The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 22

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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 22
#22.
The interview had ended.
As I turned to head toward the Dugout, the senior players who had been watching the interview hurried into the Locker Room.
“Huh?”
I was taken aback by their sudden departure.
Typically, after a rookie’s first interview, the veterans would pull some kind of prank, but they’d let me finish without any of that nonsense.
“Wait?”
That wasn’t it.
When I looked into the Dugout, I could see shaving cream smeared all over a towel. Seeing that, it was clear they had indeed prepared something.
‘It must be because of what I said in the interview.’
When I brought up my Daughter at the very end—the perfect moment for a punchline—they must have decided not to go through with the prank.
I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or relieved.
Still, there was one thing I could say for certain.
‘Thank you.’
I bowed my head quietly in my heart.
When I entered the Locker Room, several senior players greeted me awkwardly.
“Hey, you did well out there.”
“Go wash up quickly.”
“The sooner we leave, the more rest we can get.”
A few seniors who hadn’t spoken much to me these past few days patted my shoulder and backside.
Their faces looked freshly washed, but their eyes were red around the edges—they were clearly pretending not to notice.
“Yes, I’ll get ready right away.”
I headed to the Shower Room, and everyone was washing up and leaving in a rush. Several seniors looked at me with expressions of sympathy, pride, and admiration before they left.
Even the Three Hitters—the pitchers who’d come up to the 1st Team with me and were usually loud—washed up quietly and headed out first.
Since the interview meant I’d inevitably be the last one, I hurried through my shower, and when I came out of the Locker Room, Kang Do-bin was waiting for me.
“You did great out there.”
“Thank you, senior.”
“Back to ‘senior’ again?”
“Oh, Do-bin.”
Kang Do-bin greeted me with a smile.
Even though the game had ended, whether the tension hadn’t fully released or was only now fading, he was rubbing his body as if it ached everywhere.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh? Yeah. It’s been a while since I pitched in the 1st Team, so I think I pulled something.”
I suspected I might have had something to do with that.
That last curveball was one I’d signaled for, but it drove into Home Plate so hard it seemed excessive.
If that pitch had gotten away, it would have been a tie or a loss.
But I could throw it precisely because I trusted Do-bin that much.
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, Do-bin.”
“What did I do? You threw it well.”
As I packed up so quickly and headed outside, my eyes couldn’t help but widen in astonishment.
“Wow! It’s Kang Ho-jin!”
“I’m a fan of Kang Ho-jin!”
“Really! I’ll be your fan from today until you retire!”
“You were amazing today!”
A handful of small but precious fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Despite the late hour, they hadn’t gone home and waited for us.
They offered me their applause and cheers.
They could have asked for autographs, but instead they actively urged me to leave.
“Go on, get some rest!”
“Please sign for us next time.”
“It’s late tonight, and you need to get to the next away game.”
“But you have to do it for sure next time.”
Moved by their words, I bowed deeply in gratitude right there, and thanks to them, I was able to board the bus quickly.
“Come on, let’s get some rest.”
Everyone agreed with the captain’s words, and the bus quietly and smoothly pulled away from Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Gazing out at the Seoul night, I quietly waved my hand toward the hospital room far away where my daughter was sleeping.
‘I’ll be back soon.’
Sleep well, my beautiful daughter.
* * *
A grueling 6 hours and 32 minutes with 16 pitchers from both teams deployed and a staggering 36 points scored—the game ended with an interview no one had anticipated.
– Are you seriously making me cry like this here?!
└ I shed tears without realizing it from such unexpected words.
└ Mom’s crying right now and Dad’s eyes are getting teary. By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen Dad cry.
└ Wow… Usually people would hide something like this, or the Front Office would use it for promotional purposes.
└ This guy’s something else. Most people couldn’t talk about this so openly.
└ It just shows how much he regrets and how much he’s suffering.
└ As a father raising a daughter, I want to shout “Fighting!”
└ Even I probably couldn’t handle it if my daughter were sick.
Everyone who watched the broadcast was shocked.
On the other hand, they thought Kang Ho-jin was an extraordinary person. It could have been his weakness, and in a way, it was revealing his own mistakes.
Yet he brought it up confidently first, and his straightforward approach actually moved the fans’ hearts.
Especially for fathers with daughters, or parents with children, Kang Ho-jin’s words couldn’t help but resonate deeply.
– I really support you as a parent of one child, Kang Ho-jin.
└ I support you as a father of two daughters.
└ I support you as a father of twin daughters.
└ I really can’t help but support you as a father with a child!
└ If my child were in that situation, it wouldn’t be easy to keep my composure… I respect you even more, Kang Ho-jin.
└ Please show good character and great performances for your daughter when she wakes up.
└ We support you!
In that moment, the fans became one.
