Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 46

46. Com—fort

Third batter Hong Seok-jin stepped up to the plate. With a blank face, he entered the batter’s box and stretched his back as if warming up.

His eye for the ball was simply top-tier in the league.

Compared to his keen eye, his contact was a bit lacking. He was better at pushing the ball to the opposite field than pulling it, and he got more distance when he pushed it.

Perhaps it was due to his age.

I quickly organized the information that came to mind.

The difficulty for a reliever, as opposed to a starter, is that you have to react to the batter’s adjustments with each pitch, without the benefit of information from previous at-bats.

Kyu-hyeok glanced to his right and flicked his thumb once. Nodding, I threw an outside fastball.

“Strike!”

It was close, but clearly a strike.

This is what’s great about having high stats. The ball that should fly exactly along the trajectory in my mind flies even better than before.

With Hong Seok-jin’s eye and contact, he could have hit that pitch, but he nonchalantly let it pass.

After assessing him, Kyu-hyeok flicked his thumb twice this time. The left leg had to move back as soon as both hands went up after receiving the sign.

But this time, my body didn’t move right away. Only after three breaths did my head nod.

“Keugh!”

Bang!

The mitt twisted subtly and exquisitely. Hong Seok-jin judged it as a ball and didn’t swing, and he was right.

“Strike, two!”

If it weren’t for the battery, Kyu-hyeok and I… Kyu-hyeok seemed to get a hint from that and repeated the same signal as before.

“Keuak!”

Whack!

“Strikeout!”

Hong Seok-jin was dismissed in vain, without even swinging once.

The desire to raise my stats quickly grew. Wouldn’t there be even more dramatic results than now?

The feeling of satisfaction and anticipation that had risen quickly fell again as soon as I saw the next batter. I should be happy after overcoming one big challenge, but instead, my spirits dropped. An even bigger challenge appeared.

Fourth batter, Park!! Hae! Jin!!

A league overlord, or something like that, was the nickname attached to him.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t really looked at the scoreboard today, so I glanced at it to calm my mood.

79 games, .364/.431/.653 [batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage], 31 home runs, 82 RBIs [runs batted in].

Is he a freaking monster?

What’s even scarier is that he’s improving every year.

He’s only been in the first team for six years. How much would a team have to pay to get him when he becomes a free agent? I hope he just goes to the majors [Major League Baseball].

…Should I walk him [intentionally walk him, giving him first base]?

The thought crossed my mind for a moment. I could walk him. I just need to avoid him.

Click.

But the catcher’s opinion was different from mine. I quickly pulled myself together and prepared to throw.

Whew…….

With a deep breath, the ball flew in the direction Kyu-hyeok’s thumb was pointing.

“Strike!”

If the outside pitch was for Hong Seok-jin, then the inside pitch, filling the strike zone, was for Park Hae-jin. Park Hae-jin just watched quietly.

A match against Park Hae-jin after a long time.

The ball I was throwing, after a long time, had clearly improved compared to before. In that sense, was Park Hae-jin also watching with a similar intention as Hong Seok-jin?

Thwack—

Wow! …Ah…….

“Foul!”

Or was it just a simple distance measurement?

He pulled the ball, which was half a ball deeper than the last one, over the fence. It went outside the foul pole, but it was enough to send chills down my spine.

0-2. What should I throw?

As I created a count that was good for striking out, I remembered the conversation I had with Hyun-jin. When he asked me what my personal goal was, I answered like this.

“Keuk!”

Striking out Park Hae-jin.

Thwack—!

I still think it’s the best answer. Watching the ball being hit well and flying to the outfield.

The trajectory boasted a similar speed to when Park Hae-jin hit a home run.

Thump—!

“Relay! Two to two!”

“Three!”

However, perhaps because something was off, the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced out.

Sung-hyun threw the ball according to Jin-hyung’s call, and Sung-moon caught it, ending the relay.

Sung-moon held the ball in his right hand and stretched out both hands, and the second baseman called time.

Time—!

It wasn’t just the second baseman who called time.

“…Hyung [older brother/term of respect for an older male] .”

“Why did you come?”

The umpire also called time at Kyu-hyeok’s request.

“Are, are you okay?”

“I’m feeling really good right now.”

“Are you really okay?”

“Where else can you not get hit by a home run?”

I answered sincerely. Perhaps he saw my sincerity in my silly grin, Kyu-hyeok went back to home plate without saying anything.

