Chapter 1
“Crazy bastard.”
If the author were actually in front of me, I would smash that bastard’s head with a baseball bat, even if it meant enduring the penalty of being in a hospital bed.
“Seriously, this freaking… huh?”
At the moment I vowed to kill the author, a paper fell from the back. Judging by the neat wrapping, it seemed like a letter…
<Hello?>
<If you’re reading this letter, it means you’ve probably successfully received the gift I sent you and are screaming with joy.>
<I sent it to you because you think you can write stories better than I can. Aren’t you happy? No need to be too grateful.>
<Oh, and don’t worry about this world. Your existence has been neatly erased, so everyone who knew you has lost all memories of you.>
<And as a gift from the god! You were quite something in high school, right? I’ll grant you the abilities from your prime moment!>
<Once the transfer is complete, check out the gift that will appear soon!>
“That crazy bastard…”
Who gave them the right to erase my existence? Though, on second thought, it’s a relief that my family won’t be sad or hurt because of my sudden disappearance.
“By the way, they said they’d give me my abilities?”
<System>
<Name: Lee Seo-jun>
<Age: 16>
<Height: 172 cm>
<Skills: None>
<Check Abilities>
“What’s this, how do I… oh, here it is.”
Next to the system window, a small window appeared where I could check my abilities.
<Batting Abilities>
<Power: 75>
<Speed: 78>
<Stamina: 68>
<Accuracy: 75>
<Defense: 80>
<Pitching Abilities>
<Control: 80>
<Velocity: 87 mph>
<Stamina: 68>
<Pitch Quality: 72>
<Mentality: 80>
“How am I supposed to understand this… wait a second?”
These stats, they look familiar…
“Aren’t these stats exactly like those from Strike the Show‘s system?!”
Even though I never pitched during high school, there’s a pitching stat.
“Is there more in the note?!”
Unfortunately, that was the end of the note. Disappointed, I lay back on the hospital bed…
-Creak!
“Oh, my dear son! Is your head okay?!”
A middle-aged man and woman rushed in as they opened the door.
‘Ah, are these the parents of this body… no, they’re my parents?’
No, since my appearance in this world and my original appearance are the same, I should call them my parallel world parents.
When I looked up properly, they looked just like my parents.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
“Who dared to hit my son’s head?!”
“Honey, calm down. Seo-jun got hit by a pitch during a game…”
“That scoundrel! Should he even be a player?! How can he aim a ball at someone’s head like that?!”
My mother seemed extremely upset that I ended up in the hospital because of the pitch.
“It’s okay, mom. It didn’t even hurt that much… if anything, baseball has become more fun because of it.”
As I clenched my fist and said that, my parents seemed to think I was being overly determined, so I had to work hard to calm them down.
“……They said they’d give me a gift, but there’s nothing?”
A week had passed since I possessed this body.
During that time, the parents of the kid who head-shotted me visited with all kinds of fruit and gift sets. Considering that the headshot allowed me to possess this world, my anger towards the kid had considerably subsided.
Before being discharged, with nothing else to do, I decided to watch some highlight videos of legendary baseball games in this world. To my surprise, many of the players I knew were still active.
[Ah! Ryu Hyun-bin with a 17K complete-game shutout! A historic game in Korean baseball!]
[The epic duel between Choi Dong-il and Sun Don-yeol makes its way to the movie, Perfect Pitch.]
[An extraordinary rookie, Kang Heuk-ho, appears in KBL. Controversy over his gum-chewing attitude during the game?!]
“Hmm… everything’s quite similar… or am I being too shameless to say that?”
As I put my smartphone down, I caught a glimpse of my slightly more handsome face in the window reflection. It seemed like some kind of memory adjustment.
After that, the only other memory I had was eating hospital meals and being discharged, led by my parents.
…
…
…
The uneventful middle school days quickly passed by. And since my first memory in this world was getting hit by a pitch at bat, I thought I was at least a decent hitter in middle school, but apparently not.
