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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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The Golden Lion Flag. The dream stage of Korean high school baseball, where the best of the best were crowned.
Lee Ji-ho dominated the tournament, going 5-for-5 with 3 home runs. And his last home run was a walk-off grand slam.
He held the meaningful home run ball and signed it with a marker. Normally, he would have given it to his parents or kept it for himself, but he looked at the stands.
A woman was still sitting there, waiting for someone, even though the game was over.
It was Lee Ji-ho’s homeroom teacher, Lee Mi-yeon. He had been able to perform so well because of her. He wanted to express his gratitude, even if just a little.
As he was about to go to her with the home run ball…
“Where are you going?”
A man blocked his way. He looked at Lee Ji-ho’s home run ball and snatched it.
“Giving it to your teacher…? No. You naughty boy.”
Lee Ji-ho frowned and reached for it, but the man dodged his hand and held the ball high.
“You’re going to marry your childhood friend anyway, so why are you giving this to your teacher? Don’t you know how shitty it is to lead someone on?”
“What are you talking about…? When did I ever lead anyone on?”
“Right. Leading someone on. I read until the last chapter. So give this to your childhood friend.”
The man threw the ball to Lee Ji-ho. He caught it reflexively and glared at the man.
“I told you. Don’t lead her on. Just take care of your childhood friend.”
The man then picked up a bat that was leaning against the wall, signed it, and headed towards the stands.
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No one knew how life would turn out. That was the only truth I, who had lived for 25 years, could guarantee. Otherwise, my life wouldn’t make any sense.
An orphan, left at an orphanage at birth. Who would have thought that orphan would become the best player in the major leagues?
Rookie of the Year, League MVP, Cy Young Award, Home Run King, Batting Champion, Stolen Base King, and so on… I had swept almost every award in the major leagues.
As a batter, and as a pitcher, I was at the top, and I thought I wouldn’t give up that spot for at least five years…
I never imagined I’d become a cripple in a car accident. A drunk driver had rear-ended my car, and I was lucky to be alive. So I was grateful.
Although my baseball career ended in five years, my life wasn’t over. My leg was weak, but I could still walk, and I had earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
The fact that I couldn’t play baseball anymore was a bitter pill to swallow, but…
At least,
[UP! A Strike to Your Heart!]
“The latest chapter is out.”
Text-based baseball. I was finding solace in a web novel about baseball. A Strike to Your Heart, or Nemas for short.
As the title suggested, it was a love comedy disguised as a baseball story, and I quite liked it. No, it was more than that.
I had been obsessed with it for the past two years. So much so that…
[Sponsor Ranking]
Jeongshil is Miyeon-ssaem: 6,500,000 won.
GOD Ha-yoon: 577,000 won.
Ha-yoon Ha-yoon: 489,000 won.
.
.
.
…I was the number one sponsor. Every time my favorite character, Lee Mi-yeon, appeared, I’d donate 100,000 won… 200,000 or even 300,000 if the chapter was long and interesting.
Anyway, that’s how much I loved this work… no, this character. Was Mi-yeon-ssaem a well-written character, worthy of 6.5 million won in donations?
I couldn’t say yes with confidence. She was actually a less popular character.
She was just my type. A sunflower-type heroine who only had eyes for the protagonist, and a newly appointed, 25-year-old ‘teacher’. I loved both of those things. And she was also a huge baseball fan…
How could I not love her?
However, anyone could see that Mi-yeon-ssaem was a sub-heroine, not the main one. There was no hope for a Mi-yeon-ssaem ending.
That’s why I was so frustrated with Nemas lately. As the story was nearing its end, the author was building up to an ending with the main heroine, Shin Ha-yoon…
“But they’ll still release a side story…”
That was one of the author’s strengths. They released side stories for the sub-heroines. All three of their previous works were like that.
That’s why I had been following Nemas until now. Even if there wasn’t a Mi-yeon-ssaem ending, there would be a side story, and there wouldn’t be a scene where she was brutally rejected.
I opened the Nemas page on my phone. As I was about to tap the latest chapter, something felt off.
[#238 A Strike to Your Heart! -An Unattainable Love.-]
The subtitle was “An Unattainable Love.” In the previous chapter, the main heroine, Shin Ha-yoon, had confessed to the protagonist. So this title…
“Did Shin Ha-yoon get rejected? Mi-yeon-ssaem ending?”
My finger quickly tapped the latest chapter.
[Shin Ha-yoon squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, “I like you! Ji-ho! I like you!”]
[Ji-ho looked at her with a dazed expression for a moment… then smiled and hugged her.]
“?”
It was attainable. Contrary to the subtitle, they were hugging and crying, a truly touching scene. Then, this “unattainable love”… No.
This author had always given the sub-heroines side stories. They wouldn’t just drop them in the main story. And there were several heroines, so they wouldn’t reject them all. I started reading again. But… the more I read, the more anxious I became.
