The Genius Hitter Who Conquered America - Chapter 126

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 126
Have you ever encountered a massive wild bear deep in the mountains?
For Soo-ho, who was born and raised in Korea and spent his entire life breathing nothing but the dust of baseball stadiums, such an unreal experience should have been impossible.
Naturally, this was his first time experiencing anything like it.
And at this very moment, Soo-ho felt as though his legs might give way and he would collapse to the ground.
‘I’m, I’m losing it, seriously.’
The thought echoed through his mind countless times.
Just calm down, he told himself.
But the feeble commands of his rational mind were utterly ignored in the face of that primal terror of death.
His vision trembled violently, and the snow-covered landscape around him blurred into white.
His focus was locked immovably onto the blood-red eyes of the massive Grizzly Bear standing before him.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
Only the sound of his own heartbeat filled his ears like a siren screaming wildly.
The blood in his veins ran cold, and every hair on his body stood on end as if crying out in terror.
With each ragged breath, a foul and nauseating stench of beast pricked the tip of his nose.
That acrid smell made it clear that this suffocating situation was not a dream.
It was a harsh reality where his throat could be torn out at any moment.
‘What, what do I do?’
Normally, his mind worked so well.
Especially on the Ground, he had received endless praise for his quick thinking and intelligence.
But now his mind was as blank as a newborn infant’s, devoid of any coherent thought.
And yet.
‘Stay calm.’
Soo-ho clenched his trembling jaw and forced himself to remain composed.
How could he possibly regain his reason in the midst of this insane terror?
The root cause was his relentless desire for success in the Major League.
He recalled Hank’s deceptive explanation from earlier.
No matter how monstrous the Pitchers standing on the Major League Mound were.
Could they be more terrifying than that man-eating bear with its jaws gaping wide before him?
‘No, they couldn’t be.’
A 100-mile fastball from a Pitcher might break a few ribs and that’s it, but a swipe from that bear’s paw would be his funeral day.
As he finished this extreme calculation, the rigid tension in his body gradually began to ease.
Moreover, there was one more decisive reason why Soo-ho’s reason returned so quickly.
The Grizzly Bear, which seemed ready to pounce and tear him limb from limb, was standing its ground and not attacking.
‘Why isn’t it moving?’
Soo-ho glanced sideways at Hank and the Veteran Hunter standing beside him.
‘The bear knows too. It knows that if it recklessly attacks the three of us, it could lose its own life.’
Despite their massive size and seemingly brutish appearance, wild Grizzly Bears are actually highly intelligent animals, with intelligence comparable to primates.
Using their superior sense of smell and hearing, they can instantly assess the number and strength of their opponents and calculate whether they have a chance of winning.
So this Grizzly Bear, despite being desperately hungry as the harsh winter approached, also cherished its one and only life.
So right now, I’m caught in deep deliberation, weighing whether to charge at these three humans or hold back, calculating the risk.
But as I watched the standoff unfold, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Isn’t this… exactly like baseball?’
Of course, the distance between me and the Grizzly Bear wasn’t the precise 18.44 meters from the Mound to the Batter’s Box.
But we were staring at each other as if ready to kill, gauging when the opponent would move.
What kind of pitch they’d throw—this ruthless mind game played with perfect tension.
And this suffocating tension where I couldn’t even breathe.
I couldn’t say it was completely identical to baseball, of course, but the fundamental form of psychological warfare was eerily similar.
The moment I realized that fact, a hollow laugh escaped between my lips.
‘Ha ha.’
Fishing for fish, hunting a wild bear with my life on the line—
No matter how I forced the situation into the context of the Batter’s Box, everything felt like baseball.
At this point, I had no choice but to admit I was thoroughly obsessed with baseball.
‘That’s right. Bear, you’re now a Major League Pitcher who just took the Mound.’
My eyes instantly turned cold and sharp.
Once I stepped into the Batter’s Box at the baseball stadium, I would never yield in momentum, no matter who my opponent was—that was my stubborn pride.
