Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 183

Each player, or each team, has a defining keyword that comes to mind when you see them. It’s a bit different from a nickname.

For example, Hyun-jin, despite having the nickname ‘National Team Ace,’ has the keyword ‘Kim Han-wool 바라기’ [a devoted admirer of Kim Han-wool].

Wonha Challengers, despite the nickname ‘Strongest Wonha,’ has the keyword ‘One-Uh-Gang’ [a playful term implying unwavering unity or stubbornness].

Park Hae-jin, standing before me, has the nickname ‘League Overlord,’ but his keyword is ‘Complete’.

In that sense, the ‘Korean National Baseball Team’ and ‘Kim Han-wool’ evoke roughly similar keywords.

“Hoo….”

8th inning.

The keyword reveals what you truly think, or even more than that, regardless of what happens in the 8th inning.

“Ugh!”

Pow-!

“Ball-”

The first pitch, meant to uphold that promise, is a fastball aimed deep inside.

Even though I don’t need an inside strike, it’s a bit irritating to see him nonchalantly pick out a ball that’s barely outside the zone.

You son of a bitch. At least give me some kind of flinching reaction.

Even though the opposing pitcher was stomping his foot, clearly dissatisfied, Park Hae-jin didn’t show the slightest sign of being shaken.

You do your thing, I’ll do mine. That’s his attitude.

To put it nicely, it’s a manifestation of excellent concentration; to put it bluntly, it’s proof of a lack of empathy.

“No…no…no…okay.”

Even the perfect Park Hae-jin has shortcomings, and what if I, of all people, could fill that void?

“Keueuk!”

Not anything else,

Bang―

Wouldn’t a very, very, very slow curveball complement Park Hae-jin’s clumsy side?

“Strike-!”

I checked the speed; it was 103km [approximately 64 mph].

Nice.

Maybe it’s because of this speed that Park Hae-jin’s senses are heightened. He asked the umpire for a moment and stepped out of the batter’s box.

A swing that feels more like receiving the bat at the hitting point than swinging it.

After Park Hae-jin’s trademark practice swing, he stepped back into the batter’s box.

That swing is the problem, really…….

He’s not the type of hitter who swings desperately. He’s not the type to struggle to get a hit.

He has been using his natural strength and acquired muscle strength to literally ‘receive’ the swing to make such vicious hits.

But that doesn’t mean he’s only used the swing’s texture.

“Keueuk!”

Bbeoeong-!

The sinker heading low and inside dug further diagonally downwards. Only his hands flinched for a moment, but as a result,

“…Ball!”

He makes the call that even the umpire was struggling with first.

“Damn it.”

He plays baseball like a dog; that’s the epitome of his emotions.

Index and middle finger. Hat, glove, elbow, glove.

Yes, then I’ll play baseball like a dog too.

“Ugh!”

I’m going to throw another fastball inside,

Tak―

I’m just going to jam it in there, you son of a bitch.

Tung―

“Foul-!”

It was a decent reaction to the fastball that was half a ball more inside than the one I threw on the first pitch, but because he wound up too quickly, the ball bounced off the fence of the third base dugout.

Look at that eye for the ball.

He nonchalantly picked out the first pitch that was half a ball out of the zone, and now he’s reacting as soon as I put it in exactly half a ball inside. His sensitivity is just amazing.

“The count is….”

I glanced at the scoreboard and saw two yellow lights, two green lights, and two red lights—two of each.

“Hmm….”

I stared at the scoreboard for a moment without looking at the catcher, batter, or umpire.

There was a reason for that.

159km [approximately 99 mph].

I chuckled at the speed of the fastball I just threw.

There was a trace of the speed-related stats temporarily increasing due to the effect of the ‘Matchup’ trait. And in order for this Matchup trait to be activated,

“…Heh, you really want to win, so do I.”

I will face the opponent I want to beat.

“I have to win. I have to win…I have to win.”

Where did the meaning of these words I muttered to myself spread from?

You can see Park Hae-jin’s desire to win in his movements as he prepares for the fifth pitch.

The batting gloves are so tight that they’re crumpled.

His head is slightly lowered because he’s too conscious of relaxing.

His torso is slightly facing the catcher to hit harder.

Now that I’ve confirmed the batter’s desire to win, it’s time to show the pitcher’s desire to win.

