The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 1

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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 1
#00.
I lived within regret.
There were countless regrets.
When I invested in someone only to be betrayed, when the Coach convinced me to change my pitching form and my shoulder deteriorated, when the Manager forced me to master new pitch types and my elbow gave out, when my Wife placed our Daughter in my arms and left without my holding her back, when I failed to honor my Parents who gave me life and raised me—these were the regrets that haunted me.
But the greatest regret of all was that moment when I turned away even as my Daughter was dying.
“Ye-jin…”
I stand now before the Columbarium.
My Daughter’s bright, smiling face gazes at me from within a framed photograph.
It was taken on the way to buy fish-shaped pastries before she was admitted to the Hospital.
From that day forward, my Daughter could no longer walk properly, speak, or breathe on her own.
Day after day, she depended on medical equipment in the Hospital Room, and knowing full well it was consuming my arms and shoulders, I threw pitches from the Mound for her sake.
I had to perform to earn money, and with that money, I could afford her medical treatment.
That was what I told myself—that it was all for my Daughter.
But my Daughter always reached out for me.
“I miss you.”
“You were amazing today.”
“Dad is the best.”
“I want to see you pitch at the Baseball Stadium in person soon.”
“I love you.”
These were the words I heard from my Daughter every time we spoke.
But I always responded with only a brief “me too” before hurrying to end the call and immersing myself in training and video analysis.
Perhaps that was why.
I became the ace who led my Team to championship, posting over fifteen wins each season and wearing championship rings on my fingers.
But it all proved meaningless.
In the end, my Daughter could not endure and left this world.
In that moment, I felt the sky collapse.
Everything was meaningless. There was no reason to live.
My baseball career existed solely to save my Daughter, and with her gone, even the reason to step onto the Mound had vanished.
It was a dream that lifted me from despair.
My healthy Daughter came running into my arms and said:
“Dad, you’re most amazing when you’re on the Mound.”
I held my Daughter and wept bitterly.
“I’m sorry… for not being there with you…”
Regret, longing, and apology intertwined as I continued to apologize.
My Daughter quietly stroked my head.
“Be strong, Dad. I’ll be watching over you.”
With those words, the dream faded.
And I returned to the Mound.
To become the “amazing Dad” my Daughter had always wanted, I threw the ball once more from the place where I could shine brightest.
But the emptiness in my heart remained unfilled.
Even when I led my team to championship victories, even when I advanced to the Major League and claimed the World Series crown and the Cy Young Award, I still lived in the shadow of regret.
After decades spent on the Mound, I had now retired, and for the first time in ages, I visited my Daughter’s Columbarium.
If only I could see that smile again.
If only there were a way to heal my Daughter again.
I would have sold my very soul to stop living this life of regret and instead truly live for my Daughter.
“Ye-jin… *sob*… *sob*….”
I clutched the paper crane my Daughter had given me in her final moments.
A tiny origami crane, painstakingly folded over three hours with an arm that could barely move.
It was my talisman and my Daughter’s gift—after she left this world, I placed it in the Columbarium alongside her.
Holding it, I wept bitterly once more.
‘Ye-jin, I’m sorry. Dad made a mistake. If only I could go back, I would do everything right….’
As I repeated regrets I’d lost count of, a strange voice echoed from somewhere within my mind.
– One hundred thousand regrets have been confirmed.
– Regression conditions met. A status window for your Daughter’s treatment has been granted.
– Returning to the past.
My vision flooded with darkness, and the world dissolved away.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a Hospital Room.
My Daughter, sleeping.
And before me, I stood.
#01.
I was bewildered.
What in the world was happening?
My Daughter lay sleeping.
My chest rises and falls. Proof that she’s alive.
That alone is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
‘Ye-jin….’
The last image I remembered of my Daughter was devastating.
Thick IV needles protruded from her forearms, an oxygen mask hung at her lips, and her frame had withered from chemotherapy and prolonged hospitalization.
Yet all I could remember was how she tried her best to smile for me, no matter what.
Despite the agony she must have endured, she was the one who worried about me—and I, her father, repaid her with cruelty and avoidance.
Just seeing her caused me pain.
I felt sorry that I could do nothing for her, ashamed that I was her father, and so I fled.
The result was that I wasn’t at her bedside when she died—I was on the Mound instead. When I finally arrived, she was already cold, and all I could do was weep and drown in regret.
