Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 710

“Action!”

The set became quiet at the sound of assistant director Matthew’s voice.

Everyone, from the extras playing the role of ordinary spectators to the actors playing the main characters, focused on director Jonathan’s voice.

Vroom-

Director Jonathan, who was looking at the screen captured by the drone flying over the baseball stadium and the other cameras, shouted.

“Ready, action!”

***

Bang! Bang!

William’s dad hit the two stick balloons he was holding together.

The loud noise drew the attention of the people who were about to enter the stadium building.

“Where did you get those?”

“From Korea! Nothing beats stick balloons for a baseball game, right?”

At his dad’s words, his mom sighed deeply and touched her forehead, but soon smiled. She understood his dad’s excitement very well.

“Dad! I want those too!”

The long stick balloons that made a bang sound looked cool, and the eyes of the children who came to watch the baseball game with their parents sparkled.

“Maybe they sell them inside?”

The dad of the child pointed to the stadium building and said.

Unlike the small stadium that had only the field and the stands, the stadium where Bayron High School was playing was a small but well-equipped stadium with a building that had a snack corner and a souvenir shop.

They had to pass through this small and white building to get to the seats.

“Kid, do you want this?”

“Oh, really? Can we have it?”

“Hahaha. I have plenty of them!”

William’s dad opened the bag he was carrying, and it was full of stick balloon pieces that had not yet become balloons.

He gave two to each of the kids and their families and said.

“The fourth batter of Bayron High School is our son. Please cheer for him.”

“Oh, sure!”

“Kid, cheer for the fourth batter when he comes out.”

“Okay!”

He had a plan all along.

With the stick balloons, he quickly made the kids and their families into a cheering squad for Bayron High School’s fourth batter, and his mom laughed.

“Honey, let’s go in now.”

“Okay!”

William’s mom and dad headed to the stadium with a happy step.

The building was crowded with people buying snacks or souvenirs.

The couple did not care about that and went inside and climbed the stairs.

And then they went outside again through the long and narrow corridor with fluorescent lights on,

—!

A wide baseball field made of grass and dirt appeared along with the noisy voices of the people.

They were already excited to come to a baseball stadium, but it was their son’s game, and their hearts swelled.

“Let’s sit near the batter’s box.”

“Okay.”

The best place to see their son, William, the batter, was there.

As William’s mom and dad attracted people’s attention with the stick balloons (‘I’ll give you some. Please cheer for Bayron High School. Please. Kid.’, ‘Yes!!’) and moved to the seats, the camera was showing a new character.

“It’s noisy, isn’t it?”

It was Shadowman, Mac.

Mac smiled unconsciously at the lively scene of the baseball stadium and took a seat where he could see the batter’s box well.

It was a peaceful day.

***

“Play ball!”

The game started with the umpire’s voice.

Bang! Bang!

A cheering squad with stick balloons appeared in the seats near the batter’s box.

William, who was sitting on the bench of Bayron High School, laughed at the sight of his mom and dad cheering enthusiastically among them.

Time flew by, and the scoreboard showed the result until the bottom of the fourth inning.

[0-0]

It was a tight game.

“The pitcher over there is good.”

“He came from LA, right? Why didn’t he come to our school…”

William, who was sitting on the bench, looked at the pitcher who was standing on the mound and adjusting his cap.

He had a huge physique that could pass for a pro, and his skills were not inferior to that. He guessed that the scouts who came today would be impressed by him.

Clang!

The sound of the ball and the bat colliding was heard. And the lucky runner who advanced to first base.

He got on base, but the pitcher on the other side just shrugged his shoulders and showed no sign of shaking.

“He’s an enemy, but… he’s amazing.”

“A pitcher needs that kind of mindset.”

William nodded his head.

Maybe he would go pro too.

Then he thought that maybe someday they would be on the same team.

“William!”

“Yes.”

William answered the coach’s call and loosened his body lightly and moved his steps.

But he was an enemy now.

He was determined to do his best.

Bang! Bang!

As he stepped into the batter’s box, he felt like the cheering sound from the seats got louder.

“William!”

“Fourth batter! Fighting!”

…It wasn’t just his feeling.

He smiled lightly at the sound of his parents’ voices that sounded especially loud and lifted his bat and fixed his posture. His smiling face became serious. He was not a pitcher to take lightly.

The pitcher also noticed William’s skill from the previous confrontation and took a long time to think.

There was tension between the two.

Vroom-

The drone camera that was flying high in the sky slowly came down.

It showed the people who were bustling in the seats and the outfielders in the wide baseball field.

It showed the wide field where the batter’s box and the outfielders were spread out.

It showed William who was standing in the batter’s box and the infielders.

And the drone camera that was coming down to the field showed the pitcher on the mound.

The other cameras also pointed to the mound.

At the right timing, the pitcher lifted his cap that was covering his face.

He was a major leaguer, Jack Smith.

“Cut! Okay!”

Jack Smith collapsed on the mound with a weird groan at director Jonathan’s shout. He only had to lift his cap according to the signal, but he didn’t know why he was so nervous.

“Good job.”

“That was close.”

Seo-jun, who was in the batter’s box, came to the mound and praised Jack. It was his first shooting today, so he had to encourage him.

Jack sighed in relief.

“…But you really looked like William. I thought you were a stranger.”

Jack recalled the man who was in the batter’s box a while ago.

He had been playing with Seo-jun, throwing and hitting the ball, for more than a day or two, so he thought there wouldn’t be much difference, but the batter who was in the batter’s box during the shooting looked like a real opponent he had never met before.

