The Genius Hitter Who Conquered America - Chapter 23

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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 23
I couldn’t bring myself to believe Alex’s claim that I would master the mechanism within a month.
“Wait, hold on! To be honest, I don’t quite understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“I’ve heard that even professional players need at least a year, or longer, to change their mechanism.”
My skepticism stemmed from experience.
Two weeks of hellish training under John Coach.
Even if I had memorized it, I hadn’t grasped the underlying principles of the swing itself.
“Ah, professional players, you say.”
Alex continued with evident interest.
“Let me ask you a question. You have a computer that’s been used for ten years, completely filled with viruses and malicious code. On the other hand, you have a clean hard drive in factory reset condition with nothing installed. Which one do you think would be faster to install an operating system on?”
“That would be… the factory reset hard drive.”
“Exactly. Professionals who’ve spent years ingrained with bad habits are like that virus-infected computer. All those old memories etched into their muscles are nothing but bugs. But you? You’re a freshly formatted hard drive. Your ignorance is your greatest weapon right now. Do you understand?”
I found myself at a loss for words, somehow becoming convinced.
Alex remained composed throughout.
“Any other questions?”
“But don’t other players establish their mechanism from childhood?”
“That’s true.”
“But I’ve never even been taught it properly, so I don’t even know what it is.”
“Exactly. What you’re saying is that kids playing baseball here in the United States establish their mechanism from childhood, so even when they correct it, they already understand the principles involved. Yet it still takes them a long time. So how could you possibly learn it in just a month when you’re starting from scratch? That’s what you mean, right?”
I nodded briefly.
“Yes. And they said that learning the mechanism requires a lot of steps.”
“Who said that?”
“A… a video.”
“Ah. Former players or famous coaches, that sort of thing?”
This time, I nodded with confidence.
“That’s right.”
“Of course, what they say isn’t entirely wrong… but before that, let me ask you one thing. Who do you think would teach the mechanism best?”
“Well… wouldn’t it be a coach who’s a former player with lots of experience?”
Alex shook his head firmly.
“No. You’re wrong. It’s the person who designed it in the first place.”
Alex cut through my objection decisively and pulled a business card from his jacket pocket, sliding it across to me.
“First, you need this person.”
I took the card hesitantly and read it.
[Biomechanics Expert – Alex Rivera]
“Someone who understands the principles of how all the joints and muscles in the human body move together organically to generate power. And.”
Alex pulled out a second business card and handed it to me.
[S&C Coach – Baseball Specific – Alex Rivera]
“Someone who can tune that human body into the ultimate engine optimized for baseball.”
I couldn’t collect my thoughts.
To be honest, I didn’t even know what this business card meant or if such a profession actually existed.
But Alex didn’t seem to care and handed over a third card.
[Performance Analyst – Alex Rivera]
“Someone who converts every movement into data and proves the invisible 0.1-second difference.”
But it didn’t end there.
A fourth card appeared.
My hands were soon filled with different business cards.
[Rehab Coach – Alex Rivera]
“And when that high-performance engine breaks down, you need a mechanic who can fix it perfectly.”
Alex closed his wallet and added lightly.
“Coach? Manager? They’re all half-measures. The best is someone who has all of this in one body. Someone like me.”
My mind went blank.
It was a confidence on a completely different level from any expert I’d ever met.
And because of that, one thing was certain.
This man was either crazy or a true genius.
Above all, he was different from the experts in the countless videos I’d watched.
They all said the same thing.
Predetermined answers.
But this man was telling me answers made only for me.
So I felt a conviction that if I followed this man, something might actually change.
“Are you done with your questions?”
“…For now, yes.”
“Then follow me.”
Alex turned without hesitation and walked toward the corner of the Parking Lot, opening his car door.
I climbed into the passenger seat as if bewitched.
* * *
While we were heading somewhere, Alex asked.
“What’s a mechanism?”
“The way force is transferred.”
Alex nodded at my answer.
“Right. Depending on how efficiently you transfer force, a ground ball becomes a hit, a single becomes a double, a double becomes a home run.”
I already knew that.
But I just didn’t know which one was right for me.
