Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 271

The Mound’s Villain – 271

When Jung Tae-soo first received the offer, he thought it was a joke.

‘Jung Ha-sung is the same age as me, but we don’t really have any connection.’

They had faced each other at the national tournament, but after what Ha-sung did to the coaches, they hadn’t really crossed paths.

And he chose the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] while Ha-sung went straight to Major League Baseball (MLB), so there was no chance to become friends.

But he was suggesting a training camp to him first?

Of course, he had no intention of refusing.

Being able to train with the best player in the world would mean he could learn a lot.

By joining his training, he instantly became the center of attention.

“Hey! Tae-soo, I heard you’re training with Jung Ha-sung this time?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Man, if you were that close to Jung Ha-sung, you should have introduced me sooner.”

“Ah… but I’m not really close to him…”

“You’re not even close, but you’re training together?”

Not only reporters who were friendly with him but also senior and junior players all contacted him and said similar things.

He was about to go crazy from having to explain it to everyone.

‘Why does he want to train with me of all people?!’

He was able to resolve that question on the day of departure.

“Huh? There’s no special reason?”

After exchanging greetings and deciding to speak informally, Ha-sung answered Tae-soo’s question as if it was nothing.

“We’re going to the Olympics together this year. I just called you to get to know you a little better in advance. There’s no other intention.”

Tae-soo was so dumbfounded by the insignificant reason that he sighed.

Still, Tae-soo was happy.

It was the first time in his life that he had taken a private jet and gone to a training camp overseas.

‘So this is Major League class….’

There was a reason why they called it the Major League.

Korean professional teams don’t even take private jets when they go to training camps.

But a private jet for an individual?

It was astonishing.

‘Well, considering his salary, this is possible.’

What was even more surprising was that the training ground was on a deserted island.

He didn’t know how they were going to train on a deserted island, but he got on the plane without complaint.

‘Are they going to use primitive training methods like I’ve seen in cartoons?’

While letting his imagination run wild, Tae-soo enjoyed the flight.

* * *

The imagination ended as just that, an imagination.

“This is… a deserted island?”

The deserted island was indeed a deserted island.

To be exact, they built a resort on the deserted island and rented the entire resort.

With luxurious facilities and staff, he couldn’t even guess how much it cost.

“We’ll have the best rest, but the training will be just as hard. You better be prepared.”

“With these facilities, I think I can handle even tough training?”

Perhaps because they had become closer during the flight, Tae-soo also spoke comfortably.

Ha-sung smiled at his response and walked ahead.

“I hope you feel the same way until the end of training.”

He thought it was just a scare tactic.

But it didn’t take a day to realize that it wasn’t just for scaring him.

“Haa… Haa…!”

He was confident in his stamina, even within the team.

He had been exercising since he was young, so he had stamina that was comparable to most of his colleagues.

But this was so hard that he could barely keep up.

‘Isn’t he overdoing it too much?’

He thought it was too much.

It was clearly overtraining.

If he was pushed this hard, it wasn’t training but labor.

No, it could be called torture.

‘He’s been doing this kind of training every year? No way!’

Above all, he couldn’t believe that he had been doing this kind of training every year.

It was training that no human could endure.

That was Tae-soo’s thought.

That thought grew bigger day by day.

And on the third day, his dissatisfaction exploded.

“This isn’t training!”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s exactly what I said. This isn’t training, it’s just torturing the body. I don’t know what grudge you have to plan this kind of schedule, but if you repeat this kind of training, you’ll only get injured!”

Ha-sung looked at him silently at Tae-soo’s words.

Then he got up from his seat.

“Training is voluntary. If you don’t want to train here and want to go back, I’ll prepare a private plane right away. You can just use these facilities for your own training.”

“What?”

“I’ve been doing this training every year. Of course, I keep increasing the intensity. My body gets used to the same training, you see.”

“You… increased the intensity?”

“Yeah. But I didn’t adjust your training to my level. After all, you’re joining my training method for the first time. So I set the level to when I first joined the Major League.”

He couldn’t believe it.

Ha-sung was doing even more intense training than him.

“I’m not forcing you. But if you overcome this training, you’ll be reborn as a different person in the new season.”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

“What?”

“Why did you bring me to this training and help me?”

“Just….”

Ha-sung turned his body.

“I’m just repaying a debt that only I know about.”

A debt that he couldn’t tell anyone.

Such a debt that no one would believe even if he told them.

That’s why Ha-sung finished those words and moved on.

Tae-soo, who was left alone, pondered for a long time before getting up from his seat as if he had made up his mind.

* * *

The next day.

Ha-sung left the room for training.

When he arrived at the beach, he saw Tae-soo running earlier than him.

Ha-sung smiled at the sight.

“It’s the same as before.”

Tae-soo was a guy full of competitiveness like himself.

That kind of guy would just go back?

That was impossible.

Ha-sung happily started running on the beach with the image of his friend from the past.

* * *

The training camp period ended.

It was an unbelievable amount of training, but Tae-soo built up enough stamina to handle all the training in the end.

And on the last day of returning home.

“Want to have a match?”

“Huh?”

