A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 1

# A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

To put it bluntly,

Kim Ji-seop was not a good pitcher.

Whoosh- Bang!

Whoosh- Bang!

Whoosh- Baaaang!

First of all, his velocity was terribly slow.

His four-seam fastball averaged around 124 km/h.

If he really gritted his teeth and threw with all his might, it would reach about 128 km/h.

To be blunt, that’s the kind of speed you see from middle school pitchers these days.

It wasn’t like his breaking balls were any good either.

He had a lot of different pitches: curveball, slider, changeup, cutter, and even a knuckleball sometimes.

But the power of each pitch wasn’t great, so if he wasn’t careful, they’d easily become batting practice pitches.

His control was pretty decent, but no one really valued it.

Even though his control was good, it wasn’t ‘razor-sharp control’ enough to make up for a 124 km/h four-seam fastball.

The feeling was, if you can’t control a 120 km/h slow ball, you might as well drown yourself in a bowl of water.

Ji-seop was that kind of pitcher.

Slow velocity, mediocre breaking balls, and good control, but not really a significant advantage.

Because of that, Ji-seop had been living with these kinds of comments from people around him for almost 10 years.

– Ji-seop.

– Yes?

– In the coach’s opinion, you……

– Yes.

– I don’t think you have any talent for baseball.

And then, one more word.

– How about starting to study now? You could learn a skill too. I heard you…… weren’t bad at school, were you?

It might have been obvious advice.

No, if it were anyone else, they would have given up on their own before such words came out.

However, Ji-seop had been living while listening to the wise advice of people around him with one ear and letting it out with the other.

Of course, he really, really hated studying.

But there was one more decisive reason for Ji-seop.

– Hmph.

It started when Ji-seop was in the second year of middle school.

The day a practice game was held with a nearby school ahead of the national tournament.

He received the ball from the coach and stood on the mound.

Stood on the mound and stared intently at the batter who entered the plate.

Suddenly,

He heard it.

[……Fastball!]

Really,

He heard it clearly.

[If a fastball comes in, I’m hitting it no matter what!]

* * *

Ji-seop himself doesn’t know what principle this ability works on.

There’s no way to know why this ability came about.

But one thing was certain: Ji-seop had the ability to read other people’s minds.

Mind reading.

When this ability first manifested, it was only to the extent of reading the batter’s thoughts on the mound.

But now, after more than 10 years, he has reached the level where he can read the other person’s thoughts by staring intently into their eyes, even if he doesn’t stand on the mound.

Of course, the results he read were rarely positive.

[Oh my, that frustrating bastard……]

[What’s so great about baseball……]

[How long is he going to live like a semi-jobless bum……]

Anyway, it was because of this ability.

The reason Ji-seop couldn’t give up baseball.

Even if the velocity is slow, the breaking balls are mediocre, and the control is good but a bit ambiguous-

‘I am a pitcher who can read the opponent’s thoughts.’

‘What the opponent is aiming for…… I can read that aim.’

‘How can I quit baseball when I have such an amazing ability?’

So Ji-seop didn’t give up.

He tried to find a way to continue his baseball career without giving up.

When he wasn’t drafted into the Korean professional baseball league, Ji-seop chose to continue playing baseball in college.

When he wasn’t called up by a professional team even after graduating from college, he moved to the Japanese independent league this time.

After being released from the Japanese independent league, he went to the American independent league.

After being kicked out of the American independent league, he applied to the Korean independent league again.

Until this point, Ji-seop was encouraging himself, saying, ‘There’s still a possibility,’ ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’

“…….”

However, after his entry into the Korean independent league was thwarted, Ji-seop, who thought this was really the last time, submitted his application to the CNBL (China Semi-Professional League).

The day he received a release notice from the perennial bottom team of Qingdao Elephants (??巨像 – Qingdao Great Elephant), Ji-seop had no choice but to let go of everything.

‘……It’s over.’

The active retirement of baseball player Kim Ji-seop.

It was when he was thirty-two years old.

* * *

“It’s a gift, Father.”

Three days after receiving the release notice from the Qingdao Elephants.

Ji-seop, who had returned to his parents’ home in Seoul, was putting down gifts he had bought in China in front of his family.

“There are several boxes…… Hehe, actually, they’re all beer.”

Ji-seop continued.

“China makes really delicious beer, even if they don’t do anything else well! Hyung [older brother] likes beer too, so you know? Qingdao’s beer factory was built with German technology in the old days, so…….”

“Enough.”

It was Ji-seop’s father, Kim Bong-seop, who stopped the long explanation.

“Hey, youngest son.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Father doesn’t really care which country’s technology this beer was made with. What does it matter if it’s American technology or Korean technology? What Father wants to know is…….”

Kim Bong-seop sighed long and hard.

“What my second son is going to do for a living in the future…… that’s what I want to know.”

Ji-seop knew it too.

This was something he could know without having to stare intently into his parents’ eyes.

‘My parents…… must be very worried.’

A son who is already over thirty years old.

A son who has been wandering around trying to do something since he was young…… but hasn’t achieved any particular results.

A son who was released and returned from the Chinese semi-professional league, which others don’t even know exists.

He was following the typical course of a pathetic son that anyone could see, but Ji-seop still had a plan.

“Actually…… I have something in mind.”

