Absolute on the Mound Prologue & Chapter 1

When Lee Jinyong first picked up a baseball glove, he had three dreams.

The first was to be a professional baseball player, the second was to enter the MLB, and the third was to personally meet the one called the ruler of the major leagues, the great pitcher Kim Jin Ho.

But despite Lee Jinyong’s three dreams, he would give up baseball in the winter of his 2nd year of high school, and these three dreams of his would become distant memories to reminisce about on long days.

However, at this moment, one of those dreams had come true.

— Hey you! Are you able to see me?

“Ki-Kim Jinho?”

Kim Jinho.

In his 11 seasons of playing in the major leagues, he had won 5 Cy Young awards.

In his short 11 seasons of playing, he was the man who had won 215 t.i.tles and had reigned over the major leagues as a ruler.

“Oh my G.o.d, You… for sure, 10 years ago…”

To be precise, exactly ten years ago on December 2006 he had died in a car accident, marking the end of his legend.

— 10 years have pa.s.sed since I died?

The man, who had appeared like a ghost, was in front of Lee Jinyong’s eyes.

— But, what is that? Do you guys get things like that these days?’

In fact, Kim Jinho wasn’t the only thing that Lee Jinyong could see.

“Huh?” Lee Jinyong said, confused.

— What is that? There’s a translucent holographic window in front of you.

“A hologram window?”

[Baseball Manager Starts]

‘f.u.c.k! What is this!’

— Oh, come on! That surprised me! Hey! Why are you like this all of a sudden?’

‘No, that is… What on earth is this?’

— Oi! I’m the one who asked!

‘……This is crazy.’

Chapter 1: I See Ghosts

For those who dream of becoming professional baseball players, there are 3 major hurdles: Talent, injury, and money.

For most would-be professional baseball players, they are unable to overcome these 3 hurdles and thus choose to give up.

“No, Father.”

“What?”

“I only asked for gloves, spikes, and a few b.a.l.l.s. What’s with all this other stuff you sent?”

Lee Jinyong was one of them.

He was one of the many people who had given up on their dreams of becoming a professional baseball player after being unable to overcome these hurdles.

It was just that.

His height, which had been taller than his peers in elementary school, was no different from his peers in middle school and in high school he was faced with a physical hurdle, falling short compared to his peers.

To overcome the hurdle of talent he had tenaciously and repeatedly trained himself only to be met with another hurdle called injury.

And with that injury, when his father got into an accident that put him in the sickbed, as the head of the household, Jinyong was faced with taking care of his father, mother, and younger sister. Lee Jinyong could not overcome the final hurdle and gave up pursuing professional baseball.

That was about 6 years ago.

“You’re happy, right?”

“Happy? What is there to be happy about? Rather what were you doing not throwing this away?”

“Rascal, why would I throw that away?”

“I’m just saying… There’s nothing good about it… You should throw away what needs to be thrown away. Anyways, I’ll be throwing this away.”

“This! This! Jinyong, this rascal!”

“Ah, I don’t know. I’m just letting you know I’m throwing this away.”

During these six years, the boy who had dreamt of becoming a pro-baseball player had now become a very ordinary salaryman in South Korea who had to serve his employer like an emperor.

It was the same this time too.

Tsk

The feelings of frustration and repulsion were more than the memories and fondness for that thing called baseball and it was not out of Lee Jinyong’s own free will that he had come face to face with it again.

Ah, really… The CEO, where did this guy hear that I had played compet.i.tive baseball in high school? He’s making such a fuss.

It was his majesty, the emperor, the one we had to serve and the head of the factory. That his hobby was baseball was the start of this whole situation.

All this while, the truth that Jinyong had played baseball during his high school days had been well hidden, whomever he had heard the truth from, the boss had suddenly called for Lee Jinyong.  

He then asked Jinyong to throw the ball during this weekend’s friendly match with another factory’s baseball team.

Lee Jinyong couldn’t immediately adjust to this sudden disaster. He soon started to make various excuses that he had already prepared.

He started by saying that he had stopped playing due to an injury.

That it had been more than 6 years since he had stopped playing.

He said that during those 6 years he had not once held a ball between his thumb and index finger.

Crazy CEO.

The boss then delightedly said, “Since you haven’t thrown in 6 years shouldn’t your injury be better? Then it shouldn’t affect you!”

Was that something to say to somebody who had to quit baseball for 6 years due to an injury? Is that what something a human with a functioning brain should say?

Even though they were ridiculous words, the boss’ eyes were saying, Why is this b.a.s.t.a.r.d talking so much? Then, Lee Jinyong got the signal there was only one thing he could say.

He had come all this way so what could he do about it? Go for it!

Those words immediately made the boss’ face crinkle up into a big smile and he soon started talking to another company’s boss.

So Lee Jinyong could hear, he spoke in a very clear and bright voice.

