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 .