The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - 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
#85.
I arrived in Guam.
The moment I stepped off the plane, I felt the air was different.
“…It’s hot.”
It wasn’t simply a matter of temperature. The air clung to me with a thick, humid weight. With each breath I drew, my lungs felt saturated with moisture.
“First time?”
Myung-hwan asked from beside me.
“Yes.”
“You’ll adapt quickly.”
“I don’t think so.”
He chuckled softly.
“Everyone says that at first.”
Looking around, I could already see several seniors grimacing.
“Wow… this is pretty intense.”
“I can’t breathe.”
Complaints echoed from all directions.
That was when it happened.
“Drop your bags and assemble in ten minutes.”
Hyun-im’s terse command.
“We start today.”
No further explanation was given.
And as if this were obvious, the seniors began moving. Dong-guk and I, along with two other juniors, hurriedly followed them to the dormitory to unpack.
The sports field lay directly in front of the dormitory.
The facilities were modest.
It was roughly half the size of a baseball stadium, enclosed by netting to prevent balls from escaping, with a pitching area and batting cages set up.
Sunlight poured down relentlessly.
There was no wind, and the air felt heavy.
Simply standing still caused sweat to pour down my face.
“Full sprints. Twenty times.”
At those words, Hyun-im took off running first.
The first one.
I handled it easily.
The second.
Still manageable.
The fifth.
My breathing began to quicken.
The tenth.
My lungs burned with heat.
“Your pace is dropping.”
A calm voice presses down on my back.
Even though we’re all doing the same exercises, unlike the seniors who still have breathing room, I’m gasping for air.
The fifteenth rep.
My legs grow heavy.
The twentieth rep.
My vision blurs.
In that moment, a face suddenly comes to mind.
The Hospital Room.
A small body lying quietly.
‘…Ye-jin.’
Strength floods into my legs.
Thump.
I push forward again.
My breathing comes rough and ragged.
I lift my head.
It’s not just me.
Everyone wears the same expression.
The face of endurance.
“Today is just a warm-up.”
At those words, the seniors nod, while Dong-guk beside me and the two juniors stick their tongues out long.
“This is… just a warm-up?”
“Huff, huff. I feel like I’m dying?”
I say nothing.
I simply catch my breath and think.
‘This is good.’
I can grow stronger.
That’s enough.
Training has only just begun.
* * *
It’s been a week since arriving in Guam.
Hyun-im had been running us through warm-ups since we arrived, and now, exactly one week later, after this morning’s training ended, he spoke.
“Training’s done for today. Rest until tomorrow morning.”
At those words, everyone collapsed right there.
Just one week, and in that time, all the softness had vanished from everyone’s faces, replaced by sharp jawlines.
It wasn’t just fat that burned away.
With weight training running parallel, muscle mass began to increase naturally, and defined muscles were gradually forming on the bodies of the nine men here.
The seniors staggered off somewhere, while Dong-guk, the two juniors, and I remained collapsed on the ground.
“Ugh… I’m dying….”
Dong-guk doesn’t move a single finger, just gapes with his mouth.
I nod slightly in agreement, then glance to the side and ask.
“Myung-su, Woo-jin. Are you still alive?”
My two juniors couldn’t respond to my words, only gasping for breath.
Of everyone here, the two youngest were the ones closest to death.
Well, it made sense.
To be honest, even I, having returned to the past, thought I’d experienced countless training methods, but the way Hyun-im conducts training truly pushes people to their absolute limits.
What’s remarkable is that for each person, he stops just before they reach that point where they feel they’re truly dying.
Thanks to that, there was no overtraining, and because he stopped right at the edge of our limits, we were able to continue training without pause for an entire week.
“Senior Gu Hyun-im… you’re not joking around…”
At Dong-guk’s words, my two juniors finally nodded their heads.
They still seemed to lack the strength to speak, but their faces showed some relief at the prospect of being able to rest now.
As we sat there, barely catching our breath, and dragged our wobbly legs toward the dormitory, I spotted something remarkable.
“Huh?!”
“What?!”
“What is this!”
I couldn’t say anything and just stared straight ahead.
Incredibly, five seniors stood before us four—not only freshly washed but completely changed into new clothes, and they were impeccably groomed.
Simply put, they looked like tourists to anyone’s eyes, and they were already fully prepared to go out.
It was hard to believe they’d just done the same training as us.
“We old guys are going out to have fun. You young ones go have fun among yourselves.”
And with those words, the seniors actually left.
While our bodies could barely move, those seniors moved as if they weren’t even human, which was absurd.
I stared blankly at their retreating figures before speaking.
“Let’s at least wash up and change clothes.”
The three of them nodded obediently, and we decided to meet up a bit later.
Thirty minutes passed, and after we met and walked out of the dormitory with the intention of sightseeing around the area, within five minutes we all cried out.
“Let’s just rest.”
“I can’t walk.”
“This doesn’t seem right.”
