Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 96

96. I Don’t Think This Is It (3)

It had been a while since Go Ji-hoon had pitched in a day game.

Even in the first team, there were weekend day games scheduled, but they weren’t frequent.

Day games often required waking up earlier than usual, making it harder to manage his condition, but today felt different.

Perhaps excited by the prospect of pitching again, he woke up naturally earlier than he expected.

As soon as he woke up, Go Ji-hoon went to the stadium and started warming up.

He felt almost no pain while warming up.

Since his velocity hadn’t fully returned yet, he decided to focus more on control.

Even though it was a minor league game, Go Ji-hoon’s concentration was no less intense than during the Korean Series [the championship series of the KBO League, South Korea’s professional baseball league].

“Play ball!”

Finally, the umpire’s call rang out.

Standing on the mound, Go Ji-hoon didn’t hesitate and threw the ball with all his might toward the catcher.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

The ball barely grazed the strike zone.

The batter, who stood in the batter’s box and stared blankly at the passing ball, shook his head, acknowledging Go Ji-hoon’s precise control.

Go Ji-hoon didn’t hesitate in throwing the next ball either.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

The fastball hit the perfect spot again.

Zero balls and two strikes.

He’d created a favorable ball count in an instant.

Now was the time to induce a swing and miss with a breaking ball.

Go Ji-hoon adjusted his grip in his glove to prepare for a slider and threw the ball.

Whoosh-

The slider, which initially looked like a strike but then broke sharply away to the outside, made it impossible for the batter not to swing.

“Strike out!”

The umpire announced the strikeout with a thunderous call and a dramatic gesture, as if celebrating Go Ji-hoon’s first strikeout since his return.

Go Ji-hoon didn’t show it on his face, but in his heart, he wanted to throw a celebratory uppercut.

For minor league hitters, hitting a breaking ball thrown by a first-team caliber player was never easy.

The result was much the same against the next batter.

Whoosh-

“Strike out!”

He not only struck out batters with swing and misses,

Thwack!

“Strike out!”

He also struck out batters looking, freezing them with fastballs aimed at every corner of the strike zone.

With that, Go Ji-hoon struck out all three outs in the first inning.

His pitch count was only 12.

“Go Ji-hoon, fighting!” [a Korean phrase of encouragement, similar to “Go Ji-hoon, you can do it!”]

A cheer came from the stands.

It wasn’t as grand as the cheers in a first-team game, but it was enough to give him strength.

In the following second inning, the power of Go Ji-hoon’s pitches was overwhelming.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

Thwack!

“Strike out!”

As the game continued, the number of batters who struck out increased.

In the 2nd and 3rd innings, the opposing team couldn’t even get a runner on first base.

He had originally planned to pitch about three innings, but because his pitch count wasn’t high, he went to the mound in the 4th inning as well.

He finished perfectly with no hits allowed and eight strikeouts in four innings.

Go Ji-hoon’s steps were lighter than ever as he left the mound, having perfectly achieved his desired goal.

* * *

Kim Min-hwan rubbed his eyes in disbelief, even as he looked at the record in front of him.

“Is this really Go Ji-hoon’s pitching record?”

“Yes, it’s really him.”

“It’s not a mistake, like another player pitched?”

“It’s definitely Go Ji-hoon, a pitcher from the Doubles and affiliated with our agency.”

“Not just someone with the same name either?”

“There’s only one professional baseball player registered in Korea with the name Go Ji-hoon.”

Since minor league games weren’t broadcast, you had to go to the stadium to see them, so it wasn’t strange to doubt the record.

No, to be exact, it would have been stranger not to doubt it after seeing this.

“So, you’re saying he’s completely fine now?”

“His velocity is a bit lower than average, but it seems like it’ll come up soon with training. Other than that, there’s nothing to criticize.”

“No pain either?”

“If he felt severe pain, he wouldn’t have been able to throw nearly 80 pitches.”

“That’s true.”

Kim Min-hwan nodded, but he couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes.

“Team Leader, can we consider the problem solved now, then?”

“I don’t know… If there’s no problem with the player throwing the ball, shouldn’t that be it?”

Kim Min-hwan couldn’t give a clear answer, even as he looked at the record again.

He also had a lingering feeling in the back of his mind that wasn’t completely resolved.

-Feeling grateful to Professor Park Jung-joon.

The information window I saw regarding Go Ji-hoon suddenly came to mind.

“Team Leader, do you happen to know Professor Park Jung-joon?”

“Of course, I know him. He’s the one our agency’s players always go to when they need rehabilitation.”

Ah! I remembered now that I’d heard it somewhere.

He was a doctor considered the leading authority in Korea in the field of rehabilitation.

If so, Go Ji-hoon must have received treatment from Professor Park Jung-joon, so it was no wonder he felt grateful to him.

“Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?”

“Has Go Ji-hoon continued to receive treatment from that professor?”

