Chapter 124
Chapter 124
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Uphill (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Black-Haired Tactical Genius
Chapter 124 Uphill (4)
Office Manager Donald Victor had been humming tunes whenever Bolton crossed his mind lately.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm~!”
Even while taking a leak in the bathroom, his shoulders couldn’t help but sway.
League standings aside, they were sitting pretty in second place.
And lately, they’d been playing this scorching brand of attacking soccer to boot.
Whenever he thought of Bolton like that, it felt like his adrenaline, on life support for so long, was surging back to life.
Expectations were only growing by the day.
‘We might actually get promoted...!’
Hell, they might even snag the League One title.
It was the grand dream every Wanderer cherished.
If it happened, it’d be their second League One trophy in a whopping 49 years.
It wasn’t some pipe dream anymore, either.
They were just two points behind Hull City, after all.
If Bolton won their last two games, turning the tables was totally doable.
He’d even grown genuinely fond of Owen Precise, Chong-a Pak, and Adebayor.
‘Owen’s the real MVP, though.’
Owen’s mid-range shots from both feet had been so crisp and refreshing, blowing away all the stress he’d built up.
Lost in such pleasant daydreams, Victor hummed his way out of the bathrooMad Dog down the hall.
But it wasn’t long before his steps slowed noticeably.
His eyes blinked in confusion.
“Huh?”
The owner’s office door was wide open.
Looking closer, Emma was just about to step out but had paused, delicately gripping the doorknob with slender fingers as she stood demurely, gazing inside.
She was probably listening intently to the owner like that.
*Ahem.*
Victor cleared his throat.
He had to pass this spot to get back to his office.
But right now, Victor hesitated.
‘Should I come back later...?’
The reason was simple.
Victor wasn’t exactly thrilled about running into the owner on the job.
Every time their paths crossed, the owner would boMad Dog him with questions and requests.
‘Oh, Manager Victor!’
‘Yes?’
‘Seeing your face reminded me—let’s chat for a sec.’
‘Hey, Manager Victor! Hold up a minute. How about a quick heart-to-heart on boosting Bolton while you’re here?’
‘Ah, Victor..!’
‘Hey? Manager Victor!’
Once he got roped in, time vanished in a blink.
Just imagining it had Victor shaking his head vigorously, a weary look on his face.
Bolton was Bolton, and the owner was the owner.
Lately, Donald Victor had even started feeling a twinge of rivalry toward the owner.
It was all tied to the Nuttuber channel...!
He felt a bit hard done by, honestly.
‘I busted my ass overnight for that stuff...!’
Whenever drought-breaking ad proposals came in, Donald Victor would pour days into maximizing the promo impact.
Meanwhile, the owner’s uploads showed zero such effort.
Just sleeping in bed, and for a chicken ad, no less—eating ramen and then holding up a chicken box. That was it.
Yet viewers went nuts over those absurd scenes.
In those moments, his own hard work felt like it had all gone down the drain.
*Ahem...!*
Soon enough, Donald Victor cleared his throat once more and tried to slip past with quick, quiet steps.
That’s when it happened.
“Office Manager.”
Victor flinched.
He’d just passed the door when his shoulders twitched, forcing him to stop.
Charlotte Emma’s soft voice had called out to him.
He considered playing it off like he hadn’t heard, but it was too late.
“I was just about to summon you. The owner has something urgent to discuss.”
She’d approached without a sound, dropping that quiet fact at the end.
“So don’t try to run off.”
Donald Victor sat ramrod straight on the worn guest sofa, face tense.
His eyes darted around.
On one hand, he was annoyed.
‘Come on, you call me in and then what?’
As if to match his thoughts, Ma Jeong-woo paced back and forth by the sunlit window, deep in thought.
It had already been five minutes...
Suddenly, as if peering into Victor’s mind, Ma Jeong-woo turned and strode over to the sofa.
*Hrm...!*
Caught off guard for no reason, Victor cleared his throat out of habit.
Ignoring it, Ma Jeong-woo plopped down on the opposite sofa and stared straight at Victor.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he spoke without hesitation.
“Let’s work together.”
* * *
The next day.
Korean fans logging into Bolton’s official Nuttuber channel were buzzing with excitement.
- <LifeIs9Miles> : What’s he up to today, anyway?
- <BackToTheSergeant> : Ooh, what’s this video? The intro’s slick as hell.
- <OctopusHead> : That’s our Ma gaffer’s back of the head on screen, right?
- <ChongAPak2ndSon> : Ugh, just seeing that sturdy back makes me feel like I’m in Manchester already.
As the viewers said, the screen showed Ma Jeong-woo in a suit, strolling down the hall.
Hands tucked into his suit pockets.
Then he stopped dead.
“What’s this?”
The camera slowly panned in a semicircle to face him head-on.
Ma Jeong-woo had one eyebrow cocked, frowning down at something with clear displeasure.
Viewers were dying of curiosity.
- <BackToTheSergeant> : What? What is it?