“Everyone’s body is different though,” I added carefully.
This came from knowledge I’d studied to improve myself so far.
Everyone’s body is different.
The length of your arms, the length of your legs, the flexibility of your waist, the range of motion in your shoulders.
Even the ratio of fast-twitch muscle fibers that produce explosive power to slow-twitch fibers responsible for endurance.
The length of the arms, the length of the legs, the flexibility of the waist, the range of motion of the shoulders.
Even the ratio of fast-twitch muscle fibers that generate explosive power to slow-twitch muscle fibers that handle endurance.
No two humans are exactly alike.
Alex tapped the steering wheel lightly as he continued, responding to Soo-ho’s words.
His voice carried unwavering conviction.
“That’s right. Some guys use their long arms to create a massive arc in their swing, while others rely on powerful hip rotation for a compact swing. A mechanism that’s the answer for everyone else might be poison for you.”
He turned his head at the red light and looked directly into Soo-ho’s eyes.
“But what happens if you try to attempt each one of these individually?”
“It would take a long time.”
“Exactly. It’s incredibly inefficient. That’s why it takes players so long to master their mechanics. And if you pick up some weird habit while trying different things? What do you think happens then?”
“It would require even more time.”
Alex’s lips curved upward.
“Correct. I told you before, didn’t I? You’re a blank slate. That’s why we can find exactly what works best for you right now, today.”
“Really?”
Soo-ho’s eyes filled with hope.
It couldn’t have been otherwise.
In my entire life, I’d never met anyone who explained things so easily and with such unwavering confidence.
I’d noticed it before, whether in the KBO or in videos.
‘They only ever spoke about principles.’
This method is the best way to transfer power.
That method is what the current Major League pursues. And so on.
They seemed to speak as if the answer was already decided.
‘And honestly, it wasn’t that different from the way things were done in the KBO.’
That’s why I ultimately couldn’t master it despite watching so many videos.
But Alex was different.
He spoke at my level of understanding.
I naturally felt trust in him.
“Are your doubts gone?”
“Yes. I apologize.”
“No need to apologize. If you understand, show me directly that you really do.”
Before long, the car left the Training Ground and turned onto a sparsely populated Mountain Road.
Soo-ho blinked at the sight.
‘Why are we here?’
Shortly after, the car stopped near a Logging Site where the sound of chainsaws rang out loudly.
Burly workers were felling massive trees with chainsaws and axes.
Alex stepped out of the car as if he were in his own backyard.
He approached an elderly man who appeared to be the oldest among the workers and put his arm around his shoulder.
“Hey, Jack! You’re still going strong.”
“Oh, Alex! What brings you out here?”
Alex jerked his chin toward Soo-ho beside him.
“This guy. I need to teach him a thing or two. Mind if we stick around?”
“Of course.”
Alex then picked up a heavy woodcutting axe that lay to one side and tossed it to Soo-ho.
“Catch.”
Soo-ho caught the axe, bewildered.
Alex pointed to a tree about ten meters away, its trunk thick and sturdy.
“Try chopping that with the axe.”
“…What?”
“Split that tree in half.”
Soo-ho found it absurd, but this eccentric genius must have a reason for asking.
So I planted my feet firmly and channeled all my strength into my arms and shoulders.
I swung at the tree as if performing a tee swing.
Crack!
The axe blade bit into the wood with a dull thud, but it didn’t penetrate deeply.
Instead, the impact sent a jolt through my wrist.
I clenched my teeth and swung the axe again.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Once, twice… five times.
Dull echoes rang through the Forest.
Sweat poured from my brow like rain, and my breath came in ragged gasps.
My arm and back muscles screamed in protest, yet the tree remained stubbornly intact—only its outer bark stripped away.
No sign of it splitting in two.
Despite pouring every ounce of strength into the effort, it felt as though all that power was leaking away uselessly.
Finally, after more than ten swings, I squeezed out one last desperate blow, and the axe blade finally bit deep into the tree’s core.
With a sharp crack, the wood split messily and toppled to both sides.
I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
My palms burned as if scorched, and my wrists throbbed with pain.
