The Greatest Home Plate Queen
Episode 003
3. Tryout (1)
1.
—Smack!
He deftly snagged the fastball hurtling from the pitching machine at 150 km/h. Perhaps because he’d already been sitting for tens of minutes wearing thick catcher’s gear weighing over 5 kg, despite the chilly autumn weather, a blazing heat radiated from Gim Jihun’s body. After casually throwing the caught ball into the net in front of him, Gim Jihun extended his mitt again and focused on the quest window floating in the upper right.
[Daily Quest]
[Know Yourself, Know Your Enemy, and Be Ever Victorious: A true baseball player must always maintain his body and mind, keeping his condition in check so that he is always ready to play.]
[Conditions: Running 5 km (Achieved) / Catching 100 pitches (93/100)]
[Reward: 100 Gold]
“Seven left. Owner, just seven more, please.”
“Got it!”
The owner of the baseball practice facility, who’d been standing behind the pitching machine watching Gim Jihun with great interest, flipped the machine’s switch again.
—Smack!
It had already been ten days since Gim Jihun began performing daily quests alone. He’d somehow managed missions he could do alone, like running and swinging, at the school field, but missions like blocking and catching were impossible to do by himself. Using the second-team stadium was impossible for someone who’d been released, and to make matters worse, most of the second-team pitchers he’d been on good terms with had gone to finishing camp. It was a difficult situation.
The solution he’d managed to come up with was to use the local baseball practice facility. Because the quest conditions required him to perform the mission while fully equipped in catcher’s gear, he’d been drawing uncomfortable stares from customers, but aside from feeling slightly embarrassed, it was a decent enough method. When he explained his situation to the owner, the man said he was a baseball fan too, adjusting the pitching machine’s speed himself and even giving a discount on the usage fee. Thanks to that help, Gim Jihun could carry out his training schedule much more smoothly than expected.
“This is the last one!”
“Please.”
—Smack!
With a crisp pop of the mitt, a new window appeared.
[Daily Quest Complete]
[You have completed Know Yourself, Know Your Enemy, and Be Ever Victorious. You are rewarded with 100 Gold. Time remaining until the next Daily Quest: 12 hours 52 minutes.]
[Reward: 100 Gold Distributed]
He had finally completed the ten long days he’d been waiting for. Having saved up 1,000 gold, he wanted to open the shop immediately and buy a box, but his hand stopped at the shout of the owner rushing out from behind the pitching machine.
“Good work, Kim-pro! As expected, a pro is a pro. How do you catch 150 km so easily?”
“Thank you so much for today, Owner! Fastballs are easy to catch, but I still have a long way to go with breaking balls.”
“Haha, so modest. Thirsty? Wait a minute. I’ll grab a drink, so have it before you go.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as the owner, his entire body radiating the passion of a die-hard baseball fan, ran off to the exchange booth to get a drink—thinking this was his chance—Gim Jihun immediately called for Genie.
“Genie, open the shop.”
With Genie’s voice, the shop opened.
[Understood. Opening Baseball Shop.]
[Baseball Shop] [Owned Gold: 1000 Gold]
Beginner’s Brown Random Box — 1,000 Gold
Practitioner’s Green Random Box — 5,000 Gold
Expert’s Red Random Box — 10,000 Gold
Master’s Transparent Random Box — 50,000 Gold
Grandmaster’s Golden Random Box — 100,000 Gold
It was the moment he had been waiting and waiting for. Over the past ten days, he’d been insanely curious about what would come out. He immediately moved his hand and clicked the Beginner’s Brown Random Box.
[Would you like to open the Beginner’s Brown Random Box? Yes/No]
Hurry, hurry.
[Opening the Beginner’s Brown Random Box.]
White light burst in midair as the brown box opened.
[You have acquired Spider Hands (3 games).]
[Spider Hands (Passive): The most important virtue of a catcher is properly receiving the pitcher’s ball. Spider Hands raises the wearer’s framing level by one stage, so that he may become a steadfast target for the pitcher. We hope you work in harmony with your soul battery and lead the game to victory.]
“Spider Hands?”
Raising framing by one stage. He understood what it meant, but didn’t know what effect it would have. Gim Jihun tilted his head, a question mark floating above it.
To put framing simply, it was mitt work. The technique of snagging a ball that had leaked outside the strike zone and pulling it back inside to steal a count. If so, did it increase the speed of moving the mitt? Or increase the range of the catch?
He desperately wanted to test it right away, but the words “3 games” engraved next to the brown glove made Gim Jihun stop. Since it specifically said “3 games,” it was clearly a time-limited item. It would be too much of a waste to use it just to catch balls from a pitching machine.
“Genie, that thing can only be used for 3 games, right?”
[Yes, it is equipment that can only be used for 3 games.]
