Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 1

#0. Prologue

“…So, if you accept this inheritance from the Chairman, you can forget everything. Everything related to the Ohgang Group and that family.”

My head is throbbing like crazy. As if someone is stabbing it with an awl, rummaging through my brain.

“Nothing will change. You just need to live as you have been, as an ordinary baseball player.”

Ah, the headache isn’t subsiding; now even my eyeballs are spinning.

But… what is this person saying to me? I’ve seen this face somewhere before?

“It’s not a major company, and there are no voting rights, but a 2% stake in Ohgang Corporation will ensure you can live comfortably for the rest of your life, even if you fail as a baseball player. Seattle… was it? It’s a good place. I hope you live comfortably there, without hardship, as a good player.”

I unconsciously reached for my head, which was throbbing with pain.

A strange sensation on my fingertips.

The moment I realized I had a buzz cut, a forgotten memory from the past resurfaced.

Now I understand. Where I am, what I’m doing.

Fifteen years ago, that day, that hotel coffee shop.

The situation where a man claiming to be the Chief Secretary of the Ohgang Group suddenly appeared and offered me company shares.

What on earth is going on? Why am I here?

“Well, if you understand what I’ve said, just sign this document here.”

Ugh… I can’t. I need time to sort things out.

“Just a moment.”

“Yes?”

“You said you’re Chief Secretary Oh? Please wait a moment.”

“…Hmm.”

Barely suppressing the throbbing headache that felt like it would explode, I retraced the events that had happened to me, one by one.

‘…Right, I remember. Trying to save that child in front of the stadium…’

The excruciating headache gradually subsided, and finally, the last moment of my life came to mind.

I was heading to the stadium for a game when I saw a young child running into the road, and I rushed to save them, only to be hit by a truck.

I don’t particularly like children, so why did I do that?

After finally sorting out the current situation, I looked up at the man in front of me.

What this man is offering me is like scraps left behind by the Chairman of the Ohgang Group, who never once looked for me or my mother.

At nineteen, full of vigor, I rejected this man’s offer.

I thought that receiving the shares would be giving absolution to that bastard who left my mother alone and lonely for her entire life.

I hated being associated with that man who didn’t even show his face when my mother passed away.

My confidence in myself also played a part.

I was confident that I could succeed as a Major Leaguer and live well without that money. And I actually did.

So, should I make the same choice again?

Should I tell him to get lost because I don’t need the shares and just live my life?

……

‘Who would benefit from that?’

No, I don’t think so.

Whether I accept this or not, what would the deceased care? If I reject the inheritance, only my half-siblings would be thrilled.

I rejected the huge inheritance with the naivety of a nineteen-year-old, but having lived my life up to my mid-thirties, I decided to accept this windfall.

However, not the shares that would only be a nuisance.

“Chief Secretary.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“How much authority do you have?”

“Authority?”

“For example… could you exchange those shares for something else?”

“…It’s possible to some extent if it’s something of similar value, but why?”

The face of the man called Chief Secretary Oh was full of doubt.

He had the expression of wondering what this young kid was talking about.

“First of all, I don’t want the shares. Receiving them would only make the Chairman’s sons bother me. I refuse. I don’t want any connection with the Ohgang Group.”

“Then?”

“First, 150 billion won [approximately $115 million USD] in cash, with all taxes cleanly processed.”

“150 billion won? It’s possible, but the value of the shares is much greater…”

“And as a bonus, give me the baseball team that’s rumored to be disbanded, give it to me.”

“What? The Warriors? What is a high school student going to do with that…”

In my past life, I was a pretty successful baseball player.

After grinding in the minor leagues for two years, I was promoted to the major leagues and played as a pitcher for eight years, even winning the Cy Young Award [award given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball].

Later, I switched to being a hitter due to a shoulder injury, but I had a second prime, winning the American League MVP [Most Valuable Player award].

I achieved everything I could as a baseball player. But my heart was always empty.

I realized the reason for that after a very long time.

The connections with precious people that I pushed away and ignored for the sake of success as a Major Leaguer.

And the Warriors.

My team that made me dream of becoming a baseball player since I was a snot-nosed kid.

My childhood dream that was completely disbanded and disappeared into history after even the sale failed.

Only after there was nowhere else to climb as a baseball player did I realize.

What I wanted was not Cy Young winner Han Su-hyeok, but Han Su-hyeok, a player wearing the uniform of the Warriors, the team I had loved since I was a kid.

I longed for a life where I was not a Major Leaguer isolated from the world and alone, but a life where I was with precious people.

“Chief Secretary.”

“Yes?”

That’s why I’m going to take a completely different path than before.

Even if it’s a little difficult and challenging, the path that will make me the happiest.

“Give me the baseball team. Then I will forget everything related to the Ohgang Group.”

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