Then I stared directly into the Grizzly Bear’s blazing eyes and took one slow step forward.
Where on earth was this insane confidence coming from?
‘The distance is quite far, so I won’t be attacked immediately.’
There was calculation behind securing a safe distance, but—
What dominated my mind right now was only the thought of crushing that massive beast before me with pure momentum and winning.
In baseball, the moment a batter flinches under the pitcher’s intimidation.
The outcome at that Batter’s Box is already decided.
No matter who I face.
Even if my opponent was a wild beast of nature rather than human, my fierce batter’s instinct exploded—the determination to never back down at the Batter’s Box.
But!
“GRAAAAAHHHHH!”
The bear scraped its front paws roughly against the ground and roared as if it would pounce any second.
My instincts screamed at me to run, but I tried to hold my ground with my legs firmly braced and my bloodshot eyes locked on the bear’s gaze, though honestly, I was at my limit.
In that tense, frozen moment on the brink of explosion.
BANG!
A deafening gunshot that tore through the silent snowy mountain rang out.
The Hunter standing behind me had pulled the trigger of his hunting rifle into the air.
At the thunderous roar of gunpowder that transcended mere psychological warfare.
The Grizzly Bear, which had hesitated, finally snorted irritably and spun around, bolting like an arrow into the deep darkness of the forest.
“Haa, haa….”
The moment the bear’s massive form completely disappeared, rough breathing burst from my mouth.
My legs, now that the tension had released, trembled slightly.
The Hunter, who had been watching the situation carefully from behind me with a loaded rifle, approached with a hollow laugh.
“You. You’re really insane, aren’t you?”
There was a note of astonishment in the Hunter’s voice.
He had pulled the trigger, but what truly amazed him was this East Asian fellow standing before him.
Most humans would have urinated themselves and collapsed to the ground the moment the bear roared.
Or they would panic, turn and flee, only to become prey.
But this one—right up until he fired his shot—
had stood firm against that massive beast without retreating a single step, radiating an unwavering presence.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen a baseball player who doesn’t flinch in front of a bear. You pass. With that kind of killer instinct, you’ll never be intimidated by those Major League monsters.”
It was a victory of mental fortitude.
But the body’s limits were an entirely different matter.
Thump.
The moment the taut string of tension snapped, all strength drained from my lower body, and I collapsed directly onto the cold snow.
“Gasp… haah…”
As the adrenaline I’d forced out to survive before the bear drained away like a receding tide, an exhaustion beyond imagination crashed down upon me.
My thighs and calves, already shredded from climbing the treacherous snowy mountain, along with my core muscles, convulsed violently and screamed in agony.
My survival instinct had surged to its limit and then collapsed, leaving every cell in my body desperately craving energy to stay alive.
It was exactly as Hank had intended.
Honestly, standing upright on two legs was a miracle—that moment just now was the absolute limit of my body.
Yet within my chest, an insane sense of accomplishment was surging.
My muscles screamed, but my eyes burned hotter and sharper than ever before.
The reason for this fierce confidence was crystal clear.
I had to join the Dodgers’ Major League Spring Training Camp in February, which was coming up soon.
That place was the heart of a jungle teeming with true monsters—the fastest and most devastating throwers in the world.
I didn’t yet know what savage pitchers I would face there.
But one thing was certain.
At least on the mound, my legs would never freeze up against a 100-mile fastball thrown by a human.
I would never flinch or blink in fear again.
I had equipped myself with perfect mental fortitude—never backing down in the batter’s box.
That alone made this insane training today yield the greatest result for me.
* * *
The next morning.
When I opened my eyes, I immediately checked my condition as I sat up in bed.
‘This is… wow. Really fascinating.’
Considering the extreme physical exhaustion and the terror of my mental state crumbling that I’d experienced on the mountain yesterday—
this morning my entire body should have been aching and felt like it was falling apart.
But my muscles were now swollen with remarkable firmness.
