Chapter 85 of 100

Chapter 85

9 min read2,164 words

There are all kinds of people in the world -1-

- YabbaTV

"Ah, Kang Geon-woo. He's my favorite player. Yes, to be honest, I can only say this. A god of baseball has descended upon Korea. I think it's possible that numerous Korean baseball records might be broken. Batting average, home runs, and even on-base percentage..."

└Bro, if you maintain a .400 batting average until the All-Star Game, you'll wear only underwear and attend the game in person.

"Ah, that was just a joke."

└Chicken?

"Chicken? Me? It was just a joke, right?"

-daeyang9959's mission!

"Ah, what are you saying? 1 million won is a lot of money, I know. But let me make it clear again, it was just a joke..."

-daeyang9959's mission!

"..."

└Is the money too big to refuse?

└Don't look down on Yabba's wealth

└Even if you have a lot of money, 5 million for underwear is something to think about, isn't it?

└What wealth? Yabba is broke, lol

└You're already in, aren't you? 😂

"Ah, well... I accept. Of course, that statement was a joke, but I'll accept daeyang9959's offer. Well, we've been a bit short on content lately..."

└Bro, what are you talking about? We have too much content.

└Lol, with the Salt Alliance, All-Star, Olympics, and Kang Geon-woo, we have more to talk about than last season.

"I'll accept daeyang9959's offer for the fans' enjoyment!"

└Too much money to refuse 😂

└Kang Geon-woo got 2 hits and 1 walk yesterday, raising his batting average again 😂

└What's his current batting average?

└.403

└Wow, it's really high 😂 I thought it was .408, and it's still rising? 😂

└He hit 3 hits per game in the Pirates series 😂

└Bro, pick a nice pair of underwear

└What the hell, are you selling your dignity for 5 million?

└But daeyang9959? Could it be...?

└Do you know him?

└The chairman of Daeyang Group's car number is 9959, the owner of the Oceans

└No way...

└Would a CEO of a large company have time to watch a washed-up Yabba's stream?

└Love you, Chairman

└Another Daeyang employee here?

"Everyone, don't say such harsh things. Don't misunderstand. This is all for the fans' enjoyment..."

└Just say you're tempted by 5 million

└Old man, start exercising

└Will it help if you start exercising now? 😂 Just pray that Kang Geon-woo's batting average drops below .400

└Bro, this is it. Let's start a prayer content, it'll be super fun

└I'll start a rain dance today

└Why a rain dance?

└If the game is canceled due to rain, Kang Geon-woo's batting average won't drop

└Pervert, do you want to see Yabba in underwear?

Today is June 17, and the All-Star Game is on July 8.

The Olympic baseball starts on August 13.

"Our Geon-woo has grown so much..."

Yuri said this while attaching sensors to various parts of my body. She looks quite happy these days.

There are several reasons for this.

The Oceans are doing well, and our relationship is good.

We are currently in third place in the league, just one game behind the second-place Pirates and two games behind the first-place Bulldozers. It's a level where a three-game series can turn things around, and apparently, we haven't had such a close top-three battle in a long time.

Also, I'm leading the All-Star voting and have a good chance of being selected for the Olympic team.

Yuri is someone who is as happy about my success as if it were her own.

"Selected for the national team. Really..."

He hasn't been officially selected yet, but it's almost certain, isn't it?

With a .430 batting average, how can they not pick me?

They must be crazy.

My OPS is 1.533. The second-place Jo Jun-yeong is at 1.085, a huge difference.

Even in home runs, I have 26, a 10-home run lead over the second-place group.

"If things go well like this every day, that would be great, wouldn't it?"

Yuri smiled and said, and I nodded, smiling back at her.

Ah, there's also this.

Yuri received a verbal offer from the Oceans.

She's still a third-year college student, so she'll have to go back to school next year, but they want to scout her as an intern quality control coach or something.

The conditions seem quite good. They'll ensure her college attendance and support her as much as possible in a school-industry collaboration.

