Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 180

※ 180. Overcoming

No matter where Seung-ju went, I had to focus on my job, so,

Bang-!

“Aww, I love that ball!!”

Clap clap clap—

“Wow… Sunbae’s [senior’s] ball is real…”

“Han-ul, don’t put too much force into it.”

I was diligently warming up in the bullpen.

Geon-yeong’s roar.

The admiration of the juniors.

The coach’s encouragement.

Standing with one leg propped up behind the plate, looking down at the bullpen, all of this,

“Hoo, one more fastball.”

“Fastball! Ayy!”

Felt like a team tailored just for me.

Bang-!

“Good, good-! Just like that, it’s so good right now!”

I was so busy warming up that I didn’t even notice that the bottom of the 8th inning was in progress, or that the bottom of the 8th inning was slowly coming to an end.

“How many pitches does Chi-seong have right now?”

“89.”

89 pitches in 7.2 innings.

“Why does he have to be on fire today?”

The epitome of pitching to contact?

Bang-!

“Striiiiike, nice!”

No, he’s just pitching well.

The starting pitcher himself is showing that a pitcher with good velocity doesn’t necessarily need to pitch to contact.

The problem is that our team is facing that pitcher,

Your love is a wildcard, Folding is the hard part―

You guys will be like that too now.

Waaaaah-!!

Kim Han-ul! Kim Han-ul! Kim Han-ul!

As soon as the cheerleaders’ dance to the beat ended, the electronic display started showing my face that had been filmed a long time ago.

After the word ‘WONHA’ appeared in the background where my image had disappeared like dust, a right hand appeared and threw a rosin bag.

I don’t know if you’ll hold me, Or leave me here feelin’ lonely―

The me in the electronic display demonstrated a pitching form that felt awkward. I looked at the ‘4 Kim Han-ul’ mark on the right side of the screen, and then looked straight ahead again.

After that clumsy pitching demonstration ended, it moved on to a profile picture, Kim Han-ul 4, and below that, my brief resume appeared.

“…….”

I walked to the mound without taking my eyes off the electronic display.

“…Cool.”

By the time I had dryly judged the appearance video on the electronic display, I was appropriately near the mound.

I picked up the baseball that was lying alone in front of the plate, gently brushed off the dirt, and then roughly rubbed the rosin bag all over it.

It’s so strange.

When I’m outside the stadium, even during a game, when I’m in the dugout, even when I’m on the mound and going back to the dugout.

Every single moment, I know. Ah, I’m a crazy bastard, I’m not living with a sane mind.

But it’s strange.

“Ugh!”

Bang-!

Only when I come up to the mound.

Only when I grab the ball on the mound.

Only when I see the catcher on the mound.

“Hup!”

Bang-!

I really feel like a different person. Even I can see it.

“Hoo!”

0 to 0, in a game where the guardian of balance is still in place, our fans know why I’m on the mound, the commentators know, and even the opposing team knows.

Today, I’m definitely going to get it done.

I’m definitely going to win today, and,

“Kkeuek!”

Bang-!

I’m going to take first place.

“Play!”

The first batter I’ll face is the cleanup hitter, Nam Dong-geun.

“Hoo….”

Come to think of it, all the stats are set to all-100, so I guess I won’t be seeing the quest anymore, I thought.

I’ve been living with the quest for almost 4 years, and the disappointment that came with the thought that I wouldn’t be seeing it anymore was bigger than I thought.

And at the same time,

“Keuk!”

Bang-!

“Striiiiike-!”

I also thought, now I can really throw however I want, now is the real test.

Why?

I was able to break free from the frame that I had to fit in order to get the quest rewards. And because of that, I couldn’t make excuses like, ‘I got hit because I had to throw this because of the quest.’

No,

“Ugh!”

Woong-!

“Swing-.”

I wasn’t even thinking of making excuses in the first place.

After quickly getting two strikes with two 158km, 156km fastballs, I fiddled with the ball and looked at the first base stands.

Strikeout! Clap clap clap, strikeout! Clap clap clap, strikeout! Clap clap clap…….

Following the cheering squad leader’s chant, the fans were trying to forge Nam Dong-geun’s record.

