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?” S~?a??h the ?0velF?re.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality.

    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 .