The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 48

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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 48
#48.
The game had ended.
Once again, I smoothly transitioned into the post-game interview.
“We’re now with Kang Ho-jin, who achieved a quality start-plus with seven scoreless innings. Congratulations on the victory, pitcher.”
“Thank you.”
Meeting the Reporter again—the same one I’d seen at the Han River this morning—stirred an odd sense of amusement within me.
Her fragrance was distinctly noticeable, rich and heavy, as if she’d armed herself with confidence, yet it carried a refreshing quality that dispelled any pressure I might have felt.
“Your pitching today was exceptionally sharp, and your control was impeccable. Both those of us watching and the fans could feel how magnificent your performance was. How did you prepare for it?”
Her question carried a hint of personal interest, but I answered with ease.
I offered a brief response—that everything unfolded as planned, and I was satisfied with the result.
– You have acquired a Point.
I’d successfully earned another Point.
The game itself had concluded faster than expected, and today held something special.
“Ho-jin, you did well. Rest up and be ready for the game on Tuesday.”
“Thank you.”
The special part was that I could remain in Seoul instead of returning to Busan with the team.
I’d waited to see the seniors off, but they insisted I leave first, so I reluctantly stood up. After explaining the situation to the Captain and Kim Se-jin, I was able to exit the stadium.
“Son!”
“Oh my, our son!”
As I stepped outside the stadium, my Father and Mother greeted me warmly.
Watching my Father pat my right shoulder, saying I’d worked hard, and my Mother embrace me with joy, I felt genuinely pleased that I’d pitched well today.
“Let’s go then.”
We hailed a taxi outside the stadium and set off.
I’d expected we were heading straight home, but surprisingly, our destination was that meat restaurant we’d visited recently.
“Welcome! Pitcher Kang Ho-jin! Congratulations on the victory!”
“Congratulations!”
Nearly every table was filled, save for one, and the faces of many patrons glowed brightly.
Empty soju bottles surrounded the tables—evidence of considerable drinking—yet these people weren’t slurring or acting belligerent. Instead, they sat with genuine smiles, radiating pure joy.
“They’re all fans of yours. When they heard you’d be starting today, I spread the word and gathered everyone to cheer you on. You really worked hard out there.”
As I took my seat, the Restaurant Owner placed a grill filled with charcoal and set the metal plate on top, speaking as he did.
His words rang true—some held up my uniform requesting autographs, while others pulled out sheets of A4 paper and waited patiently.
I dutifully signed autographs for each fan and took photos with them, providing proper fan service.
Once the autographing was done, the Restaurant Owner, still standing beside the table, grilled generous portions of meat and offered them to me.
“You should eat it while it’s hot.”
He placed the meat on my plate, and I noticed my Parents’ plates were already heaped with meat.
“Thank you for taking care of us.”
“Oh no, not at all. For the Dolphins’ hope and future ace, I could grill meat like this every single day.”
His words gave me pause.
This wasn’t a joke—he was entirely sincere. I could see a faint gleam of fervor in his eyes.
Pretending not to know, I put the meat in my mouth—it truly was delicious.
The pork was so tender it melted on my tongue, and I found myself smiling at how soft the neck meat was.
Father picked up a shot glass with his samgyeopsal, and the other patrons followed suit, raising their glasses and shouting.
“Go Dolphins!”
They downed their shots in unison, letting out exclamations like “Ahhh!” or “Wow!” Even though everyone had already drunk quite a bit, the bottles kept circulating as if there was still room for more.
“Son, try this too.”
In the meantime, Mother was busy making sure I had plenty to eat.
Lettuce, perilla leaves on top, thin radish wrapping, three pieces of meat, raw garlic coated in sauce, and scallion threads all neatly wrapped together—it looked almost too big to eat in one bite.
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
I took it without hesitation and ate it.
It was a bit of a struggle, but since Mother had prepared it, I chewed and swallowed carefully. Looking around, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the television.
– K! K! K! Kang Ho-jin finishes this inning with three strikeouts!
– Wow, he’s really something today! The drop on those pitches is so sharp you can feel it even from the broadcast booth. Kang Ho-jin came in with his A-game today.
This was the highlight of today’s game.
‘Was it okay?’
What I was worried about wasn’t my performance.
The game had been just hours ago, and since I’d thrown the pitches on the mound, I already knew the result.
My parents had been at the Baseball Stadium, and the team owner had been watching.
For me, it was a day of throwing pitches in front of people precious to me and someone who was helping me protect them, so I’d concentrated harder than usual.
How should I put it? It wasn’t quite the same as before I returned to the past—not pushing myself down into that darkness below rock bottom—but it was reminiscent of that time. In any case, that’s how much I’d concentrated.
‘Thank goodness.’
Looking at my face captured on camera, it seemed fine.
My expression looked a bit sharp from the intense concentration, but at least it wasn’t scattered or unfocused, and it didn’t appear uncomfortable or unpleasant.
‘But… this is a first for me too.’
Before I returned to the past, I never watched the day’s highlights even after a game ended.
I’d go to bed early for proper rest, and during recovery, my attention was always on analyzing the next opponent—I never had time to appreciate how I’d pitched.
In fact, I’d only seen analysis data from when I got hit by a batter.
Data showing which pitch would have been optimal in that situation, which course I should have targeted, and why I got hit because I didn’t.
So my personal nerd, Jaybit, only showed me data, not my face.
‘Sometimes…’
It didn’t seem so bad to watch highlights like this.
And what was most interesting was the commentary from the Sports Commentators after the highlights ended.
