I’d heard it plenty of times. Manager Yun Seonggeun’s training volume was said to be beyond imagination.
Hellish fungo drills, marathon running, and batting to the death.
They were the infamous drills Manager Yun Seonggeun put his players through.
Of course, with modernization, every aspect of training had become smart. Wearable technology and AI were combined to analyze the players’ pitching and hitting in real time.
That created a synergistic effect. Manager Yun Seonggeun’s hell training, which hammered the fundamentals into shape, combined with cutting-edge equipment that tailored training to each individual.
Because they did both, the intensity of their training was the most brutal compared to other teams.
Even so, I wasn’t afraid. If anything, right now, everything felt exciting.
I had finally made it to the first team, something I’d wanted so desperately. There was no way a bit of training could be a problem.
Tang—. Tang—. Tang—.
The crisp sound of balls being hit rang out. At the same time, I could hear the players groaning.
“Ugh…!”
“Urk!”
And a voice shouting at the players.
“Too slow, too slow. Faster.”
My eyes widened when I recognized the owner of that voice.
“Huh, Coach An Chunghui?!”
At that, Coach An Chunghui turned around.
“Surprised, you brats?”
“No, Coach, what brings you here?”
“As of today, I’m a first-team coach too. Coach Choe is taking charge of the second team starting today.”
Choe Gyeongsik, who had been a first-team coach, had gone down, and Coach An Chunghui, who had been a second-team coach, had come up to the first team.
Well, it was a common thing in the pros.
If anything, I was glad. Having Coach An Chunghui, who knew me better, on the first team would be more comfortable than dealing only with people who merely knew my face.
“Coach! I’ll be in your care from now on too!”
When I said it playfully, Coach An Chunghui ruffled my hair.
“You brat, now that you’re on the first team, you’re joking around?”
“Ah, it’s just because I’m happy.”
“All right, then hurry up and go greet the manager.”
“Yes, sir! Understood.”
There was no need to go far.
Pang—.
Because the person in front of me, with snow-white hair and a bat in hand, personally hitting fungos, was none other than Manager Yun Seonggeun.
“Manager.”
Coach I Gwanggi called Manager Yun Seonggeun.
Even so, Manager Yun Seonggeun didn’t so much as look over, simply hitting the ball in his hand with the bat.
“They’re still not getting their heads on straight. Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue, Manager Yun Seonggeun slowly turned around.
“These are the boys who came up from the second team.”
At Coach I Gwanggi’s words, Manager Yun Seonggeun looked back and forth between me and Ryu Jaeyul.
“Heh heh, you really came.”
The moment we saw Manager Yun Seonggeun, Ryu Jaeyul and I bowed our heads.
No, it would be more accurate to say we bent at the waist.
“Good afternoon, Manager!”
As soon as I lifted my head, I felt gazes on me.
Because I’d put too much strength into it and greeted him in a booming voice, the first-team players’ eyes had all turned toward me.
“Oh?! Chae Gangu’s here?!”
Min Hyoseop’s voice was the first I heard.
“Did you really hit 135? That’s amazing.”
“I’m going to be the first one to hit Chae Gangu’s pitches.”
“Gangu, Jaeyul, welcome!”
Just as I was getting excited again at the welcoming voices that followed, Manager Yun Seonggeun spoke.
“So, how does it feel coming to the first team?”
“Pardon? It feels really great!”
“You’ll have to train even more than before, though.”
What was a little training?
I’d already been doing the hellish training Yun Donghyeok had designed for me every single day without fail.
“I’ll do it!”
At my booming answer, the first-team seniors responded with “Ooh~.”
“Is that so? Then.”
I thought he would say something like, Go on in and rest for today, then come train starting tomorrow, or, Well, congratulations on making it here.
But that was only what I thought.
“What are you doing?”
Manager Yun Seonggeun’s words were,
“Pardon…?”
more than enough to fluster me.
“Put your bag down and run.”
As I stood there with a blank look on my face, Ryu Jaeyul nudged me.
Only then did I quickly set my bag down on the spot and get ready to run.
“That over there is the track. Let’s do a light twenty laps.”
Wait, in what world was twenty laps light?
People’s hearts were truly fickle.
Just moments ago, I’d been saying I could overcome any training, but now that I actually had to run, I felt stifled.
But there was something I always said to myself at times like this.
If they tell you to do it, you do it.
Thinking about it wouldn’t mean I didn’t have to run, and it was better to run during that time and cut down on the time instead.
“Let’s go, Ryu Jaeyul.”
And so the two of us suddenly began running, leaving our two large bags sitting there all alone.
***
“You really came?”
