Chapter 24: Moonlight Song

Look, you only get one shot.

If you had one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment.

Would you capture it, or just let it slip?

Su-hyeon’s walk-up song was echoing under the roof of Fukuoka Dome.

“Does anyone know whose song this is?

I guess Su-hyeon likes rap.”

“I’ve never heard it before either.

It doesn’t sound like K-Rap.”

“You idiots.

Don’t you know Eminem?”

Thanks to pitching coach Saito, who couldn’t hold back and revealed his boomer status, the Hawks players’ questions were answered.

Su-hyeon’s walk-up song, which she had used since her time with the Chickens.

Contrary to the wishes contained in the lyrics, Su-hyeon had failed to seize several opportunities and let them all slip away.

Only after losing everything did Su-hyeon realize.

That this life is the one and only opportunity.

Even though I’ve become a woman, I have to live in the present.

[Red Moon’s High Tide – H-cup is maintained until the end of the game]

No wonder my chest felt particularly heavy whenever my period started.

[Boing Boing (EX+) trait is activated]

As the blood-red moon exerted a strong pull on its parent planet, Earth.

Su-hyeon’s trait, which was based on the vitality of the earth, faced a new turning point due to the interference of both the planet and the satellite.

Whoosh-

Thwack!

“Strike!”

-A 138 km/h four-seam fastball.

Jeong Su-hyeon breaks her own top speed with the first pitch.

-Perhaps it’s thanks to the support of the home fans.

She seems to have come out with a vengeance today.

Boing~

Thwack!

“Strike, batter out!”

– A 120 km/h circle change-up.

Looking strikeout.

Muneyama Rui can’t even swing his bat.

-It’s a particularly difficult pitch to hit, especially for left-handed batters.

The Rakuten lineup, which has many left-handed hitters, will have to find a way to counter this pitch.

Rakuten’s next batter was Yoshino Soushi.

He was originally the 5-hole hitter, but because of data showing that the right-handed Su-hyeon was actually stronger against left-handed batters, he was batting 2nd today.

Boing~

Whoosh-

Thwack!

“Swing, strike!”

Yoshino’s stance collapsed significantly as his bat swung through the air, chasing Su-hyeon’s change-up that dug into his knees.

‘It was definitely a fastball down the middle, but it was a change-up?!’

Su-hyeon’s Boing change-up, which drops deceptively from the exact same form and release point as her four-seam fastball. A drop and movement that’s hard to hit even if you’re only looking for a change-up.

No matter how much a batter intends to look for a specific breaking ball, they can’t help but subconsciously be aware of the fastball.

Because the relationship between a fastball and a breaking ball isn’t a chicken-or-egg problem.

The “break” in a breaking ball means that a pitch that should be coming straight is breaking.

Pitch sequencing is about making the batter hesitate for that extra 0.1 seconds within that linear flow.

And Su-hyeon knew that on days when she was really on, the more she used her brain, the more the batters would struggle.

Boing~

Whoosh-

Thwack!

“Swing, batter out!”

-A swing and a miss.

Yoshino can’t hit the same pitch four times in a row.

-Is Jeong Su-hyeon listening to me?

It’s like she’s protesting, saying, “Even a right-handed batter can’t hit my change-up.”

Boing~

Whoosh-

Thwack!

“Swing, batter out!

Change sides!”

– Three consecutive strikeouts.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Rakuten’s offense goes down without a whimper.

-That’s amazing.

She was great in the last two games, but today Jeong Su-hyeon is showing even better stuff.

“Su-hyeon, are you trying to go straight to the Major Leagues next year?”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place, you know?”

“Nice pitching, Jeong.”

“Thanks to you!”

After greeting the fielders returning to the dugout, Kiriyama caught Su-hyeon, who was quickly heading to the bathroom.

“Senpai, you keep leaving your seat, are you going to do drugs or something?”

“Are you crazy?

I’ll probably get caught by the doping inspector right after the game today.”

Su-hyeon went into the bathroom, took off her pants, and checked her sanitary pad and underwear.

Thanks to the double protection of the tampon, there was no sign of any leakage.

I guess I don’t need to check every inning at this rate.

As Su-hyeon returned to the dugout with a relaxed mind, the Hawks’ bottom of the 1st inning was already coming to an end.

It’s okay.

I’m used to not getting any run support.

-A swing and a miss.

Fernandez can’t touch Jeong Su-hyeon’s pitch.

-Jeong Su-hyeon is using a change-up-heavy pitching style, but the break is actually at a screwball level.

Since it’s the only pitch of its kind in the league, batters are bound to be unfamiliar with it.

Boing~

Thwack!

“Strike, batter out!”

– A looking three-pitch strikeout.

That’s five consecutive strikeouts!

– The Rakuten batters are completely unable to get the timing right.

Thwack!

Whoosh-

“Swing, batter out!