But now it was different.
Thump-! Thump-!
I hear my Daughter’s heartbeat.
Though the rhythm was slower than a normal pulse, it was unmistakably proof that her heart was beating.
Warmth-!
Warmth radiated from my fingertips.
The memory of that cold hand I’d held last time came flooding back, and tears poured down uncontrollably.
But this time is different. It’s warm. She’s alive.
As I gazed upon my daughter, I could see something obscuring my vision floating before my eyes.
[Status Window]
What I called a status window wasn’t just one—there were two floating before me.
The first one visible was the status window dwelling within my daughter’s heart.
[Kang Ye-jin]
– Stamina: 0
– Special Condition: Terminal diagnosis from rare disease. D-100 days remaining.
– Probability of Consciousness Recovery: 0%
Tears poured down in torrents.
That was it.
From today onward, my daughter would endure exactly one hundred days before closing her eyes forever.
How did I know? Because the calendar floating before my eyes had revealed today’s date.
April 21st, 2029.
The day she received her terminal diagnosis, the last day I stood by her side, and the day my regrets began.
Tick—! Tick—!
Time was flowing slowly.
If a hundred days pass, this life will repeat again, so I must change to prevent that.
‘They said I was definitely given something for treating my daughter.’
Though invisible now, I haven’t forgotten that message which echoed through my mind and appeared before my eyes.
So I must find it.
Because that will be the salvation for both my daughter and me.
As I glanced around, I saw not my daughter’s status window, but my own.
[Kang Ho-jin]
– Maximum Stamina: 58
– Peak Fastball Velocity: 138km
– Pitches Possessed: Four-Seam Fastball (D), Changeup (E), Curveball (F)
– Skills Possessed: Healing (S)
– Special Condition: Elbow strain, shoulder overuse
– Remaining Points: 1
The moment I saw the status window, I understood.
‘My body was already broken….’
No, truthfully, I already knew.
After several injuries, I’d lost velocity and stamina—this is what I’ve become.
When I first signed, as a left-handed pitcher I’d reached 150km at my peak, displaying control and potential as a fireballer, which earned me a first-round selection in the professional draft.
Right after signing, the pitching coach told me:
“You’re immediate reinforcement material. Build up your physical foundation first.”
I nodded at those words.
They seemed like obvious advice.
Drafted in the first round as a left-handed pitcher with a maximum fastball velocity of 150 kilometers per hour, I possessed the potential of a dominant left-handed fireballer—and so people placed their hopes upon my shoulders, calling me “the future of the Baseball Team.”
I took pride in that, and so I pushed myself harder, never allowing myself to rest.
“Just hold on a little longer. I was used to this much back in high school.”
That became my habitual refrain.
But my body was honest.
My shoulder grew increasingly sore, my elbow throbbed with pain. The ball began slipping from my fingertips, sailing past the catcher’s mitt into places I couldn’t reach.
That day, the Coach’s expression hardened.
“If your control is wavering, at least increase your velocity!”
I threw harder. Faster, more forcefully.
Then came a sharp crack, and I felt my arm tear apart.
Everything crumbled after that.
Rehabilitation, pain, injury upon injury.
I spent more time in the Hospital than on the Mound.
I didn’t know it then.
I believed that enduring and persevering was grit, but in truth, I was devouring my own body.
‘If only it had ended there…’
But ahead of me lay two more catastrophic injuries.
Elbow tendinitis struck a year later, and though my shoulder recovered through rehabilitation and I seemed to secure a spot in the starting rotation, it ruptured not long after.
I spent roughly two years on the operating table and in rehabilitation, and those days were even more hellish than hell itself—compounded by the devastating loss of my Daughter.
Next, what came into view was my retained skills.
[Healing (S)]
– Consume points to heal a target.
– Healable targets:
1. Kang Ye-jin
2. Kang Ho-jin
Simple and concise. The explanation made it immediately clear how to use it.
Without hesitation, I selected healing for Ye-jin.
– Consume points to heal? Y/N
I pressed Y without a moment’s thought, and my remaining points were consumed.
At that same instant, changes appeared in Ye-jin’s status window.
[Kang Ye-jin]
– Vitality: 1
– Special Condition: Afflicted with a rare disease; limited lifespan. D-200 days.
– Consciousness Recovery Probability: 1%
Her vitality had increased.
