Chapter 683 – Episode 670. 2026 Playoffs.

[… Out! This is how the game ends! Score 8:3! AT Thunders, the protagonists of the Korean Series’ 3rd consecutive loss! Heading to Daegu!]

-AT Thunders heads to Daegu!

AT Thunders, who defeated Shilla Triggers with a series score of 3:1, confirmed their trip to Daegu where Hyunseong Madcats was waiting. … Kim Won-ho, who was promoted to the starting pitcher on this day, became the losing pitcher, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 3.1 innings…

Meanwhile, Hyunseong Madcats and AT Thunders faced each other in the 2023 playoffs, and AT Thunders won the series, laying the foundation for the AT dynasty. Many baseball fans are paying close attention to who will laugh in the playoffs….

┗Fuck, it’s so fucking disgusting that these bastards come back to life in the fall

┗Oh please, catch those bastards

┗I can hear the volcanic fans shaking from here haha

┗┗ㅋㅋ Looking at the excitement, it looks like it’s going to be fun.

┗If you look at the power alone, objectively who delegates the power?

┗┗First of all, the pitcher is Hyunseong and the batter is AT

┗┗Well, it’s a natural thing haha

┗If you win the selection battle, will Hyeonseong be worth it?

*

“Hyeonseong is also amazing. “I thought we were going to go to hell because of the flower snake incident, but seeing that we are back in the fall baseball season from last year.”

“It’s definitely not a prestigious team for nothing.”

Just before the game starts, you can hear the seniors talking in the locker room.

Praising the enemy team in the middle of enemy territory. I couldn’t stand it either.

“Surely it’s not just the seniors?”

“You scary bastard. “It’s because it’s amazing, because it’s amazing.”

Well, what the other players said wasn’t strange.

When it comes to the biggest incident of recent years, the flower snake incident involving Jun-hoo could not be left out.

It was a case where a gangster took money from a player by attaching a woman to him and used that as an excuse to encourage match-fixing. And the one who suffered the greatest repercussions of the incident was the Hyeonseong Mad Cats, a baseball team in Daegu, the gangsters’ stronghold.

After closer Go Young-hwan left, the Hyunseong Mad Cats, whose team atmosphere had completely deteriorated due to several members of the second team being involved in match-fixing, were invited back to fall baseball starting in 2025, the next season, and this year they rose to second place.

Isn’t it one of the most prestigious teams in the league for no reason?

And the reason why Hyeonseong was able to rise so high was because of the league’s strongest bullpen. The 7-8-9 line of Lee Jun-ho, Kwon Yul, and Shin Dong-hyun was still intact, and most of the middle pitchers recorded an ERA in the 2-point range, showing off their bullpen quality.

And, the compatibility with our team was not good.

There are only two teams that our team was inferior to this season. They were Hyeonseong Madcats and Hwasan Falcons. Hyun-seong, who focuses on pitching ability, and our team did not match well, to the point where both teams recorded 6 wins and 10 losses.

‘Well, that’s about the regular season, too.’

But now it’s fall baseball. The opponent’s record in the regular season was meaningless.

Moreover, we had improved our batting skills a lot while dealing with Silla.

‘The problem is Diaz.’

First round of playoffs. The pitcher selected as the starting pitcher was Diaz, who pooped heavily and came off the mound in the first game of the semi-playoffs.

To be honest, it would have been nice to see Bellingham, who showed solid performance in the fall, but I guess there is nothing we can do about the rotation?

On the other hand, Hyunsung’s starting pitcher is Choi Jung-hoon, a national team-level left-handed pitcher who has maintained Hyunsung’s ace position for several years.

He was a pitcher who showed good performance this season, recording an earned run average of 2.40 and 16 wins and 4 losses.

If you look at the value of the starting matchup alone, it was quite an unfavorable fight, but if Diaz reached his peak, it was worth fighting against.

Moreover, Choi Joong-hoon was not the type of pitcher who would ignore me regardless of the situation, so if he had runners stacked properly, he had the potential to score 3 to 4 runs.

In other words, today’s match was a battle of whether Diaz would show his peak or not.

‘Of course, I guess I should step forward.’

And I knew how to bring out pitchers’ potential. That fact has already been proven through Park Jun-hyung and Lim Jun-hoo.

“Hey, Diaz.”

“… ?”

As I approached, Diaz, who was spending time alone wearing a headset, looked at me with an expression of confusion.

Although it was not a very good idea to mess with a starting pitcher’s preparation time, there was no need to respect Diaz because his game was unpredictable regardless.

“[Are you feeling okay today?]”

“[Trigram, it’s okay.]”

“[Okay? Is it true? I don’t think so.]”

He gets confused when I get closer. There was no need for him to be embarrassed when he saw his colleague, so it was clear that he was also embarrassed because he was caught lying.

“[I’ll cast a spell, so you can throw well today.]”

“[No, no. I’m really fine.]”

“[It’s not okay to be okay. You know that the first game is important. Didn’t you say you were in good condition during your last mound?]”

