On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 246

The crack of the bat echoed, but Kim Hyung-woo’s face contorted in frustration.

He’d anticipated a low pitch and geared up for it, but the ball dove even lower.

*How can a pitch like that even exist?*

Such an absurd sinker…!

“Pop fly to the pitcher! Jung-ryul!”

Kim Jung-ryul shuffled forward and snagged the ball as it bounced high.

Kim Hyung-woo sprinted toward first base, but Kim Jung-ryul casually tossed the ball to first.

*Thud.*

A sound so soft it was almost comical.

The sound of the ball hitting the glove.

To Kim Hyung-woo, it was the death knell.

“Out!”

The umpire’s call was the final note.

“Woo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!”

There was nothing left to say.

The G.O.A.T. [Greatest Of All Time] players stampeded toward the mound.

Without a word, they swarmed Kim Jung-ryul and embraced him.

Even Kim Jung-ryul, usually the calmest of the bunch, burst into a torrent of tears.

“Uwaaaah! Heo-heo-heong. We won! We won too!”

That was all anyone could decipher from Kim Jung-ryul’s blubbering.

The players, huddled around Kim Jung-ryul, sobbed as if overwhelmed by a shared grief.

Yoo Sun-ho gazed at the sky, fighting back tears.

“I’m still okay, too! (sniff)”

Kim Jung-ryul, his face streaked with tears, spotted Song Seok-hyun rushing toward him and ran to meet him in a hug.

He wept like a child.

Kim In-hwan and Choi Jae-wan belatedly joined the celebration, embracing the players.

Ham Sung-hoon squeezed his eyes shut, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Manager!”

The first to speak was pitching coach Yeon Woo-shik.

Just as Ham Sung-hoon was about to compose himself, Yeon Woo-shik enveloped him in a tight hug.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Starting with Yeon Woo-shik, the coaches mobbed Ham Sung-hoon.

They didn’t just surround him; they hoisted him onto their shoulders and began tossing him into the air.

“Uwaaa! I hate this! Stop it! Stop it! Don’t!”

Ham Sung-hoon’s protests were lost in the roar of the crowd.

If the field was chaos, the stands were a full-blown riot.

A championship after 23 years.

More fans were crying than cheering.

Twenty-three years.

The time it would take for a baseball fan to get married, have a son, and see him complete his mandatory military service.

If the accumulated frustration of the fans could be personified, it would be named Sorrow.

A team that spent lavishly but consistently underperformed.

A dysfunctional team.

A doormat.

A team that constantly heard, “If you can’t win a championship after throwing money around like the G.O.A.T., you should just fold.”

They were just fans, just fans of a baseball team.

It was a nail hammered deep into their hearts for decades.

“Heo-heo-heok. Heo-heo-eo-eong.”

The fans’ crying was nothing compared to the chairman.

Chairman Kim Myung-jin sobbed like a child.

He cried so openly that the executives were at a loss, despite knowing the cameras were on him.

Just baseball.

Just a game.

To some, it was ‘just’ a pastime, but to others, it was a lifelong obsession.

Seeing the chairman’s face awash with tears, one quick-thinking executive approached him.

“Chairman, you should go down to the field. Would you like to stay here?”

Only then did Kim Myung-jin wipe his tears and rise from his seat.

He wanted to experience it firsthand.

He wanted to inhale the rich, intoxicating aroma of victory, aged for 23 years.

When Kim Myung-jin appeared on the field, the fans erupted, chanting his name.

“Kim Myung-jin! Kim Myung-jin! Kim Myung-jin! Kim Myung-jin!”

The players and coaches joined in, calling out the chairman’s name.

Kim Myung-jin burst into tears again, his body shaking with sobs.

Kim Myung-jin, wiping his tears with a handkerchief his son offered, grabbed the microphone.

“Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything.”

Kim Myung-jin couldn’t continue.

He was overcome with emotion and couldn’t utter another word.

