The Busan Oceans scout team meeting room was abuzz with activity, just days before the upcoming draft meeting.
The reason for all this commotion, even though the draft was just around the corner, was because of one statement from the general manager.
“We are completely revising our rookie draft strategy.”
After Kang Geon-woo, their original target, announced his decision to enter Major League Baseball, the Oceans had decided to select shortstop Yoo Byeong-seong in the first round.
It was a choice no one disagreed with. If it weren’t for Kang Geon-woo’s unbelievable prowess in both pitching and batting, Yoo Byeong-seong was a player more than worthy of being called as the first overall pick.
Had the draft been held under a regional priority system instead of a full draft, neither player would have been within Oceans’ reach.
In any case, although the front office staff who were hastily gathered for the sudden meeting were puzzled by the general manager’s behavior, they listened.
“General Manager, do you have another plan besides Yoo Byeong-seong...?”
At the general manager’s confident response, the staff erupted in cheers.
“The Oceans will call Kang Geon-woo as the first overall pick.”
“Kang Geon-woo?”
“Is that true?”
“You did it, General Manager!”
Park Joon-gi, the general manager, was infamous among his peers as a “watered-down” GM.
External evaluations reflected this, but even many of his subordinates harbored doubts about his abilities.
But now, he had succeeded in persuading Kang Geon-woo.
Honestly, it was something no one had expected.
“But.”
The general manager paused for a moment to draw attention, then continued speaking.
“This story must absolutely not leak outside. I originally intended to keep it a secret from you all until the day, but I’m telling you this because I trust you.”
If they could draft Kang Geon-woo, it was only right to rework their strategy from scratch.
Kang Geon-woo was an ace player, displaying solid defensive skills in all defensive positions, and was also currently the best hitter among amateurs.
A player every scout dreams of.
There were even rumors that a Major League team had offered him more than $2 million.
“If we draft Kang Geon-woo, do you think the Meteors will pick Yoo Byung-seong?”
At the scout team employee’s words, smiles spread across the faces of everyone gathered in the conference room.
The moment the Oceans called out Kang Geon-woo’s name, chaos would erupt in the draft room.
The Daejeon Meteors, who were likely to select Lee Min-ho, a left-handed pitcher from college with immediate potential, would have to quickly weigh their options between Yoo Byung-seong and Lee Min-ho.
They could still pick Lee Min-ho, but another team might end up selecting a player they hadn’t originally planned for.
Once something got thrown off somewhere, the rest would plunge into greater confusion.
“If we pull this off...”
In the draft, information was one of the greatest weapons.
And we’re the only ones who have it?
Among the 10 teams gathered in the draft room that day, the Oceans might be the only team to handle the situation calmly.
“We might even be able to draft one of Jeong Hyun-duk, Song Tae-woong, or Noh Kyung-woo in the second round.”
“Let’s run the simulation again.”
General Manager Park Joon-gi smiled contentedly as he looked at the suddenly energized staff. And by tomorrow, SMC would arrive.
Surely, after receiving a gift worth 200 million won, he wouldn’t betray us, would he? In a way, it was like a form of deposit.
Once SMC arrived, he planned to meet with Kang Geon-woo again.
What concerned him a little was that SMC was just a machine that produced data, but interpreting the data was what mattered. He wondered how Kang Geon-woo would be able to make use of that.
“Okay, let’s simulate, as if we’re picking one out of the three. First, Jeong Hyun-deok. Alright, if we pick him, what would the next choice be?”
Of course, it was just a minor concern. It wasn’t something that bothered him too much.
After all, he had done everything they asked, so there wouldn’t be any reason for them to blame him.
* * *
“Wow...”
Yuri couldn’t close her mouth, surprised by the unexpected gift.
“This is from Raypec, right? It’s the new model, isn’t it?”
Yuri, who is majoring in sports science at university, was my personal conditioning coach back when I was playing as a Major Leaguer.
Even though she’s still a university student now, she’ll become quite skilled in the future. Though part of her fame comes from working exclusively with me, there’s no doubt about her future abilities.
“You bought this? Where did you get the money?”
It was borrowed from Oceans.
I got this office space with money I borrowed from my father.
The general manager had urged me to keep it a secret, but I didn’t want to hide it from Yuri.
“Look, just listen carefully.”
“What is it, what is it? Did you win the lottery or something?”
“Oceans lent it to me.”
“Oceans?”
“I asked for one, and they gave it to me.”
“Are you really going to Oceans?”
“It’s a secret, but yeah, I’m going.”
Yuri couldn’t keep her mouth closed.
“They said they’d give 1.5 billion won.”
“1.5 billion?”
“Yeah. But it has to remain a secret until the draft.”
“...Can I even keep a secret?”
Her random but serious question made me burst into laughter without thinking. Now that I think about it, Yuri’s entire family were die-hard Oceans fans.
Since our parents were close, I remembered her father scolding mine, calling him a traitor when he switched his allegiance to the Pirates.
“Well, who knows.”
“Come on, Geon-woo. If I tell my family, 500 people will know within 10 minutes.”
“No way.”
“Really. Actually, it wouldn’t just be 500. It’d be 1,000. What am I saying? How long do you think it’ll take before it ends up on the sports news?”
Now that I think about it, wasn’t her father a high-ranking member of the Oceans fan club?
Her brother was a well-known user in the Oceans forum.
I vaguely remember hearing that her mother used to go by the nickname “The Twin Flags of Sajik-dong”* in her youth.
(T/N: I searched what could this mean but what I found was that the ‘twin flags’ was a symbol of Lotte Giants, a baseball team in Korea. While Sajik-dong was a place in Busan where the Sajik Baseball Stadium was located. Maybe Oceans replaced Lotte Giants in this story?)