– The perception that Kang Ho-jin’s pitch limit was 65 pitches has disappeared.
– In just two games, he hasn’t thrown over 100 pitches, but considering he threw 70 and still had power left, 100 seems well within reach.
First, let me explain about my pitch limit.
Looking at the games I’ve played in the 1st Team and 2nd Team so far, I rarely threw more than 65 pitches, or even 60.
That happened over several games, and when calculated from the accumulated data, my pitch limit came out to around 67 pitches.
Kim Deok-hwan, our team’s analyst, even designed my pitching strategy based on the assumption that my control would fail after 67 pitches.
But with recovery time and the points I’ve invested, I can throw more than that.
Frankly, I could have gone out in the eighth inning, but there was no reason to with the lead we already had, and the Manager thought the same way, so he prepared the Bullpen and we won comfortably.
It’s not just my victory—it’s a triumph born from the combined strength of the Bullpen, the batting lineup, and the entire Dolphins organization.
– Looking at the Dolphins’ recent performance, they’re operating at a level exceeding last year’s standards.
The statistical data was about to appear on screen.
“Son, eat more. Why aren’t you eating?”
“Oh, yes. I’ll eat.”
At my Mother’s call, I tore my gaze from the television and refocused on the meat before me.
Since I’m a pitcher who loses weight dramatically after games, my Mother kept encouraging me to eat, mindful of this reality.
It’s a kind of wisdom that comes with raising a pitcher son.
I smiled at the familiar sound of her voice.
– Looking solely at Kang Ho-jin’s games, his win rate is 100%. With the recent roster changes in the Dolphins organization, the team’s win rate has exceeded 70%. The second half of the season is truly something to anticipate.
That’s accurate.
From the second half onward, we’ll steadily climb higher.
Though there’s no hope for a postseason run this year, at least the Dolphins will transform into a team worth looking forward to next season.
The Dolphins highlight segment ended, and the broadcast was wrapping up with closing remarks.
Then, a surprising piece of news came through.
– This just in: Park Myung-hwan of the Daejeon Phoenix will rejoin the team starting in the second half of the season.
Everyone gasped in astonishment at the announcement.
“Oh! Park Myung-hwan is coming back?”
“One of the Phoenix games in the second half is going to be brutal.”
“He’s been through so much. It would’ve been perfect if we’d won the championship last year…”
“Come on! We need to win the championship first!”
“Well, he’s still a National Team pitcher who’s suffered through all this. It’s worth celebrating.”
“Park Myung-hwan especially—he’s earned everyone’s respect.”
Everyone had something to say about the returning player.
Park Myung-hwan.
A one-team man for the Daejeon Phoenix, a veteran who held the ace position far longer than Senior Pitcher Kim Se-jin ever did.
And the pitcher whose curveball formed the foundation of mine—the one I’ve strived to emulate.
‘I should pay my respects at least once.’
My curveball exists because of the one the Senior Pitcher throws.
He’s my hero, my mentor.
I found myself genuinely looking forward to facing the Daejeon Phoenix.
“Now, from somewhere far away~.”
A song suddenly echoed through the restaurant.
Hearing it, everyone burst into a group rendition, and despite the late hour, they sang without hesitation—which actually caught me off guard.
Then the Meat Restaurant owner, who’d been grilling meat at our table, suddenly shouted:
“The strongest! Dolphins!”
Ah, so this is just the atmosphere of this place, I thought, and couldn’t help but laugh.
After eating our fill thanks to the owner’s hospitality and settling the bill, I arrived home, lay on my bed, and gripped a baseball.
‘If only… we could continue like this… and Ye-jin…’
I hoped the day would come soon when my Daughter would open her eyes.
* * *
The next morning.
After finishing my preparations, I hurried to the hospital to see Ye-jin.
“Ye-jin, Dad’s here.”
My daughter still gave no response.
Yet her complexion was far better than when I first returned to the past.
It seemed different, perhaps because the team owner had arranged for her to receive far superior medications compared to what she had been administered and managed with before.
‘This means I have to work even harder.’
As the General Manager said, this was business.
To align our mutual conditions, I had to put in that much effort and show concrete results.
Right now, I could throw over seventy pitches, maybe one or two more.
Setting a baseline of roughly fifteen pitches per inning, that meant about five innings.
But since my goal was seven innings, I needed the stamina to throw over one hundred pitches.
‘Dad will really work hard.’
I gently stroked my sleeping daughter’s cheek, grasped her hand, and spoke those words.
I wanted to use the one point I had right now for my daughter immediately.
But for a long-term choice, I had to invest in myself, not my daughter. If I grew stronger now, I could earn points frantically in the latter half of the season, and with those points, I could extend my daughter’s life.
Since baseball typically ended in October and started at the end of March, I needed points to sustain her for five months.
“So… Ye-jin, you hang in there too.”
I gently arranged my sleeping daughter’s hair with my hand, brushing it to the side so it wouldn’t obstruct her vision if she opened her eyes, and placed a soft kiss on her exposed forehead.
Whoever’s daughter she was, she was truly beautiful.
The image of her opening her eyes and spreading both arms wide, calling out “Dad,” suddenly came to mind.
“Hic…”
I held my breath and couldn’t speak for a long while.
In the hospital room, only the faint, rhythmic sound of machines echoed softly.
Listening to that sound, I gripped my daughter’s hand tighter.
As if I couldn’t let go of something precious.
Ye-jin, who would be even more beautiful when she opened her eyes and spread both arms toward me, calling out Dad.
“Hic…”
I could only hold back my tears.

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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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