I shook my head a couple of times and then tapped my elbow, glove, and hat brim with my pinky finger, and then my glove again.

Sorry, but,

“Keuak!”

Matchup is a funny thing.

Bang―

There are times when you don’t have to use force. From the pitcher’s point of view, just have the mind to aim for that spot…….

“…Ball.”

Huh?

Seeing Kyu-hak’s mitt, which was holding the ball so that it wouldn’t fall further from the low borderline, my body, which was about to return to the dugout, stopped.

Didn’t it go in?

Seeing Park Hae-jin, who couldn’t even react properly to the ball that suddenly floated up, I thought this was it, but that was all for naught,

Didn’t it catch?

Slightly. It was slightly low.

Oh, dear…….

The 109km [approximately 68 mph] curveball was unfortunately called a ball with the call that it was low.

“Ah, damn it….”

I tossed the returned ball from Kyu-hak back and forth in my hand. With a tsk, I gestured to the umpire that there might be something wrong with this ball and asked for a new one, and the umpire threw me a new ball.

After tossing the old ball towards the ball boy, I bowed to the umpire and stepped back behind the mound to pick up a new rosin bag.

Whether it was squeaky or creaky, I added the sensation of rosin powder sticking to the tight texture of the leather, and then stepped on the plate again,

“Hoo….”

Waiting for Kyu-hak’s next sign.

Not an outside slider, not an inside sinker, not something similar to a cutter inside.

Why are all the signs like this?

Eventually, I spread all the fingers of my right hand, which was covered in white, and placed them on the black glove.

Kyu-hak, who confirmed the contrasting color composition of black and white, modified the sign with one index finger, which,

“Hoo…uk!”

Made the tips of my index finger and middle finger anxious.

The pain I felt in my fingers for a moment made me grit my teeth, turn my head, and close my eyes tightly.

Because of this, I couldn’t see anything in the next situation,

Pow-!

Whoosh-!

The sound of the fastball I threw going into Kyu-hak’s mitt, and the sound of Park Hae-jin’s bat turning half a beat later, were clearly heard.

“Uh….”

The moment of being spaced out because I couldn’t figure out the situation for a moment felt as thin and long as a stretched-out piece of gum.

Kyu-hak gets up after catching the ball and clenches his fist.

Park Hae-jin checks the catcher after swinging.

The umpire clenches his fist with his right hand somewhat lacklusterly because it’s a swinging strikeout, not a looking strikeout.

“Swing, out-.”

Uh…what?

Kyu-hak runs up to me with a bright expression. It’s not like we won the Korean Series, he runs up to me with his arms wide open.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], I caught it! I caught it!!”

“Uh….”

But my eyes were chasing Park Hae-jin, who was heading straight from the right batter’s box, past home plate, to the first base dugout.

“Hyung, X발 [a common Korean swear word, similar to ‘fuck’], awesome! What is this! Hyung, you’re really crazy, are you human?! Are you human!”

“Kim Han-wool nice, you crazy hyung!”

“Are you human!!”

Kyu-hak is showing off his excitement by mixing in swear words that are unlike him, Ki-sung, who is chasing from behind, is happy by hitting my back, and Seung-joo, who is welcoming me from the dugout, is smiling brightly with both fists raised above his head.

“…….”

Ah.

“…Wow.”

“What, what’s with that reaction….”

“Waaaaaah, waaaaah, X발!!! Waaaaaah!!!”

Situation analysis complete.

“Wow, really. I didn’t want to say it because it felt like I was setting up a flag, but he’s really doing it.”

“Kyu-hak, you worked hard too!”

“No, Han-wool hyung threw well.”

I can hear my teammates praising me.

“How can you have an ERA of 0 points?”

“I told you, he’s not human?”

“How many innings did you throw this time?”

“Han-wool hyung has 62 innings including today!”

But I think the point is a bit off.

“How can you have an ERA of 0, not even in the 0s, really.”

“This season, honestly, I acknowledge Bbang-wool.”

“At this point, hey, the season MVP isn’t a crazy thing to say, is it?”

The way my teammates look at me is through the frame of ‘a season ERA of 0 points’.

But,

“Ah…that.”

That’s not really it.

“I was just lucky, I guess.”

More than that, or more than that ‘shit’, the feeling that I’ve achieved something more important to me is heavier.

Leaving behind the still noisy dugout atmosphere, I saw Park Hae-jin, who had already stepped on first base and was helping his team’s infielders round the bases.