“…”

“[It’s not okay, it has to be good. Best condition. Okay? I will cast a spell that will ensure you are in the best condition.]”

This method is no different from a special move that Junhyung used on his older brother. In the previous semi-finals, Junhyung, who pitched in the bullpen after being pushed by Junhoo, had done it against his older brother a few times, so it was proven that it was still effective.

‘I don’t feel like touching a man’s cheek either, but…’

However, I can tolerate unpleasant things for the team to win.

Mate!

“Ahh! [Stop, stop!]”

“[Okay, I think you’ve come back to your senses? If we lose today, let’s try harder next time we pitch.]”

“[… Yes.]”

Phew, did this save you from worrying?

‘You finally figured out how to deal with black people.’

… Fuck. I almost laughed. After barely resisting Mr. Rossby’s mental attack, he shot Mr. Rossby.

‘… Shut up. Not only do I do this to him, but I also do it to Junhyung.’

‘Yes, Asians are treated that way too. Now, wherever I go, I won’t be embarrassed to introduce myself as my student.’

‘… I’m embarrassed.’

… What kind of teacher attacks his student mentally before the game starts?

*

[… Nine batters in a row with a hit! Diaz is in an unusual mood today!]

[In fact, Diaz is a pitcher whose performance is not that good, but there are times when he shows good performance like this, right? On a day like that, Diaz is truly untouchable, right?]

[… Score first! Ji Maeng-ho, who was silent in the previous two at-bats, hits a timely double with 3 RBIs with the bases loaded! Score 3:0! … Choi Jin-cheol’s home run! AT Thunders are on the run. Score 5:0! Oh, and the pitching coach visits the mound with the ball. Choi Jung-hoon, who had been blocking well until the 6th inning, seems to have stopped here. Hyunseong Mad Cats featuring Junho Lee.]

[… Game over! AT Thunders take Game 1 8:1 thanks to Diaz’s 8 innings, 1 run, and 11 K pitches! AT Thunders’ momentum shows no signs of slowing down. … Now, let’s meet Diaz, the MVP of the first round of the playoffs.]

*

“Meng Hao, try playing well today.”

“Oh, something happened yesterday.”

“What happened?”

“… There is. Something like that.”

Yesterday, I suddenly felt mentally unstable because of something Mr. Rossby said before the game, so I didn’t hit the bat well at the beginning of the game, but today was different.

‘Hmph, no excuses. Even the balls that were thrown out were caught in front of the fence. Wasn’t it just that you didn’t have enough strength?’

‘Ha, did you know that using your brain costs the most calories? It’s not that I lacked energy because I lost calories because Mr. Rossby disturbed my mind.’

Anyway, you say something like this knowing how sensitive others are. It was all Rossby’s fault that I didn’t hit a home run yesterday.

‘Then you don’t have to worry. That’s because you won’t have to use a lot of calories in your life.’

‘… What do you mean by that?’

‘Hehe, I guess I was right since you couldn’t understand.’

‘… Are you making fun of me for being stupid? Right?’

‘Why are you using so many calories?’

‘Oh, really!’

I wanted to swear a lot, but I got caught up in it again by Mr. Rossby, and it seemed like today’s game would be difficult, so I quickly read the power analysis sheet and analyzed the opposing pitcher.

‘Arte, main weapon sinker. During the season, I threw it around 150, but since it’s fall baseball, it’s probably about 2-3 km/h faster, right? Hmm… Since I’m from South America, I guess I’m weak in the cold fall weather? How was it last year? Would you like to watch a video? … Like this? Well, it’s not bad. You fell behind today.’

‘Kill black people…’ . As expected, he is my disciple. Hehe. Oh, you know that you can’t go to the mound with a bat, right? The world has become so much better.’

‘Oh, shut up!’

I ignored Mr. Rossby’s nonsense and focused on Arte’s video. To be honest, I was a bit lazy yesterday, so I felt guilty that I had done something so senseless, so it took a mental toll,

… Today was different. My condition is the best today.

Ta – Aak!

First at-bat in refreshing condition. As if with a light heart, the bat was swung lightly, and the batted ball also easily went over the fence.

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

‘Yes, this is what it tastes like.’

*

[… With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Ji Maeng-ho, who hit a solo home run in the previous at-bat, comes to the plate. … Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball! He climbs over the fence once again! Ji Maeng-ho’s consecutive home runs! Score 3:2! AT Thunders are ahead once again!]

[Ji Maeng-ho is resolving his regrets about not hitting a home run in yesterday’s game.]

[… Game over! AT Thunders win the second game thanks to Ji Maeng-ho’s consecutive home runs! There is only one step left until Daejeon. … Let’s meet Ji Maeng-ho, the daily MVP of Game 2. Hello Ji Maeng-ho!]

“Hello, this is AT Thunders Jimaengho. … Lastly, I will prepare well for the third game, win it, and see you in Daejeon. Dear fans! Please reserve your ticket in advance.”