He’d asked just in case, and as expected. It was too good to use in a place like this. Pushing down the curiosity rising from deep within his chest, Gim Jihun closed Baseball Manager, took off the protector and leg guards he’d been wearing, and changed out of his sweat-soaked T-shirt.
As if the blazing heat that had been radiating from his body had cooled as well, the wind felt especially cold. Afraid that if he slipped up even slightly he’d catch a cold immediately, he put on a thick jumper and began organizing the equipment strewn on the ground, when the baseball facility owner’s voice reached him. Holding two bottles of Pocari Sweat, he called to Gim Jihun from the bench installed beside the practice facility.
“Kim-pro! Come here! Here’s your drink.”
“Yes, Owner. Thank you for this.”
As soon as he took a sip of the Pocari Sweat the owner handed him, the fatigue accumulated in his body melted away, and color returned brightly to Gim Jihun’s face. Watching Gim Jihun sit on the bench to cool his sweat and quench his throat while putting the equipment into his bag one by one, the owner sitting beside him smoking a cigarette seemed to remember something and spoke up.
“How many days left? You said you’re preparing for a tryout, Kim-pro.”
“Two days left. I think I’ll have to head down around tomorrow.”
“Today’s the last day? Ah… it’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun, so it’s a shame. Before you leave, leave an autograph. So I can brag a bit later when you make it big. Haha, by the way, which team was it that you’re trying out for?”
“The Hawks. Daejeon Hawks.”
2.
Daejeon Hawks.
A historic franchise that had once fielded pitchers who ranked among the very best in KBO history, and had enjoyed an era of dominance with a fiery lineup called the Dynamite batting order. But that was already faded glory of the past, and the current Hawks were unequivocally classified as the weakest team representing the KBO.
Worst team chosen by baseball fans.
A new record of failing to reach the postseason for ten consecutive years.
Last place six times in ten years.
Eternal laughingstock.
Baseball that only makes other teams happy.
These were the phrases that could describe the current Hawks. There was even an infamous dark history where they once lacked a second-team stadium and lost twice to a high school baseball team in games between the Hawks’ second team and the high school squad.
To break out of this dark period, the Hawks had invested hundreds of billions to sign free agents, built a new second-team stadium, and brought in renowned master managers one after another, attempting countless changes to raise their performance. But unfortunately, the results had been meager. In the end, to reduce the bloated payroll and find hidden gems, they chose a full tryout over private tryouts conducted through connections and recommendations, and were in the process of reorganizing their roster.
…
Arriving at the tryout location prepared in Seosan, Chungcheong-do, Gim Jihun entered the stadium with a stiff face, seemingly nervous. Perhaps for the convenience of participating players, arrows pointing toward the players’ waiting room were plastered all over the hallway. Since he’d often come here for second-team games, he found his way without getting lost and entered the waiting room.
“Welcome. You’re here for the tryout, right?”
“Yes.”
“Please check your name here and I’ll need your ID.”
At the words of a woman who appeared to be front office staff, Gim Jihun found his name on the list and handed over his identification.
“Here you go.”
“Yes, one moment. Player Gim Jihun… ah, here it is. You’re number 16, and we’ll be starting soon, so please have a seat over there for a moment.”
“Understood.”
After getting his ID back and glancing around the waiting room, Gim Jihun gave a light nod of greeting to the players who had arrived before him, and several nodded back in turn. In any case, having spent a total of eight years in professional baseball across the first and second teams, he recognized quite a few familiar faces among those he’d met here and there before.
Seo Jaeryong, a 37-year-old veteran who’d once served as the Titans’ bullpen workhorse.
Gim Seungsu, a left-handed slugger for the Dragons who’d once been expected to become the next national team third baseman but had faded from memory due to injury.
Bae Seongung, a right-handed pitcher for the Jaguars’ second team who was called their Pedro and supposedly threw 150 km even at age 33.
Because it was a full tryout, the waiting room was packed with a mix of notably young players and veterans. Unlike a private tryout where at most five or six people would participate, there were already sixteen players gathered in the waiting room including himself. Feeling that the competition was much fiercer than expected, Gim Jihun’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he sat in his seat. Most of the seated participants seemed to be thinking similar thoughts, as everyone’s expressions were dark.
As if everyone in the waiting room considered each other competitors, no one spoke to anyone else, quietly maintaining their own mental control and routines. Gim Jihun also closed his eyes and recalled his training thus far, checking his condition one last time.
Ten minutes? Twenty minutes?
Having fallen into such a deep meditation that he had no sense of time, Gim Jihun heard a clear woman’s voice. The heavy, subdued atmosphere of the waiting room was refreshed along with it.
“Now, we will begin the tryout. Everyone, please move to the ground.”