The story was suddenly rushing towards its end, and now the main couple was getting married…?
“So… the unattainable love was about Seo Ji-ah?”
Seo Ji-ah was the most popular sub-heroine. But… Shin Ha-yoon had sent her a wedding invitation… as a form of taunting…? At least it wasn’t Mi-yeon-ssaem, I thought.
[“Uh… a wedding? Ji-ho’s getting married? So suddenly…?”]
[“It just happened. You’ll come, won’t you, teacher?”]
[“Uh… yes… I have to go. I will.”]
And the next one was Mi-yeon-ssaem.
“You… piece of…”
I sighed, feeling a tightness in my chest. Was this what they called internal damage…? I put my phone down and tried to cool my head. Then I decided to read it again. I knew she would be rejected… I just hadn’t expected the scene to be included in the main story.
“I’ll just read it… and wait for the side story.”
I had to see it through to the end. But… the more I read, the more I thought, ‘Is this right?’
It was too rushed. After sending wedding invitations to all the sub-heroines, the wedding was happening immediately. It felt like the story was going to end with this chapter.
“Is this author… crazy?”
I cursed. I usually didn’t criticize authors, but when I saw the line that only Mi-yeon-ssaem had attended the wedding, I couldn’t hold back. And not only that, the wedding was being described from Mi-yeon-ssaem’s point of view. Was this just a way to piss off her fans?
[They look good together… both of them… I should congratulate them…]
[Lee Mi-yeon forced a smile and applauded and cheered.]
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[Staring blankly at the bride and groom, Lee Mi-yeon quietly left the wedding hall and went to the restroom…]
[And there, in a stall, she finally began to sob quietly.]
“……No, ha… no.”
I… was speechless. My mind was racing, but I couldn’t put my thoughts into words. What was going on? Not only did he send her an invitation, but he made her attend the wedding, and it ended with her crying in the bathroom?
I couldn’t believe it, so I read the rest of the chapter, but there was no twist. The main couple got married happily, and it ended with Lee Mi-yeon crying in the bathroom. That alone was enough to make my head spin, but the author’s note was the final blow.
Author’s Note.
[Thank you for loving Nemas until now! I’ll post a detailed afterword later!]
[*Many people have been asking about a side story, but I’m sorry. There won’t be a side story for this work!]
“……Wow, I’m speechless…”
Right. Thinking about it calmly, the expectation of a side story was just my wishful thinking because the author’s previous three works had all been like that. So, I could accept that part.
But did they have to make Mi-yeon-ssaem so miserable? If the other sub-heroines had also appeared, it would have been different. But they singled out Mi-yeon-ssaem. And to describe the wedding from her point of view…
I couldn’t understand it.
I opened the comment section, expecting to see similar reactions.
[GOD Ha-yoon: Old hag, out! lolol Where do you think you’re going? Trying to become the main heroine? lolol It was great, author.]
(Likes: 1237) (Dislikes: 38)
[Jeongshil is Ha-yoon: Is such a perfect ending even possible…?]
(Likes: 1167) (Dislikes: 38)
[Jiajia: Wow;; I’m a Jia fan, so I’m pissed, but what’s up with Mi-yeon-ssaem…?]
(Likes: 1068) (Dislikes: 123)
“Do those Ha-yoon fans only care about their heroine getting a happy ending?”
They liked this ending, which was so rushed? What angered me even more was that there was no mention of Mi-yeon-ssaem in the best comments. At least the Jia fan had briefly mentioned her.
“I really didn’t want to do this…”
I tapped the message composition button. No, no matter what, this wasn’t right. I had to say something.
[Isn’t this too much, author? It’s too rushed. How can you just throw away the ending like that?]
My message, which was supposed to end there, got longer and longer…
[Character count: 5700]
It had become 5700 characters. I felt like one of those villainous readers from online communities. No, why am I the villain? The author started it. If I donated 6.5 million won and got a ‘screw you’ in return, shouldn’t I be allowed to say something?
I pressed send.
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As I was looking for another novel to soothe the wound I had received from Nemas…
[You have a reply!]
A reply from the author. I hadn’t expected it. Did they care because I was a sponsor? My anger subsided a little. I opened the reply.
[Then would you like to write it?]
“…The hell?”
I hadn’t even expected a reply, and it was, ‘If you don’t like it, then you write it?’ I was about to delete it from my favorites, but I was so annoyed that I wrote another message.
[Yes, I’ll write it, so give me the rights.]
I sent it and was about to turn off my phone when—
Vibrate.
An alert. A reply.
[OK! I’ll give them to you, so do a good job.]
“What is this…”
I was just venting when I asked for the rights, and they just gave them to me? The author must have been joking. I was about to turn off my phone when…
Thud.
A sudden, severe dizziness hit me, and I dropped my phone.
“Ugh…!”
A splitting headache, a spinning world. I gritted my teeth, trying not to lose consciousness, but…
my vision went black.
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