“You pitch and I’ll hit. How about it?”

He could face the best hitter in the Major League.

That alone was worth doing this training.

“Call!”

There was no reason to avoid it.

Tae-soo, who had finished preparing, stood on the mound, and Ha-sung stood at the plate.

“How much money do you have to have to set up a baseball field?”

“It’s become incredibly much. And it’s going to become even more in the future.”

What was there to say?

The highest-paid player in the Major League was right in front of him.

“I’m going all out.”

“Come at me anytime.”

At the same time as Ha-sung’s answer, Tae-soo went into a windup.

“Hup!!”

The ball, released with a shout, flew quickly.

It was a great ball, but it was no match for Ha-sung.

Whoong!!

Thwack!!

“Home run~”

Ha-sung shouted cheerfully, sending the ball far away.

But Tae-soo couldn’t even hear Ha-sung’s words.

“W-What was that speed just now?”

Ha-sung’s gaze turned back at Tae-soo’s trembling voice.

There was Isabel standing there with a speed gun.

She checked the speed gun’s reading and answered.

“It was 96 miles per hour.”

“96 miles?! Really?!”

“It’s slower than I thought?”

“It’s slow compared to you! I didn’t even go all out. That’s the reading that came out! Above all, my body has changed like this. If I properly make it mine, 100 miles is not a dream!”

Tae-soo protested.

His words were definitely reasonable.

What Tae-soo focused on during the training camp was not pitching but stamina training and weight training.

His body had developed, but there were still things to fix in his pitching.

If he could fully make the power of his developed body his own, 100 miles per hour would be possible.

Ha-sung, who knew that, smiled and nodded.

“It’s possible. No, make it possible. Until the Olympics.”

“Olympics….”

Tae-soo nodded as if he understood.

“Yeah. Let’s win a gold medal together.”

“That’s a given.”

London Olympics.

Of course, the goal was a gold medal.

To repay his friend and to gain a great colleague at the Olympics.

Ha-sung’s training camp, which fulfilled both of his intentions for bringing Tae-soo, came to an end.

* * *

The media was curious.

[What kind of performance will Jung Ha-sung, who signed a huge contract, show in his first year?]

Ha-sung is being evaluated as having opened a new era in Major League Baseball.

In his first long-term contract, he broke all the Major League’s all-time records and became the highest-paid player.

He surpassed 40 million dollars, but experts agreed that no player would sign a contract close to him for the time being.

[Jung Ha-sung’s 40 million dollar salary is an abnormal salary even in Major League Baseball. In order for him to earn his money’s worth, he must perform as well as he did last year, which was his career high. Can Jung Ha-sung really do that?]

There were no more question marks about Ha-sung’s skills.

However, question marks were naturally attached to whether he could produce results commensurate with his salary.

It was a question mark that came out because of the salary that had never existed in Major League history.

And the time was approaching when he could turn that question mark into an exclamation mark.

“They’ve gathered tremendously.”

In front of the hotel where the New York Yankees’ spring camp was set up.

More reporters had gathered than ever before.

It had been quite a while since spring camp had opened, but this was the first time so many reporters had gathered.

“These people must have come to see Jung Ha-sung, right?”

“Of course.”

The Yankees announced today that Jung Ha-sung would be joining the camp.

As soon as that fact was known, media from all over the world flocked to the scene.

America, Korea, and Japan were now a given, and not only Taiwan and China but even the UK’s Guardian and BBC came.

‘I heard Jung Ha-sung’s popularity is huge in Europe. Now even major media outlets are coming to spring camp.’

It was a scene that had never been seen before.

The popularity of baseball in Europe was so insignificant that it was almost non-existent.

But the story changed with the appearance of Ha-sung.

His popularity was world-class in the literal sense, and the enthusiasm to cover him was hotter than ever.

“Ah~ When is Jung Ha-sung coming?”

“Isn’t he making us wait too long?”

“They should at least tell us the time. This is too much~”

The reporters had come early in the morning to get a good spot.

As a result, they were slowly getting tired.

They weren’t told to, but they thought that the cause of this waiting labor was Ha-sung.

It was when their dissatisfaction reached its peak.

Vroom-!!

A Bugatti appeared from afar with a loud noise.

Until now, Ha-sung had been driving a Ferrari, but the reporters had a thought that the owner of that Bugatti would be Ha-sung.

As expected, the Bugatti stopped in front of the hotel, and the guards prepared by the Yankees blocked the reporters and prepared for any possible situation.

Soon the car door opened and Ha-sung appeared.

The camera shutters were pressed like crazy at his appearance.

Just as the reporters were about to start asking questions.

“I’ve prepared perfectly for this season, so I’ll exclude those obvious questions and take other questions first.”

Most of the reporters were speechless at Ha-sung’s words.

Ha-sung raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at them and moved on.

“Then I’ll take fresh questions at the press conference.”

The reporters who were watching him enter the hotel complained.

The Korean reporters thought at the sight.

‘A flashy aggro [aggressive provocation] from the start.’

‘It’s Jung Ha-sung after all.’

It was a Jung Ha-sung-like joining.