Chapter 19
Chapter 19 – Spring Camp in Winter 01
In the morning of the December 25th .
Gun Choi received a text message from Gordon .
-Merry Christmas!
It was a simple text .
Gun Choi replied the same way, with a straight face .
“Should I say thank you? He sent a text to me when I haven’t even entered the top 40 rosters . ”
He sent a text, and went outside .
He could feel the cool morning breeze on his cheeks .
“Ok, let’s go . ”
He started running the 3km to get breakfast .
15 minutes later .
Gun Choi took in a deep breath as he arrived in Reeku Town .
“What happened here?”
No restaurants were open .
Was it a mistake to come looking for an open restaurant?
Gun Choi approached an old man who was sweeping leaves and asked,“Excuse me, where is the nearest town?”
The old man glanced at Gun Choi, and silently pointed to the east .
There must be a town in the east .
“Thank you . ”
Gun Choi started to run east .
30 minutes later .
Gun Choi regretted not asking the old man about the distance .
“I should have considered that, since this is America . ”
He wiped the perspiration from his face and sighed .
“How far do I need to go? Maybe not to the next town?”
There was nothing but spacious fields as far as the eye could see .
There weren’t even any cars to hitchhike .
Gun Choi just kept walking .
1 hour later .
Gun Choi didn’t know whether to cry or laugh .
-Physical rank increased .
Physical Ability: A → A+
It was worth him practicing the whole of December .
“The increased rank is good, but where's the town?”
He sighed deeply and moved on .
Gun Choi stopped walking exactly after 2 hours,14 minutes and 22 seconds .
He was accurate down to the second because the system replied rapidly to his self-questioning .
The system had a hateful point .
“Where are you going?”
A man driving a pickup truck smiled at Gun Choi .
Gun Choi didn’t like this macho man but he didn’t have any options .
“I’m going to the town at the end of this road . Actually, anywhere is good if I can get breakfast . ”
“Breakfast?”
“Yes, the restaurant in the dorm where I stay is closed for Christmas . ”
The macho man raised his lip and replied .
“Ok . Get on . ”
He added more power to his truck after Gun Choi got in .
The 8 cylinder gasoline engine screamed that a man who worried about miles per gallon is not a man .
Gun Choi almost cried as he ate a ham sandwich .
He had such a hard time getting this food .
“Hey, go ahead . No appetite?”
Gun Choi ate a sandwich at this prompting .
The macho man was startled by Gun Choi's appetite .
'He's quite the hotshot . '
He dropped off Gun Choi at small convenience store along the highway .
The convenience store stayed open for travelers during Christmas .
Gun Choi ate and ate .
The macho man left the convenience store when Gun Choi had finished four sandwiches .
“Enjoy your time . ”
Gun Choi waved his hand at him and took a gulp of coke .
‘I used to only have coke at In&Out, but now I drink it everyday . ’
He purchased food for survival, hitchhiked and returned .
A message showed up as he got out of the car .
-Today’s mission failed .
It was natural that he was failed, because he took a car .
Gun Choi admitted defeat to the system .
“Ok, you win . ”
He laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling after coming back to his room .
“It’s a horrible Christmas . ”
Gun Choi thought that his Christmas during his time doing public service was better than now .
Gun Choi only had canned food until Bank and Hardy come back .
He might have been dispirited because of the junk food, but Gun Choi overcame everything, and he even achieved a lot during their absence .
First, his physical rank was increased from A to A+ and his movement also increased from B to B+ .
This increase of movement was due to his intensive knuckleball training in the ring .
And in addition, he had collected 0 . 9 points, by performing missions .
“So will it be 1 point tomorrow?”
Gun Choi wanted to earn up to 1 point and give up the round trips to Reeku Town .
‘It’s hard walking everyday . I’d better get a bicycle . ’
It was in this moment that he calculated the money needed for a bicycle .
Abruptly, the door opened .
“What?”
Gun Choi turned his head and saw a middle-aged man come in .
‘He’s tall . Over 2 meters?’
The middle-aged man strode along towards Gun Choi .
Gun Choi tilted his head at his vigor .
‘Uh, he looks like he’s about to take out a gun . ’
Gun Choi opened his mouth and spoke before the man approached him .
“This place is only for authorized persons . Please leave . ”
The middle-aged man didn’t care and kept walking, then stopped before Gun Choi and looked down at him as he asked, “Are you the novice that Gordon mentioned?”
Gun Choi swallowed dry saliva .
‘A novice!’
It was uncommon to speak so thoughtlessly in America .
“What are you talking about…”
“Gordon told me . Go to Arizona and teach a novice . Gordon was a greenhorn like you when I was in the Cubs . ”
Gun Choi realized who the man was after he spoke .
‘Over 2 meter tall, an instructor who played at Cubs . . . then…he is…’
He blurted out the middle-aged man’s name by reflex .
“Eric Vans?!”
Eric smiled, while looking at Gun Choi .
“You know who I am?”
16 wins, 28 losses, 221 saves .
He played with the Cubs, Giants, and Minnesota . Selected twice as an Allstar .
In particular he had a good relationship with management because of his record saves .