That’s enough.

What was my record against Park Hae-jin so far?

If my memory isn’t wrong, he had hit a home run against me in every at-bat of his career. That’s finally over.

Satisfaction.

You have to know how to be satisfied.

I was grateful that it was a long hit, but not a home run. I am growing.

“Strike!”

I made eye contact with Park Hae-jin, who was staring at me as he stepped on second base.

What are you looking at, you punk.

“Strike, two!”

Finally, I saw a batter today who I had a lot of information about.

Ha Hae-jin, who has the same name as Park Hae-jin. Fans call these two the Park-Ha brothers.

“Strikeout!”

But Park Hae-jin was not a batter that anyone could dare to follow.

Even if Ha Hae-jin is a lower version of Park Hae-jin, he is still a lower version, not a batter you can never beat.

Perhaps because I had faced Park Hae-jin once, the next batters felt strangely easy.

Ha Hae-jin from a while ago, and Shin Heon-cheol, who I’m facing now, too.

“Strike!”

I stuck the first pitch close to the body. Originally, it would have been called a ball, but Kyu-hyeok’s framing was brilliant.

I wish I could pass that skill on to Joo-ho.

Thud—

“Swing!”

“Two, two!”

The ball went to the runner who swung at the bouncing splitter and started to run before returning to the base.

Without watching him until the end as he stepped on the base again with a bent slide and patted the dirt off his butt, I stepped on the plate.

0-2. What should I throw, Kyu-hyeok?

Inside fastball? Splitter one more time? Changeup? Curve?

It was a bit frustrating not having a slider.

Fastball, sinker, changeup, curve, and slider were all pitches that could be thrown against left-handed hitters or showed strengths, but it felt a bit frustrating not having a slider, a pitch that was absolutely advantageous for right-handed hitters.

I picked out a few and then took my foot off the rubber. Feeling a bit frustrated, I looked up and took a deep breath before stepping on the plate again.

Stats, give me strength.

I gave the sign with my thumb, index finger, and middle finger. I nodded at the look in his eyes asking if I was okay.

I glanced at Park Hae-jin and lifted my leg.

Even though there was a runner on base, it wasn’t a slide step. I didn’t take my left leg back, but it was almost a windup.

“Keuak!”

But thanks to that, I was able to put power into the ball comfortably.

Bang!

“Swing, out!”

As soon as I saw the bat come out at the high ball, my fists clenched on their own. I hugged Kyu-hyeok, who was running out cheerfully.

It wasn’t like winning the Korean Series [championship series in Korean baseball] or throwing a no-hitter, but I felt a bit too happy.

I haven’t actually done those two things, but my elated heart was shouting that it would be similar to that.

[Multi Inning]

– Hold them to within 1 run. (1/1)

– Reward ― Sinker +2

– Special quest complete! Acquire a random trait! Check the status window!

Control ― Top

Power ― Medium

Stamina ― Medium

Four-seam ― 58

Curve ― 51

Slider ― 35

Splitter ― 41

Changeup ― 46

Sinker ― 44+2=46

Trait

Detachment ― I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort ― Makes the batter uncomfortable when they look at the pitcher in the batter’s box.

Random trait acquired! Acquire 1 trait randomly upon release!

Behind Kyu-hyeok, text shone on home plate.

Behind the text that my stats had increased and that I had obtained a random trait, Park Hae-jin was slowly returning to his dugout.

Hey! I’ll strike you out soon!

With the new trait I’ll get, I might be able to strike out the real Park Hae-jin.

I wanted to unlock that random trait right away, but I put it off for a bit. More than that, I wanted to fully feel this emotion right now.

* * *

Keuheung. Eheok-koroek.

Even after waking up, I closed my eyes and stayed still for a few minutes, trying to somehow catch my still dazed mind.

Only after pressing down on my throbbing head could I get up from my seat.

Shuaaa—

Even while taking a warm shower, my mind didn’t come back. I thought about turning the faucet lever to the cold water side to wake up, but that seemed like a crazy thing to do.

I can’t put cold water on my body even in the middle of summer. It’s cold.

Thinking that it wouldn’t work, I washed up and sat down in the living room.

Click—

The scene of sitting down, putting a cigarette in my mouth, and lighting it with a lighter was as natural as scooping rice with a spoon and putting it in my mouth.

With the cigarette in my left two fingers, I picked up my phone with my right hand.

“Let’s see… rankings…….”

