episode_0208

“What bullshit?”

“No, bro. Did you really look at that guy’s eyes? “You’re staring at me so intently?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get ready for the game.”

“Ah, Mr. It’s true… .”

“Is it a child who is making fun of you when you come out?”

“done. Just get ready for the game.”

“More than that, you know that we have to win today, right?”

“When is it okay to lose?”

“Wow, the child is that important.”

Although Seongtae Yoon was annoyed, what he said was not wrong. Today’s game was quite important.

It was important because it was Crongs’ first start as a substitute, but the fact that it was a match against Hyunseong Madcats was also quite important. Hyunsung is currently in second place with 39 wins and 25 losses, one game behind UG Overlords, who are recording 39 wins and 24 losses.

And among the teams above AT, it was also a team whose relative record was ridiculously bad. Their record against 1st place UG Overlords was 4 wins and 2 losses, and they were ahead of 4th place Hancheol with 5 wins and 3 losses, and their record against 3rd place Shilla Triggers was 4 wins and 5 losses.

However, their record against Hyunsung Mad Cats was serious at 1 win and 5 losses. If this nemesis relationship was maintained, it would have been disadvantageous when they met in the fall baseball game, and since Hyunseong might have been caught in the act and not be able to advance to the fall baseball game at all, it was necessary to cut off this nemesis relationship.

‘Coach, I guess that’s why he sent the mercenary Crongs into today’s game, right?’

After facing him a few times during training, I found that Crongs was a good pitcher. Although the ball was light, the velocity was quite fast, and his physical strength seemed to be good when watching him exercise. In addition, the difference in velocity between the fastball and sinker was not large, so there was a high possibility that batters other than me would have a hard time dealing with it.

‘Well, if it weren’t for the eyes, it would be fine.’

“[hey. ji! Today is my first selection, so please take care of me. “You can hit a home run like the last game, right?]”

Before I knew it, Crongs approached me and smiled and said hello. The sight of Crongs grinning his gums and thumbing his thumb made me almost jump without realizing it.

“[Okay, so don’t laugh.]”

“[Oh, as expected, you have the mindset of a warrior. Well, I went too far. This feeling of immersion even before the game starts. As expected, losing is amazing.]”

‘What is he saying now?’

The original mercenaries, Boer and Janson, as well as Bellingham, had quiet personalities and did not say much, but this guy, Crongs, seemed to have a motor in his mouth. … And only in front of me.

For a week, I had never seen this guy talk to any other players except for the interpreter or Bellingham, but seeing him talk to me first gave me goosebumps.

‘Mr. Rossby, that kid is a little weird, isn’t he?’

‘Yeah, you can’t believe you’re smiling and talking to a guy like that. It doesn’t make sense to me. under… . ‘If there was a guy like that when I lived, I would have given him a beating with a stick.’

Looking at Rossby’s expression, he seemed quite displeased.

“[Then I ask you to take care of me today.]”

Tuktuk, Crongs taps my shoulder. At that moment, the fear engraved in my DNA overtook my body and my body froze.

“Oh, Meng Hao. Are you pretty serious today? “Aren’t you hanging out with Seongtae?”

“… Senior Gwanhyung.”

“Yeah, sometimes you need to be that serious.”

Thanks to Woo Gwan-hyung, who nodded and spoke as he passed by, I was able to relax my stiff body, but the goosebumps left behind by the spot Crongs had touched still remained.

“Whoa… .”

“Will the earth disappear if you sigh like that? why? “Are you worried about me doing it with Hyunseong?”

“… “It’s not like that.”

I started talking to every senior I passed by, wondering if my condition seemed strange to others. Time passed like that, and when the female celebrity selected by Hyunseong to throw out the first pitch came out, I was able to calm down a bit.

“now! Let’s get one win and go easy! invincibility!”

“AT!”

Hyunseong’s starting pitcher today is Van de Pot, a second-year mercenary pitcher. As the name suggests, he was a Dutch mercenary. As expected from the Netherlands, he was a powerful mercenary with a 150km/h fastball thrown from a height of over 2m. Plus, he has the advantage of being a left-hander. Although his command was not good, he was a good enough mercenary to succeed in the KBA.

Perfect!

“First base!”

As expected, Kim Joo-yeop, who played as the number one hitter as a pitcher who is difficult for left-handed batters to deal with, was out and retired at the end of the game. And Kim Soo-ho, the second batter, also led the game to a full count, but retired with a strikeout.

“Kid, you’re throwing well.”

A powerful helmet befitting a mercenary from the strong team of Hyeonseong. In particular, left-handed hitters seemed to have a harder time. The guy’s pitch that I watched from the standby at-bat didn’t seem to be much different from the video I saw during the power analysis. Fastballs, sliders, and even the occasional changeup.

“Swing strike! out!”

Ki Ki-joo struck out with a big swing, as if he was not prepared for the change-up at all. The three left-handed hitters were unable to reach first base, and the attack ended in a three-way strike in the top of the first inning.

‘If I had known this would happen, would I have said I would move up to the top batting order?’