“Yes. He’s the leading authority in Korea, and CEO Lim has known him for a long time and is close to him, so there was no reason for our agency to send him to another hospital.”

Kim Min-hwan said with an indifferent expression.

“But how can he be so different? Just until recently, he received an opinion that he needed to receive treatment for three months.”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

At my words, curiosity settled on Kim Min-hwan’s face again.

“Have there been similar situations like this before?”

“This is the first time. Even though I’ve been in this business for quite a while, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case like this before.”

Kim Min-hwan shook his head vigorously.

“What kind of treatment did he receive… that could cause something like this to happen?”

“Well… But can he suddenly get this much better after receiving treatment a few times? If that were the case, we wouldn’t have been worrying until now.”

“That’s true.”

Even after Kim Min-hwan and I put our heads together and pondered for a long time, we couldn’t find an answer.

“Well, the player isn’t in pain and can throw well, so that’s enough. Isn’t it?”

“I guess so…?”

Unlike Kim Min-hwan, who forced a smile, my mind was still confused.

* * *

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

I had been running on the treadmill for over an hour.

It was to watch Go Ji-hoon train without making it obvious.

Whoosh-

Whoosh-

Even while doing shadow pitching afterward, I didn’t feel anything strange in his pitching motion.

If he had pain, there’s no way he could handle training like that.

Thanks to touching his body before entering the training ground, I was able to check the updated information in the information window.

-Feeling no lower back pain after receiving treatment today as well.

-Experiencing dizziness more often than before.

There was nothing special about the treatment-related content at all.

It would have been easily resolved if it had said what kind of treatment he was receiving these days.

I had no choice but to find the reason by talking to him directly.

To have a natural conversation, I had no choice but to run on the treadmill until Go Ji-hoon’s training was over.

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

But Go Ji-hoon trained for so long, and even though it had been a long time since I started running on the treadmill, there was no sign of it ending.

Wouldn’t I collapse first at this rate?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, Go Ji-hoon’s training finally ended.

I barely survived.

I hurriedly pressed the stop button and stopped.

Huff. Huff. Huff.

Oh, I’m out of breath.

I had to catch my breath first, even if it was just to survive, let alone have a conversation.

“Do you like running?”

Go Ji-hoon approached me, wiping sweat with a towel.

“Of course. I feel refreshed and good after running like this. Huff. Huff.”

Actually, it was the first time I had run this long.

“I also run a lot, but I think you’re the first person I’ve seen run more than me.”

I was able to continue the conversation only after struggling to catch my breath.

“Senior, has the first team pitching schedule been released?”

“I’m not starting right away, but I’m going to pitch 1-2 innings in the bullpen in the minor leagues tomorrow, and then start in the first team from the next turn.”

“You don’t have any trouble pitching, do you?”

“My physical condition seems better than at the beginning of the season.”

I could feel it just by looking at the fact that his pitching balance was being maintained consistently while throwing the ball.

Now was the time to ask the question I really wanted to ask.

“The treatment you’re receiving from Professor Park Jung-joon seems to be very effective?”

“It seems like the pain has definitely decreased since a few days ago.”

“I’m glad it’s getting better… but what’s changed from before that’s making it like that?”

I asked as if I was genuinely curious.

“It’s getting different because I go more often than before. They say he’s famous in this field, and it seems like he’s really good.”

“How often do you go?”

“I used to go about once every two weeks, but for the time being, I’ve decided to go three times a week.”

But it couldn’t have been resolved just by receiving treatment more often, right?

“Has the treatment method changed a lot?”

“Well… I don’t think anything has changed in particular?”

After pondering for a moment, Go Ji-hoon shook his head as if he didn’t know.

“Really?”

Is it just that he received it often?

It felt like I was falling deeper into a maze.

“It’s always the same, getting physical therapy and getting pain relievers or nutritional supplements.”

“Even so, wouldn’t something have changed even a little bit, so your body got better?”

“Well, I don’t know the reason exactly.”

Looking at Go Ji-hoon’s expression, it didn’t seem like he was hiding something.

“That’s a strange thing.”

“I haven’t had my balance this good while throwing the ball in the last few years.”

“When I saw you pitch last time, you were better than at the beginning of the season.”

“Last game… it was a minor league game, so they wouldn’t have broadcast it?”

“Of course, I went to see it in person.”

“Really? You came all the way there?”

Go Ji-hoon’s eyes widened in surprise.

He didn’t seem to have thought that I would have gone all the way to the minor league stadium.

“Of course, I had to go see it. Since you were pitching.”

“What did it look like to you?”

“It’s the same as the result that came out. I can’t find a way to express it other than to say it’s perfect.”

“Really?”

Go Ji-hoon gave an embarrassed smile at the excessive praise.

For now, I couldn’t get the information I wanted from the conversation with Go Ji-hoon.