Yet something felt different.
Rather than crushing defeat, a sense of victory enveloped me.
Suddenly, I understood why this training exhilarated me.
‘I’ve never had an opportunity like this before.’
During those dark days when I’d hit rock bottom, the only training available was swinging at empty air.
But cutting through emptiness taught me nothing.
I couldn’t tell if my power was being transmitted properly.
I couldn’t sense its efficiency or anything else.
I could only rely on vague intuition.
But this solid wood was different.
‘It doesn’t lie.’
A flawed swing answered with dull impact and pain.
A slightly better swing rewarded me with deeper penetration.
This was the perfect sparring partner—better than any batting machine could ever be.
I sprang to my feet.
His eyes burned with the thrill of discovery and curiosity, all traces of fatigue from moments before completely vanished.
“Can I try cutting down another tree?”
Alex’s lips curved upward with satisfaction.
He shrugged his shoulders as if he had anticipated this.
“You want to get paid for the day?”
“No.”
“Then Jack over there will like you too. Cut as much as you want.”
That was when my real training began.
I no longer swung with brute force alone.
I widened my stance, experimented with rotating my hips first, and tried different approaches.
I adjusted the angle at which I lifted the axe, relaxed the tension in my arms, and attempted to let the axe fall using only its own weight.
Some swings still produced dull, heavy thuds.
But other swings occasionally cracked with a sharp, satisfying snap that made my ears sing.
Yet finding the rhythm was far from easy.
I clearly remembered that exhilarating sensation and tried to replicate the exact same arc, swinging the axe again.
But each time, only that dull thud echoed back.
‘I thought I swung exactly the same way…’
The results were completely different.
Of course they were.
Because I didn’t understand the principle itself—I had simply stumbled upon it by chance.
Yet not a trace of frustration could be found in my eyes.
‘If it’s not working, I’ll make it work.’
My characteristic determination was on full display.
About two hours passed like this.
“Hey! Take a break!”
I shook my head at Alex’s shout.
“Just a little longer.”
“R-really? Fine then.”
Alex clicked his tongue and leaned his back against the Tree Shade.
In truth, stubborn persistence now would yield nothing good.
Throughout all this, I had demonstrated that lightning-sharp, optimal swing dozens of times.
‘He probably wants to make that sensation completely his own.’
But brute force repetition wasn’t the answer.
Learning new movements isn’t the muscles’ job—it’s the brain’s.
Excessive repetition and fatigue only overload those neural circuits, hindering the path to discovery.
What I needed now was rest.
‘The brain needs time to organize and store that correct sensation he stumbled upon.’
That’s science.
‘And science is always right.’
But the reason he didn’t bother stopping me was simple.
I’ll give it a bit more time, and once I realize I’m wrong, I’ll stop.
At least, every ordinary human Alex had ever seen up to now had done exactly that.
But…
Soo-ho’s actions defied all common sense.
One hour passed, then two…
Even as the sun began to set and the workers at the Logging Camp one by one started putting away their equipment.
Soo-ho swung the axe without a single moment of rest.
‘Just a bit, he said…’
He had been swinging the axe for over five hours straight.
‘That… that bastard… what kind of grit does he have?’
Alex found himself jumping up from his chair without realizing it.
This was far beyond his expectations.
Though he had witnessed countless monstrous talents over decades, he had never seen this type of human before.
Could this even be called grit?
‘It’s closer to madness.’
What kind of life had he lived?
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon that seemed to mock all of Alex’s knowledge and common sense as the highest authority in this field.
Perhaps that’s why Alex’s lips curved upward.
‘That guy… he’s a genius.’
The Soo-ho he had seen in the video was clearly a mess.
But the one standing before him now was unmistakably a genius that appeared once in a decade, if at all.
‘It’s not that this type is rare these days.’
Genius wasn’t only attributed to those who accomplished everything with innate talent.
Through impossible repetition.
Those who turned the impossible into the possible were also geniuses.
And Soo-ho was clearly of that breed.
‘But if this goes on, what am I supposed to do?’
So why not help him a little?
Alex took off his formal suit jacket and walked toward Soo-ho.

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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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