Chapter 482 – Episode 474. 2025 Media Day.

Ta – Aak!

The white baseball becomes a dot and disappears outside the fence. This is the fourth home run in the exhibition game. Because it was an exhibition game, there were a lot of substitutions, and I wasn’t batting often because I was trying to find a new strike zone, but it was always nice to feel the taste of a home run like this.

“Meng Hao, you worked hard. “Is this all for today?”

“Yes. I don’t care.”

Dugout returns after hitting a home run. The manager asked if I wanted to be replaced, so I nodded willingly and sat in the dugout. This is the end of today’s game. And my exhibition match ended with this.

My performance in the exhibition game was 8 hits in 18 at-bats, 4 home runs, and 12 walks. In the meantime, he struck out eight, but it seemed like the strike zone was somewhat mapped out in his head. Definitely one more ball than the previous season? Does it seem like it has expanded somewhat?

Depending on the referee, there were some referees who had their feet widened by 1.5, but that didn’t seem to be a problem since it could be corrected during the game, and it wasn’t important because I didn’t expect the referees to make sharp decisions in the first place.

‘Whoa, now it’s really starting.’

The team’s record during the exhibition game was 4th place. But I wasn’t particularly worried. This was the result of experimenting with a variety of players, and there were no clubs that gave their best in exhibition games in the first place.

However, perhaps due to the expanded strike zone, batting performance throughout the league was poor. Is the performance expected to be a two-goal loss? Well, we can only find out once we get into the regular season.

“Then thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, it was hard. “I’m being strict about taking a break tomorrow, so don’t wander around.”

Anyway, even after I left, the team was able to maintain the score gap and win the final exhibition game. I hit a home run in my last at-bat and got the win, so I felt like I could go into the regular season with good memories.

“Meng Hao, come here.”

As I was organizing the equipment, the director called me.

“Yes!”

“You know that I’m going to media day with Jincheol, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

Media Day. It is an important event in which each team’s manager and key players announce the start of the season in front of reporters. This time, I also got to participate in the event, which usually features the captain, well-spoken players, and important players on the team.

“Really, just answer what is asked. Just in case, don’t bring up things like women, sex, etc. “Understand, right?”

“Oh, of course. “I am not a child.”

“Ha, it’s because I’m worried, I’m worried. Meng Hao, you can’t get into an accident, right?”

The director sighed and said, but his worries were clearly unfounded. Because I was already fully prepared.

“Of course. Director, don’t you trust me?”

“Anyway, please don’t cause an accident. It’s live. “Understand, right?”

“Just trust me. Director!”

“… I get it. Rest well today.”

“Yes! May the director rest in peace too!”

Why did the director’s hot gaze pierce me when I answered that I knew? I thought about it, but couldn’t find an answer.

‘Well, I guess I can practice with Soyoung today too.’

*

“Oh, Brother Meng Hao is here?”

“Hey, are you the Jjambap that comes out in places like this?”

“Brother, I had the most wins on the team last year. Don’t you know the 100-mile man? “When I go to a restaurant in Gwangju, I don’t even get paid for my food.”

“Just because you have the most wins doesn’t mean the team can’t go to fall baseball.”

Jang Woo-joo came to the media day when only the representative players of each team came. I felt like the future Buffaloes’ rankings for this season were clearly visible, so I expressed my condolences in my heart. As I looked around the stadium, I saw familiar faces.

Starting with Hwasan’s Seong-hyun and Lee Yong-gi, there are seniors that I saw a lot on the national team, such as Charlotte’s Kang Han-beom, Hancheol’s Kim Jeong-hyeon, and UG’s Jin-mo Koo. Plus…,

“Meng Hao, the universe is screwing up behind you.”

Even my friend Wonho.

“Leave it alone. If you don’t have skills, that’s what happens.”

“My brother is really…”

When there was no reaction to swearing behind him, a relieved Woo-joo came out and came to Won-ho’s side,

“Evil! Brother!”

I gave him a kick to the ass.

“They seem to be getting along well?”

