I couldn't bring myself to step out of the lodging.
The game had ended quite some time ago. The stadium, once filled with roaring cheers, was steeped in silence.
Amidst it all, the sound of hitting rang out.
Thwack-.
A clear, ringing batting sound.
I had heard of it. If they lost a game, Manager Yun Seonggeun wouldn't send the players home. He would gather those who had made mistakes, drill them, and only then dismiss them.
If I went out to the stadium now, I would surely see the players.
Even so, I couldn't go out. It was because I didn't know what to say to my seniors, who had crumbled so miserably on the first day of the opening ceremony.
"No, this isn't like me."
Chae Gangwoo. His convictions, he'd cast them aside if told to cast them aside. And he never got intimidated.
He sprang up. He had no reason to be depressed when he hadn't even played in the game.
He had to do what he could do right now.
He dashed out. Toward the stadium where his seniors and Ryu Jaeyul would be.
Just as expected.
The players were in the stadium, where the heat had yet to die down.
He ran toward the players wearing faces drenched in sweat and uniforms caked with dirt.
"You've all worked hard!!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs.
Then Manager Yun Seonggeun and Coach An Chunghui turned around. The players all turned their heads to look at me.
"If you're training, may I join in?"
Everyone had faces that asked what I was doing. It was only natural. This wasn't even regular training; it was punishment training because they had lost.
And yet here was a rookie who hadn't even played in the game, brazenly asking to join.
It wouldn't have been strange if he got cursed at.
"I may not have played, but we're on the same team. It's strange to rest alone!"
I quickly added.
"I know. You might curse at me, asking if I came to mock you after a loss, but please think of it as me trying to ease my own mind for not having played in the game with my seniors!"
I quickly bowed my head.
Then Manager Yun Seonggeun laughed, letting out a "Heh-heh."
"Pitchers, run ten laps and go. Fielders, one hour of fungo. Batters, hit a hundred balls each and go."
Manager Yun Seonggeun turned around. Coach An Chunghui quickly gave orders to the players.
"Alright, everyone heard that? Move!"
Amidst the players busily moving about, I stood there alone, awkwardly by myself.
Ryu Jaeyul looked at me, gauging my reaction. I tilted my head as if to say I was fine.
I got the feeling I had overdone it.
It was then.
"Chae Gangwoo!! Ten laps! If you fall behind, we leave you behind, got it?"
At Min Hyoseop's words, my head snapped up.
"Haha, I feel like Gangwoo has more stamina than Hyoseop here?"
Baek Seongchan turned his head toward me with a smile.
"Let's run, Gangwoo."
Without hesitation at those words, my feet moved first.
"Yes!!"
Opening Day.
Victory and defeat were important. Especially for a first game like Opening Day.
If the first button was fastened wrong, you just undid it and fastened it again.
I ran mixed in among the seniors. Each of the first-team players said a word here and there.
"Ah, we could have won."
"So, the Hunters' batters have improved a lot, right?"
"Did you see how well Kang Jaehyeok hit the inside pitch? He must have practiced."
"He was always good at hitting, but he seems to have practiced even more. Let's practice more too."
I had thought they'd be discouraged, but they weren't at all.
On the contrary, they were burning with fighting spirit.
"This time, we won't be last place."
"Ah, this time it's the championship!!"
Everyone burst into laughter at Min Hyoseop's words. Then Baek Seongchan spoke.
"Yeah, this time we really have to raise our ranking. He said this team is his last."
"Huh? His last? What do you mean?"
"Manager Yun Seonggeun said he's retiring with our team as his last, because of his age. However,"
Baek Seongchan added with a face that had become serious in an instant.
"The condition of the manager's contract is making it to fall baseball."
Fall baseball. It meant the KBO postseason.
"And if we don't make it, the manager gets fired."
My feet stopped at the word fired.
"Wait, what?"
Baek Seongchan spoke to surprised me.
"Getting fired from the team you're retiring from isn't right."
Baek Seongchan's words were quite a shock to me.
It was natural for a manager leading a team to face performance pressure. And from the front office's perspective, it was also natural to consider replacing a manager who couldn't produce results.
But.
"Did he really sign such a contract? The manager?"
Then Baek Seongchan nodded silently.
