Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Translator Wjin
Chapter 51
Cha Tae-Hyun, wearing a Phoenix uniform, stood on the stage and was answering the announcer's questions.
He's definitely a star…
This is the first time I've seen a high school player interview so skillfully.
Every single one of his answers is a headline…
The reporters, who were tapping away at their laptops while watching him, were newly impressed. The player in front of them had clearly only played baseball, yet his eloquence was on par with any celebrity.
“Cha Tae-Hyun, do you have any goals you want to achieve after joining the Phoenix?”
At the announcer's comment, the reporters perked up their ears and focused. This very question was the key question that could become a newsworthy issue.
Whether he was aiming to be the home run king, rookie of the year, or perhaps even aiming for the MVP with a rookie's spirit. Whatever it was, it would be good to stick it in a headline.
Just as everyone was filled with anticipation, Cha Tae-Hyun fixed his gaze on the camera and a smirk formed on his lips.
“Of course, I have a goal set. But it's not goals, it's a goal. I've only set one.”
At those words, the announcer smiled brightly and made a fuss.
“Ah! I see! Then that one goal must be a really big one, right? Could it be… the MVP?”
The reporters also nodded, as if they were thinking the same thing. However, Cha Tae-Hyun shook his head.
Then is it Rookie of the Year?
Just as the slightly disappointed reporters were about to be let down, they were momentarily stunned when Cha Tae-Hyun opened his mouth.
“A Phoenix championship. That's my only goal. I'm not interested in anything else.”
Everyone had naturally been thinking of something like a personal career goal, and the announcer's question had also been intended that way…
“Is this what they mean by being on a different level from the start?”
One reporter, who had let out a hollow laugh, was certain. If Cha Tae-Hyun was just good at baseball, he would become a superstar.
Soon, this scene was broadcast on the broadcast screen, and the community exploded.
└I thought he was aiming for MVP when he said he had one goal, but then he suddenly says ‘Phoenix championship’ lololol
└WTF lol. A rookie saying he'll make a team that hasn't won in over 30 years win the championship is for real lololol
└The difficulty is crazy high, but he's confidently saying he'll make them win lol. He's got some serious guts for real lololol
└Seriously, I think a Phoenix championship is harder than a rookie winning both MVP and Rookie of the Year at the same time lololol
└That has happened once in history, but the Phoenix have only won the championship twice… And as for a regular season championship? ^None^
└Tae-Hyun the God is on a different level lololol
└He's a fucking superstar for real lololol
└WTF. This is it. Even a rookie is saying he'll win the championship, so learn from him, you Phoenix salary-stealing bastards.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
After parting with Cha Tae-Hyun, Lee Mi-Yeon, who was on her way home, headed to her parents' house due to a sudden call from them.
Until she opened the door, she hadn't thought much of it. She had just thought that they had suddenly wanted to see their daughter.
But…,
“Lee Mi-Yeon.”
Her mother's voice was too cold for someone who had called because she had suddenly wanted to see her daughter.
Did I… do something wrong?
You know that chilling feeling you get instinctively when your parents call you by your full name. Especially when they only call you by your three-syllable name.
“Uh… Mom, why did you call today?”
As she answered as brightly as she could, pretending not to know, her mother held out a picture she had taken of the TV screen with her phone.
“Huh…? What's this…”
Just as she was about to say, ‘what,’ Lee Mi-Yeon's eyes widened. Her mouth also froze wide open like a hippo's. Wasn't her own face on the TV screen, attending the draft? And with a particularly bright smile as she looked at Cha Tae-Hyun, at that.
“This student, Cha Tae-Hyun, is from Hyuksan High…. That's the school you're in charge of, right?”
Seeing Lee Mi-Yeon's pale face, her mother let out a big sigh.
“Right…. Mi-Yeon, I know you studied hard without making a single friend to become a teacher. Now you've achieved your dream, and you're 26, so it's an age when you'd want to date a lot…”
She had no intention of interfering with her daughter's love life either. In fact, she wanted to support her. Because she had watched from the closest distance how much her daughter had given up and worked hard.
However…
“Still… shouldn't you meet someone who's a bit more your age? And with your student, it's a bit…”
“N-no! It's… it's not that…”
At her daughter's reaction, who couldn't immediately deny it and seemed to have lost her words, her head started to spin a little. She had wondered, but it seemed there really was something going on with that student named Cha Tae-Hyun.
After composing herself for a moment, she continued.
