Ace of Ace - Chapter 8

 

Live Pitching (2)

 

‘come at me, let’s see what you’ve got!’

 

Gun’s first sign was a slider that stretched far wide .

 

Kang Han was slightly puzzled .

 

‘not many players pitch around the batter on their first pitch during a live pitching session . He must be really taking this session like it’s a real match’

 

There was only one reason why Gun was taking this session as a real game .

 

He was determined to clear the mission that the system had given him and earn that mysterious point .

 

‘it’s offering me something and there’s no reason to decline’

 

Gun readjusted his grip and threw his first pitch .

 

WHOOOSH .

 

Won Yong, who was expecting a middle fastball, began panicking as he was greeted by a wide slider .

 

‘damn… pitching around me on his first pitch during a live pitching session… is he insane?’

 

Gil Sung was disappointed to see Won Yong’s unprofessional response to Gun’s pitch formulation .

 

‘sigh… he’s all worked up . He’s already lost to the pitcher mentally… there’s no way he’d win now’

 

Gun threw the next pitch; a deep fastball towards the batter .

 

Won Yong once again swung his bat .

 

THUD .

 

The ball was caught on the side of the bat and flew beyond the 3rd base .

 

“FOUL!”

 

no balls, two strikes .

 

The count was in the pitcher’s favour .

 

Won Yong had already witnessed Min Suk’s 3-strike out so he could not let this third pitch fly by .

 

 

Nervously, he muttered to himself…

‘if you are planning another strike-zone fastball, you will regret it for sure’

 

Gun’s next chosen pitch was a change-up . Along with his slider, his change-up has a history of sending countless AAA league batters back to the bench .

 

From Won Yong’s vision, Gun’s change-up seemed like an ordinary, slow fastball .

 

‘hm… a fastball at this speed… it’s hittable’

 

He swung his bat with all his might… and it seemed like it was going to be an accurate hit .

 

However, the moment before the ball was about to touch the bat, it sunk like a submarine .

 

‘DAMN!’

 

Won Yong quickly tried to stop the bat’s swing, but it had already travelled beyond and home plate .

 

“SWING STRRRRIKE! BATTER OUT!”

 

Won Yong completely lost his balance and collapsed to the ground on his knee .

 

“damn… . ”

 

2 batters, 2 consecutive strike outs .

 

They were also both 3-ball 3-strikes; K strikeouts .

 

Si Hyung, the referee, as well as other 2nd division players spectating the session were all shocked to witness Gun’s dominance .

 

“this guy is crazy!”

 

“did you see the change-up just then?”

 

“I thought it was a forkball”

 

“the drop of the ball is insane”

 

“but didn’t it lack a bit on the speed?”

 

“what? No way . If that pitch had high speed, then it’d just simply be impossible to hit”

 

Gil Sung, the last batter, had realised that he’d began sweating as he got more and more nervous .

 

‘damn… am I really that nervous?’

 

Furthermore, he was left-handed, which made it more challenging than the previous 2 batters .

 

Instead of getting emotionally worked up, he tried his best to keep his cool and remain rational .

 

‘let’s not get caught up in his pace . We’re the aces of the 2nd division, we cannot back down this easily’

 

Gun allowed a dry gulp as he saw Gil Sung approach the plate .

 

‘his atmosphere is entirely different’

 

He carefully exchanged signs with the catcher, and threw his first pitch .

 

His first pitch was a wide ball to the side .

 

He tried to pitch narrowly within the strike zone but it had gone beyond .

 

‘hm… it’s not going to be too easy’

 

Gun’s control of his pitches hadn’t yet been perfected .

 

On top of that, the last batter Gil Sung was somehow imposing this pressure on him .

 

After seeing through Gun’s first pitch, the strategic formulation game between the pitcher and the catcher heat up .

 

The ball count was 2-2 .

 

You could see droplets of sweat forming on Gun’s forehead also .

 

‘it’s really hard to pitch around him . Should I throw a deep slider? No, if I do that, there’s a risk of it becoming a full count . It’s too risky . And I know the batter is aware of that too’

 

5th pitch .

 

Gun decided to pitch a change that fell wide .

 

However, Gil Sung was able to see through the pitch and let it fly by .

 

That made it a full count .

 

A ball count that was definitely in the batter’s favour; a situation which Gun desperately wanted to avoid .

 

 

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and regathered himself .

 

 

‘let’s not lose the focus . You struggle and fail here, then there’s absolutely no chance of getting to the major league’

 

Gun fixed his grip and threw the last pitch with all his might .

 

‘I won’t back down…!’

 

The ball pierced threw the air as it raced its way towards the mitt .

 

WHOOOOOOSH!

 

Gil Sung’s concentration had already reached its peak .

 

‘this is a definite strike…’

 

With the accurate judgement, Gil Sung’s bat began making its way towards a full swing .

 

Tick .

 

With a short, sharp sound of the ball ticking the bat, the course of the ball was disrupted, albeit continuing in the direction of the mitt .

 

Foul tip, strike out .

 

“STRRRRRIKE! BATTER OUT!”

 

Gun’s fastball had beaten Gil Sung’s swing on a head-to-head sequence .

 

“this is incredible! 3 consecutive K strikeouts!”

 

“oh man… I didn’t know senior Gil Sung would be striked out too…”

 

“the clean-up squad all turned down by K strikeouts… the difference is too great…”

 

Gil Sung dropped his bat and let out a deep sigh .

 

‘that ball was beyond 150km… I was not expecting a 150km+ fastball pitched deep . I doubt even a 1st division batter would be able to handle such a formulation’

 

Unlike the previous 2 batters, he showed great sportsmanship by admitting his defeat .

 

Gun let out a deep breath of relief as he saw Gil Sung make his way back to the bench .

 

‘man… I just cleared that mission . I didn’t I’ve been too arrogant recently . I still have such a long way to go’

 

Soon, the system displayed a message .

 

– first mission completed . Reward granted –

 

Reward: 5 points .

 

Gun was puzzled by the message that was displayed .

 

‘5 points… where am I supposed to use this?’

 

As if reading and answering Gun’s thought, a new message popped up .

 

– points can be used for skill level ups . –

 

– currently equipped skill: Beast’s Blood level 1 –

 

– invest the points into the skill? –

 

Gun only had one skill to invest in, so realistically he had no alternatives .

 

‘sure . Let’s do it!’

 

– investing points into ‘Beast’s Blood’ –

 

– Beast’s Blood level up! –

 

– Beast’s Blood level 2: bodily recovery 24% increase –

 

Gun was excited to see that his body could now recover even faster than before .

 

‘level up aye, man this is like a game’

 

He felt like he gained some supernatural powers .

 

But statistically, the increase of his bodily recovery stat from this level up was only 2 percentage points .

 

This meant that an injury that would require 100 days to recover, would not take 98 days .

 

From one perspective, this may not be such a significant level up .