"Sis, you look really happy lately."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So I'm happy too."

"To make sis even happier..."

"Oceans' victory."

"Right. Our Geon-woo. How can he be so pretty and smart?"

She hummed a tune and walked to her laptop, swaying her shoulders. Watching her back, I recalled the past.

Hmm.

When he gave me the game ball after a perfect game in the presidential middle school baseball tournament and asked me to date him.

I remember Yuri then. When I confessed, she went home humming a tune happily.

It's an old memory, but the happy feeling from that time still remains.

"Huh? What? Date?"

"Yeah."

"You're kidding. Hey, Kang Geon-woo. You're just a little shrimp."

"I'm bigger than you."

"What?"

"If I win, you'll be my girlfriend. So I pitched a perfect game and hit three home runs."

"Hey, that was a joke... or was it not?"

"I don't joke."

"Your head must hurt. Hey..."

"If you don't give me your girlfriend, I'll run all night on the floor above your room."

"You're crazy."

"Hey, Jeong Yuri."

"Call me sis."

"I like you."

"What?"

"I like you."

"No..."

"I really like you. Really. I'll make the Oceans win too."

"You're really crazy."

"Do you like me?"

"You?"

"I know you like me. So be my girlfriend."

"You're really crazy..."

While recording Kang Geon-woo's pitching form data, Jeong Yuri recalled the time he confessed to her.

'Did he come to the Oceans because he suddenly remembered that promise?'

When he asked for a girlfriend if he won, she laughed it off, thinking it was a joke.

'If he was ugly, I would have hit him.'

She smiled, thinking it was real. He was tall, well-built, and handsome, so she accepted him, but she didn't expect to like him this much. She had a slight crush on him, but she never thought he would be so forward.

Actually, she had a lot of grievances, but not anymore.

Kang Geon-woo was a standout baseball player in high school, and she was busy with college. It would be a lie to say they didn't drift apart a bit, but strangely, she still liked him. Especially when he played baseball, he looked so cool.

At first, Kang Geon-woo pursued her, but now she feels like she likes him more.

When he said he wanted to go to the major leagues, she felt more disappointed that he seemed to think it was no big deal to be far away than that he didn't keep his promise to her.

But one day, that brat suddenly changed. He said he didn't like long-distance relationships and wanted to stay in Korea because he missed her.

At first, she thought he had given up, but now she thinks he would have done well even if he had gone to the major leagues.

'Whatever... It's fine now.'

Looking back, it was a terrible adolescence.

She's not sure if adolescence ends so suddenly, but she felt anxious about the sudden change in his tone and behavior.

Anyway, the conclusion she reached after much thought was this: It's fine now. Don't worry about the future.

"How was it?"

After a few pitching simulations, Kang Geon-woo asked.

Jeong Yuri smiled and looked at the monitor.

Good is good, and bad is bad.

She said with a slight frown.

"Your elbow angle is a bit wider?"

"Really? It got wider recently?"

"1.2 degrees."

"Ah, I'll try again."

"Focus."

She scolded him a bit, but Kang Geon-woo smiled lovingly at her and returned to his position.

Jeong Yuri's mood improved.

'I can't hate him.'

Her philosophy is to "always throw or hit in the same form."

Actually, because her boyfriend Kang Geon-woo was the only one from whom she could get real data, this tendency became more pronounced.

She thought everyone could do what he did.

A few days passed. The Oceans reclaimed second place, dropped back to third, and then rose to a tie for first.

As some teams struggled, the competition for wins among the top teams became intense. Currently, the Oceans, Bulldozers, and Pirates are vying for first place.

The Vikings, Angels, Engines, and Meteors are fiercely competing for the remaining two playoff spots.

The Irons are slightly lagging, and the Thunderbirds and Diamonds are further behind.

The landscape is quite different from what was expected at the start of the season.

Of course, with much of the season still left, it's hard to predict the future.

[Newcomer Kang Geon-woo achieves the highest vote count in All-Star fan voting!]