I went to the internet and turned to the sports tab. And domestic baseball. And the rankings below.

“Sangsoo… Dongsung… Visco… Gaya.”

And Wonha.

We won yesterday. And Sungwoon, who was on the same line as us, lost.

We maintained 5th place as it was, but from Sungwoon’s point of view, they fell from 5th place, where they had been standing still, to 6th place.

It seems like we’re starting to get out of the place where we’ve only been bickering.

“Next is Gaya and Ha.”

After the 3-game series this weekend, we’ll go down to Daegu on Monday, a day off, and play a 3-game series against Gaya. The game difference with Gaya is three games.

First, we win the remaining two games against Sangsoo, then we go down to Daegu and win 3 games against Gaya, turning the rankings around in a happy circuit.

“…No way.”

That would make it 10 consecutive wins for the team. I decided not to think about results that were unlikely. Because it’s greed.

Let’s do what I can do now.

I muttered the story that had become something like my motto.

What can I, who is now sprawled out in this house, do now?

“I’m hungry.”

Let’s eat.

I got up from my seat and rummaged through the refrigerator. I don’t see anything to eat. Should I order something?

“Yes. Yes, yes. An hour?”

No, how can it take an hour for jajangmyeon [Korean-Chinese noodle dish with black bean sauce]?

“…Yes. Just please don’t let it get soggy.”

But I can’t help it with jajangmyeon.

It was a little past 11 o’clock. Was it my fault for timing it just right for lunch? I ordered a small set of jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork, but the estimated delivery time was a whopping hour.

Since there was nothing to do for an hour, I turned on the computer.

“Oh… ah.”

I turned on the computer because I had nothing to do, but there was nothing special to do even if I turned on the computer. I was just going to browse Mitube or look up internet articles.

It was uncomfortable to sit down and do something that I could do on my phone while lying down. I quickly turned off the computer and lay down, moving the mouse cursor to shut down the computer when,

“Ah.”

Still, I turned on the computer after a long time. I remembered Full Count and logged in after a long time.

There wasn’t really a list of updates. Just adding players and unique forms. This is as good as no update.

Since I turned it on, I played a game. Of course, my starter was me. In the game, I freely threw balls in the mid-150km/h range [~93 mph] and harassed the opponent, and the game was won 9-0.

The opponent seemed to get angry around the 7th inning and said something, but I just blocked the chat and played, so the game couldn’t be cleaner.

My satisfying character. I happily displayed my character in the team management window. Managing his stamina, managing his mentality, and…….

“Ah, right.”

Only then did I remember the random trait I had obtained after the game yesterday.

“Oh… stats?”

Control ― Top

Power ― Medium

Stamina ― Medium

Four-seam ― 58

Curve ― 51

Slider ― 35

Splitter ― 41

Changeup ― 46

Sinker ― 46

Trait

Detachment ― I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort ― Makes the batter uncomfortable when they look at the pitcher in the batter’s box.

When I called up the status window, the text appeared right in front of my eyes. This is the basic trait up to this point. And the bottom line.

[Random trait acquired! Acquire 1 trait randomly upon release!]

It was emphasized with a slightly sparkling light. It was like saying, “Unlock it quickly.” But how do I unlock it?

“Random. Trait. Acquire. Release. Fucking!”

There’s no mouse, and nothing changes even if I list plausible words. Just when I was about to get angry,

“Ack!”

When I touched it with my hand, it just glowed yellow instead of the yellow light that was lit up. I tapped it like a mouse, thinking this was it.

Dding—!

No, wait a minute.

[Random trait acquired!]

You should at least give me some time to prepare!

Trait

Comfort ― Those who look at you feel comfortable.

The system didn’t give me any generosity.

“Comfort, huh…….”

I remembered the commercial on TV where an uncle stroked his stomach and made a com—fortable expression. Does that mean that those who look at me will become like that?

Comfort…….

I recalled the traits I had before. Detachment, and Discomfort.

When I first saw them, I thought, “What kind of traits are these?” and the explanations of those traits were also like, “What kind of explanations are these?”

But in a way, they were more amazing traits than simply raising a few stats.

Even if you get hit by a fastball with boosted stats, your mentality will be shaken, and you will feel uncomfortable.

“Comfort… comfort…….”

Where can I use these traits? I rested my chin on my hand and pondered for a while. Where should I use it to think that I used it well?

Knock knock— Jajangmyeon is here!

I decided to eat first and think about it later.