“CEO Park! How much are you betting for next week’s match? A hundred? No~ Why is CEO Park so timid? Bet 3 million, 3 million! What? Oh, please mercenary? How is that unscrupulous? Obviously it’s a friendly match between employees so of course only company employees will play. You even know some of our players’ CEO Park. Yeah, we should do it like that. 3 million. Deal!”

Thanks to the phone call, Lee Jinyong quickly grasped the situation.

People who played community baseball believed that people who played compet.i.tive baseball in high school were some sort of sword master in a fantasy novel. Had he actually been a sword master he would have gone pro, he wouldn’t be a factory employee getting 200 a month.

With the fact that Lee Jinyong had played compet.i.tively alone, the CEO had believed in him and bet 3 million.

d.a.m.nit, I’ve been led by the nose. At this rate if I mess up the match… There’s only a month and a half left until the end of the year. What’s with all this bulls.h.i.+t?

Obviously, if that 3 million won fell into old CEO Park’s pockets because of Lee Jinyong, there would be a very big storm in his everyday life.

s.h.i.+t, this is crazy.

Anyway, that was how the chips had fallen and how Lee Jinyong was forced to pick them up and fix things.

Just in case, he called his father to ask him about his old baseball equipment and to send them if they were still there.

With those words, his father who loved baseball more than beer and who hadn’t thrown away but had collected all of his son’s baseball equipment into a jam-packed box sent it to Jinyong’s narrow-fitting one room apartment.

That was the story up until now.

Sigh…

In this unstable situation, Lee Jinyong recalled what position he was in and let out a deep long breath.

Huh?

With that, Lee Jinyong’s gaze s.h.i.+fted towards the box that had two cases filled to the brim.

In the cube-shaped cases, there was one preciously packed baseball ball.

Lee Jinyong grabbed the cases with his hands and when he saw the ball that was inside was a signed major league ball he couldn’t help but bitterly smile.

Huh. It’s Kim Jinho’s signed ball.

It was evidence of what once was Lee Jinyong’s dreams, hopes, fantasies and his everything.

Has it already been ten years?

At the same time, it was a reminder of Lee Jinyong’s miserable reality.

Who would have thought that Kim Jinho who had reigned over the major league and who would have without question gotten his name into the hall of fame had he had 10 more years as part of the starting line-up would have his career short lived in a car accident.

The fragility of human life…

Lee Jinyong felt that no matter how great you were, you could lose everything in life due to one accident, and that was the truth.

“Kim Jinho…”

The emptiness whispered back

— Oh, who called for me?

That was the reply that he heard.

— What is this? Whaaat? Why is my body like this? Why is my body suddenly as transparent as spit? No, wait a minute. I died? I’m sure I died, but why am I here now?

He could see him with that reply.

— Eh? And who are you?

“Oh? Oh? Oh!”

— Yo-you there, can you see me?’

“Ki-Kim Jinho?”

Kim Jinho.

“Oh my G.o.d, You… for sure, 10 years ago…”

— Has 10 years gone by since I died? But what is that? Do you guys get things like that these days?’

“Huh?”

— What is that? That translucent holographic window in front of you.

“A holographic window?”

[Baseball Manager Begins]

And with that Lee Jinyong had acquired a new ability.

[Current points: 0.]

[Chance to use bronze roulette: 1.]

[Points needed to run roulette is as follows.]

[Bronze roulette – 1000 points.]

[Silver roulette – 5000 points.]

[Gold roulette – 10,000 points.]

[Platinum roulette – 50,000 points.]

[Diamond roulette – 100,000 points.]

Lee Jinyong sat in his chair he’d squeezed into the one bedroom apartment that barely fit his bed. After staring at the holographic window for a while, he clasped his face with his hands.

— Wow~ I know about this! I read it in a novel! This is a gaming ability right? This was actually real?!

Lee Jinyong heard the voice of one who was once been his everything, the one who had reigned as the ruler of the major league: Kim Jinho.

— Kyaa! I’m jealous, I’m really jealous. If I had something like this I could have changed the Cy Young Award records. No, because I did 11 seasons would that have been difficult? Let’s see… Cy Young total career wins was 511, he pitched more than 7,300 total innings, so if in 11 seasons….. Every season you should have 47 wins, so 663 innings should be enough. In one season if you throw with both hands, one hand can take 330 innings, and in pennant race innings, with 160 games it comes to about 80 games. If you pitch a complete game, about 40 games should do the trick.

Of course that wasn’t the case now.

“Kim Jinho”

It didn’t take long for the person he’d always wanted to meet and shake hands with to become a noisy disturbance as an apparition.

“Please be quiet.”

— Why?

“You know I’m really disturbed right now? For the sake of my sanity can you please shut up?”

— Ah, Sorry.

“If you know that then could you please close your mouth?”

It was to that extent.

Kim Jinho. So far, he was way too noisy.

Of course, he didn’t have the slightest of intentions to keep quiet just because of Lee Jinyong’s few words.

— Wait. There’s nothing for me to be sorry about. Hey rascal, even if you roll in the s.h.i.+t fields and have a good reason, the you who is alive and the me who has turned into a ghost, who do you think would be more disturbed?

