Prologue
Life and baseball are quite similar.
You can fail countless times, yet change your fate with a single swing. And even when you're walking a smooth road to success, one wrong decision can send you crashing down.
In the world of baseball, I was like the queen in chess.
I could go anywhere, do anything—the most important piece on the board.
But the moment I stepped outside the baseball field, I was nothing.
Major League Rookie of the Year. Cy Young Award. League MVP. Gold Glove. Silver Slugger.
What does any of that even mean?
A World Series championship ring?
I've got several. Yet the only thing I'm actually holding in my hand right now is a cheap ring my ex-wife gave me a long time ago.
We were childhood friends, and we started dating when I was in middle school. I think this was a birthday present she gave me when we were in high school.
I regret it.
Honestly… fuck. I don't know.
Wearing the ring, now blackened with tarnish, I went to bed.
I want to call her and say I'm sorry.
But I'm too pathetic to even do that, so I just curse at myself.
What's the point of being good at baseball?
Maybe because I fell asleep wearing the ring, my ex-wife appeared in my dream.
"Hey. Kang Geon-woo. Happy birthday."
It was Yuri when she was younger.
She's two years older than me, but I never called her noona no matter what.
Yuri held out a ring to me.
"A ring?"
"It's not just any ring."
"Then what?"
"A magic ring that lets Kang Geon-woo go back to before he made a huge mistake if he say, 'Yuri noona, please just look at me this once,' into it."
I snorted—and got smacked for it.
Yeah… something like this did happen.
When I woke up, without even realizing it, I muttered to the ring,
"Yuri noona, please just look at me this once."
…But it's not like this is some magic ring.
That's what I thought as I opened my eyes.
And found myself back in the past—when I was a third-year in high school.
"Kang Geon-woo. If you choose the Oceans instead of the Major Leagues, the club promises to give you the best treatment possible. First play in Korea, and later we'll unconditionally support your move to the Major Leagues. Please trust us!"
…Wait. Is this really a magic ring?
Back to before my mistake?
Does that mean going to the Major Leagues was the mistake?