The All-Star roster was announced. Kang Geon-woo received just over 1.56 million votes, proving how much Oceans fans are looking forward to this season.

[The All-Star voting is a mess. Isn't it supposed to be one vote per person? How many times are these guys voting in a day?]

Anyway, that's how it happened. Oceans fans, believing that Kang Geon-woo needed to be the top All-Star vote-getter to be selected for the national team, voted multiple times a day in various ways. While other teams' fans were upset, the KBO, as always, ignored their complaints.

[All-Star voting results for the top position in each position.]

-Eastern All-Stars.

Starting pitcher: Andy Garfield (Oceans)

Relief pitcher: Kim Il-jeon (Vikings)

Closer: Yong Su-hyun (Bulldozers)

Catcher: Park Eui-hyun (Oceans)

First baseman: Lee Si-wook (Oceans)

Second baseman: No Kyung-woo (Oceans)

Third baseman: Hwang Seok-gyu (Oceans)

Shortstop: Kang Geon-woo (Oceans)

Outfielders: Wolfpack (Oceans), Jeong Bu-won (Engines), Bae Young-han (Oceans)

Designated hitter: Yang Dae-geun (Oceans)

-Western All-Stars.

Starting pitcher: Park Yong-jae (Meteors)

Relief pitcher: Kim Jae-wook (Angels)

Closer: Bong Jae-seok (Angels)

First baseman: Yoon Tae-ho (Thunderbirds)

Second baseman: Jo Jeong-min (Meteors)

Third baseman: Park Jeong-shin (Irons)

Shortstop: Ok Si-kyung (Pirates)

Outfielders: Jeong Jo-joon (Pirates), Bok Hyun-seong (Meteors), Song Byung-jae (Angels)

Designated hitter: Kim Se-jin (Meteors)

Baseball fans joked that Kim Il-jeon's selection as a relief pitcher for the Eastern All-Stars was the last bit of conscience from Oceans fans.

He was sent down to the minors after being hit by Yang Dae-geun early in the season but returned to the majors and has been performing well.

In fact, Vikings fans asked Oceans fans to do this.

[If you have a conscience, push for our reliever a bit.]

└Give up the bullpen and pick Geon-woo

└I'm holding back from picking Jo Hyung-oh

└What, Jo Hyung-oh in the All-Star?

└They're also picking Park Eun-soo as a starter

└The Park Eun-soo hype is coming

└Anyway, now that the players are making up, push for our reliever

└If you pick him, we'll date

└Don't make lame jokes, bastard

Anyway, players who didn't get selected through the fan vote can still be recommended by the manager.

Because Oceans fans voted so intensely, many talented players didn't make the Eastern All-Stars.

While Meteors and Angels fans also voted enthusiastically, they didn't show the same level of support as the Eastern fans.

One of the players selected by the manager, despite not making the fan vote, was this pitcher who started the game against the Oceans at the Suwon Diamonds' home stadium on the last day of June.

'Andy Garfield...'

The pitcher's eyes gleamed.

It's a cliché, but Min Seung-gi's eyes really did shine.

'If I were on the Oceans...'

The Diamonds failed to make the playoffs for the past two years.

In the two years before that, they tasted fall baseball and were considered a playoff contender if they could maintain the condition of a few players and select good foreign players.

'I could have started in the All-Star Game instead of him!'

But this season has been very unlucky.

Last year's rookie of the year, Hong Seok-hyun, fell into a sophomore slump, and the foreign hitter was seriously injured during a base running play.

The foreign pitcher suddenly fell ill and is being replaced.

"Joo Sang-wook!"

"Yes?"

Min Seung-gi called out the catcher Joo Sang-wook's name forcefully and showed him the baseball in his hand.

"What does this look like?"

"...A baseball."

"We'll end this game with one pitch today!"

"...What?"

"27 consecutive strikeouts!"

"...What?"

"Don't let a single pitch slip! I won't tolerate it today!"

"Yes..."

When has he ever tolerated it?

Joo Sang-wook answered gloomily but was happy about