Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 68

Can We Become Friends? (4)

Thank you, Information Window.

I’ve never been so grateful for the Information Window as I am now.

-Tomorrow is my only daughter’s birthday.

-My daughter loves dinosaur characters from animations.

Dads can’t help but be fools for their daughters.

If I buy her a birthday present she’ll like, maybe she’ll open her heart a little?

I should give it to her as a surprise gift when I get back from the game tonight.

I hope she hasn’t already bought one?

Since I’m starting tonight, I probably won’t have time to go buy it myself before the game.

“By the way, where can I buy this?”

I briefly stopped the car and took out my smartphone.

I’ve heard the character’s name, but I’ve never bought it myself.

“The biggest and closest place is…”

When I searched for stores, a few came up.

“It takes 40 minutes to get there. That’s quick enough.”

I quickly drove to the store.

A little later, I stood in front of a pile of character dolls, dumbfounded.

“There are so many.”

The dinosaur character is definitely just one, but there are so many kinds of dolls.

From the clothes they’re wearing, to their poses, and even their sizes.

There are more than ten kinds just in front of me.

“They all look the same.”

Since I’m buying it, I want to buy something she’ll definitely like.

But I have no idea.

Should I just ask an employee?

“Excuse me!”

I turned my head and called out to an employee wearing a uniform.

“Sir, are you looking for something?”

“I’m trying to buy a dinosaur doll.”

“These are selling well. They’re very popular with kids.”

“I’m buying it as a gift. Which one is the most popular?”

“Hmm… Would you like to come this way for a moment?”

There are more in another place?

I followed the employee for now.

The employee stopped at one point and pointed to a doll with his hand.

As soon as I saw it, my mouth dropped open.

It was a large doll that was easily over 1 meter tall.

“It’s huge, right? She’ll like this the most.”

“Does this one sell the most?”

“This one sells the most as a gift.”

The employee left with just those words and went to another customer who was looking for him.

“It’s really big.”

I’ve never seen such a big doll before either.

I think she’ll like it.

“But how much does something like this cost?”

I turned the doll around to find the price tag.

My eyes widened as soon as I saw it.

“350,000 won [approximately $300 USD]? A doll costs 350,000 won? No way.”

Did they recommend it because it’s expensive?

I was embarrassed, but I couldn’t just be surprised forever.

I carried the huge doll with both hands.

Ugh. It’s heavier than I thought.

The groan came out on its own because it was so big.

After paying and struggling to load it into the car in the parking lot, sweat was already forming on my face.

I got into the driver’s seat, turned on the engine, and was about to leave when I suddenly looked back.

“It’s like I’m carrying a real dinosaur.”

Looking at the doll in the back seat, a smile spread across my face.

* * *

Go Ji-hoon was about to start his second game of the season.

As soon as he arrived at the stadium, he started warming up with a light jog.

The routine of light lower body exercises and shoulder exercises was no different from usual.

Then, he stood on the bullpen mound and checked each pitch.

In-course, out-course, fast, and slow pace control.

I felt like my body was loosening up little by little as I threw the ball.

However, the problem was elsewhere.

‘It feels like the ball isn’t going where I want it to go?’

About half of them went deep into the corner.

It was just luck, so it was hard to say that my control was good.

‘Why is this happening? It’s the same as usual.’

I’m sure there’s nothing different from the routine I’ve been doing so far.

Strangely, the feeling when throwing was a little different from before.

Even when I quickly looked back at my memories, I couldn’t think of the cause.

I slowly took a breath again and focused on the ball.

Pop.

“Nice ball!”

The catcher shouted words to encourage the pitcher as usual.

‘It definitely feels a little different.’

Other people might say there’s no difference.

But Go Ji-hoon himself could definitely feel it.

“That’s enough. I think it’s enough to warm up to this point.”

Lee Sang-hak, the pitching coach who was watching Go Ji-hoon’s pitching from the side, hurriedly stopped him and approached him.

“How’s your condition today?”

“It’s okay. Not bad.”

There was no need to tell the coach first that something felt strange.

The results can be proven on the ground.

“Okay, good job. Get some rest and prepare to go on the mound.”

Lee Sang-hak patted Go Ji-hoon on the back a few times.

Go Ji-hoon finished warming up without completely resolving his uneasy feeling.

A little later, the game against the Unicorns began.

Go Ji-hoon, the home team’s pitcher, took the mound from the top of the first inning.

-Go Ji-hoon recorded 6 innings of no runs in the last game, winning his first game of the season without any problems.

-He showed an almost perfect performance while pitching 6 innings. Will he be able to continue his condition from the last game in today’s game?

“Play ball!”

The game started with the referee’s call.

The catcher and I had already discussed how to compete with the first batter.

As soon as I checked the sign, I went into the windup without hesitation.

But,

‘Huh? Why is this happening?’

Go Ji-hoon was the first to feel it as soon as he released the ball.

“Ball!”

