Ace of Ace - Chapter 17

 

Chapter 17 – Lonely Christmas 02

 

‘I must show something great . If not, it’ll be a big shame on me . ’

 

Gun Choi stood up and hailed a cab .

 

“Where to?”

 

Gun Choi showed the memo that Gordon gave him to the driver .

 

“To here . ”

 

The driver wondered about Gun Choi’s Cubs uniform .

 

“We don’t have Cubs fans here . Are you from Chicago?”

 

“I’m a player for the Cubs, not a fan . ”

 

The driver opened his eyes widely as he was introduced to an Asian amor leaguer .

 

“Are you really? You’re only wearing the top . ”

 

“I signed a contract today and I’ll be starting next year . And I didn’t get the pants yet . ”

 

Gordon didn’t prepare pants because he wasn’t sure about the contract .

 

The uniform was a spare authentic jersey . Gordon gave it to Gun Choi after the signing .

 

The driver thought Gun Choi was Japanese so he started to talk about his grand-father’s service in the war .

 

Gun Choi agreed with the driver . Then the driver realized that Gun Choi wasn’t Japanese .

 

“Are you from China?”

 

“No, I’m from Korea . ”

 

The driver nodded his head .

 

“You’re from the same country as Hyun-Jin Cha .

 

The most well-known player in the south-west was likely Hyun-Jin Cha from the LA Dodgers .

 

“Yes, I am . ”

 

The driver also talked about his grandfather’s participation in the Korean war .

 

After around 20 minutes of driving, a series of ballparks came into view .

 

Gun Choi smiled at the grand scale of America .

 

‘If these ball park were in Korea, the cost would be very high . ’

 

He paid the fare and tip, and exited the taxi .

 

“Wow…pretty spacious . Clean air . ’

 

Gun Choi stretched his arms and took a deep breath .

 

“Will I see you on TV next year?”

 

The driver rolled down a window and asked him .

 

Gun Choi nodded his head .

 

“Of course . ”

 

“Ok, it’s time to get serious . ”

 

Beep . Beep .

 

Gun Choi opened his eyes with difficulty .

 

He had a hard time waking up after he arrived in Arizona .

 

Maybe he needed more time to recover from his jet lag .

 

“Little more… just a little more…’

 

He tossed and turned for 3 minutes, and woke up rubbing his eyes .

 

“To be a Major Leaguer, I can’t let myself be defeated by tiredness . ”

 

He ran to the bathroom and cleaned his face with cold water .

 

Then he became fully awake .

 

“Bull pen, I’ve never been in the bull pen until AAA . ”

 

He didn’t have any intention to stay in the bullpen .

 

“1 year is enough . ’

 

His intention was to stay in the bullpen for a year, until he got noticed by the others .

 

He went outside and the warm sunshine blinded him .

 

“I need to do basic physical training until the instructor comes . ”

 

Gun Choi jogged 3 km around a field .

 

He didn’t run fast, but he started to sweat and it made him more vigorous .

 

A custodian and some people looked at him curiously .

 

‘It must look weird . No Major Leaguer practices in November . ’

 

After jogging, Gun Choi knocked on the door of custodian’s building .

 

According to the announcement, breakfast started at 8 am .

 

“Hello?”

 

He knocked twice .

 

A man finally showed up .

 

Gun Choi had almost been about to shout .

 

‘Well, who is this?’

 

A man with a long beard asked .

 

“Gun Choi?”

 

“Yes, that’s me . ”

 

“Come in . ”

 

As he came in, three people were eating a breakfast at the table .

 

Bread, soup, and eggs .

 

It was a very regular breakfast .

 

The man introduced himself as Hardy, and offered Gun Choi an empty seat .

 

“Do you need to practice alone?”

 

Gun Choi shook his head and said .

 

“An instructor will be here . ”

 

“Really?”

 

Hardy smiled and put some eggs on Gun Choi’s plate .

 

The food was not super, but not bad .

 

“Lunch is served at noon, and there’s no dinner . ”

 

“What? No dinner?”

 

“There are some restaurants in the town of Reeku, it’s about 3 miles to the south . ”

 

Gun Choi was at a loss because he didn’t have a car .

 

“I don’t have a car . ”

 

Bank, a custodian of ball field, shrugged and mentioned .

 

“3km, it is a walkable distance, isn’t it?”

 

About 30 min walking .

 

There was no reason not to walk, but an hour round trip was waste of time .

 

In the middle of Gun Choi’s worry, a message popped up .

 

-Repetition mission: Walk to the town of Reeku .

 

Condition: Repeat daily .

 

Rewards: Points will be given upon completion .

 

Gun Choi was excited to get rewards only by walking to Reeku .

 

‘It’s so easy . ’

 

He nodded his head as like he accepted the difficulty .

 

“You are right . I can walk . It’s not bad, I can even save money . ”

 

Bank was confused .

 

“R-right?”

 

“Yes . ”

 

Bank thought Gun Choi was not an easy match .

 

Bank wanted to measure him by questioning him . But Bank get puzzled when Gun Choi listened to

 

him seriously .

 

“Come with me . I’ll show you a field . ”

 

Gun Choi followed him as he finished breakfast .

 

Bank opened a fence which was at the far left and talked to him .

 

“You can use this field until 5pm . When you’re done, or need to leave early, please return the key to the

 

office . ”

 

“Ok . ”

 

Gun Choi nodded and got a key .

 

Gun Choi didn’t have any special feeling towards Bank, but Bank thought Gun Choi was special .

 

‘Is he the type of person who can’t see anything other than a baseball? If so, he’ll be in the

 

Major Leagues soon . That type of player enters into the Major Leagues . ’

 

As Bank left, Gun Choi started to practice .

 

25 meters of running .

 

Leg stretching .

 

Center movement training with one foot .

 

Long stride position repetition .

 

Shadow pitching with a towel .

 

As he finished 5 courses, it was almost 12 pm .

 

“System, any increased abilities?”

 

-No increased abilities .

 

Gun Choi shrugged his shoulder .

 

“No increased abilities with only one day training?”

 

In the afternoon, he trained to adapt himself to the Major Leagues official ball .

 

He tried to get a feeling for its grip by pitching lightly, not by strong pitching .

 

The Major Leagues official ball had a more slippery surface than a domestic ball . This made lots of pitchers have a hard time .

 

“I got the feeling for the change-up, but a slider…”

 

After he finished grip training, he went to the office .

 

Bank tilted his head as he checked a watch . It was earlier than expected .

 

“Are you already done?”

 

Gun Choi nodded and returned the key .

 

“Because I need to go Reeku . ”

 

Bank told him quietly .

 

“It is little far, but the trail is a good walk . ”

 

“Ok . ”

 

As he hit the road, he could see a sign which said 2 miles to Reeku .

 

“Ok, let’s go . ’

 

Gun Choi was encouraged at that point so he decided to run .

 

‘I can reduce recovery time by up to 30% with my skill up . So I can recover within 2 months, instead of 3 . ’

 

Even if it’s not supernatural, fast recovery was a blessing for any player .