Forgery?

“Kkeuak!”

Woong-!

“Swing, out!”

No, fact.

Next to Nam Dong-geun, who swung once and returned to the dugout,

Fifth batter, right fielder Myung Seung-ju.

The next batter, Myung Seung-ju, walked up.

But honestly, at this point, wouldn’t the batters have one thing they realize?

“Eup!”

Woong-!

“Swing-!”

Really, other times I don’t know, but this year’s Kim Han-ul, today’s Kim Han-ul, is a pitcher that someone like me can’t dare to approach.

But seeing him enter the plate with a nonchalant face to face me, I even feel respect.

Why?

Tak―

“Foul-.”

When I stood on the mound in my insignificant and worthless days, I felt that feeling more than anyone else.

No, it was even worse.

Really, other times I don’t know, but this year’s batter, today’s batter, is a batter that someone like me can’t dare to approach.

I felt it every year, every month, every week, every day, every at-bat, every pitch.

But in order to face them, I stood on the mound with a nonchalant face.

Then, when I came down from the mound, when I went home, when I fell asleep and dreamed, I had to return to reality.

That reality was like a trauma to me.

Am I, who is nothing, who is really worthless, allowed to keep standing here?

“Eueuk!”

Woong-!

“Swing, out!”

To put it bluntly, I shouldn’t have. How dare a guy who’s not even a pitcher try to protect the mound.

“…Hoo.”

But to tell another open ending, thanks to forcing what shouldn’t have been done, I am who I am now, and there is also the current Wonha Challengers.

Sixth batter, second baseman Jo Sang-wook.

Trauma?

I overcame it.

Of course, I can’t boast that it was solely my own effort. I have a conscience, I will never forget that it was thanks to this system and quest. No, I can’t forget it.

But,

“Euek!”

Life is like baseball, they say. Life is sometimes more than fiction, they say.

Ppeoeong―

“Striiiiike-!”

Can’t I feel that a little bit too?

I was just as desperate, I gritted my teeth, I cried a lot, and I was more desperate than that.

Doong-, doong-, doong, doong, doongdoongdoongdoong, doodoodoong―

Hurry up and catch it. Hurry up and show us the victory. Hurry up and end the game, the inning, the batter.

The fans’ wishes were conveyed to the mound through the ancient times.

To fulfill their wishes, they didn’t even look at them and focused on the catcher.

Take a breath, swallow once, shake your head once, nod your head once,

“Eut!”

Throw the ball once.

Ttaak-!

The batted ball that Jo Sang-wook hit soared towards the high part of my vision.

The batter started running with a glimmer of hope, and the catcher jumped up from his seat, wondering if it was possible.

If there is anyone who is not bothered even after hearing the sound of a perfect hit, it is me, who actually threw the ball.

Slowly, without losing the faint smile on my face, I slowly turned around, and the center fielder was getting closer and closer to the fence.

The center fielder, who was showing the front of his uniform to the left fielder while walking sideways little by little, when his right hand touched the fence,

Tak!

Reached out his left hand and caught the batted ball falling from a high place.

“Ah, nice, hyung [older brother/friend]!”

“Good ball!”

“You’re doing great, Han-ul hyung is doing great!”

After confirming the third out count, I slowly turned towards the dugout.

I didn’t go straight into the dugout, but stood at the entrance of the dugout and waited for the fielders who were slower than me.

I bumped gloves with right fielder Seong-hyun, high-fived third baseman Seong-hoon hyung, leaned back-to-back with left fielder Hoon,

“Jin-hyung, good defense!”

“Hyung’s ball is good! It’s amazing!”

And with Jin-hyung, who caught the last out count, I recited all the ceremonies that I had performed earlier.

After sending all the fielders into the dugout first, I entered the dugout last.

“If we don’t score, will you go up for the 10th inning?”

“The 10th… Seok-min will go up first.”

“Yes.”

The mission of pitcher Kim Han-ul ends here.

However,

Third batter, Park!! Heon!! Hee!!

The mission of baseball player Kim Han-ul, belonging to Wonha Challengers, still remains.

