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.
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.
– 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.
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