The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 3

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

Chapter 3
#03.
Exhilarating.
A thrill courses through my entire body.
Seeing goosebumps rise across my forearms, I feel oddly apologetic to the chicken I’ll eat tonight—as if we’re kindred spirits.
‘Ah, am I getting ahead of myself?’
I mustn’t act as though I’ve already won after throwing just one pitch.
Why, isn’t there a saying?
Baseball isn’t decided until the bottom of the ninth with two outs.
I’ve come far too far to celebrate prematurely after just one pitch.
Still, I can’t help but feel good.
I can sense that my pitching form from my prime is perfectly optimized for my body.
I lift my left leg not to my chest but to near my navel. Raise it too high and velocity drops; lower it and control wavers.
When extending my stride, I drive forward; during the windup, I rotate my body far faster than before, layering the rotational power of my lower body and hips as I drive ahead.
My release point is near my earlobe.
Neither as high as my younger days nor as low as the three-quarter arm slot I used in retirement—it’s the position that channels all the strength of my upper body.
Finally, the follow-through.
I compress all the force built up until now and release it explosively, pulling through my hips and shoulders while adding that final recoil to complete the motion.
“Strike! Two!”
The second pitch down the middle of the strike zone passes, and the batter watches in apparent shock.
‘Yes. This is it.’
The catcher’s steady catch, the umpire’s gesture, and the batter’s dumbfounded expression.
These three things are why I started playing baseball.
Since the pitcher must throw to begin and end the game, I took up baseball with the thought that I could dominate this space.
‘Though my reasons have changed now.’
I receive the ball from the catcher, grip it again inside my glove, and begin my next pitch.
The young me, the future me, and the me who has returned to the past—we all share one singular goal.
To record an out.
“Strike! Batter out!”
Three consecutive four-seam fastballs.
Watching the right-handed batter’s retreating figure as he merely extends his bat once at the three pitches lodged low and far outside, I cover my mouth with my glove and smile.
‘Yes, this is the taste I craved.’
Intoxicated by the addictive flavor that, once I step on the Mound, I can never abandon.
As the third batter approaches, Kang Do-bin’s sign comes in.
Inside, changeup.
Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t thrown anything but fastballs today.
I haven’t even thrown it during warm-ups, and I’ve only thrown it once since changing my pitching form, so seeing him request it strikes me as amusing.
I roll the ball in my glove, attempting to find the changeup grip.
‘Wait, which changeup did I throw back then?’
A changeup follows the same trajectory as a four-seam fastball before breaking near Home Plate and reducing speed—a type of off-speed pitch.
There were many varieties.
The Vulcan changeup that drops vertically, the circle changeup that exploited opposite-handed batters as a weakness, the three-finger changeup with modest drop but reliable control, and even the kick changeup that emerged in 2023—four different changeups came to mind.
Well, among these, the circle changeup was what I primarily threw, and with a right-handed batter now stepping into the box, I knew the circle changeup was the most fitting choice.
I gripped the ball and threw it toward the center of the zone.
“Hup!”
A shout escaped me unbidden, and the ball released naturally; the batter, as if he’d been waiting, extended his bat.
But my pitch appeared to head toward the center of the zone before dropping and curving away from the batter, catching the end of the bat cleanly.
Tick—!
Anyone could hear it was a foul ball, and the First Baseman moved forward to field it.
Now my job wasn’t to stand dumbly waiting for the out count to rise, but to move my body and sprint toward First Base for backup.
“Huff! Huff!”
Since my weight was already shifted toward First Base the moment I released the pitch for defensive support, there was no problem; I caught the ball the First Baseman threw with ease and stepped on First Base.
“Out!”
With the First Base umpire’s call, I moved toward our team’s Dugout without a care.
“Yeah! Nice pitching!”
“Good! Good!”
“Clean!”
In front of the Dugout, I high-fived the seniors and juniors welcoming me and the infielders after my pitching, then entered the Dugout.
“You’re… doing well….”
Among them, another senior from Kim Jin-ho’s group said that and extended his palm, which I tapped lightly as I passed.
True revenge isn’t spoken.
It’s proven through action, and that’s exactly what I just did.
“Phew….”
I sat comfortably on the bench and watched our team’s offense.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The trembling of my heart felt incredibly good.
* * *
Kang Ho-jin’s pitching extended seamlessly from the first inning through the third.
As if he’d become a completely different pitcher rather than the Kang Ho-jin from before, he displayed flawless pitching.
“Damn! This is insane!”
“His form is different, so the timing’s off!”