I was trying to throw it to the low outside course, but it went to the far outside, so it was difficult for the catcher to catch.

Go Ji-hoon and the catcher tilted their heads.

-It’s rare for Go Ji-hoon, who has good control, to throw a ball like this.

-Is his body not fully warmed up yet?

-This sometimes happens when throwing the first ball.

Go Ji-hoon put enough rosin on his hands and prepared to throw the ball again.

Whoa-

After slowly taking a breath, at the moment of winding up and releasing the ball,

‘Ah… It’s gathered [meaning the ball is going straight into the strike zone, making it easier to hit].’

As Go Ji-hoon’s intuition told him, the ball was going into the center of the strike zone.

Clang!

The batter’s bat turned without fail.

-The batter hit it properly. Oh!

-The shortstop caught it by throwing his body!

-It was a really fast-flying hit. He threw his body with animalistic senses. It’s really a great defense even if you look at it again. It’s like taking away a hit.

-The batter must be so resentful of the shortstop.

“Wow!”

The Doubles fans responded with cheers to the shortstop’s amazing defense.

Go Ji-hoon, who had swept his chest [a gesture of relief], also sent a signal of gratitude to the shortstop.

‘Two consecutive bad pitches are not mistakes. Ji-hoon, focus.’

Precarious situations were created against the following batters.

Thanks to luck, I was able to finish the first inning without giving up a point.

Go Ji-hoon couldn’t hide the fact that he wasn’t satisfied with his pitching in his expression.

I came back to the dugout and sat down, lost in thought.

“Ji-hoon, your control seems a little more unstable than usual today?”

Lee Sang-hak approached with a serious expression along with the trainer.

“I think it’s just because it’s the first inning. It’ll be fine when my body warms up.”

“Do you have any pain in your elbow, shoulder, or waist? Even a slight pain.”

The trainer carefully asked while examining Go Ji-hoon’s body.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll tell you right away if something’s wrong.”

Go Ji-hoon patted the trainer on the shoulder, who was looking at him worriedly, and answered.

‘It’s not just that my body isn’t warmed up, but my balance seems bad today.’

Even after hearing Go Ji-hoon’s answer that he was okay, Lee Sang-hak’s expression was still serious.

“Ji-hoon. You have to tell me anytime if your body feels strange.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Lee Sang-hak, who was returning with the trainer, paused for a moment and carefully called the bullpen.

“Tell Soo-chan to prepare slowly because he might be brought in at the beginning of the game.”

The top of the second inning came, and Go Ji-hoon took the mound as usual.

Whoosh-

“Strike out!”

I haven’t gotten a single strikeout yet.

But the batter couldn’t properly hit the breaking ball moving in front of him.

Clang.

“Out!”

The hit ball also failed to escape the tight defense of the Doubles infielders.

I didn’t allow a run, but the ratio of balls thrown was higher than usual.

The number of pitches at the end of the second inning was already 38.

‘The number of pitches is too high.’

I had to keep it under 15 per inning to finish with 90 pitches by the 6th inning.

At this rate, I couldn’t show that I could be active as an inning eater [a pitcher who can consistently pitch many innings].

-There are still no strikeouts, but he is showing good game management with no runs so far.

-I think Go Ji-hoon’s condition is not as good as usual today. I don’t feel the sharp taste in his control. Nevertheless, he is getting out counts with his experienced pitching.

I tried to reduce the number of pitches in the following game.

Ball.

Ball.

The ball was not controlled as I wanted.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Clang.

Not only was it difficult to compete, but even after allowing a hit, the number of pitches gradually increased more than usual.

The score up to the 4th inning was 5:3, with the Doubles leading, but Go Ji-hoon’s pitch count was already recording 81.

-We are now ahead of the start of the 5th inning. It’s an important inning because the starting pitcher must pitch more than 5 innings to become a winning pitcher, right?

-That’s right. Because the Doubles are leading, if Go Ji-hoon finishes the 5th inning well, he will be able to meet the requirements for a winning pitcher.

-But he’s already thrown 81 pitches by the 4th inning. Considering that it’s the beginning of the season, it seems like the Doubles will be burdened to keep him on the mound.

-I don’t know what the Doubles bench will decide, but I don’t think there’s any need to overdo it.

-Oh. But he’s coming up again this time. I guess they’re going to let him finish until the 5th inning.

Pop.

“Strike out!”

The first strikeout caught in today’s game became Go Ji-hoon’s last out count.

He was immediately replaced with a new pitcher as he moved on to the 6th inning.

5 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 5 walks, 1 strikeout.

It can’t be helped that he allowed runs and hits.

Because of the walks he gave up because he couldn’t control his pitches as he wanted, he only pitched 5 innings.

Thanks to the good fight of the pitchers who came up after Go Ji-hoon and the performance of the lineup, the Doubles were able to win.

Although he took the lead in the league in wins with 2 wins in 2 games of the season, Go Ji-hoon’s expression was dark.

There was not a single smile on his face as he greeted the fans after the game.