Chapter 17


Chapter 17 – Lonely Christmas 02


‘I must show something great . If not, it’ll be a big shame on me . ’


Gun Choi stood up and hailed a cab .


“Where to?”


Gun Choi showed the memo that Gordon gave him to the driver .


“To here . ”


The driver wondered about Gun Choi’s Cubs uniform .


“We don’t have Cubs fans here . Are you from Chicago?”


“I’m a player for the Cubs, not a fan . ”


The driver opened his eyes widely as he was introduced to an Asian amor leaguer .


“Are you really? You’re only wearing the top . ”


“I signed a contract today and I’ll be starting next year . And I didn’t get the pants yet . ”


Gordon didn’t prepare pants because he wasn’t sure about the contract .


The uniform was a spare authentic jersey . Gordon gave it to Gun Choi after the signing .


The driver thought Gun Choi was Japanese so he started to talk about his grand-father’s service in the war .


Gun Choi agreed with the driver . Then the driver realized that Gun Choi wasn’t Japanese .


“Are you from China?”


“No, I’m from Korea . ”


The driver nodded his head .


“You’re from the same country as Hyun-Jin Cha .


The most well-known player in the south-west was likely Hyun-Jin Cha from the LA Dodgers .


“Yes, I am . ”


The driver also talked about his grandfather’s participation in the Korean war .


After around 20 minutes of driving, a series of ballparks came into view .


Gun Choi smiled at the grand scale of America .


‘If these ball park were in Korea, the cost would be very high . ’


He paid the fare and tip, and exited the taxi .


“Wow…pretty spacious . Clean air . ’


Gun Choi stretched his arms and took a deep breath .


“Will I see you on TV next year?”


The driver rolled down a window and asked him .


Gun Choi nodded his head .


“Of course . ”


“Ok, it’s time to get serious . ”


Beep . Beep .


Gun Choi opened his eyes with difficulty .


He had a hard time waking up after he arrived in Arizona .


Maybe he needed more time to recover from his jet lag .


“Little more… just a little more…’


He tossed and turned for 3 minutes, and woke up rubbing his eyes .


“To be a Major Leaguer, I can’t let myself be defeated by tiredness . ”


He ran to the bathroom and cleaned his face with cold water .


Then he became fully awake .


“Bull pen, I’ve never been in the bull pen until AAA . ”


He didn’t have any intention to stay in the bullpen .


“1 year is enough . ’


His intention was to stay in the bullpen for a year, until he got noticed by the others .


He went outside and the warm sunshine blinded him .


“I need to do basic physical training until the instructor comes . ”


Gun Choi jogged 3 km around a field .


He didn’t run fast, but he started to sweat and it made him more vigorous .


A custodian and some people looked at him curiously .


‘It must look weird . No Major Leaguer practices in November . ’


After jogging, Gun Choi knocked on the door of custodian’s building .


According to the announcement, breakfast started at 8 am .


“Hello?”


He knocked twice .


A man finally showed up .


Gun Choi had almost been about to shout .


‘Well, who is this?’


A man with a long beard asked .


“Gun Choi?”


“Yes, that’s me . ”


“Come in . ”


As he came in, three people were eating a breakfast at the table .


Bread, soup, and eggs .


It was a very regular breakfast .


The man introduced himself as Hardy, and offered Gun Choi an empty seat .


“Do you need to practice alone?”


Gun Choi shook his head and said .


“An instructor will be here . ”


“Really?”


Hardy smiled and put some eggs on Gun Choi’s plate .


The food was not super, but not bad .


“Lunch is served at noon, and there’s no dinner . ”


“What? No dinner?”


“There are some restaurants in the town of Reeku, it’s about 3 miles to the south . ”


Gun Choi was at a loss because he didn’t have a car .


“I don’t have a car . ”


Bank, a custodian of ball field, shrugged and mentioned .


“3km, it is a walkable distance, isn’t it?”


About 30 min walking .


There was no reason not to walk, but an hour round trip was waste of time .


In the middle of Gun Choi’s worry, a message popped up .


-Repetition mission: Walk to the town of Reeku .


Condition: Repeat daily .


Rewards: Points will be given upon completion .


Gun Choi was excited to get rewards only by walking to Reeku .


‘It’s so easy . ’


He nodded his head as like he accepted the difficulty .


“You are right . I can walk . It’s not bad, I can even save money . ”


Bank was confused .


“R-right?”


“Yes . ”


Bank thought Gun Choi was not an easy match .


Bank wanted to measure him by questioning him . But Bank get puzzled when Gun Choi listened to


him seriously .


“Come with me . I’ll show you a field . ”


Gun Choi followed him as he finished breakfast .


Bank opened a fence which was at the far left and talked to him .


“You can use this field until 5pm . When you’re done, or need to leave early, please return the key to the


office . ”


“Ok . ”


Gun Choi nodded and got a key .


Gun Choi didn’t have any special feeling towards Bank, but Bank thought Gun Choi was special .


‘Is he the type of person who can’t see anything other than a baseball? If so, he’ll be in the


Major Leagues soon . That type of player enters into the Major Leagues . ’


As Bank left, Gun Choi started to practice .


25 meters of running .


Leg stretching .


Center movement training with one foot .


Long stride position repetition .


Shadow pitching with a towel .


As he finished 5 courses, it was almost 12 pm .


“System, any increased abilities?”


-No increased abilities .


Gun Choi shrugged his shoulder .


“No increased abilities with only one day training?”


In the afternoon, he trained to adapt himself to the Major Leagues official ball .


He tried to get a feeling for its grip by pitching lightly, not by strong pitching .


The Major Leagues official ball had a more slippery surface than a domestic ball . This made lots of pitchers have a hard time .


“I got the feeling for the change-up, but a slider…”


After he finished grip training, he went to the office .


Bank tilted his head as he checked a watch . It was earlier than expected .


“Are you already done?”


Gun Choi nodded and returned the key .


“Because I need to go Reeku . ”


Bank told him quietly .


“It is little far, but the trail is a good walk . ”


“Ok . ”


As he hit the road, he could see a sign which said 2 miles to Reeku .


“Ok, let’s go . ’


Gun Choi was encouraged at that point so he decided to run .


‘I can reduce recovery time by up to 30% with my skill up . So I can recover within 2 months, instead of 3 . ’


Even if it’s not supernatural, fast recovery was a blessing for any player .




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