“Heon-hee, let’s goooo!!”

To generously support, wish for, and pray for the victory of the affiliated team.

Until the bottom of the 9th inning, Lim Chi-seong continued to protect the Dongseong Hornets’ mound.

Come down a little.

I think so in my heart, but,

Bang-!

“Striiiiike-!”

Seeing the 152km fastball being thrown just outside, I understood.

After seeing the first pitch, Heon-hee readjusted his helmet and finished preparing for the next pitch, and,

Ttaak-!

Without hesitation, he released his bat on a ball similar to the first pitch.

“It’s go…!”

“…Aaaack!”

“Aww….”

Just like how Jo Sang-wook’s batted ball, who was my last opponent, came to mind, Heon-hee’s batted ball was also caught by the center fielder in front of the fence without much difficulty.

In this case, it’s fortunate and unfortunate that the home stadium is Jamsil.

Also, it’s ambiguous whether the baseball proverb that good hitting comes after good defense can be applied to this situation.

Why?

From the pitcher’s point of view, all the out counts that the fielders catch are good defense.

A jump catch beyond the human range, an ordinary ground ball out, and a looking strikeout that stabs the batter’s weakness are all.

But ambiguity is another way of saying that it’s okay to apply my own standards.

Jin-hyung caught an out count.

From my point of view, Jin-hyung’s defense is good defense.

So Jin-hyung will make a good hit.

I wasn’t the only one who came up with the three-stage logic that had no relevance at all.

“Jin-hyung, let’s gooo!!”

“Show us, show us!”

“Show us the bulk up!!”

Heon-hee, shouting while banging on the dugout fence.

Seong-moon, who speaks shyly but strongly.

Hoon, who shouts like a madman with a bright smile.

“Jin-hyung, show us!!”

I can’t lose either.

Like Heon-hee, I banged on the fence and prayed for Jin-hyung’s good hit.

Ttaak-!

My prayer, our team members’ prayer, the Wonha Challengers fans’ prayer came true,

Ppak!

“Out-!”

The opposing third baseman, who caught Jin-hyung’s liner, made a strange sound like ‘hoo-ooo!’ as if he couldn’t believe his own good defense, and threw the ball to the second baseman of the same team.

Rather than thinking, ‘Oh, if you shout and like it like that, you look like a madman,’

“Hey, that’s what we used to do.”

“Shall we file a plagiarism complaint?”

I shared silly stories with Myung-jin, who was next to me, saying that it was ours and it was plagiarism.

“Leave it, the heavens and the earth know that we are the original….”

Pinch hitter, Yoon!! Seung!! Ju!!

“…Huh?”

Until I heard the name of the next batter to appear.

“…Why is he….”

I wasn’t the only one who was surprised, Myung-jin next to me, the opposing team’s dugout, and even the opposing pitcher were making surprised expressions.

“Time-.”

To help understand this situation, the catcher briefly called a time and went up to the mound to talk to Lim Chi-seong.

Looking at him unconsciously staring at Seung-ju in the middle of the catcher’s speech, it seemed that he was trying to figure out the intention of this pinch-hitting operation.

I glanced at where the coach was, wondering what he was thinking, but he was just staring at the ground with the same expressionless face as always.

Then, looking at the plate, wondering what he was thinking, I heard,

“He said he would go out himself?”

“Yes?”

Gi-beom helped explain from the side.

“You were in the bullpen with him earlier.”

“Ah… uh.”

“He came out and went to the coach around the 7th or 8th inning.”

“What did he say when he went?”

“I don’t know what he said….”

Gi-beom, who was continuing to speak, glanced at Seung-ju.

“…Seung-ju came out and said that he wanted to be a pinch hitter once before Lim Chi-seong went down.”

“Who.”

“Who else? He’s talking about himself.”

“…Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“…….”

It’s not that there are no reasons to guess.

Maybe the story we shared in the bullpen earlier is the basis for that.

“Wow… is he crazy, really.”

“He’s crazy.”

“No, this is….”

Troll?

No, I don’t think that far.

In the first place, it’s not a winning game, and no matter how crazy he acts, he’s not the type to turn that direction to his affiliated team.