At those words, I thought I could move a bit more, but I didn’t want to be the only one left out, so I eventually agreed and went back to the dormitory.
In the end, we chose survival over sightseeing.
We each returned to our private rooms and decided to rest on our own.
I too lay on my bed trying to sleep, but then I opened the photo album app on my phone.
I then forcibly moved my fingers and scrolled all the way down, and when I stopped, a single photograph appeared.
“Ye-ji, hello.”
My beloved wife.
Back then, when we were both still in high school, she was my girlfriend, smiling beside me with her fingers forming a V.
The memory of that day came back to me.
On the way home after class ended.
I had asked her.
“If we went on a honeymoon, where would you want to go?”
At that question, Ye-ji looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.
“Kimchi broth! We’re high school students now!”
I laughed and replied.
“In the Joseon Dynasty, we’d already be married.”
“What are you talking about?”
Looking exasperated, Ye-ji slowly walked forward again, and I quietly followed behind her.
“Hmm… I do want to visit Guam and Hawaii, but they feel kind of cliché, you know?”
As she said this, she slowly spun around as if lost in thought, then stopped.
“$^%$#@.”
She definitely said something.
And I responded like this.
“Sounds good? Perfect.”
I agreed right then and there.
I have a memory of us holding hands and walking, saying that when we got married, our honeymoon would be there, and we’d have fun together.
I definitely heard it.
I definitely need to remember it.
But it doesn’t come to mind.
And in that moment, I realized something.
If my Wife ran away leaving me and my Daughter behind, she definitely would have gone there.
If I could recall this, I might be able to find my Wife.
But I can’t think of it or remember it at all.
“Damn it….”
A curse genuinely escaped my lips.
I was furious that I couldn’t remember the most crucial clue.
Please… help me remember….
I scanned through the photos with sad eyes, searching for someone who might answer my plea.
With the hope that I might remember something, anything.
But the next day came, and I still couldn’t recall anything.
Boom—!
My fist flew out.
I’m so angry.
* * *
In the second week of Spring Training, technical training began to mix in alongside physical conditioning.
To be precise, Park Myung-hwan and the other pitchers were still focused solely on physical training, but Gu Hyun-im alone began coaching the younger players instead of doing individual training.
“All three of you. Your basic fitness isn’t bad. Especially considering you’ve kept up with us this far.”
Ra Dong-guk, Park Woo-jin, and Hyun Myung-su didn’t agree with that assessment.
They hadn’t kept up—they’d been dragged along.
It wasn’t against their will, but rather by their own choice, yet they’d endured driven by the anxiety of being kicked out and the fear of falling behind without gaining anything after all this hardship.
“That reason alone is enough.”
Gu Hyun-im said it was sufficient.
As long as there was a sense of purpose, this place wouldn’t be wasted.
And from that afternoon, the three of them began batting practice.
What I could teach them was fundamentally the batting mechanics.
From there, it was their own responsibility to internalize that mechanism and find their direction. I couldn’t chart an entirely unique path for each of them, but ensuring they didn’t fall into bad habits—that was the reason Hyun-im created this place.
The reason we dove into batting practice quickly was that we’d soon begin pitching gradually, and with five pitchers and three catchers, time was tight.
Even if each pitcher threw just fifty pitches, that was two hundred fifty total.
But those had to be divided among the three of them, and considering they’d be receiving pitches not just for a day or two but throughout the entire training period, time was desperately short.
That’s why the Three Hitters’ batting practice progressed rapidly.
Of course, the five pitchers weren’t just doing physical conditioning.
Each had their own signature pitch.
Park Myung-hwan had the curveball.
Kim Se-jin had the forkball.
Byun Hee-su had the changeup.
Ga Jin-heo had the slider.
Each possessed pitches with their own unique techniques, and they began individual research to utilize them more actively this season.
In the process, they shared their signature pitches with one another.
How to grip it, how to throw it, what the purpose of the throw was.
But these four were all different.
Two were left-handed and two were right-handed. Already divided there, but two threw overhand while the remaining two threw three-quarter and sidearm.
In the end, even the same pitch could be thrown in at least four different ways.
And all the knowledge, techniques, and methods of their pitches concentrated on a single person.
That person was none other than Kang Ho-jin.
He began receiving instruction one person at a time, learning the pitches created from four seniors’ personal techniques and their own unique styles.
This was an incredible learning opportunity for Kang Ho-jin.
I could learn invaluable things that others couldn’t easily acquire even with money, and the chance to learn all day long with someone right beside me was itself a gift.
Throughout the learning, my eyes showed me something.
– You can spend points to receive Kim Se-jin’s Forkball (A).
– You can spend points to receive Ga Jin-heo’s Slider (S).
– You can spend points to receive Byun Hee-su’s Changeup (A).
– You are learning the Changeup pitch.
– Upon receiving Byun Hee-su’s Changeup, your rank will increase.
My jaw dropped and I couldn’t close 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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