

Still, no one approached him to talk.

* * *

I know that my behavior is negatively affecting the team’s morale.

But right now, I can’t afford to worry about other people’s feelings.

My mood is the worst it’s been since the regression, no, even before the regression.

Last night, the woman I met at the LA hotel…

The woman Min Ye-rin finally found after more than two years of searching at my request.

But,

It wasn’t her.

That’s right. It was definitely someone else.

A person who looked exactly like the portrait I gave her, lived in Orange County, worked in music, and matched several other characteristics…

She wasn’t her.

After excusing myself to the bewildered woman, I knew as soon as we exchanged a few words.

Another person.

The woman was completely different from the woman in my memory.

Several clues about her that remained in my memory, such as childhood memories, family details, hopes, dreams, and ways of thinking and speaking that she had directly shared with me.

None of them matched.

I had to admit it.

The woman Min Ye-rin found looked exactly like the person in my memory, but inside she was a completely different person, a complete stranger.

I sent her home, still bewildered as to what was going on until the end of the meeting, and sat down alone with Min Ye-rin.

‘Oppa… it’s not her, is it?’

‘Yeah, I don’t think so. No, it’s definitely not her.’

‘But, Oppa.’

‘…Tell me, Ye-rin.’

‘I haven’t asked you yet, and I didn’t want to ask, but…….’

‘Who is the woman I’m looking for?’

‘Yes.’

I decided to tell Min Ye-rin the truth.

I didn’t think it was fair to her any longer.

‘Someone I owe a lot to, and someone who tried to support me when I was falling apart.’

‘Then maybe… a past girlfriend? Lover?’

‘Huh?’

‘It really doesn’t matter if that’s the case. It’s in the past, so I’m just…….’

‘Ye-rin.’

‘Yes?’

‘Do you think I’m the kind of person who would ask you to find my ex-lover?’

‘…No.’

‘Hoo, okay. Ye-rin. Let’s stop this now. I think I was wrong.’

‘What? Are you really giving up?’

‘Yeah, let’s go back to Seattle for now.’

I had lost my way.

I realized that there was no point in looking for her anymore.

Whether she was the right person or not, what would be the point of sitting down with someone who didn’t remember anything, or rather, someone who didn’t even have anything to remember because it hadn’t even happened yet?

What would be the point of saying I’m sorry, thank you?

‘Let’s go home.’

My journey, which had been going on for the past few years, came to an end there.

Now I have to admit it.

That there is no past, and therefore I have to completely forget her and live a new life.

Yeah, I guess I’m having a hard time right now because it’s hard to accept even though I know that.

“Okay, let’s go out again! Go! Go! Mariners!”

My consciousness returned to the present with the shouts of my teammates.

The name of this team, the Mariners, means sailor.

I may be a sailor who has lost his way in this vast land of America.

* * *

“Tyson, I know what you’re thinking, but not today. Hold it in.”

“But Lucas.”

“If you think of me as a friend, no, as a captain, listen to me. I don’t want you to get hit by that guy and be out for the season.”

“What? You think I’ll get hit by that guy? Are you kidding me?”

“Even if it’s the other way around, it’s the same. What if you beat that guy up and get suspended? Who’s going to pitch in the next game against those Red Sox guys?”

“…Damn it.”

“I know. Han Su-hyeok is a bit of a maverick. But the world has changed. Now fans enjoy watching bat flips [exaggeratedly throwing the bat after hitting the ball]. Maybe we’re the only ones who are behind the times in this world. Under the name of tradition.”

Lucas Anderson, the Yankees’ captain, barely managed to calm down his friend and today’s starting pitcher, Tyson Barsham, who was so agitated he looked like he was about to charge Han Su-hyeok after the bat flip following his first-inning home run.

Looking at Han Su-hyeok standing in the on-deck circle [the area where the next batter warms up] in the distance, he had a thought.

He should have brought that guy in somehow during the last stove league [off-season trading period].

Ty Johnson, the only active player he respected, even moved teams to play with Han Su-hyeok.

Even if it wasn’t to that extent, he should have done something.

He should have warned the stupid general manager and president not to bring up the team’s rules to Han Su-hyeok, let him grow a beard or hair if he wanted to, and give him whatever he wanted.

If he had, the Yankees would be running away with first place in the American League right now.

“Play!”

Captain Lucas Anderson, who cherished the Yankees like his own life, turned his gaze to the pitcher on the mound.

Tyson Barsham, who wasn’t overwhelming but still reliably played the role of the Yankees’ ace.

What he said to him just now was sincere.