Dense nutrients had packed tightly into the spaces between muscle fibers torn by extreme exertion, creating a solid, steely expansion that enveloped my entire body—as if steel had been layered over bone.
Just as Hank had intended, my muscles had recovered rapidly overnight.
In fact, when the bear fled yesterday and my legs gave out on the mountain, Hank had declared with perfect composure:
“We’re heading down.”
At that sudden statement, I asked back in bewilderment:
“What? You’re not hunting the bear?”
“Why would I hunt the bear?”
“Wasn’t that why we came here? To eat bear meat?”
Hank clicked his tongue and looked at me as if I were insane.
“You want to eat meat crawling with parasites and drop dead? Stuff that garbage into the stomach of a precious Major League player preparing for the season? I’m your nutritionist. My job is to feed you safe, quality food that your body can absorb most perfectly.”
So the two of us descended the mountain rather anticlimactically, heading toward a cozy mountain lodge situated at the base.
And there, instead of bear meat, mountains of premium marbled beef brisket—freshly purchased from the neighborhood supermarket—had been prepared for a barbecue.
In the end, the massive wild Grizzly Bear had served as the world’s largest and most terrifying digestive aid and appetizer stimulant, designed to maximize the absorption of that quality supermarket-grade red meat by one hundred and twenty percent.
Creak.
Lost in reminiscence, I looked up as Hank suddenly burst through my door.
“How’s your body feeling?”
The question came immediately upon entry—straight to the point about my physical condition.
But I had already gained perfect awareness of every corner of my body and felt the reasons behind those changes viscerally.
So I clenched my fist, then opened it, and answered precisely.
“Perfect. My lower body and core were completely exhausted yesterday, but after sleeping, I woke to find my muscle density has actually become even more dense. No pain in my joints or ligaments, and my recovery speed is overwhelmingly faster than usual. It feels like all that meat I ate yesterday didn’t linger in my stomach—it went straight to my muscles and stuck there.”
At my detailed and perfect feedback, Hank’s bushy eyebrows twitched, and then his mouth corners curled up with satisfaction.
“Then let me ask you a question. When is the best time to eat red meat?”
It wasn’t merely a confirmation.
Though I’d experienced it before, this was Hank’s signature pressure test—verifying whether the player truly understood the essence of the training he’d designed.
But I answered without a moment’s hesitation, spitting out the truth I’d learned bone-deep through yesterday’s experience.
“Right after extreme physical exertion and when survival instinct ignites. When every muscle in your body tears and cells scream for energy to survive. In other words, when your body needs recovery.”
A clear answer flowed out without obstruction.
Not a stupid beast mindlessly consuming whatever was given.
But an intelligent predator’s answer—one who perfectly understood the principles of how the fuel entering his body would explode.
Hank nodded with his characteristic arrogant smile.
“Right. Keep that routine from now on. Then you’ll have an even better body by the season than you do now. Your speed and flexibility will naturally be maintained.”
I jumped up from my seat and bowed deeply.
“Hank. I’m truly grateful.”
“Save your thanks for after you succeed. Now, hurry up and get ready to leave! It’s time we parted ways.”
Hank barked gruffly as always, then spun around and left the room.
But watching his rough, rugged silhouette disappear, a deep, satisfied smile spread across my face.
‘I really am fortunate.’
I’d plunged recklessly into this unfamiliar American stage, focused on baseball alone.
But I was never alone.
I’d been blessed to meet these solid allies who poured out unconditional devotion for my success.
Having such people by my side was an incomparable blessing and the greatest weapon any professional athlete could possess.
A burning competitive fire surged within my chest.
I could never disappoint these people who believed in me and shared in bone-grinding effort.
The only way to repay their dedication was to stand at the very pinnacle of the Major League.
‘I will succeed. Absolutely.’
Practical compressed muscle that perfectly leveraged speed and flexibility.
And a fierce mental fortitude that never flinched, meeting even the monsters of nature head-on.
Soo-ho had executed Alex’s challenge flawlessly.
So now it was time.
To complete the ultimate strike.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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