The Genius Hitter Who Conquered America - Chapter 85

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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 85
Inside a hotel room.
On the TV screen, Mark was hoisting the championship trophy aloft, his voice ringing out in celebration.
But Ji-su’s gaze—the reporter perched on the edge of the bed—remained fixed not on the champion, but on Soo-ho standing behind him with that characteristic gentle smile.
“Honestly… there’s no stopping him.”
Ji-su let out a soft laugh, her eyes drifting to the laptop resting on her knees.
On the screen was a draft article, frozen just before she could hit send.
[A Fallen Genius Rises Spectacularly in Baseball’s Heartland.]
The headline alone dripped with gravitas.
The content was a human drama unto itself.
Released from the Korean Professional Baseball Minor League.
A promising prospect’s despair and determination, cast adrift.
A story written in just three months—arriving in America with nothing, only to achieve a Low-A championship and All-Star selection like a miracle.
This alone was enough to shake the Korean baseball community to its core.
But.
‘This isn’t enough anymore.’
Ji-su reconsidered as she watched the home run derby broadcast.
The performance Soo-ho had just displayed.
A batting practice pitcher for the hitters?
No.
That was a clear show of force.
The precision to mechanically plant fastballs approaching 140 kilometers per hour.
Not merely someone who could throw—but a balance that rivaled any active professional pitcher.
‘There’s more to add.’
Ji-su moved her mouse cursor to a folder tucked in the corner of her desktop.
[Oh Soo-ho_Amateur_Materials].
A Pandora’s box of photographs and videos she had collected five years ago when she first covered Soo-ho.
Without hesitation, she clicked on one of the videos.
In the grainy footage, a high school Soo-ho stood on the mound, his uniform caked with dirt.
His frame was lean, but his eyes burned with intensity.
He was both the team’s cleanup hitter and ace pitcher.
The Soo-ho in the video wound up and released the ball.
A sharp crack echoed as it struck the catcher’s glove.
Even the scouts back then had noted that his pitching talent was first-round caliber—merely overshadowed by his exceptional hitting ability.
That brilliance was captured in perfect clarity on the screen.
‘That’s right. I’d forgotten.’
Oh Soo-ho was not a half-baked hitter.
He was a baseball prodigy—gifted at throwing, hitting, and running all at once.
Ji-su’s fingers began to dance across the keyboard.
This was no mere comeback story.
How this talent, overlooked by Korea, was evolving into a terrifying monster on American soil.
The article meticulously documented not only his batting prowess but also the resurgence of his potential as a pitcher.
[…He took the mound as a batting practice pitcher, but local scouts were left speechless. Despite years having passed since his transition to hitting, his arm remained alive. Perhaps we are witnessing the birth of two-way Oh Soo-ho, not merely a hitter.]
It was classic sensationalism.
Soo-ho wasn’t actually pursuing both pitching and hitting simultaneously.
Right now, he was only preparing as a hitter.
But what harm could come from a journalist stirring up a little buzz?
With the final sentence revised, Ji-su smiled with satisfaction.
Her fingers pressed down with conviction as she reached for the send button.
‘Korea is going to lose its mind over this.’
Ji-su smiled contentedly and hit the submit button.
Soon, Korean baseball communities would be flooded with stories about Soo-ho.
Traffic would explode, and her own reputation would rise accordingly.
But her fingers didn’t stop.
‘He asked me to spread the word in America too.’
A request Soo-ho had made at the end of their interview.
Truthfully, from Ji-su’s perspective, breaking the story in Korea alone would already be a massive win.
After all, she worked for KBN, and her salary came from Korea.
But this was different.
Soo-ho wasn’t just a source—he was the benefactor who had created a turning point in her journalism career.
If that was what he desperately wanted, the least she could do was lay the groundwork with everything she had.
‘In American baseball, players with star power have an enormous advantage.’
When skill is equal, teams always choose the player with a compelling story.
The marketability to draw fans, sell merchandise, and capture media attention.
That star power could be the decisive key to securing a spot in Major League Baseball.
Of course, the road ahead was still long.
But they say the beginning is half the battle.
‘I can’t just sit idle.’
Ji-su immediately activated her VPN.
Then she logged into major communities where American baseball enthusiasts gathered—Reddit, MLB Forums, and others.
She set aside her journalist credentials and thoroughly disguised herself as an ordinary baseball fan.
She typed out a provocative headline.
[WTF? This guy Suho was a total genius?]
A clickbait title designed to draw clicks.
But the content was concise, packed with hard facts that hit the mark.
-Hey guys, look at this. I was digging through some Korean articles because of the Home Run Derby and I found this.
She attached two links. One was the article she had just filed: [The Fallen Genius’s Resurrection].
The other was from five years ago—the [Orphan Syndrome] article and video of a high school Soo-ho in a dirt-covered uniform pitching in relief.
Her own article.
Just use auto-translate. Basically, he was an Ace pitcher AND a cleanup hitter in HS. A legit Two-Way player.
And he pitched 87 mph as a BP pitcher? Insane.
After pressing the confirm button, the post was registered.
Ji-su smiled to herself.
A small spark had been lit.
Now it was up to American baseball enthusiasts to determine how brightly this flame would spread.
* * *
Outside the stadium, the fervor of the home run derby still lingering in the air.
Soo-ho’s footsteps halted as he made his way toward the team bus to head to the lodging. Flashes of light exploded before his eyes.