“Wait, he’s regaining his velocity all of a sudden?!”
“He was throwing in the low-to-mid 130s just recently!”
“When did he start throwing the circle changeup?!”
“And where did this curve come from all of a sudden?!”
The Gwangju Elephants players were in disarray.
It made sense—the Kang Ho-jin they’d seen in their scouting report when his name was locked into the starting lineup was an entirely different player from the one they now faced.
First, there was his pitching form.
It used to be extremely overhand.
But now he lowered his arm angle, throwing from an ambiguous point that was neither overhand nor three-quarter—quite troublesome for any batter.
That’s not all.
Until recently, my fastball had maxed out in the mid-130s kilometers per hour, but now I’m throwing into the low-140s.
The increased velocity is one thing, but the real issue is pitch quality and control.
I knew my stuff had weakened from the injury and rehabilitation, and my control wasn’t what it used to be, so I watched every pitch that seemed to drift outside the strike zone.
“Strike! Batter out!”
Yet Kang Ho-jin mocked those concerns with pitches that found the strike zone with precision.
With fastballs comprising nearly 70% of his arsenal, the changeup at 25% proved devastating against opposite-handed batters, while he toyed with same-handed hitters by mixing in his curveball.
Perhaps due to Kang Ho-jin’s completely transformed performance, the game remained remarkably competitive—contrary to the sports journalists’ predictions of Gwangju Elephants dominance.
And as the top of the fifth inning ended with three straight outs, Kang Ho-jin roared from the Mound.
“Arrgh!”
Fifty-eight pitches thrown so far, zero hits allowed, zero walks.
Having executed Manager Jang Si-hwan’s demands flawlessly, Kang Ho-jin returned to the Dugout.
“Kang Ho-jin.”
“Yes, Manager.”
“Prepare yourself for your start against the Wolves in five days.”
“Thank you.”
Thus Kang Ho-jin’s first appearance after returning to the past had concluded.
After that, the bottom of the fifth inning.
As if a long-blocked meridian had suddenly opened, the batters’ offensive breakthrough finally came.
In an instant, they manufactured a big inning, creating a 5-0 score, and the subsequent pitchers displayed their prowess on the Mound, methodically shutting down the opposition to secure victory.
Five innings pitched, fifty-eight pitches, zero hits allowed, zero walks.
It was the day Kang Ho-jin returned to the past and earned his first victory.
– You demonstrated outstanding performance in the game.
– Points have been awarded.
And it was also the first day I earned points.
* * *
Evening after the game.
The chicken restaurants near the Dormitory beside Sangdong Baseball Stadium enjoyed their first boom in ages.
Over fifty chicken orders came in all at once.
Five shops divided the orders among themselves, packed everything carefully, and delivered with service included.
Before the arriving chicken, everyone shouted.
“Let’s eat!”
An impromptu chicken party.
With chicken joined by pizza and other delivery food covering every surface, the Restaurant filled with the festive atmosphere of a celebration for the first time in ages, and everyone began eating with obvious joy.
“Damn! This is killer!”
“How long has it been since we had a team dinner?”
“This year’s first one, right?”
“Well, given our record…”
“1st Team and 2nd Team both…”
“Hey! Just enjoy it. Don’t think about the bad stuff.”
“Come on! A toast with cola!”
“Cheers!”
The cheerful atmosphere continued.
With today’s victory on top of everything, the mood was even better. Though there was no alcohol, everyone was delighted to have a team gathering after so long.
“Sigh….”
Of course, only one person sighed throughout the entire gathering.
It was Kim Jin-ho, who had lost the bet.
He had no choice but to buy chicken as promised, and not only did his wallet ache from the enormous expense, but his heart ached from losing the bet.
“Hey, I sent half the money.”
Kang Do-bin drove another blade into him with those words.
Kim Jin-ho felt bitter at the text saying he had actually sent the money, yet at the same time, a small sense of gratitude stirred within him.
“And Kang Ho-jin bought the pizza and drinks.”
At words that shattered even his pride, Kim Jin-ho’s vision darkened.
The junior he had once looked down upon had acted not with criticism, mockery, complaints, or resentment, but rather seized this very moment—and that made him feel all the more pathetic.
“I have nothing to say….”
That was the only thing Kim Jin-ho could say, and Kang Do-bin spoke to him.
“Man, you should try too. Kang Ho-jin is desperately fighting to survive even by changing his pitching form—how long are you going to keep this up?”
Since it was not wrong, Kim Jin-ho could say nothing.
All he could see was Kang Ho-jin over there, moving busily back and forth, taking care of his seniors and juniors.
It contrasted sharply with Kim Jin-ho himself, sitting gloomily in the corner.
“That guy is really cool….”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that too.”
Kang Ho-jin was beginning to earn recognition from the two Senior Veterans.

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