At that moment, a fan yelled from the stands.

“Championship next year too! Sign free agents! [FAs]”

“Sign FAs!”

“FAs!”

Following the lead of one fan, others took up the chant.

Kim Myung-jin grabbed the microphone again, only after using up two handkerchiefs.

Kim Myung-jin’s voice was already hoarse, but after clearing his throat several times, he shouted.

“Championship next year too! I’ll sign all the FAs!”

“Woo-ah-ah-ah-ah!”

“Kim Myung-jin! Kim Myung-jin! Kim Myung-jin!”

The executives were aghast, but no one dared to intervene.

They couldn’t even approach Kim Myung-jin, who had a wild glint in his eyes.

“Um, we need to have the awards ceremony, so could you…”

Only after an official intervened did Kim Myung-jin leave the field.

The Pegasus players had already departed, and the fans were also streaming out.

The Pegasus children fans were sobbing, while the young fans sighed, staring at the sky.

“Phoenix last year! G.O.A.T. this year! What the ××!”

* * *

“Cheers!”

The after-party at the hotel following the game.

All the G.O.A.T. baseball team staff and players were in attendance.

Under Kim Myung-jin’s orders, everyone abandoned formalities and indulged in drinks and snacks without reservation.

Squeak. Squeak.

“Ah, we will now hear a few words from the chairman.”

Kim Myung-jin grabbed the microphone, surveying the jubilant crowd.

A trophy sat gleaming on the stage.

“I!”

Kim Myung-jin choked back tears as he gazed at the trophy.

“I’ve been waiting 23 years to pour alcohol into this trophy and drink from it! Twenty-three years! I thought I was going to die without ever getting to do this. I thought I was really going to die of old age!”

Kim Myung-jin burst into tears, and the venue fell silent.

Kim Myung-jin took a few deep breaths and straightened his posture.

“First of all, our Manager Ham Sung-hoon.”

“Yes.”

Ham Sung-hoon removed his hat.

Kim Myung-jin looked down at Ham Sung-hoon and said in a trembling voice.

“Thank you, Manager Ham.”

Kim Myung-jin bowed deeply, shocking those around him.

Ham Sung-hoon quickly returned the bow.

Kim Myung-jin straightened up and grabbed the microphone again.

“I hate guys who just talk. What can’t you do with words? If you’re a man, you have to prove your words with actions. Even if you can’t, you have to have the spirit. Our Manager Ham Sung-hoon kept his word. Among the men I’ve met, he’s a real man. He’s great. Very great. If it weren’t for baseball, I’d want to keep him by my side and mentor him.”

The headquarters executives swallowed hard at Kim Myung-jin’s words.

“But.”

Kim Myung-jin glanced back at the headquarters executives.

“I can’t win a championship by bringing those guys to the baseball team. The only person who can make the G.O.A.T. win is our Manager Ham Sung-hoon, so what can I do? It’s a shame, but he has to stay with the baseball team. Isn’t that right? Haha!”

The audience laughed along with Kim Myung-jin.

The headquarters executives laughed even louder and applauded enthusiastically.

“I promise you. Unless you quit, you will never be fired.”

The banquet hall fell silent.

The chairman’s words were tantamount to declaring him a lifetime manager.

“If there are any players you want to sign as free agents this year, send their names directly to me by email. Directly to me. I’ll sign them all, so don’t worry and send them by email. Or you can call me. You can do that. Our Manager Ham can do that.”

Ham Sung-hoon simply bowed his head in silence.

Kim Myung-jin then pointed to a man in the distance.

“Our Seok-hyun. Come here. Our Seok-hyun is too far away; I can’t see his face. Seok-hyun, let’s see your face. I have to see our Seok-hyun’s face.”

Kim Myung-jin seemed quite drunk, repeating the same words.

When Song Seok-hyun hurried forward, Kim Myung-jin beckoned him onto the stage.

“Our Seok-hyun.”