“What did you just say?”

— Isn’t that the truth though? And besides, why do you have so many complaints for a topic that’s already over with?

“No, if a ghost that you’ve never seen your entire life and a game-like ability appears suddenly in front of your eyes, would you, Kim Jinho, be able to calmly accept that?”

— I would have calmly called my agent and asked him to schedule a meeting with a psychiatrist for me. Without reporters knowing. Without the paparazzi knowing. If you get caught with something like that, those club fellows would fuss about it during annual negotiations. If you feel your body is a little weak and you eat ginseng, they would say that there appears to be something wrong with your stamina so we’d like to use our options. Oh, if you get caught doping you can forfeit salary negotiation, okay? It was like that, but I managed to achieve success.

Oh goodness!

Lee Jinyong who made a bitter sound at that moment remembered.

“This is crazy. How did this type of person manage to get nicknamed ‘Silent a.s.sa.s.sin’?”

— Silent a.s.sa.s.sin? Ah, my nickname during my first season.

Kim Jinho let out a bright smile as he reminisced.

— Rascal, I studied just baseball for 12 years straight since elementary school; a dude who didn’t know how to spell strike was thrown into the major league. Do you think it’s normal for me to have a lot of words to say? If not, is it sane to keep your mouth shut and just let things pa.s.s?

Huh?

Instead of asking, Lee Jinyong looked at him with eyes asking what could he do about it.

Kim Jinho looked at Lee Jinyong’s disinterested reaction and then continued the conversation.

— Ah, also if you’re wondering how I got the nickname, when you get three strikes (strikeout) they call out a K right? I thought that stood for Killer. Anyways, by chance before I came out as a starter for the Oakland Athletics I once hit a golden sombrero. But do you know what the first baseman who looked at me with a forced smile that seemed fishy said?

In fact, he took up the batting form and through his lively swings and gestures you could see and feel the confidence in his words and liveliness.  

— Think about it. An Asian rookie pitcher got a hit and went to first base during his first major league season. What do you think that muscular white jerk would say while smiling bitterly? Don’t you think he’d criticize my parents? No, even then he could talk about my parents but it wouldn’t be anything good. Wouldn’t that annoy you? So that’s why I politely warned that guy. That next time at bat I would get three hits off of him.

At that moment, Lee Jinyong replied unknowingly.

“I kill you?”

— Correct! That’s why my nickname was Silent a.s.sa.s.sin. Hey,the first baseman was Mark at the time. I remember!

“Mark?”

— You know? Big Build Mark. Big Mac.

“Mark McGwire?”

— Yeah. Anyways, I got all 3 strikeouts from that guy that day. After that I told them that anecdote in the locker room. Then I told them about Mark’s words and what I said to him in front of reporters. The reporters were expressionless and interpreter Sehyung’s face went white.   

“Wait, Kim Jinho’s debut season….”

— Let’s see… Since it was my debut season it was in ‘96.

At that point Mark had already made 50 homeruns. He must have been doping. I guarantee it.

Lee Jinyong blurted out without thinking at Kim Jinho’s words.

“You’re-You’re right. It was revealed in the Mitch.e.l.l report in 2007, and in 2010 he himself confessed that he’d had been on steroids.”

— f.u.c.k I knew I was right! That son of a b.i.t.c.h! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, that’s why even for payoff pitches they’d go all the way to the outfield fence. When I saw that I had a hunch. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d either did drugs or used magic like Harry Potter.

“But he said that he didn’t do any drugs during his time with the Oaklands.”

— He sure is bulls.h.i.+tting. And you believed him? If you believe that you’d believe the Cubs won the champs too.

“Oh, that is….”

Lee Jinyong tried to move on from the subject but then realized something.

What stupid thing had he been doing all along.

“Ah, this is crazy. No, have I already gone crazy?”

Lee Jinyong immediately started to let out groans.

Kim Jinho saw Lee Jinyong like that and asked

— What’s making you let out such a deep sigh?

“I already told you. That I’m seeing something that I’ve never seen in my life before. If anyone else was in this situation they’d think it abnormal.”

— Isn’t it a chance? Look carefully? This is a game system, right? If you gain points and turn the roulette your ability goes up right?

“But you don’t know for sure that I’m not seeing a phantom. That I’m holding onto a person who’s pa.s.sed away, who has become a ghost and I’m having a conversation with them. Usually more than 119 (Emergency) people would be reported to 112 (police).”

— Then you can just test it, can’t you? If this is real or not. From what I can see you’ve got a one-time chance at the bronze roulette.

“Huh?”

— If it’s real, it’s good, if it not… you have a problem. But then again what can you do? If that happens then just accept all of this as fate and take medication until you die and devote yourself to treatment. Hey, I think that it’d be funny if you could see me because you’re messed up in the head.

After hearing those words, Lee Jinyong’s confidence rose and he looked at the baseball manager hologram.