Han Su-hyeok, who was putting up numbers that could be called overwhelming in the entire Big League [Major League Baseball] at that point.

To catch up with such a player, he searched for and analyzed all the videos related to Han Su-hyeok.

And he found out.

How great a player he was, and how absurdly strong he was.

The former was about his skills, and the latter was about his fists.

Lucas, who watched videos of Han Su-hyeok smashing several players in Korea and the United States, came to one conclusion.

As long as he was the captain of this team, he had to prevent a bench-clearing brawl [a fight involving players from both teams] with Han Su-hyeok.

So far, not a single player who had faced Han Su-hyeok had come out unscathed.

At the very least, they had been out for a few weeks, or even more than a month, due to injuries, and as a result, their sense of the game was ruined, leading to the worst disaster for both the team and the individual.

Whoosh

Thwack

“Out!”

Tyson Barsham, who got Seattle’s leadoff hitter out with a ground ball, glared at the next batter, Han Su-hyeok.

At that moment, an ominous premonition flashed through Lucas’s mind.

Panicked, he quickly tried to call a time-out, but…….

Crack!

It was already too late.

The first pitch Tyson Barsham threw flew towards Han Su-hyeok’s head, and with a loud noise, he fell to the ground.

At the same time, an enraged Ty Johnson and the Seattle players rushed towards the mound.

“Oh my god……!”

* * *

“Damn it, you son of a bitch! I’m going to kill you!”

“Ty! Wait, Ty! Don’t get excited!”

“Get out of the way! I’m going to kill that bastard!”

Han Su-hyeok, who was putting up overwhelming numbers in all aspects of pitching and hitting, and who was the driving force behind Seattle’s run to first place in the American League West, had been hit in the head with a ball and collapsed.

The Seattle players, enraged by that fact, rushed towards Tyson Barsham all at once.

But the Yankees players were one step faster.

While the infielders, including Lucas Anderson, who was on first base, protected the pitcher, the remaining players from the outfield and dugout ran out and confronted the Seattle players.

“You son of a bitch! I’m going to kill you!”

“Come on! Come on!”

Tyson Barsham gestured as if to provoke him in response to Bruce Matthews’ excited shout.

The flustered umpires did their best to separate the players and coaches from both teams, and the excited Seattle fans clung to the safety net and shook it back and forth.

“Knock it down! I’ll pay for everything! Let’s kill those damn Yankees!”

“Oooo! Good! Let’s go! Let’s go kill those damn Yankees!”

While the spectators, led by Min Ye-rin, were tearing down the safety net, physical clashes broke out in various places where the players from both teams were facing off.

Someone from the Yankees tackled Bruce Matthews, who was trying to get to Tyson Barsham, and Chuck Clark grabbed the back of his neck and punched him.

Pow!

“Ugh!”

“Stop! Ejection! Ejection! Stop it!”

Despite the umpires’ efforts, the situation showed no signs of calming down.

“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”

“A little more!”

The safety nets on first and third base were on the verge of collapsing, and Lucas Anderson, who was trying to stop the agitated Ty Johnson, was hit in the elbow and sent flying, blood spraying from his nose.

Seeing that, the Yankees’ third baseman lunged at Ty Johnson and was grabbed by the neck, and Derek Fleming covered him.

It was utter chaos.

“Damn it, this isn’t going to work. What should I do?”

“Request cooperation from the security guards. It’s all over if that grandstand collapses.”

“Okay, you take care of that side. Uh-oh, no! No weapons!”

As bloodshed broke out here and there, the umpires finally called in security guards.

The dispatched officers ran to the front of the stands and shouted in loud voices.

“Stop! You can’t do this anymore! You may be arrested!”

“Arrest me! Even if I get arrested, I have to kill that damn bastard!”

It was utter chaos.

But Tyson Barsham, the Yankees pitcher who created this situation, was already returning to the dugout under the protection of the coaches.

“Tyson, calm down. Go into the dugout for now. It’s all over if those spectators rush in.”

“Damn it, come at me if you want! You Seattle hicks! I’m Tyson!”

“Shh! Stop it! Please!”

Tyson Barsham, his face flushed, continued to provoke the spectators, whether he hadn’t calmed down or thought he had finally succeeded in getting revenge on Han Su-hyeok.

As the situation gradually worsened, then,

Sreuk

Something happened that no one expected.

Han Su-hyeok, who had been hit in the head with a ball and collapsed, waiting for medical staff, got up from his seat.

And immediately rushed somewhere.

Towards the Yankees dugout where Tyson Barsham and some coaches were sitting.

“Oh! What! No! Stop him! Stop him!”