As Ji-seop opened his mouth, he felt the heavy atmosphere in the main room lighten up a bit.

“You have something in mind?”

“Yes, it’s a plan I had in mind when I was playing baseball in America.”

In a way, Ji-seop was able to play baseball until now because he had that ‘plan.’

Others quit baseball in their mid-20s because they were worried about making a living, but Ji-seop was able to run until the end because he had that ‘plan.’

And at this moment, Ji-seop decided to reveal the plan he had been preparing for a long time to his parents.

“No more, no less, just give me 50 million won [approximately $37,000 USD], Father.”

At Ji-seop’s words, his father Kim Bong-seop’s thick eyebrows twitched.

“50 million? 50 million won?”

“Yes.”

“50 million won, that’s not a small amount of money…… What are you going to use that money for? Did you find a good business idea in America?”

Ji-seop shook his head.

“No, it’s not a business. How can I, who doesn’t even have a proper friend, do business while meeting people?”

“Then what? Don’t tell me…… you’re going to invest in something like coins [cryptocurrency]?”

“Oh, am I like Hyung? I’m too timid to throw money into coins like Hyung.”

The older brother sitting next to his father glared at Ji-seop, but Ji-seop just chuckled and moved on.

“Then what is it? What are you going to do with 50 million won?”

“What I’m going to do is…….”

Ji-seop opened his mouth, trying to make the most determined and trustworthy expression.

“I’m going to play poker, Father.”

“What poker?”

Kim Bong-seop’s expression frowned slightly, but unfortunately, Ji-seop didn’t think about staring intently into his father’s eyes at this time.

“Yes, poker.”

Ji-seop nodded.

“When I went there, I saw that poker was like Go [a strategy board game] in Korea? There are professional players who make a living just by playing poker, and there are leagues where those players are active. And the prize money for that poker tournament is enormous…….”

Ji-seop continued.

“But it costs money to participate in that poker tournament. You have to put down a deposit for each tournament, and there’s transportation, and if you think about accommodation and food…….”

“So you need 50 million won?”

Kim Bong-seop cut off Ji-seop’s words.

“You’re asking me to lend you the money you need to go to America and play poker?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re going to live by playing poker in the future?”

“Wouldn’t that be the case if I become a professional player?”

“You’re going to pay back Father’s money by playing poker?”

“Yes, if I win a prize in a mid-sized tournament, I’ll be able to pay back 50 million won in one shot.”

“So, that’s what you were thinking when you came to Korea…….”

Kim Bong-seop nodded slowly.

It was immediately after that that he looked back at his eldest son sitting next to him.

“Ji-chang.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Go to the shoe rack over there and bring a broom.”

Kim Bong-seop continued.

“It seems like your brother needs to be hit a little to come to his senses.”

* * *

Exactly 30 minutes later.

Ji-seop was in the apartment playground.

At the time when darkness began to set in, sitting alone on a seesaw with no one else, creaking.

“…….”

The place where he was hit with the broom throbbed and burned.

As he was suppressing the pain alone, he heard someone giggling from over there.

Ji-seop didn’t feel the need to raise his head.

There was only one person in this world who would be so happy about his pain, his older brother Kim Ji-chang.

“Does it hurt?”

The two-year-older hyung was approaching, grinning.

Ji-seop replied in a blunt tone.

“Hyung, you don’t have to worry about Father’s health. When he hit me with the broom…… he was just overflowing with energy.”

“He’s been working as a violent crimes detective for over 30 years. It’s nothing for him to beat you up.”

Kim Ji-chang sat across from him on the seesaw.

“And you know, sometimes you really have no tact?”

“What?”

Ji-seop made a look as if he was dumbfounded.

He had a handicap that he had to stare intently into the other person’s eyes, but he could still read the other person’s mind.

But he has no tact?

“Father has lived his whole life as a righteous man. Gambling, violence, fraud…… he hates these things completely. Is it even right to say that you’re going to live by playing poker in front of such a person?”

“No, that’s why I said it at first. Unlike in Korea, poker in America…….”

“Yeah, I know what you’re saying. And strangely, I think you’ll do well if you play poker.”

But now is not the time.

Kim Ji-chang was making a brotherly expression for the first time in a long time.

“Father, Mother…… they have never opposed anything you’ve tried to do so far. You admit that, right?”

Without answering, Ji-seop lowered the seesaw down by putting strength into his butt.

“Thanks to that, you played baseball as much as you wanted until this age, right? Then you should think about relieving your parents’ worries, even if it’s just for a few months.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s time to show them the appearance of working at a normal job and getting paid regularly…….”

“Regular pay…….”

As Ji-seop raised his gaze to the sky, this time Ji-chang lowered the seesaw down.

“Get a job at a decent company and work for a few months. Then you’ll save some money, and if your father sees your sincere appearance, he might change his mind.”

“It seems like that’s the only way for now…….”

Ji-seop clicked his tongue.

“I don’t know if there’s a job I can go to? Should I look for a convenience store part-time job?”

“What convenience store part-time job? What are you going to do with the baseball you’ve been doing so far?”

Kim Ji-chang took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to his younger brother.

“Go there tomorrow. I asked a hyung I know to prepare a spot for you because you were coming to Korea.”

“T, this is…….”

Ji-seop stared blankly at the business card his brother handed him.

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