Change sides!”

– A swing and a miss!

139 km/h!

Jeong Su-hyeon breaks her own top speed once again.

Six consecutive strikeouts!

-The fastball comes just when you think she’s only throwing change-ups.

The SoftBank battery’s pitch sequencing has prevailed.

If Su-hyeon had been listening to the commentator’s words, she probably would have immediately refuted them.

Since her 1st army debut, Su-hyeon had barely exchanged any signs with the catcher.

The catcher’s only sign was to ask Su-hyeon whether it was a fastball or a breaking ball.

Su-hyeon would just nod once or shake her head, and without any further signs, she would immediately go into her pitching motion.

This fast pitching tempo had the effect of taking away the batter’s time to think and messing up their timing.

Because there are very few pitchers who throw incessantly as if they have an urgent need to go to the bathroom.

The downside was that it was difficult for the catcher to catch the ball because he didn’t know for sure what pitch was coming.

But since Su-hyeon’s pitches were so slow, even an offensive-minded catcher like Watanabe Riku could catch them without much difficulty.

“It’s actually better this way.

To be honest, I’m not very confident in my game-calling.”

“Then it’s a win-win, senpai.

Let’s keep going like this for the time being.”

And when a pitcher was pitching well, the catcher who was working with that pitcher would inevitably get excited.

The Hawks’ catcher, 8-hole hitter Watanabe, who was working with Su-hyeon to create six consecutive strikeouts.

His bat exploded in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

– This hit is big.

Will it go…

it’s gone!

A two-run home run by Watanabe Riku!

It’s his first home run of the season.

-Usually, we say that when the husband pitches well, the wife also hits well, but with Jeong Su-hyeon on the mound, we can’t use that saying anymore.

Haha.

Hawks 2-0 Golden Eagles.

Even though the team took the lead with an early run, Su-hyeon’s pitching remained unshaken.

– The out pitch is?!

Another change-up.

A swing and a miss!

Jeong Su-hyeon, 7 consecutive strikeouts!

That’s amazing.

-A 0-2 count.

Will it be a change-up again.

It’s in there!

A looking strikeout on a low change-up!

8 consecutive strikeouts!

-Two consecutive fastballs to get ahead.

A change-up?

No, it’s a fastball!

A swing and a miss!

9 consecutive strikeouts!

– This is unbelievable.

“Jeong, you better be careful on your way out later.”

“Can I borrow a bat?”

“It makes me realize again how fortunate it is that Su-hyeon came to our team.”

“You must be happy that the defense can play shallow.”

Su-hyeon’s pitching, which had gone completely insane, was driving the crowd at Fukuoka Dome crazy as well.

The quiet atmosphere of a typical Japanese baseball stadium disappeared.

And with each strikeout by Su-hyeon, the cheers from the crowd grew louder and louder, as if they would pierce through the roof of the dome.

On the other hand, the Rakuten Golden Eagles’ dugout was like a funeral home.

“Are you just going to let a woman dominate you like this?

Do you think it’s acceptable to not even get a single foul ball?”

Despite manager Shima Motohiro’s scolding, the players couldn’t utter a single word, like mute honey-eaters.

“Just think about hitting a fastball.

Don’t even think about the change-up that you can’t even touch.”

“Yes, sir!”

Bottom of the 4th inning, Rakuten Golden Eagles’ offense.

1-hole hitter Muneyama Rui entered the batter’s box for his second at-bat of the day.

Now, more than winning or losing, it was important not to be dominated by that female pitcher.

As the manager said, Muneyama focused only on the fastball and waited for Su-hyeon’s pitch.

Whoosh

Crack!

“Foul!”

It was a fastball, but it was a Boing-Linker, not a four-seamer.

A weak foul ball that barely grazed the bottom of the bat.

After two fouls, Muneyama was in a 0-2 hole, and what came flying towards him was.

Boing~

Whoosh-

Thwack!

“Swing, batter out!”

– 10 consecutive strikeouts!

-Jeong Su-hyeon uses her two-seamer, which she had been saving, to get the count.

This will make things even more complicated for the Rakuten batters.

But it wasn’t just the batters who were getting complicated.

On the mound, Su-hyeon was also starting to have a lot of thoughts as the batting order turned for the second time.

Boing Boing (EX), which showed absolute effectiveness against opponents she met for the first time.

Today, it became EX+ and showed an even more powerful performance.

But an opponent who couldn’t even touch the ball in the first at-bat was now able to foul off a 138 km/h Boing-Linker.

Since the bottom of the 3rd inning, Su-hyeon had been conscious of one record.

Sasaki Roki’s world record of 13 consecutive strikeouts.

3 batters left until tying the world record.

Next up was 2-hole hitter Yoshino Soushi.

The right-handed batter, who was placed in the 2nd spot to specifically target Su-hyeon today, was entering the batter’s box.