Chapter 1

Home Plate's Villain - Chapter 2 (2/363)

# 2

Hongbin, you are a moral book… (1)

1

There is a saying that retirement is a new beginning.

Some are forced out, and some retire honorably.

But for me, this retirement is truly a new beginning.

A retirement to start everything over again.

Actually, continuing for a few more years or retiring to live a comfortable life wouldn't be a bad choice.

But I've been playing baseball so intensely all these years for this very moment.

Taking a deep breath, I took out the box containing my parents' keepsakes.

My father was a baseball fanatic. My mother was also a fan, but my father was especially passionate.

He was a baseball enthusiast who knew everything from MLB to NPB and KBO.

Among his keepsakes was a collection of player cards.

There were so many cards that it was hard to count.

And my father had a card that was the only one in the world.

The card featured me.

Before I was even drafted by the Busan Giants, he spent a considerable amount of money to have it made. It said I was the first player in KBO to hit 3,000 hits, even before I was signed by the team. Despite being over 20 years old, it still gleamed faintly, as if it were made yesterday.

My father had prepared this card as a gift for my debut.

But I never received it directly from him.

My parents died in a car accident on their way to watch my debut game.

However, this card gave me a lot, and I really did hit 3,000 hits, as written on the card. To be precise, I hit 3,007. Thanks to this, I got the chance to meet my parents again.

As I carefully took out the card and held it in my hand, it shone brilliantly.

And the 'fellow' sleeping inside the card woke up. He calls himself a baseball fairy. He can be quite annoying, but he can also be cute at times. He often says one thing but means another, expressing his true feelings through emojis, even while chatting. At first, I thought there were several fairies, but later I realized the changes in the emojis were just the fairy's emotional shifts.

Anyway, the fairy spoke to me. As always, in a way only I could hear… or see.

2

ㅇㅅㅇ: Condition achieved, congratulations.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Drumroll.

ㅇㅅㅇ: The moment of decision has arrived.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Personally, I'd like to see you regress and challenge the Major Leagues.

^ㅅ^: I see. A challenge, a good choice.

8ㅅ8: You must miss your parents. Hehe.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Now, I'll explain the special benefits of the second round.

ㅇㅅㅇ: +10% growth and +20% base stats.

ㅠㅅㅠ: What? Why are you cursing?

ㅇㅅㅇ: No, no, no. It's really not possible.

ㅡㅅㅡ: Getting angry, cursing, and insisting won't change anything.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Instead, you can choose one skill from the first round to bring with you. Specially.

ㅍㅅㅍ: What? A highwayman? Have you finally gone mad?

ㅜㅅㅜ: Your tongue will one day bring you great trouble.

ㅡㅅㅡ: Whatever you say is impossible. Don't expect too much. Choose one.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Really? Surprising. I thought you'd choose something else.

ㅜㅅㅜ: Look at your temper. How dare you be so rude to the fairy. Aren't you afraid of divine punishment?

ㅡㅅㅡ: Hmph, it's a joke.

ㅡㅅㅡ: Fine. I'll specially add a random skill for you.

ㅇㅅㅇ: What? Don't try to take credit for the random skill?

ㅠㅅㅠ: What a cheap trick.

ㅡㅅㅡ: Enough, get lost. When you wake up, you'll be back to your younger self.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Fighting.

ㅠㅅㅜ: Selling my sincerity like that. Fail, you moron.

ㅇㅅㅇ: Get lost.

@ㅅ@: Poof!

3

When I opened my eyes, a familiar yet unfamiliar scene lay before me.

The house where I lived during my school days.

The round fluorescent light, the small room, the creaky bed.

I got up, wondering if it was real, and looked for a mirror.

"Really…."

I'm back.

Not the old me with tanned and rough skin from years of sports, but the face of my teenage self reflected in the mirror.

It's surreal, but this is what I fought for.

I played in KBO for 20 years. When the rumor of a Korean catcher going to MLB first surfaced, it wasn't just a rumor. Actually, 13 teams contacted me, but I stayed in KBO.

Disappointed fans criticized me. Why not challenge the Major Leagues? Why settle for the present? Why give up the spirit of challenge just because you've made money? Our team's fans liked it, but there are too many people who want to interfere in others' lives.

Anyway, I endured all kinds of comments while staying in Korea. Building a career that no one could surpass in Korea was the condition that 'he' set for me.

3,000 hits.

Hitting 3,000 hits in the KBO was the condition for me to return to the past. I wonder if it's because my father wrote 3,000 hits on the card. Father, why did you write 3,000 hits? 2,000 would have been enough to be called a legend.

After hitting 2,000, I just thought it would happen eventually. But before that, I often grumbled about whether it was even possible.

I thought I would be very nervous, but surprisingly, I was quite calm as I grabbed the doorknob.

After taking a deep breath, I turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Are you up? You're up early."

Mother, still half-asleep, said casually.

It's a very ordinary day.

But for me, it's a day I haven't seen in 20 years.

I kept telling myself to stay calm and not act strangely, even if I had regressed.

"Mom…."

"Why? Are you crying, son?"

Mother, who is about the same age as I was before I fell asleep, is making an omelet in front of me. Mother, whom I thought I would never see again, is right in front of me.

I can't stop crying. My body is that of a teenager, but I'm 40.

It's embarrassing.

Before the accident, I called my parents 'Mom' and 'Dad'.

But after that day, the terms changed to 'Mother' and 'Father', filled with longing.

And after almost 20 years, the first word that came out when I saw Mother was 'Mom'.

"Uh? No, I yawned."

"Okay? Wait a bit. Let's eat."

A 40-year-old son calling his mother 'Mom' and speaking informally.

Well, whatever. Legally, I'm a teenager. Calling her 'Mom' isn't illegal.

"Mom, make me a pork cutlet."

4

It was a strange feeling.

For me, it's been 20 years, but for my parents, it's just another morning.

The words I said during breakfast might have sounded a bit out of the blue to them, but for me, they were long-prepared.

"I want to challenge the Major Leagues."

The two Busan Giants fans widened their eyes.

Father smacked his lips, and Mother looked worried and asked me.

"Isn't that a difficult thing to do?"

Of course, it is.

Most players who went straight to the Major Leagues after graduation didn't succeed. Most gave up baseball, and some went to Korea or Japan.

So far, only three Korean players who went directly to the Major Leagues without playing professionally have succeeded.

For various reasons: skill, language, culture, etc.

"First, don't you need to know English?"

Father added.

I understand their concern.

I was a sports student who didn't care much for studies, and after discussing with my parents, I decided to join the Busan Giants.

But over the past 20 years, I mastered English and Spanish while playing with foreign players, preparing for my return to the Major Leagues.

"Please don't worry about the language. I've been preparing and I'm confident."

I don't know how they'll react to their son, who used to only understand 'I am a boy, you are a girl,' suddenly speaking English, but I have no other choice.

But Father, with a bewildered look, asked me.

"Didn't you read 'alligator' as 'arigato' two days ago…?"

Well… what kind of person am I….

Was I that bad…?