He was someone who had lived his whole life for nothing but baseball. And now, getting fired from his last team?
What nonsense.
"So, realistically speaking, winning the championship is difficult, but the goal is to place within fourth."
Fourth place.
For the ER Hawks, who hadn't escaped last place for ten years among the nine clubs, fourth place was a realistic goal, just as Baek Seongchan said.
No, escaping last place might be the most realistic goal of all.
But the problem was that I couldn't accept it.
"What are you talking about."
Merely fourth place?
I was the one who had boldly declared in front of the first-team players that I'd send the seniors to fall baseball.
But learning that the ER Hawks were Manager Yun Seonggeun's last team and that he would be fired if the team's record was poor, even a ranking of fourth was unsatisfactory.
When I had crumbled in the face of despair, the only one who had reached out a hand to me was Manager Yun Seonggeun.
And I didn't want to send off such a manager's final days like that.
The grace of the one who had given me an opportunity when everyone else had turned away had to be repaid.
Reason settled coldly.
"We will win the championship."
At the words I spat out decisively, not only Baek Seongchan but Min Hyoseop and the other pitchers all stared at me at once.
"Because I will make it so."
Then Min Hyoseop burst into laughter.
"This punk, a guy who hasn't even made the roster yet."
Min Hyoseop playfully put his arm around my neck and ruffled my head.
"You, keep your promise? That you'll make us champions?"
"Just hold out until May."
"Oh? Because you're a knuckleballer, you're confident, right?"
And I smacked the arm Min Hyoseop had tightened around my neck, thwack, thwack.
"Ah, my neck hurts!"
"Quit exaggerating."
Watching us, Baek Seongchan burst into laughter. The pitchers behind him were the same.
"Yeah, we had one secret weapon left."
It was when Baek Seongchan was speaking with a smile.
"You punks, aren't you running?!"
Coach An Chunghui's voice rang out.
"Yep! Coach, we're running!"
Min Hyoseop unfurled his arm from around my neck and continued.
"We have to run first. Argh! We'll win tomorrow!!"
I ran following behind the seniors.
They had already finished the game. Min Hyoseop and Baek Seongchan, who had pitched as starters, as well as the other pitchers, all looked visibly exhausted, but their pace was still steady.
It was simply amazing that the players were running at the same pace as me, who had just been sitting still watching TV.
How much must they have trained to be like this?
Even Baek Seongchan, who was facing retirement, was running without falling behind.
You've still got a long way to go, Chae Gangwoo.
I had said I would work hard. I hadn't even avoided quite difficult training.
But it was insufficient.
Watching the seniors running before my eyes now, I felt it once more.
That I was far from enough.
"Oh? Chae Gangwoo, he's running well?"
Strength flooded into my body at the praise.
6, 7, 8, 9. And the final 10th lap.
The seniors who had finished all collapsed onto the ground with a thud. And I just passed right by them.
"Huh? Chae Gangwoo's running again?"
"I didn't even play in the game, so I have to run a bit more."
It wasn't that it wasn't hard, but I felt I couldn't end training with just ten laps like the seniors.
Literally speaking, the seniors had played in the game and I hadn't.
So after running five more laps, I flopped onto the ground.
While gasping and catching my breath, someone entered my field of vision.
It was Ryu Jaeyul and Yun Donghyeok.
"Showing off your stamina?"
As Yun Donghyeok spoke playfully, Ryu Jaeyul, who was beside him, added with a dry expression.
"At this level, I think we could increase the training intensity."
"You think so too, right? Gangwoo, from today, you're adding thirty minutes of running!"
Ha.
I needed to argue, but I couldn't even answer because I was gasping for breath.
"Hah, hah, what the…."
"Word got out. They say you declared you'd make us champions."
"That's—!"
"Then you have to train. Since everyone else went in, at least do some pitching form practice before you go. We're leaving first."
"W-wait!"
I tried to get up, but strength wouldn't enter my loosened legs.
"Ha."
I blankly watched Yun Donghyeok and Ryu Jaeyul leaving and soon let out a hollow laugh.
Still, I felt refreshed. Bursting out instead of being cooped up in the room had been a good choice.
"How long are you going to lie there?"
I raised my head at the voice that reached me.