It was when I had finished the run and was breathing hard.
“Huh?! Senior!”
Yun Donghyeok was standing there with his arms crossed.
“Has your stamina improved a bit? You’ve been keeping up with the training I designed for you, right?”
“Of course.”
“You brat, I like that.”
Yun Donghyeok seemed to ruffle my hair playfully, then this time he asked Ryu Jaeyul,
“You’ve been doing your squats and lunges properly, right?”
“Yes.”
“And shoulder presses every day. You need to build up your shoulders if you’re going to throw.”
“Yes.”
Maybe it was because they were both catchers, but Yun Donghyeok demanded more from Ryu Jaeyul.
To the point where I wondered if he was trying to raise Ryu Jaeyul himself.
“Then, Jaeyul, let’s practice blocking and throwing with me. I don’t have training today.”
“You don’t have training?”
“Tomorrow is opening day. They’re telling us to regulate ourselves.”
Ah. Opening day.
For some reason, my heart began to pound.
I had thought about it often. The sight of myself standing on the mound as the Opening Day starting pitcher.
But not this time.
Since I still wasn’t included on the official first-team roster, only Ryu Jaeyul could go.
“Jaeyul probably won’t be able to participate in opening day either. Approval from the KBO hasn’t come through yet. If it gets approved tomorrow, he’ll probably be able to play from the next game on.”
Yun Donghyeok stared at me.
“Gangu, you’ll play starting in May. But you know that doesn’t mean you can slack off, right? You have to work even harder. It’s even harder to survive in the pros.”
I wasn’t the only one training. Even at this moment, there were players in the second team desperately training, hoping for a spot on the first team.
Even among those on the first team, there were players working like mad to make the starting roster.
“You have to put in twice as much effort and training as everyone else.”
Yun Donghyeok’s words snapped me wide awake.
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
Ryu Jaeyul and I answered at the same time. Then Yun Donghyeok spoke.
With a devilish smile on his face.
“Then let’s train.”
***
The cheers and heat filling Hawks Park Dome were incredible.
Because it was opening day, the fans were full of anticipation as well.
A team that had been in last place for ten years.
Even though they were last, the ER Hawks fans shouted every opening day that this would be their year to win the championship.
This time was no different.
They were making a fuss, saying that this time, Manager Yun Seonggeun would truly show what he was capable of, that the team would escape last place and even make it to fall baseball.
The ER Hawks team felt the same.
Two years ago, the ER Hawks’ manager had been dismissed midseason, and Manager Yun Seonggeun, newly appointed to lead the ER Hawks, was a manager who had once taken a last-place team to a championship.
Manager Yun Seonggeun made the training even harsher, and the first-team players endured it with gritted teeth.
This time, they would escape last place.
Even so, they hadn’t managed to do it last year.
The number of wins by which they had already fallen behind the other teams was too great to catch up to with just a few more victories.
The heavy sense of defeat that had settled over the players had played a part as well.
But this year was different.
The first-team players, having survived Manager Yun Seonggeun’s murderous training, were in excellent condition.
They all appeared on camera looking full of confidence.
And right now, I was watching the opening day ceremony on TV in the first-team dormitory, with the roar of the stadium sounding as if it were right in front of me.
Fortunately, Ryu Jaeyul, who had been registered with the first team for opening day, was able to sit in the bullpen, but I wasn’t.
Since I couldn’t sit in the bullpen unless I was included on the first-team roster, I decided to simply relax and watch opening day from the dorm.
After all, the ER Hawks’ dormitory was right next to Hawks Park Dome, in the clubhouse.
The first-team seniors all had their own homes, so the people who used the dorm were rookies who had just come up to the first team or players who voluntarily stayed behind.
And since everyone had gone to attend the opening day game, I was alone in the dorm.
“Well, I can play starting in May.”
I did feel a slight loneliness, but that wasn’t important.
I just wasn’t registered yet. The fact that I was on the first team hadn’t changed.
What I could do now was wait. During that time, I just had to train calmly.
Of course, while making sure to watch the games.
“Ah, Ryu Jaeyul, he’s frozen stiff.”
Seeing Ryu Jaeyul caught on the broadcast camera, I burst out laughing by myself.
Ryu Jaeyul really was pale as a sheet, staring straight ahead. The nervousness was written all over his face.
Except for Ryu Jaeyul, everyone’s complexion looked good.
After the ceremonial first pitch ended and greetings were exchanged, the game began right away.
Their opponent was the Gwangju AL Raiders. A team that played aggressively.
And a team that had made it to fall baseball last year. Though they had been a bit far from winning the championship.
I clenched my fist tightly and fixed my eyes on the TV.