“Oh, but if I don’t tell them, Mom, Dad, and my little brother will call me a traitor…”
Seeing Yuri looking downcast, I lightly tapped her on the shoulder and joked a bit.
“You know, they gave this to me under the condition of secrecy. If the news leaks, they might take it back.”
“Oh, now that I think about it, keeping it a secret might be better for your future, Geon-woo. And wouldn’t it be more exciting as a surprise? Right?”
It seems like the secret will be kept after all.
* * *
One of the surprising things I realized after returning to the past was just how weak my body was back then.
“Huff, huff.”
The fortunate thing is that I know exactly what kind of exercise I need.
Still, I didn’t combine exercise and diet management as ruthlessly as I did during my Major League days.
My brain and bones haven’t fully developed yet. I need to manage things a bit more flexibly.
The school baseball team has a somewhat disorganized atmosphere.
With the draft coming up, and the awkwardness of seeing the players for the first time in a while, it all feels a bit more that way.
Even when I was young, I wasn’t the most sociable person, so no one seems to think it’s strange that I didn’t interact much with those around me. Well, even if they did think it was strange, it wouldn’t really matter.
At school, it’s light training.
And whenever I have extra time, I work out on my own.
I meet Yuri for form correction using SMC and to strengthen my core.
When all the tasks for the day are done, I do nothing and just rest fully.
I thought my posture was completely ingrained in my body, but this young and undeveloped body is a bit different from what I expected.
“Hey, your elbow’s dropping a bit.”
“I’ll try again.”
I attach sensors all over my body, capturing every movement. Then, it tells me how the muscles in specific areas react, and when we analyze the data, we can pinpoint when unnecessary force is being applied.
“Wow. Look at you, Geon-woo. The strength in your thighs is no joke.”
According to the data Yuri pulled up, I’m putting too much strain on my left thigh.
It’s the same for pitching, but in batting, if you put too much force on just one area, the risk of injury increases.
“I’ll try again.”
After 20 swings, I work on gradually adjusting my movements by identifying the average and deviations.
I was worried that Yuri might get bored, but she didn’t. Despite how she looks, she’s totally into sports science. She insists she’s not just a trainer, but more of a scientist in the field. To me, it all seems pretty much the same.
Anyway, my top priority is finding balance by reducing the gap between my thoughts and physical reactions in terms of technical aspects.
The same goes for physical training. I need to balance aerobic exercise and strength improvement at an appropriate level.
Once I correct my posture to some extent using SMC, I go with Yuri to do Pilates to strengthen my core.
“Wow. You go to school, then SMC, and then exercise? Wow... so wholesome...”
“You were the one who asked for a favor.”
“Huh? A favor? What are you talking about?”
“You asked me to make Oceans win. I’m trying to make that happen, but should I take it easy?”
“Ah, why do you always say things like that? Who said I didn’t like it? I love it.”
We were chatting about this and that as we walked through the apartment complex, and then I ran into Yuri’s father. Well, he’s not my father-in-law yet, though.
“Hello!”
Maybe it’s the hormones taking me back to my childhood, but sometimes I can’t control my strength. I greeted him energetically when I saw him first, and Yuri’s father responded warmly.
“Wow, Geon-woo. Yuri. You two are always together these days. Are you getting married soon?”
“Dad. He’s still just a kid, you know?”
“Leave it to me, sir.”
“Haha, doesn’t seem like a kid to me! Look at his build. How could anyone call him a kid? He’s more than 30cm taller than you, Yuri.”
“What’s this about 30cm? It’s not that big a difference!”
“The exact difference is 24.8cm.”
“Don’t make me mad... seriously...”
Yuri’s father is a cheerful person.
Except when it comes to anything related to Oceans.
Ah, even when we were getting divorced, things were kind of like this.
“Father-in-law.”
“Yes. Are you asking for my daughter’s hand?”
Yuri sighed and shook her head. I whispered to my future father-in-law.
“I’m going to the Oceans.”
“What? Oceans? The Oceansss?”
I could see Yuri’s startled face.
“Hey, Kang Geon-woo. Wasn’t that supposed to be a total secret?”
“What? Oh dear, they say raising a daughter is pointless. Were you the only one who knew?”
“Please keep it a secret. Just until the announcement tomorrow for the draft.”
“Oh, Geon-woo. Of course! Do you know how much I’ve been secretly hoping... Obviously, I’m sincerely rooting for you, but become a legend for the Oceans, will you?”
“I’ll win the championship for the Oceans!”
“Ha ha ha! That’s the spirit! I’m in such a good mood! Geon-woo! Tell your dad to come out! I’ll treat everyone to beef!”
Since we’d already had dinner and worked out, I politely declined.
Instead, we decided that tomorrow, both our families would gather for a meal together.
“I’m dying to spill the beans. Yuri, what do we do?”
“I almost died, too.”
“To think you’d even keep a secret from your own father. My daughter, you’ve grown so ungrateful.”
I just laughed as I saw the father and daughter bickering while I saw them off at the elevator.
It’s nice. Feels human and warm.
But when we arrived in front of my house, I realized the secret might not stay hidden after all.
“What did you say?! Geon-woo is going to the Oceans?!”
The Twin Flags of Sajik-dong.
I could hear my future mother-in-law’s voice from downstairs.
Well, it should be fine.
They’re not the kind of people who would cause trouble on the internet or anything like that.
“Hey! Jeong Hyun-soo! Are you not going to put down your smartphone? You’re dead! You were trying to post something online, weren’t you?”
...Yuri will handle it well on her own.