“Does this look like a good relationship to Wonho?”

“Haha, anyway, it’s nice to see my classmates in a place like this.”

As Wonho said, the three of us were the last of the younger people. Most of them were team captains and players who had even become free agents. Being able to get to this position even at a young age shows that you have definite skills.

‘They came too, I would have been embarrassed if they hadn’t come.’

I’m glad that Soyoung changed her direction from mysticism to image making. It would have been quite embarrassing if I hadn’t been there when Wonho and Woo Joo came.

“Bro, what does the strike zone look like to hitters?”

“Well, it got wider.”

“Hey, isn’t AT going to fail? AT has a strong batting lineup, but their bullpen is a bit weak.”

Last year’s 6th place team was worried about the winning team. I was astonished by his words and just raised my middle finger.

“Hey, what are you saying?”

“Well, I didn’t say anything I didn’t mean to say. “Brother, aren’t there a lot of worries within the team as well?”

“Don’t worry, baby. “I am there.”

“Oh… ! Confidence? I’m really looking forward to this season. MVP Because I’m going to eat it.”

Jang Woo-joo Where does this guy get this confidence from? That thought occurred to me for a moment, but I also thought that it would be difficult for a kid who throws 160 and lacks confidence.

“But are you okay?”

“Me? Why?”

“There are more kids in the league who throw 160 degrees. “You’re weak, but aren’t all the hitters adapting and blowing away your balls?”

“What are you talking about! “Brother, I gained 10 kg of muscle this time.”

“How dare you gain 10 kg in 2–3 months if you didn’t have any muscles in your body, you little anchovy?”

“I’m not an anchovy!”

I don’t know if it’s true or a bluff to say that he gained 10 kg of muscle, but it certainly seemed like Woo Joo’s body, which used to look like an anchovy after about 3 years, had become quite presentable. Wonho must have been exercising hard all winter and has bulked up… I couldn’t meet them during the exhibition game, but I wanted to quickly hit their balls.

‘It’s especially sweet to see this bastard in Woo-ju getting frustrated. When was there a match with Mi-rae?’

“But I guess you didn’t exercise that hard? “Not much has changed since last year?”

“Well, if you raise him any further, there will be problems with his quickness, and he’s an infielder, so I don’t really recommend it. If the trainer raises him more, I think he should go to first base or Gita. “I heard it’s a miracle that he can even show such athleticism in this body right now?”

Although I wanted to increase my physical strength, it is not a good thing to have so much muscle in the position of second baseman, so I tried to maintain the same weight this season as last season.

Well, if I were to change my position, the club would create a position that didn’t exist, but I was a little attached to the second base position, perhaps because of Rossby’s memory or because I had a lot of good memories since I started playing second base.

“… You don’t grow anymore. “I lost some stamina while playing defense.”

“Wow, it looks like Meng Hao will be a little tougher if he gets bigger and just hits.”

Well, even if I didn’t get any taller, there was no problem passing the ball. To be honest, it was quite difficult to eat to maintain this weight during the season, so I thought bulking up would be difficult.

“Brother, but please touch my biceps just once. “I’m really screwed these days?”

“Go away. Why do I touch men’s flesh? Go away, you bastard.”

“Players! The event starts soon, so get ready now!”

While I was talking with my classmates, it was almost time for the event to start.

“Then, get ready to go first. Bottom-tier teams.”

The order of entry into the event venue is the reverse of the previous year’s ranking. After sending the losers away, I returned to where senior Jincheol was waiting.

“What are you talking about that is so interesting? Are you excited to meet your classmates?”

“Hey, it’s fun. “I just came here with a bit of discouragement.”

“Well done. Hey, you know that all the other teams are only targeting us, right?”

“Yes.”

“We can definitely do this, right?”

“Of course. Senior. “I’m Jimaenghope.”

Senior Jincheol smiled as if he was satisfied with what I said. What Soyoung emphasized was a confident look befitting a top player, so it wasn’t much different from what she practiced.

“Then, I will enter NV Rex first!”