“You… you haven't crossed the line, have you?”
Lee Mi-Yeon, who couldn't look her mother straight in the eye, said as if muttering.
“…What do you mean by the line?”
For a moment, she swayed slightly.
“I mean, have you been acting like a couple…”
“…It was just a feeling of cheering him on as a teacher…”
“Right. A teacher can cheer on her student.”
“Or holding his hand…?”
“Well… right. I looked it up. That student named Cha Tae-Hyun has had a lot of hard times… so you could hold his hand…”
She could understand holding his hand if she rationalized it somehow. However, Lee Mi-Yeon was still mumbling as if there was more.
“Did you go further than holding hands…?”
“A little… just hugging… maybe? But that's it! Really, that's it…”
Lee Mi-Yeon's mother wiped her face with her hand. She felt dizzy, but at the same time, she felt relieved. In any case, she hadn't crossed the line…
After thinking for quite a long time, Lee Mi-Yeon's mother made a decision.
Right…. If they like each other, that's what matters…. In the first place, our daughter is the one who's the cradle robber.
“…Mi-Yeon. Mom will try to understand. It's your life, after all…”
“No, I'm really just a fan cheering for Tae-Hyun…”
“Stop with the nonsense. But you have to keep this promise…. You have to wait until he graduates. Okay? Got it?”
“Then… you'll approve?”
Lee Mi-Yeon's mother let out a hollow laugh for a moment. She had been pretending to be a fan and all that until now…
“Right. I'm not against it… but Mom really doesn't know…. You're the one who's responsible, you know that, right?”
“Yes!”
Watching her daughter hug her, saying thank you, she let out a sigh.
This child has only studied too much….
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
[The all-time monster rookie, Cha Tae-Hyun, confirmed for the Phoenix, not the Majors!]
[We spend money well! Phoenix invests 2 billion in Cha Tae-Hyun!]
[All Phoenix fans: Overpaid? As long as Cha Tae-Hyun is here, it's fine!]
[Cha Tae-Hyun: My only goal is a Phoenix championship.]
For the past few days, articles that would make any Phoenix fan's heart flutter had been pouring out.
└I believed in you, Chairman!
└Just the eternal light of the Phoenix… God Manager.
└Ikr. It's to the point where I doubt if he's really the Phoenix's general manager.
Even the notoriously fierce community fandoms were raising their glasses in celebration, so it was natural for the Phoenix team owner's shoulders to be puffed up with pride.
Putting down his phone, the team owner laughed heartily and patted the general manager's shoulder.
“See! You can do it if you try! General Manager. I believed in you!”
Of course, he hadn't believed at all and had been thinking of firing him, but since he hadn't said it out loud, it was okay.
“Haha…. Thank you.”
“Right, right. You worked hard, so rest a little and eat well now. You've lost too much weight, our General Manager Lee. Were you stressed or something?”
“…No, sir. What is there to be stressed about?”
“Our General Manager Lee is a really good person, you know? He doesn't even try to show that he's having a hard time. Right. Since you worked hard this time, I'll give you a big performance bonus, so look forward to it!”
A performance bonus! That sweet reward was one of the things the general manager had really been hoping for, but he still had one task left.
“The performance bonus is fine, sir.”
“Hmm?”
The rookie called the best of all time, Lee Seung-Tae and Cha Tae-Hyun, and even the master manager Lee Eun-Seok, who had led his team to three consecutive championships, had joined the team.
It wouldn't be strange to say that all the energy of the universe was gathering at the Phoenix. This shouldn't end with just being satisfied. The general manager thought that this situation was a precious opportunity that would never come again.
“…Could you support us with a little more funding?”
“Hmm…? I thought I had budgeted it generously? For next season too.”
“We need more for a Phoenix championship.”
Championship. The moment that word came out, the team owner's eyes widened, and he soon burst into laughter. Since he had already invested a lot of funds, investing additional funds was a burden for the team owner as well.
But the general manager, who had only been trying to keep his position until now, had even refused a performance bonus and was asking for a favor.
He's finally showing the signs of a proper general manager.
This was enough to sway the team owner's heart.
“For now, just spend as much as you want to spend. I'll take care of the aftermath.”
“Ch-chairman!”
“You're right, General Manager Lee. Right. It's right to invest when the opportunity comes. Let's just go for the championship once!”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
After autumn had passed, it was a time when the winter wind was blowing coldly. The Phoenix held a press conference and proudly declared that the next season would be truly different.