It didn’t matter which team you supported. All that remained was the image of a father standing on the Mound, striving with everything he had, and that sight moved everyone to cheer.
Anyone with a child, anyone who held the position of parent, couldn’t easily turn away. They understood how heavy that burden was, how difficult it must be, and they grasped just how hard it was to overcome such weight and step onto the Mound.
Of course, not everyone nodded in agreement with that sentiment.
– What’s this? A rookie selling his family to boost his reputation?
└ Honestly, it does feel that way. Doesn’t everyone work hard from that position?
└ It’s ultimately his own fault anyway.
└ If he’d just been careful once, this never would’ve happened.
└ Low-class emotional manipulation, no thanks.
└ Right. He should prove it with skill.
As always, wherever there were crowds, sharp-tongued comments inevitably mixed in.
But today, those comments couldn’t linger long.
It wasn’t just the Busan Dolphins fans.
Among those wearing other teams’ uniforms and singing different cheers, fathers with daughters began leaving comments one by one.
They didn’t try to explain themselves.
They didn’t attempt to argue.
They simply added words of encouragement from the same place, with the same heart.
And that voice was powerful enough to drown out the malice.
* * *
My first appearance with the 1st Team.
After that day passed—the day I recorded a clean save and gave an interview filled with my genuine heart—the first response came, surprisingly, from the Front Office.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Kang Ho-jin.”
“The pleasure is mine, General Manager.”
The previous General Manager had been fired, and Park Ju-ho was the newly appointed General Manager.
From what I heard, Park Ju-ho came as a direct appointment from the team owner.
He’d graduated from a prestigious overseas university and possessed considerable talent, having secured a position in the executive office at a remarkably young age.
Additionally, his consistent interest in baseball and the studying he’d done on the side had caught the Chairman’s attention, leading to his appointment as General Manager.
According to the Front Office’s assessment, he was characterized as someone with thorough business acumen and sharp, efficient work practices.
With clear performance-based advancement, the Front Office experienced dramatic shifts in hierarchy—those who had endured and persevered saw a ray of hope, while those who had been arrogant suddenly found themselves at the bottom.
Thanks to the call Manager Bong Jun-sik made directly to the team owner, even if the fans didn’t know it, the Front Office staff, the Manager in the field, and all the players could now compete in better condition than before.
That such a General Manager sought me out meant only one thing.
“I’d like to discuss a simple business matter.”
Looking at his face, it didn’t seem simple at all.
And as expected, this wasn’t a simple matter.
“First, understand that this is an instruction from above me.”
An instruction that came from above the General Manager—from the president or team owner.
In other words, an instruction from the Chairman.
Under normal circumstances, the Chairman would have been asleep by this hour, but that day was different.
It was a day when my heart inexplicably raced, and after the entire family gathered for the first time in a while to chat leisurely, I happened to turn on a baseball broadcast.
And not long after turning on that broadcast, my heart didn’t just flutter—it began riding a rollercoaster.
During the regular innings alone, an absurd batting spectacle that produced a staggering 36 runs unfolded, and throughout it all, emotions surged like a violent roller coaster ride.
Naturally, it was a situation that should have raised concerns about the Chairman’s health—an elderly man, after all—but surprisingly, the Chairman thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.
“You brats! Either play better or defend better from the start!”
He looked as though he’d been rejuvenated by decades. I realized that abstaining from baseball due to health concerns had only been causing him greater stress.
His face had flushed so deeply that even his complexion was visibly ruddy.
After the regular innings’ batting duel concluded and transitioned into extra innings with a tightly contested pitcher’s duel—a nerve-wracking game punctuated by explosive home runs and a flawless finish—the Chairman wore a satisfied smile, and when my heartfelt interview followed, an order came down immediately.
“Regarding your daughter’s hospital, it’s a facility affiliated with our parent company, so we’ve made arrangements to provide the highest level of care. A dedicated Nurse will be assigned at all times, and hospital expenses will now be covered under corporate benefits.”
In simple terms, the treatment in the Hospital Room had changed.
While it was difficult to change the Hospital Room itself, all medical supplies going into it would be replaced with premium-grade equipment.
Since my Parents’ income and my own had limitations, we’d been using the best we could afford, but it wasn’t top-tier. The medical supplies the General Manager was describing would be replaced with the highest grade used only by VIPs. Additionally, the Nurse would check in more frequently, and hospital expenses would be substantially reduced from current levels.
Naturally, this was the moment for tears of gratitude and the timing to be moved by corporate support, but there was an important point.
“It depends on how much effort I put in.”
“Exactly.”
In other words, this was a business relationship.
From the corporation’s perspective, it was only natural procedure.
To obtain these tremendous benefits, I only needed to do one thing.
‘Play baseball well.’
That was all.

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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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