Is it finally starting? The words of the staff calling the players of each team flowed quickly, and before we knew it, we, the first-place team, were the only ones left in the waiting room. And,

“Then, I’ll go to AT Thunders!”

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

The director, who was dressed in a suit, senior Jincheol, who was wearing a glossy jacket over his uniform, and I entered the venue.

“Defending champion! AT Thunders! This is coach Lee Soo-hyun and players Choi Jin-cheol and Ji Maeng-ho! With coach Lee Soo-hyun, who led the team to the championship two years in a row, and a strong batting lineup, we aim to win our third straight Korean Series title. This is AT Thunders. Please say hello. Then, I would appreciate it if you could be located in the center.”

After bowing according to the announcer’s words, a photo shoot took place, and the players went down to the stage.

“We don’t do interviews?”

“Yumma, we’re supposed to be interviewing directors, haven’t you been to the media day?”

“Yes.”

“… Have you never seen it?”

“Why am I watching this?”

Unless you really love baseball, you probably won’t watch it. Anyway, everyone around me was a baseball player, but it seemed like no one said they were watching Media Day.

“… Well, that’s right.”

And that seemed to be the same for Jincheol as well.

After about 30 minutes of watching the coaches interview each other while talking to senior Jincheol in a low voice, the interview with the 10th place team NV coach came to an end, and it was finally our turn. For reference, the content of the directors’ interviews was ordinary.

“Now, my time with the directors is over. Now, let’s conduct interviews with the players. Before that, let’s first watch the video to see what changes this season will have.”

“Players, please come up on stage now!”

‘Finally my car?’

Once the players were all seated, the video ended and a few questions were asked.

“So, what concept are the AT Thunders players wearing? Ji Maeng-ho?”

“I saw other teams wearing different clothes, but we wore our uniforms because we are the best baseball team.”

“Oh, are you Choi Jin-cheol? “It’s not Ji Maeng-ho’s personal opinion, right?”

“Yes, what I mean is that rather than focusing on fashion, I will show it through baseball.”

Since we got this much right, senior Jincheol also nodded and answered what I said. There was a little booing from behind, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

“As expected, the AT Thunders have won two consecutive Korean Series games. Are you confident? So, to keep the momentum going, let’s ask the official media day question. Can you start with AT Thunder’s promise to win the Korean Series? Choi Jin-cheol.”

“Actually, we’ve won the championship for two years, so we don’t have any new promises to win. “We will listen to the opinions of our fans.”

“Does Ji Maeng-ho have anything?”

“Well… There is nothing in particular that the players agreed upon, and I will follow Jincheol’s opinion.”

Since the opinions of the players were important in this matter, it was slightly buried in senior Jincheol’s opinion. I was worried that other seniors would say things like, ‘This guy, we’re going to hold a special event for female fans again.’ But I wasn’t the person to say something like that in an event like this.

‘Well, we always hold special events for female fans.’

“Ah, I see. Well, this time it’s the Hancheol Grizzlies…”

Even after we answer our winning pledges, several teams’ winning pledges come out one after another. And finally, the Q&A time came to answer the reporter’s questions. I didn’t feel nervous or anything because I practiced answering reporters’ questions a lot.

‘I told you to be as confident as possible, right?’

What Soyoung asked for was to be confident and not talk nonsense. Of course, the nonsense here was about women. When it comes to baseball, it is said that being confident is a plus as long as you have skills.

And of course, my skills were good enough to make confident words a plus.

“Hello! This is reporter Kim XX of XX Ilbo. First, I would like to ask Ji Maeng-ho a question. New foreign players have been brought in this time, and there are many outstanding pitchers, right? As Korea’s best hitter, I would like to hear which pitcher I am most wary of.”

It was a question that was not included in the expected questions prepared with Soyoung. However, it was not a difficult question to answer.

“A cautionary pitcher? There is nothing in particular. I would like to say something to the pitchers. “Don’t throw your body clumsily and get hit, and if you see me, avoid me.”

Well, this is enough to show my confidence, right?