└Next season will be different (10th year)
└Right, now that Cha Tae-Hyun is here, they might be able to aim for 9th place from last.
└I'm a Phoenix fan too, but honestly, I think winning the championship just because Cha Tae-Hyun joined is just bullshit.
└The fact is that Phoenix fans are saying that, but behind the scenes, they're saying ‘Godnix, Hwangnix, championship’ lololol
└For real lololol
The baseball fans were busy teasing, saying it was the same thing they said every year, but as the Phoenix began to reveal the cards they had prepared one by one, public opinion began to turn.
[Is the Phoenix really different now? Master manager Lee Eun-Seok accepts the Phoenix manager position!]
└What?
└Is this real?
└No lol. Why would Lee Eun-Seok come here lol
└Crazy lol. Lee Eun-Seok is coming to the Phoenix lololol
└lol Lee Eun-Seok is going to ruin his career in his later years lololol
“It's Manager Lee Eun-Seok, Tae-Hyun! The manager who won three consecutive championships!”
Ms. Mi-Yeon was overjoyed at the news of Manager Lee Eun-Seok's appointment, and I was quite satisfied too.
I didn't know much about what kind of manager he was since Manager Lee Eun-Seok wasn't covered much in Nemas, but he was a manager who had experienced three consecutive championships.
He would be much better than Kim Ji-Chan, who would send the Phoenix into an even deeper abyss in just one year.
The Phoenix's unconventional moves did not end there.
[The franchise star of the Seoul Winners, Lee Jun, is now with the Busan Phoenix… He hit a huge 4-year, 8 billion FA jackpot.]
[The Phoenix again? A $1 million contract with foreign mercenary batter Andy John!]
[The Phoenix's investment doesn't stop! A $1.3 million contract with foreign mercenary pitcher Eric Wood!]
└ It's starting to get scary… damn
└No, I mean, I did ask them to buy FA players, but they're buying everyone…?
└The fact is that even if they gather players like this, in a few months, they'll be ‘Phoenix-ized’ and the money will evaporate lol
└This is for real lololol
As the fans said, the Phoenix's pattern was that even if they spent a lot of money like this, misfortunes such as ‘a bust after all’ or ‘a mercenary who got homesick and went back’ or ‘a player who was great before FA suddenly lying down’ would happen,
but it was certain that it was an investment of a scale that was worth getting excited about, even considering that. If the salary cap system had existed in this world, they would have already been penalized.
“The Phoenix is really different! We're definitely winning the championship next year!”
Well, of course, even so, I didn't know if it was to the extent of shouting, ‘We're definitely winning the championship!’
“I'll somehow make them win the championship.”
“Yes! I believe in you, Tae-Hyun.”
Right, if Ms. Mi-Yeon wanted a championship, I had to do it somehow.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇;
The year changed, and I joined the team in advance according to the spring camp schedule. Surprisingly, this was my first time visiting the team since the day I was drafted. This was because I had chosen to do self-training instead of joining the rookie camp.
Some might think, ‘A rookie, being so arrogant as to do self-training?’ but none of the fans said anything to me.
└I heard Cha Tae-Hyun isn't joining the rookie camp and is just doing self-training.
└ That's right. If you go through the Phoenix coaches, you'll be ‘Phoenix-ized’.
└Ikr
In fact, they even praised me for making a good judgment. Anyway, for that reason, this was my first time meeting the Phoenix players as well.
It was when I was walking down the hallway with some anticipation that I came across a rather familiar face.
“Isn't that Lee Seung-Tae?”
But Lee Seung-Tae, whom I was seeing for the first time in a while… had changed quite a lot. His appearance was, of course, the same as he hadn't had plastic surgery, but his impression had changed a lot.
His always confident eyes were hollow and dead, and he seemed to have no energy, like a person who had been completely drained.
“Oh…. Is that you, Tae-Hyun? It's been a while. It's good to see you.”
“Yes. Have you been well, Lee Seung-Tae?”
At my words, Lee Seung-Tae chuckled and put his hand on my right shoulder.
“Tae-Hyun… the Phoenix is not a team you can be well in.”
“Pardon…?”
“Never mind…. You'll find out when the season starts. Anyway… you do your best too. Oh, and try not to look at the internet… communities as much as possible. Especially on days when you lose a game.”
“Uh…, yes. I understand.”
It seems… a lot had happened to Lee Seung-Tae.