He felt a tension as if he was playing a real game.

“Actors are different.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Jack’s admiration.

“Next shooting, please!”

At assistant director Matthew’s words, the actors who were taking a short break straightened their posture to do their roles again.

Seo-jun and Jack also headed to the batter’s box and the mound respectively.

The quiet set.

Director Jonathan, who was looking at the monitor, opened his mouth.

“Ready,”

Under the staff’s instructions, the cheering sound of the audience was heard, and

“Action!”

The game started again.

***

William, who was in the batter’s box, took a deep breath.

The current situation was two outs with a runner on first base.

He tried to steal, but he was blocked by the pitcher’s quick judgment.

Bang!

“Strike!”

The sound of the baseball being sucked into the catcher’s glove and the umpire’s voice were heard.

Now two strikes.

If one more strike comes out, the fourth inning will end.

William lowered his bat after a swing and miss and looked at the pitcher with a sharp gaze.

The pitcher, who was standing on the mound and adjusting his breath after throwing the ball, also had a stiff face.

60 feet 6 inches (18.44m)

A tense tension went back and forth between the two people who were far apart.

William lifted his bat that he had lowered.

The voices of his cheering family and audience disappeared, and he felt as if he could only hear his own breathing and heartbeat. William realized that his concentration had reached its peak.

But he didn’t care and only looked at the pitcher.

The pitcher’s movement caught his eye. It seemed to move very slowly, but it wasn’t. It only looked that way in his sight, but the pitcher must have been moving quickly.

Anyway.

William put strength into his two hands holding the bat and his lower body standing firmly in the batter’s box according to the pitcher’s movement.

The pitcher’s right arm stretched out with all his might.

The white ball flew fast,

And William swung his bat hard.

Clang-!

A sound that was not only cool but satisfying echoed throughout the stadium.

The pitcher, who saw the white ball flying away, lowered his head.

Wow!!!

The audience’s cheers shook the stadium.

The runner on first base of Bayron High School, who came to his senses, also shouted and ran to second base, and William dropped his bat and ran to first base. His running didn’t end at first base.

Second base.

Third base.

And smoothly to home!

“Home run!!”

It was a home run.

***

“…Is that a real home run?”

“Didn’t we agree to put the home run in CG?”

The staffs unconsciously exclaimed at the white baseball flying far away.

It was written in the script that William would hit a home run, but they didn’t expect him to hit it for real.

“Wasn’t the ball really fast too?”

“Exactly.”

The ball was so fast, and it was a home run.

The staffs almost shouted without knowing.

“A major league batter can throw the ball like that.”

“Jack Smith is good at defense too.”

Offense or defense.

The fans of LA Dodgers, who had a great player, nodded their heads with a satisfied smile.

“But weren’t Jack Smith and Seo-jun Lee friends? They looked so fierce as if they were watching a real baseball game.”

“Yeah, the tension was no joke.”

The nerve-wracking battle between the pitcher and the batter who looked like real enemies was impressive.

Maybe that’s why the extras who disguised as the audience also got immersed in the baseball game and unknowingly cheered.

Director Jonathan smiled at the sound of the staffs whispering, recalling the expressions of Seo-jun Lee and Jack Smith.

‘Jack said he was practicing acting with him…’

He must have worked hard.

***

The players, coach, and director of Bayron High School, who were on the bench, came out and greeted William, who was coming home, fiercely.

“Crazy! Will! I knew you could do it!”

“Home run! A home run!!”

“Ouch! It hurts!”

The friends who were hitting William’s back and shoulders with joy.

They were lightly hitting him, but they were big baseball players.

Their palms were large and thick, and their basic strength was strong, so…it hurt.

But he was happy too, so William kept laughing while avoiding his friends’ violent welcome (he got hit a few times).

“That kid’s mental must have been shaken, right?”

At his friend’s shout, they all looked at the mound. The pitcher and the coach of the other team were talking.

The director of Bayron High School baseball team smiled with satisfaction and said.

“This is the real deal from now on, so let’s focus!”

“Yes!”

As William and Bayron High School baseball team answered cheerfully.

The pitcher, who was standing on the mound and trying to calm his wavering mind, breathed out.

The mom and dad who were sitting in the audience shouted ‘That’s our son!!’ and cheered.

Boom!!!

Something black rose like pillars from all sides of the stadium. And then it started to connect like a net, like a spider web.

“What is th…”

Before someone could question what it was that dyed the sky black, the people found something else.

“Plane!?”

“No, isn’t that a fighter jet?!!?”

The thing that was flying at a very fast speed from the other side of the sky.

They didn’t know if it was a plane or a fighter jet, but the gray flying object was already attacked and spewing black smoke from its tail, flying at a fast speed toward the stadium.

No, it was falling.

Ahhhh!!

The scream of the people who understood the situation was heard. And they started to run away quickly.

“This way!!”

To get out of this stadium, they had to go through the building they came in.

Everyone quickly went into the building and the players who were on the field also tried to avoid it, but

Unfortunately, the thing that flew in the sky was faster than the people running.

Boom!!!

A loud noise was heard.

The black net that covered the sky tried to block the flying object as much as possible, but it was a hard task.

The flying object and the black net that blocked it fell down together as if the ceiling collapsed.

Then, starting from the scoreboard that was the highest in the stadium, the pillars that connected the wire fence that surrounded the stadium, the billboards, and the white building that was the entrance also started to collapse.

“Run away quickly!”

At the coach’s shout, William’s heart beat irregularly as he tried to escape with his baseball team friends.