- <ManguLegend> : What, did gold flake off Mangu’s tombstone? Lololol
The camera followed his gaze downward, zooming in on the shoes he wore.
Black dress shoes that looked like they’d been deliberately dunked in mud and fished out.
Ma Jeong-woo furrowed his brow slightly and said,
“Gotta get some shine on these.”
The screen cut.
Now Ma Jeong-woo was crouched at the hall entrance, shoebrush in one hand, polish in the other.
By then, viewers had pieced it together.
- <Wanderers1stYear> : PPL alert. Lololololol
- <CountryBumpkin> : Wait, shoebrush promo this time?
- <BlueDragon> : Looks like shoe polish ad to me?
Real-time comments flooded in, but Ma Jeong-woo crouched there, staring at the camera with a grin.
“Alright, time to show you how to get that wet shine. Back in my army days, I was known as the boot-polish master. My juniors never caught flak for scuffed combat boots thanks to me.”
That’s when it started.
Scrub, scrub, scrub-!
First, Ma Jeong-woo focused on brushing off every speck of dirt with the shoebrush.
He untied the laces to get the fine dust, then worked polish into every crevice of the leather.
Next, he dampened a prepped white cloth with water and rubbed the shoes relentlessly.
“See, keep rubbing like this, over and over!”
Some viewers watched Ma Jeong-woo sweat it out polishing with admiration, while others tsked.
- <SergeantHong> : Total old-school method.
- <SonOfGod> : You’d get chewed out in the army for that. Takes forever.
Was it their feedback?
Scrub, scrub, scrub-!
The camera slowly swung to the right side.
And viewers were stunned.
There, on Ma Jeong-woo’s right, sat another man on a folding chair, gripping a shoe in one hand, mid-shine.
A few fans instantly recognized the balding guy chuckling away as he worked.
- <BoltonBest> : It’s Victor!
- <LifeIs9Miles> : Whoa, Victor for real. That pork belly slayer!
Sure enough, Office Manager Donald Victor was right there with Ma Jeong-woo, shining away.
But his tools were different.
Korean fans reacted with a mix of bafflement and nostalgia.
- <UijeongbuStubborn> : Oh man, that’s the real army staple
- : Perfect for shine. Slap it on and it gleams no matter what.
- <LeftySleepAnesthesia> : Liquid shoe polish. Army bros’ fave
Then one fan questioned the obscured brand label.
The camera zoomed out, contrasting Ma Jeong-woo sweating buckets with Victor casually slathering it on like paint.
The screen faded to black like a curtain dropping, then white text appeared.
[Contact us. Before the value goes up.]
A sort of deal with the shoe polish company.
* * *
A sunny afternoon.
“Th-thank you, sir.”
In Ma Jeong-woo’s office, Donald Victor bowed in awkward Korean style.
Ma Jeong-woo chuckled from his executive chair at the stiff bow.
“What’s there to thank me for?”
“You let me on the Nuttuber channel.”
Not just a cameo—practically a co-star spot.
It had already paid off big for Victor.
Viewers were pouring into his personal channel like a tidal wave.
What’s more, Victor was touched, even feeling a pang of guilt.
‘I saw him as nothing but a rival...!’
Unlike him, Ma Jeong-woo had extended a hand without hesitation.
Let’s pitch a deal together to Malpyo Group, the Korean company.
Land the ad gig and team up again next time.
Ma Jeong-woo had added,
‘Your Nuttuber channel needs to grow too, Manager Victor. We’re family, right?’
Just recalling those words had Victor’s eyes welling up.
How much time had passed?
Victor, who’d gazed at him extra warmly today, had finally left.
Ma Jeong-woo sat in his executive chair and lit a cigarette.
*Hoo—!*
Gray smoke billowed up.
As he’d told Victor, the uploaded video was a pitch straight to Malpyo Group.
‘They’d reached out before.’
Specifically, around when the Chicken Emperor started blowing up, Malpyo Group—specialists in shoe polish—had made an offer too.
But it never reached the negotiating table.
Unlike the Chicken Emperor deal, Malpyo’s proposed sponsorship terMad Dog fee were laughably low.
*Tap, tap—!*
He knocked ash into the ashtray and took another drag.
Ma Jeong-woo narrowed his eyes.
‘But things are different now.’
Bolton’s league position alone was worlds apart from back then.
Plus, the Chicken Emperor’s promo effect had Malpyo booming—already ten UK outlets.
‘K-food hype helped, and the chicken’s damn good too.’
Nuttuber subs were climbing steadily, and Bolton’s name was surging back in Korea regardless.
So he’d thrown it out there in this video for Malpyo.
Come on, let’s talk a real deal.
Either way, the reason for chasing a sponsorship with Malpyo Group was straightforward.
‘It’s our symbol too.’
Exactly.
Bolton Wanderers, aka ‘The Trotters.’
Malpyo Group’s symbol was the horse as well.
Business-wise, he figured it had plenty of local appeal.