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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Haha… damn it…”
Lee Seung-tae let out a hollow laugh.
“What the hell was that…”
He couldn’t understand the situation. An oddball had appeared out of nowhere and gotten on his nerves, so he’d pitched with more force than usual.
He’d even surprised himself, and for a moment, he’d been ecstatic, thinking it might be the best pitch of his life.
‘And he hits it to the ceiling…?’
“Haa…”
With a deep sigh, Lee Seung-tae turned and walked towards the exit. He knew it looked bad to leave without a word, as if he were running away.
But… he couldn’t help it. His head was spinning, and he just wanted to get out of there.
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He backed down more easily than I expected. I had been prepared for a second round with Lee Seung-tae, maybe even a fistfight, but he just left the practice facility without a word.
Hwang Gwang-hyun also thanked me briefly and went somewhere. Well, all’s well that ends well, right? I put down the bat and was walking towards the exit when…
“Hey… wait!”
I heard a faint voice. I turned my head to see who it was, then immediately turned back. Why was she here? Although it was just for a brief moment, I knew who it was.
Short, with unusual purple hair, a single silver earring, and her trademark cat-ear hat. The sub-heroine with a massive fandom, second only to Shin Ha-yoon. Seo Ji-ah was following me.
I didn’t know why she was here, but it definitely wasn’t a good situation. Seo Ji-ah was, frankly… a problematic character. It was hard to summarize the issues because she’d caused so much trouble.
To put it simply… a landmine? Her dependence was so severe that she became obsessed with Lee Ji-ho, and later, out of jealousy, her friendship with her best friend, Shin Ha-yoon, almost fell apart.
I remembered her character setting: she was initially interested in Lee Ji-ho because she was shallow and then fell for his kindness. So, considering my image and face, I probably didn’t have to worry, but… you should always avoid landmines.
Better safe than sorry.
“Hey, can’t you hear me? Wait up!”
Her voice was getting closer, so I walked faster. The footsteps behind me also quickened. I tried to ignore her and walk faster, but she eventually caught my collar.
“Haa… haa… seriously… I told you to stop.”
“What is it?”
I said, my voice flat.
Seo Ji-ah, looking a little flustered, blinked her round eyes and then bowed her head. “Thank you. I felt like I should thank you.”
“For what?”
“Well… I was watching from behind. You chasing Lee Seung-tae away…”
I hadn’t exactly chased him away.
“If it weren’t for you, Hwang Gwang-hyun might have gotten seriously hurt. Thank you so, so much.”
Seeing her bow so low and express her gratitude, even my cold heart softened. I had to get away from her…
“It was nothing. Since you’re okay, I’ll be going now.”
I turned and walked away, but she quickly caught up with me.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“……”
“Then what grade are you in? Second year, right? You look my age. What class? Hmm? You’re in second year, right?”
“Yes. I’m in second year.”
“Hey, then we can just talk casually. Why are you being so formal?”
Because if I get involved with you, I’ll be in big trouble. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I managed to hold them back. It was too harsh, even for me.
“I’m more comfortable with formal language.”
“Really? I like formal language too. My dad uses it with me.”
“Can I speak casually then? I’m actually more comfortable with that.”
“Oh? Really? Okay. That’s fine too.”
What was this… I was clearly showing my reluctance to talk to her, but why was she smiling as if she were having fun? Was this the famous “no-win situation”?
Seo Ji-ah fiddled with her fingers and then asked in a low voice, “You said you were joining the baseball team… Then… are you going to stop Lee Seung-tae from bullying… I mean, hazing, even after you join?”
Well… of course.
“I have to.”
If Lee Ji-ho got on Lee Seung-tae’s bad side, he might get closer to Ms. Miyeon. She hadn’t stopped talking, but now she was quiet, even after I’d answered. I glanced at her.
She was staring at me blankly. Our eyes met, and she quickly looked away.
Why was she suddenly blushing… making me nervous.
“Th-This… I know it’s weird for me to say this, but if you mess with Lee Seung-tae, your life in the baseball team might get difficult.”
I knew that. Even the protagonist, Lee Ji-ho, had gone into a slump because of his bullying. But… that was him. I was different.