Before the game started, when coach Lee Soo-hyun asked my opinion on whether to move me up to number 2, I regretted turning down the number 2 hitter because something didn’t seem right.

‘Well, all I have to do is hit a home run. And even if I had hit anyway, other left-handed hitters would have been out.’

But regret is only temporary. I focused on the game again.

“Now, this is Crongs’ first debut and the defense has to do well to block him. got it? Especially infielders. When throwing a sinker, you have to concentrate and block it. okay?”

“All right.”

“[Cronx, are you ready?]”

“[whenever.]”

“[Good, good confidence.]”

Director Lee Soo-hyun encouraged Crongs in short English, and Crongs responded with a grin. A pitcher who smiles and responds to the manager’s words. It wasn’t a strange situation, but perhaps because I knew that bastard’s true nature, even the way he smiled seemed somewhat irritating.

The end of the first episode started like that, and although he was a creepy guy, Crongs’ skills were pretty good.

Perfect!

“out!”

“It’s up! center!”

“My ball! My ball!”

Crongs, who smoothly caught the pitcher with two outs, faced the third batter, and the ball pulled by the left-handed batter flew toward me. A good straight hit. I made a big jump and caught the ball. If other small second basemen had hit the ball, it would have been over their height, but if they were caught in front of me, these balls would have been outs.

“Nice catch!”

“oh! “What did you do to get a low score?”

“What is a bottom line?”

“Don’t kids these days do anything reckless?”

“frame… .”

“what?”

“… no.”

I felt good because Choi Jin-cheol, a first baseman who is well-versed in defense, also praised my defense. After all, people should live their lives listening to compliments. Of course, I said something incomprehensible in the middle, but anyway, a compliment is a compliment.

‘Mr. Rossby, how was my defense?’

‘It wasn’t bad. For a guy like you.’

‘Hehe, it’s a compliment, right? I feel like my defense has improved these days.’

‘Wow. ‘I feel like my eyes are rotting when I see your idiotic defense.’

Looking at Rossby’s reaction, it seems like this defense was pretty good. After feeling so happy, I was about to go into the dugout when the glove touched my butt with a ‘pop’.

“huh?”

“[It was a good defense.]”

“Fuck!”

It was Crongs, smiling brightly.

‘This faggot… !’

In a way, touching one’s butt with a glove is an everyday occurrence. When the lake rain came out, seniors would sometimes hit those areas with their gloves, so it wasn’t strange. But Cronks, when this bastard touched my butt, I got goosebumps.

“Hey, what are you doing if you’re not going in?”

“… … .”

Crongs enters the dugout with a cheerful smile. … I felt sick.

*

[Ji Maeng-ho’s condition looks bad today, right? Until this at-bat, he retired with a base hit and went 0-hit in 3 at-bats. He hasn’t been on base since he walked in his second at-bat.]

[That’s right. In the bottom of the first inning, he looked good as he showed good performance, but his condition at the plate looks bad.]

[What is the reason why Ji Maeng-ho is in bad condition today?]

[Well, it’s common for a batter to show a bad performance in a game, but it’s not common for Ji Maeng-ho to show this kind of performance, so it’s unfamiliar. But in fact, it is natural for Ji Maeng-ho’s performance to decline.]

[is that so?]

[yes. It’s natural for your grades to drop the more you’re analyzed, and isn’t it only the beginning of June? The weather getting warmer probably also had a big impact. Because this is Daegu. Moreover, Ji Maeng-ho is still a player in his first year. Physical strength is likely to be a big variable. His current batting average is .401 and 1 ri, and it is highly likely that how he can withstand this hot weather will be the key to maintaining .400 until the end of the season.]

[That’s right. Now, at the beginning of the 8th inning, AT’s attack ends, and at the end of the 8th inning, it progresses to Hyeonseong’s attack.]

*

“[Hey, Meng Hao. Are you okay? The expression on his face is getting worse.]”

After finishing all of today’s missions, Crongs with icing on his shoulder approached.

“please… . shut up. “Don’t talk to me.”

“[What do you mean? Do it in English, do it in English.]”

After Crongs tapped my butt in the bottom of the first inning, I couldn’t concentrate on the game at all. Once suspicion arose, should I say that every single thing he did was annoying? In particular, I felt like my stamina was getting weaker, probably because this bastard, Crongs, kept talking to me before and after my at-bats began.

‘Originally, when the starters are not throwing on the mound, they sit on the bench and stay quiet or warm up their shoulders by throwing the ball… , Why is this guy so interested in me? Really… .’

My reasoning was becoming more and more correct.

“Wow.”

“What is it, Ji Meng-ho, are you really not feeling well? “Would you like me to replace it?”

“… no. it’s okay.”

Phew, it was disgusting to be in the same room, but we were still on the same team. I couldn’t keep doing this. I have to overcome this.

“Are you really okay?”

“yes.”

“Okay, tell me if it gets worse.”

Fortunately, Crongs was a very capable bastard, so the game was tied 0:0.

‘Whoa…’ . But now that I’m off the mound, don’t worry about it and let’s play.’

But unfortunately, my at-bats did not come again that day, and the game ended 1-0 due to Seongtae Yoon’s lucky home run.