Someday, my goal and dream that I unconsciously let out while talking with Hyun-jin.

“…I caught you, you son of a bitch.”

The loser pitcher who used to get hit with home runs every day he met Park Hae-jin has become a pitcher who can strike out that batter.

The overwhelming emotion that started from the point of achieving my goal doesn’t go away easily.

Tang tang tang tang-!

“Hey, let’s get more points, let’s get more points!! Let’s run away!!”

I vented my uncontrollable emotions by hitting the dugout railing.

I vented my uncontrollable emotions by shouting until the blood vessels in my neck popped out.

I vented my uncontrollable emotions by clapping until the palms of my hands turned red.

Hitting, shouting, clapping.

Ttak-!

Hitting,

“Come in, Kyu-hak, come in!!”

“Hoon, run too, Hoon, watch home!!”

“Hey, it fell, just come in! Myung-jin, run too!!”

Shouting,

“Eeeeeee!!”

“Yeeeeeee!!”

Jjak-! Jjak- Jjak- Jjak!

Clapping.

I wasn’t the only one who performed the three motions.

With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd, Myung-jin hit the ball to the right-center field, and everyone welcomed Myung-jin, who dug all the way to home taking advantage of a brief relay mistake in the outfield.

Five points.

Wonha Challengers, who properly seized the victory, added five more points in the top of the 9th inning, widening the lead far away,

“Senior Kyung-seok, 힘쇼오오어어 [a Korean expression of encouragement, roughly translating to ‘show your strength!’]!!”

“Come in coolly!”

“Let’s go coolly!”

Senior Kyung-seok, who will finish the bottom of the 9th inning, which will be the last of today’s game and this season, headed to the mound.

In a situation where the score difference is quite large, you may feel burdened by having to put up the closer, but I think it’s a pretty good picture.

How cool would it be for Senior Kyung-seok, who has worked hard in the closer position throughout the season, to finish the season?

Senior Kyung-seok mercilessly trampled on Sang-soo’s lineup.

He caught the 5th batter Ha Hae-jin with a ground ball to third base from the first pitch, caught the 6th batter Heon-cheol with a three-pitch strikeout, and the 7th batter Shin Tae-beom,

“It’s up!”

“Call, call, who is it!”

“My, Miiiiine!!”

Pak―

Caught with a shortstop fly ball.

“Waaaaaah!!”

“Syaaah!!”

“Yaaak, Waaak!!”

The moment Myung-jin caught the ball, everyone in the dugout ran out.

To the teammates who worked hard for a season.

To the juniors who laughed together for a season.

To the coaching staff who I was so sorry to for a season.

And,

Wonha Challengers’ challenge continues. Jjuuuuuuuk― [an onomatopoeic expression suggesting continuation or stretching out]

To all the fans who watched our growth without missing a beat for a season.

They bowed their heads, smiled, and hugged all those who could convey their gratitude.

Let’s go out, let’s fight, for the victory- Challengers, for Wonha, for the victory!!

Waaaaaah!!

Clearly it’s an away game, or because it’s an away game, Wonha Challengers’ fans raised their voices even more and sang Wonha Challengers’ cheering song out loud.

And after Sang-soo, who uses the same home stadium, first conveyed their gratitude to their team’s fans, they were given the opportunity to look at the third base stands and say their feelings about the season with Sang-soo’s permission.

“Uh….”

Waaaaaah-!!

Yoleop izer waaaaal kit! Folding izer haaaal pat! [These are likely misheard or playful renditions of Korean cheering chants, adding to the chaotic and enthusiastic atmosphere]

Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool!

The fans were talking so loudly as soon as I grabbed the microphone that I couldn’t say a single word of what I wanted to say.

“…….”

And I liked that so much.

“As you can see from the banner earlier.”

I glanced at the season-ending banner that was still unfolded.

“…There’s still more left. Yes, it’s not over yet. Honestly, I think this year, both me and our Wonha, have shown you a lot of good things.”

That’s right!

Wonhaaaak!!

Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool!

“We quickly took first place in the season, went straight to the Korean Series, and I wrote a legend in my own way. I’m proud to say that it was a pretty good year. But. But.”

This time, I looked at my teammates who were firmly supporting me from behind.

“There’s still time to show you something better. I’ll see you then, thank you.”