More importantly, her consciousness recovery probability had risen to 1%. My Daughter, who would have closed her eyes forever as a terminal patient, now had a chance to recover.
“Ah…”
Tears streamed down my face.
Even if it was only 1%, it was an endless night made bearable—a single thread of light.
I wept with gratitude, keeping vigil by my Daughter’s side through the night.
* * *
I stepped out of the hospital room and settled into a seat on the train bound for Busan.
“Phew… Let me organize my thoughts for a moment.”
My mind was in complete chaos.
Not only had I returned to the past, but I’d also obtained a way to treat my daughter’s condition.
This alone was enough to send my heart racing wildly and flood my mind with the emotions of my regret-filled previous life, leaving no room for any other thoughts.
Now that there was a possibility of my daughter’s recovery, I needed to calm myself and methodically organize what had happened yesterday.
First, let me check my status window again.
I’d thought about it before, but my body’s condition wasn’t particularly good.
‘So I was already falling apart at this point.’
Back in high school, I’d forcibly changed my pitching form, which had worn down my shoulder, and the accumulated damage from forcing out breaking pitches had taken its toll on my elbow.
If I continued throwing like this, I’d end up in the same situation as before I returned to the past.
The fortunate part was that I remembered the pitching form most optimized for my body. And I also knew that my current physical condition and stamina were nowhere near sufficient for that.
‘First, I need to build stamina. That’s the priority.’
My current stamina was 58.
The moment I saw that number, I understood what it meant—it represented the number of pitches I could properly control.
In reality, my control remained decent up to around 60 pitches, but after that, I’d throw wildly. Wild pitches were common, and the ball would often head toward the batter’s body.
The Manager, knowing that my limit was around 60 pitches, frequently suggested changing my position from starting pitcher to the bullpen, and this was precisely the time period when he’d make that suggestion.
‘To earn points, starting pitcher is definitely the advantage.’
The system had kindly explained how to earn points when my remaining points hit zero.
– How to Earn Points
1. When delivering the most outstanding performance in a game.
2. When making a decisive contribution in a game.
3. When breaking personal records or setting new records.
Essentially, points could only be earned by performing at the level of a game MVP in virtually every match.
By that standard, batters had the advantage over pitchers.
It was true that batters, who could play in every game, had an advantage over pitchers—whether starting pitchers who maintained their rotation and took the mound once or twice a week, the Clutch Team who only pitched when conditions guaranteed victory, or the Chase Team who pitched when the team was far behind or in situational circumstances.
But could I perform at an MVP level if I switched to batting now? Not a chance. I had no idea how long it would take just to master defensive training and integrate proper hitting mechanics.
Then it made sense to continue excelling as a pitcher, just as I had before returning to the past.
‘No, actually, this is the certain answer.’
Before returning to the past, I’d reached my peak as a pitcher.
I’d won the MVP award in Korea and received the Golden Glove.
In the Major League, where I challenged myself after turning thirty, I recorded double-digit wins in my first year, and in the next year, I led my team to the World Series and even won the championship, performing as the team’s ace.
Over five years, I was the ace who led four consecutive World Series championships, and I confidently returned to Korea.
Five years in Korea, five years in the Major League—I carried ten years of experience and know-how in my mind, and all I needed to do was reintegrate it into my body.
‘My heart is racing.’
It was a pounding that mixed tension and excitement.
I wanted to throw a pitch as soon as possible.
And for good reason—my body had returned to what it was in my youth, unmarred by surgical scars.
Of course, it wasn’t perfectly healthy; my elbow and shoulder tingled slightly, but that level of pain hardly registered as pain to me.
Rather, it was a pain that made me feel alive, one that sharpened my mind to crystalline clarity. I had to steel myself—the suffering that lay ahead would dwarf what I endured now, and I could not afford to falter.
With renewed mental acuity, I descended at Busan Station and made my way toward Sangdong.
Despite having traveled by dawn train, I remained perilously close to missing training and had to hurry.
Standing before the Sangdong Baseball Stadium after arriving by taxi, I patted my cheeks and made my vow.
‘Alright. I’m starting over.’
The moment I stepped into this stadium, I would not be returning to a life consumed by regret—instead, I would dedicate myself to building a new world of hope with my Daughter.
And that first step was happening right now.
Thump—!
That single step was the end of regret and the beginning of hope.

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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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