Coach An Chunghui was looking at me with his arms crossed.
"You said you'd make the team champions. Where's the time to play?"
"…I just ran though…?"
Then Coach An Chunghui smirked.
"If you're done running, try throwing the ball."
Ah. Did I act out for no reason?
"If it's hard, just go in."
Strength surged into my body at Coach An Chunghui's words.
"I'll do it!"
"Just throw thirty. Don't overdo it."
"Yes sir!"
I took a short breath and moved my body.
I brought a basket full of balls and stood in front of the pitching board.
The faster the knuckleball became, the greater the uncertainty grew. That meant control was lacking proportionally.
"Mechanical? What? Physical? They said it can't be done."
Recalling what Ryu Jaeyul had said, I shook my head.
"Even a high-speed knuckleball needs control…."
Only then would the batters be unable to hit the ball, and I could make the team champions.
Then there was only one thing to do.
To practice like hell.
I picked up a ball. Fixing my gaze on the red point, I raised my arm.
Swish-.
Ignoring the ball that hit the red point precisely and bounced off, I picked up another ball again.
Swish-.
Swish-.
Swish-.
I didn't even think about having run just moments ago. There was nothing but the red dot visible before my eyes.
So I swung the ball like crazy. Strangely, my shoulder became lighter with each throw.
I threw the ball in a trance.
So much so that I couldn't even notice someone was watching me.
***
Manager Yun Seonggeun was watching Gangwoo throwing the ball with his arms crossed, silently.
Coach An Chunghui, who had stealthily stood beside Manager Yun Seonggeun, opened his mouth.
"You have to acknowledge his grit."
Then Manager Yun Seonggeun laughed, letting out a "Heh-heh."
At first, Manager Yun Seonggeun also couldn't be one hundred percent certain.
He had merely guessed at the possibility after seeing the kid in the video instinctively throwing a knuckleball with his left hand.
His sturdy shoulder had also played a part. Though the boy himself didn't seem to know it well, his left shoulder had developed to withstand considerable impact from hitting the punching machine as routinely as eating meals since childhood.
On top of that, he had the ability to pull off whatever he was told to do.
"To become a pro player, that's how you have to be."
It was a cold-hearted pro world where one was evaluated solely on skill. But even so, having only skill wasn't enough.
Perseverance, grit, and skill.
Only when those three elements were in place could one survive.
Moreover, Chae Gangwoo,
"Heh-heh. He said he'd make us champions?"
As Manager Yun Seonggeun spoke with a laugh, Coach An Chunghui nodded.
"Yes. He's quite bold, isn't he?"
"He's an interesting fellow."
Opening Day defeat. Naturally, Manager Yun Seonggeun's mood was not good. He had gathered the players with a stiffened face the moment the game ended.
But now, Manager Yun Seonggeun's face looked a little better.
"But Manager."
"Hmm."
"Will Gangwoo be okay?"
It was a tone that was somehow worried. And though he had heard only those words, Manager Yun Seonggeun silently gazed at Gangwoo as if he knew exactly what Coach An Chunghui was worried about.
It was the fate of a knuckleballer. Loneliness.
Like the knuckleballers before him, not only was it difficult to be recognized as a mainstream pitcher, but the uncertainty was also great.
It required a completely different mechanism from ordinary pitching and was useless without a dedicated catcher, so there was risk as well.
The key was whether Gangwoo could overcome all those limits as a pro.
Manager Yun Seonggeun had taken on all those risks and chosen Gangwoo as his final card.
"He has to go through it. If he doesn't experience and realize it himself, he won't know."
And he had to overcome and prove it. His own worth.
Then Coach An Chunghui turned his head as if in agreement and gazed at Gangwoo.
Watching Gangwoo throwing balls in a trance, Coach An Chunghui let out a hollow laugh.
"Well, if it's Gangwoo, I think he'll overcome it well."
"He has to. He said he'd make us champions."
Then the two burst into laughter at the same time.
"Just in case, work on his stride and lower body training."
"Understood."
Because preparing in advance was how one overcame hardship faster.
The figure of Gangwoo throwing the ball was reflected in Manager Yun Seonggeun's field of vision.
Watching that figure, Manager Yun Seonggeun muttered quietly.
"I'm looking forward to May."