“Oh Soo-ho! Look over here, please!”
“Your pitching today was truly impressive!”
Dozens of camera flashes and microphones surged toward him.
Though Mark was undoubtedly the home run derby champion, the on-site journalists’ attention was entirely focused on the mysterious BP pitcher, Soo-ho.
The article and community responses that Ji-su had posted had already spread to the field reporters.
Soo-ho, of course, had no idea this was the work of Reporter Ji-su.
‘What… what is this?’
However, American baseball enthusiasts—
Those known as nerds should never be underestimated.
They were people absolutely obsessed with baseball.
It took only 10 minutes for Ji-su’s post to reach the trending section.
In that brief span, they ran translation software to excavate Soo-ho’s high school records, dug up a 144p-resolution pitching video buried deep in YouTube’s archives, converted it into GIFs, and spread it everywhere.
It was only natural that the field reporters’ smartphones erupted with notifications.
They were more sensitive to the scent of a scoop than sharks—there was no way they’d miss this bait.
‘Hm… this wasn’t what I intended.’
Yet Soo-ho looked around with an awkward expression.
Today’s spotlight should have belonged to Mark, not him.
‘Mark chose me as his partner out of pure goodwill.’
If he stole all the spotlight, wouldn’t that be a betrayal?
Could his friend possibly be hurt?
Soo-ho hurriedly scanned beyond the crowd.
‘Hmm… he’s still the home run derby champion, after all.’
Soo-ho exhaled in relief.
Fortunately, it was an unfounded worry.
Some distance away, Mark stood surrounded by numerous reporters, clutching the trophy and beaming with a broad smile.
He even gave Soo-ho a thumbs up while looking his way.
As if to say: You’re doing great, buddy!
‘Phew.’
Soo-ho exhaled in relief.
At the same time, his gaze settled into calm focus.
Mark had set the stage.
It would be disrespectful to overturn this perfect setup.
No, for his own sake, he had to seize this opportunity no matter what.
‘That’s right. Strike while the iron is hot.’
Soo-ho steadied himself and smiled toward the journalists.
It was a signal that he was ready.
The barrage of questions began immediately.
“Is it true you were an ace pitcher in Korea?”
“Looking at the pitches you threw today, your talent as a pitcher seems incredible. Are you perhaps preparing to be a two-way player in Major League Baseball as well?”
Ah….
Soo-ho nodded.
‘The fact that questions about Korea are coming up means Ji-su really pulled some strings for me.’
Understanding why the situation was unfolding this way, Soo-ho felt considerably more at ease.
Now he needed to focus on the interview.
This was his chance to make himself known.
First, his potential as a pitcher.
He answered the question that was bound to come up.
“No. I’m a batter.”
As the journalists looked puzzled, Soo-ho calmly elaborated.
“Korean amateur baseball doesn’t have as broad a player pool as the United States. So it’s quite common for athletically gifted players to play both batter and pitcher for their team. I was simply one of them.”
He didn’t inflate his past glory.
He showed humility by mentioning the realistic environmental differences.
But the journalists’ eyes still gleamed with interest.
A player who did something so common had just displayed 87 mph fastballs with perfect control—they clearly weren’t about to let this go.
Because the journalists weren’t fools.
Soo-ho had been a batting practice pitcher.
Did a batting practice pitcher ever throw at full strength?
Absolutely not.
Eighty-seven miles was what he threw while holding back.
Which meant if he threw with all his might?
He’d easily exceed 90 mph.
That meant he possessed talent exceeding 150 km/h.
This was the moment that revealed why Soo-ho had the arm as one of his five-tool strengths.
“Then what about here in America? You have no intention of trying pitching?”
At the persistent question, Soo-ho paused for a moment.
If he flatly said no, he’d come across as uninteresting.
If he said yes, he’d seem arrogant.
So he chose the most clever answer.
“Well, right now I’m focused on restructuring my batting mechanics, so I don’t have the capacity. Reaching my peak as a batter comes first.”
That much was a textbook response.
But Soo-ho deliberately left the door open.
“However… after that, it’s something I could certainly consider.”
“After that? And what’s your reason?”
“Because it’s the United States.”
Soo-ho glanced around and shrugged his shoulders.
“Isn’t the United States the place with the world’s most advanced system and environment in baseball? It may have been difficult in Korea, but within this nation’s sophisticated system, wouldn’t even the impossible become possible?”
The journalists’ faces brightened.
They nodded and pressed his words into their notebooks with their pens.
Soo-ho’s intention was crystal clear.
This was a form of American praise.
Regardless of the truth, Americans loved hearing that their system was the world’s best.
Especially the arrogant Major League officials.
An outsider like myself scratching their pride and acknowledging them.
That alone was enough for me to be classified as a likable player.
In short, I was precisely stroking the nationalism and pride of Americans.
‘Call it cunning if you will.’
To survive, skill was merely the foundation—you had to cultivate allies too.
Soo-ho watched the journalists filling their notebooks with a satisfied expression and felt certain.
By tomorrow morning, my name would be circulating in the articles.
This was the moment my exceptional mental acuity would shine.
It was clear why some called me a wizard or a prophet.
‘But I can’t stop here.’
I would pour fuel on this small spark and make it blaze.
So I had to raise my own value even higher.
Therefore.
‘MVP. I absolutely must win it.’

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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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