Kim Myung-jin took Song Seok-hyun’s hand and embraced him tightly.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for fulfilling this old man’s dream.”

“No. I was able to do it all thanks to you, Chairman.”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything. You’re a lucky charm. You’re a lucky charm.”

Kim Myung-jin called his secretary, who brought him an envelope.

Kim Myung-jin handed the envelope to Song Seok-hyun and patted him on the shoulder.

“Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Eat well and live well. And don’t neglect baseball.”

“T, thank you!”

“Yes. Our Seok-hyun must live really well.”

Song Seok-hyun tucked the envelope into his arms and stepped down from the stage.

Kim Myung-jin called out the players as they came to mind, handing out envelopes one by one.

Later, as he became more intoxicated, the secretary took over the task.

It didn’t end there.

Kim Myung-jin drank the congratulatory championship wine from the trophy in one gulp and then poured the rest over his head.

“Championship next year too! Championship! Championship!”

The secretaries escorted the drunk Kim Myung-jin out, and the players began opening their envelopes.

“What is this?”

The players who opened the envelopes couldn’t believe their eyes.

Even the reserve players had at least hundreds of thousands of won [Korean currency] inside, and the starting players had over ten million won.

Players who performed at an A-level or higher had even more.

At this point, the players were most curious about Song Seok-hyun’s envelope.

Instead of money, Song Seok-hyun’s envelope contained a document.

Kim Jung-ryul’s jaw dropped when he saw the document.

“W, what is this? An apartment? A Gangnam [affluent district in Seoul] apartment?”

Song Seok-hyun also stared in disbelief, blinking rapidly.

Just then, the general manager grabbed the microphone.

“Ah, I’ll say this in advance, but this is not the official championship bonus. The championship bonus will be paid separately, and this is the chairman’s special bonus. Of course, the championship bonus will be similar to or less than this. So, don’t be too disappointed with the championship bonus.”

The general manager stepped down from the stage and approached Song Seok-hyun.

Still dazed, Song Seok-hyun shook the general manager’s outstretched hand.

“Congratulations on the MVP. The chairman has been incredibly generous. The secretariat will contact you separately for details, so please answer the phone. Got it?”

“Yes, yes. Um… is this real?”

Song Seok-hyun waved the apartment contract.

“I, is this real?”

The general manager chuckled.

“Do you think the group would try to pull a prank like that?”

Song Seok-hyun trembled as he returned the contract to the envelope and tucked it safely into his arms.

Ham Sung-hoon, witnessing this, approached Song Seok-hyun and patted him on the shoulder.

“I told you to just focus on playing baseball well, right?”

Song Seok-hyun nodded blankly.

“This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“What dream? Congratulations, Seok-hyun. You’re the Korean Series MVP, but everyone was so caught up in the celebration that it almost went unnoticed.”

He was happier with the house deed than the Korean Series MVP award, but he couldn’t show it.

He simply nodded.

“You’ve worked hard. You’ve worked hard all season. It’s tough enough for a rookie to be a catcher, but you were also the cleanup hitter, so how difficult must it have been? I’m very sorry.”

“No. Really, it’s not. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.”

“You’ll be playing full-time next year. It’ll be even harder, and the pressure will be greater. It’s good to celebrate the championship, but take a good rest for a month, and then you need to prepare well so that we can have another party like today, remember that.”

Song Seok-hyun patted the chest where he had tucked the envelope.

“Yes. I understand.”

The party quickly broke into smaller groups.

The players with the players, the coaches with the coaches, and the front office staff with the staff.

Song Seok-hyun clinked glasses with Kim In-hwan and Kim Jung-ryul and shouted.

“Championship next year too!”

Another player who overheard this shouted.

“Championship next year too!”

Other employees joined in.

“Championship next year too!”

Kim Jung-ryul raised his glass high and yelled.

“Alright, alright! One shot! Shut it down! No one’s leaving here tonight! Everyone’s crawling out tomorrow! One shot!”