“…Can he do it.”

Rather, I felt admiration, respect.

“Was there anything else you said earlier?”

“There wasn’t anything special….”

Bang-!

“Boooall-.”

The batter seemed to remember what happened in the past, so he threw a fastball far outside and took a look.

“He doesn’t want to be miserable.”

“What’s miserable about it.”

“Isn’t it a problem that you have to overcome someday anyway? He was saying something like that. What did you talk about with him earlier?”

I don’t know if I should say it’s reckless or amazing.

Even though the fastball went far away, Seung-ju didn’t move his right foot towards home plate, but rather moved it away from home plate.

“What did you say, you?”

“I just… didn’t say anything special.”

I try to bring up the fragments of the story I shared with Seung-ju earlier.

“…If I can’t go to the game because I’m not in a good condition, it’s okay, but if I can’t go to the game because of that one symbol of hold, wouldn’t it be miserable? I was talking about that.”

That fragment,

Ddik!

Seemed to feel very big to Seung-ju.

“Foul-!”

Clap clap clap clap-!

“Ah, Seung-ju, nice bat, nice bat!”

“Good batting, good timing!”

“Good swing, you saw the ball, you saw it!!”

The team members who knew about Seung-ju and Lim Chi-seong’s work encouraged Seung-ju in their own way.

Clapping, shouting with their hands gathered in front of their mouths, or just shouting like crazy.

Seung-ju, who glanced at the left side of the umpire where the foul ball had flown, took his original routine once again.

Swinging the bat, grabbing the grip and twitching, putting it on his left shoulder, and tapping his right foot to the beat.

“Seung-ju probably took it that way.”

“What?”

“What Han-ul, you said just now, miserable, what, something.”

“…How?”

“Getting hit in the head with a fastball is a really big deal. Mentally, it’s something you can think about whether to retire because of it.”

“Of course.”

“But isn’t it also true that it’s really nothing on the surface?”

“Why is that nothing?”

“On the record, it’s just a hit by pitch.”

That’s a bit…….

“Whether you get hit or not, the game will continue. Your head is attached to your body, so it’s a hit by pitch. You got hit, so you have to go out as a runner.”

“Getting hit in the head is so small….”

“So, on the surface.”

Tick―

“Foul-.”

Once again, Seung-ju somehow managed to make a foul.

“On the surface, it’s just one symbol of being hit by pitch. Because it’s a record.”

“So, if you can’t go to the game because of something like that in the past, it’s miserable?”

“I think so. In the personality of that bastard I know.”

“…….”

I took my eyes off Gi-beom and stared at Seung-ju, who was temporarily out of the plate and turning his bat around.

“…Crazy bastard.”

Yoon Seung-ju! Yoon Seung-ju! Yoon Seung-ju!

Whether they knew about the past incident or not, the audience chanted Seung-ju’s name, not knowing what was going on in the dugout right now.

Clutch hitter.

A batter who really does it when he has to.

The most reliable batter in important situations.

Each person’s meaning of Seung-ju is different, but in the end, the content that the meaning penetrates is concentrated into one.

Ttaak-!

“Waaack!”

“It’s gone!”

“Oooooh!!”

“Seung-juyaaaaa!!”

Hit one.

Hit one in this important moment, and,

“Waaaaaack-!!”

“Seung-juyaaaack!!”

“Come here, run, run quickly, you bastard!!”

Waaaaaaa-!!

Yoon Seung-ju!! Yoon Seung-ju!! Yoon Seung-ju!! Yoon Seung-ju!!

To confirm the victory and championship of the Wonha Challengers.

“Fuuuuuuck!!”

The home run hitter who crossed the center-right fence sprinted all the bases and strongly released his emotions in profanity.

In Seung-ju’s eyes, who was running to first base, stepping on second base, turning third base, and running home as if he was doing a 100m race,

Waaaaaack, die, you drunken bastard!

You bastard, Yoon Seung-ju!!

You crazy bastard, you son of a bitch, you son of a cow, you son of a horse!!

The image of his teammates politely welcoming him, who had overcome everything, was reflected.