“Then I’ll just bully Seung-tae.”
“Huh…? What do you mean…”
“I’m better than him. I’ll just bully and tease him a bit. The coach will probably just watch, right?”
At my answer, Seo Ji-ah stared blankly for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
“That’s right! You look like you’d be good at fighting too!”
As I stared at her blankly, she quickly added, “Oh, no, I didn’t mean you look like you’re good at fighting… I meant…”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind. I’ve been told I look like I beat people up.”
“No! That’s not it!”
I was startled by her suddenly raised voice. Why the sudden outburst?
“You stood up for him today. How could you beat people up? Those people must be crazy.”
Seo Ji-ah pouted and frowned. She seemed more upset than I was. Hmm… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be friends with her.
We’d be on the same team, so it would be impossible to avoid her. And since she was shallow… our relationship wouldn’t develop. I decided to revise my plan of treating her like she was invisible to at least answering when she talked to me.
I answered her non-stop questions, and soon, we were in front of the classroom.
“Tae-hyun, you’re coming to the baseball team tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. I told you I would.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow!”
She even waved at me before she disappeared.
Wow, I’m exhausted… Was she always such an energetic character? She seemed like a total social butterfly. When I returned to the classroom and saw my desk, I smiled.
[I waited, but you didn’t come, so I went ahead! Enjoy your meal! ^^]
A lunchbox on the desk, with a post-it note attached. I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat today.
“Ms. Miyeon is the best.”
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Normally, you can’t just join a high school baseball team. Regardless of whether you’re good or not, if you don’t have the qualification of being a ‘specialty student in baseball,’ you’re out.
For example, even a pitcher who could throw 160 km/h fastballs with pinpoint accuracy or a batter who consistently hit .400 wouldn’t be able to join a high school baseball team if they hadn’t played in tournaments in middle school.
In other words, it was impossible for Cha Tae-hyun, an ordinary student in this world, to join the baseball team unless he was reborn. I had been struggling with this for a while. Fortunately, as if the author who had sent me here had been considerate, I found out that there was no such qualification in this world.
So, if I just showed the coach that I was skilled enough, I could join. Thinking that, I went straight to the coach’s office, but…
“Isn’t that right, Coach? If he’s good, that’s all that matters. Does it matter if he started early? He could start playing baseball in high school.”
“……I guess it’s time for me to retire. If people like this are showing up.”
My prediction was a little off. Since the coach was retiring soon and had been letting Lee Seung-tae run wild, I thought that if I talked to him a bit, he would at least give me a tryout.
But he was just treating me like a crazy person. I seriously considered bringing Seo Ji-ah to testify that I had beaten Lee Seung-tae yesterday.
A bat? A high-end bat hanging behind the coach caught my eye. A smile tugged at my lips. Right. Since I was already being treated like a crazy person, I might as well act like one. I strode over and took the bat from the wall.
“What do you think you’re doing now?”
“Because you don’t believe me, Coach.”
I took the bat and…
Whoosh
…showed him my swing.
“What the hell is this bastard doing?”
The coach’s eyes, which had been narrowed in annoyance, widened. His mouth, which had been constantly moving, telling me to put it down…
“……”
…stopped working, as he was focused on my swing. After I swung about 5 more times, I heard the sound of a chair rolling, and the coach stood up. He walked past me and said,
“Follow me.”
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A black car entered the Hyeoksan High School parking lot. A man and a woman got out. They were the scouts the Phoenix front office had carefully selected after receiving a lot of criticism for their poor player selection.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Hyeoksan High.”
“What do you mean, a while… We were here last week. Please, let’s stop coming here. There might be a hidden gem at another school.”
Kim Eun-chan scoffed at Ji Soo-yeon’s words.
“Right. There might be a hidden gem at another school, but there’s no one better than our Seung-tae. And there’s a friendly match between Hyeoksan High and Dongshin High today. You expect me to miss that?”
“Oh… that Lee Seung-tae fanboy…”
“What? What did you just say to your superior?”
“Yes, yes… let’s go. To see your beloved Lee Seung-tae.”
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