‘I thought I’d be out right away due to the injury, but to think we made it to the semifinals.’
It turned out I was a benchwarmer, and my middle school team, with its solid depth, managed to place third in the middle school baseball league without much trouble, even after my injury.
‘Well, the number one school was on another level.’
Haneul Middle School. It’s known as the middle school version of Haneul High School, a high school baseball team sponsored by the GL Devils, a professional team based in Seoul.
Thanks to this, even first-year students could become starters based purely on skill, and as a result, there were no rumours of under-the-table deals or corruption, making it a school known for its clean pool of players.
Moreover, graduating from Haneul High School meant that at least one player was almost guaranteed to be picked by the GL Devils through the regional draft system. Many of the Devils’ players even came to Haneul High for talent-sharing volunteer work.
In essence, it could be considered the third or fourth team of the Devils.
After being discharged, I learned this information while playing catch with my father, who was so passionate about baseball that he even joined a baseball club.
‘My pitch speed is pretty high.’
Even before entering high school, my fastball speed reached 140 km/h, about 87 mph.
My fastball stat is 87, so it seemed like the system converted the speed I could throw into mph.
“And then…”
<Quest Activated!>
<Throw with all your strength to level up! Practice pitching over 300 times.>
<Reward: Stamina +1, Velocity +1>
<289/300>
Throwing the ball mindlessly at the wall of the playground near my house seemed to count as pitching practice.
“My pitching form, back in amateur baseball, was three-quarters.”
-Smack!
The heavy sound of a softball hitting the wall.
<Quest Activated!>
<Throw with all your strength to level up! Practice pitching over 300 times.>
<Reward: Stamina +1, Velocity +1, Defense +1>
<300/300>
<Quest Complete! The reward has been given!>
<Batting Abilities>
<Power: 75>
<Speed: 78>
<Stamina: 68 -> 69>
<Accuracy: 75>
<Defense: 80 -> 81>
<Pitching Abilities>
<Control: 80>
<Velocity: 87 -> 88 mph>
<Stamina: 68 -> 69>
<Pitch Quality: 72>
<Mentality: 80>
“50 to 60 is the high school league average, 70 is minor league level, 80 is the domestic league average, and 90 is MVP or Golden Glove level, right?”
Escaping the high school league shouldn’t be an issue, but… looking at the pro league, you’d need to be a fast, defensively capable hitter with power potential, or a pitcher with a tough selection process to become a starter.
That was my current situation.
“As expected… back then, I barely had potential as a pitcher.”
Since what mattered most was my ability as a hitter, it didn’t bother me much.
“This world is a bit different from the original one.”
In the original world, there were many tournaments like the Blue Dragon Trophy, the Phoenix Trophy, and the President’s Cup. But in this world, there are only three major tournaments.
First, during the first and second semesters, there’s a weekend league where schools play against each other every weekend. If a school performs well in the regional standings, it can participate in the Blue Dragon Trophy during the first semester and the Phoenix Trophy during the second semester.
Then, among the schools that participated in the Phoenix Trophy and Blue Dragon Trophy and achieved good results, 32 teams are gathered to compete in the President’s Cup during the winter break for about one to two weeks.
The President’s Cup is held at the Gocheok Dome, used by the NHK Heroes, and the Cheongna Dome, used by the GSS Aliens. Being able to step onto a professional field during the offseason makes it the most prestigious of the three major tournaments held annually.
‘I want to go down the path to the pros.’
I had to give up because of an injury back then, but this time, with this new opportunity, it’s different.
I will definitely become a pro.
To do that, I have to attend a high school that frequently participates in those major tournaments.
So, the strategy I chose was…
“Hey! Mr. Lee, did you come with your son again today?”
“Oh, yes! Seo-jun, you should greet him.”
“Hello, sir.”
“Yeah, Seo-jun, hit a home run today, okay? Today’s game is a competition with a dinner party on the line!”
Before the main story began, I decided to take advantage of my father, who was so passionate about baseball that he even joined a baseball club, to gain real game experience.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment