Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: vs Wolfsburg -1
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***
At the agent's words, I began managing my expression as best as I could.
Putting on a face like I'd never even heard of Casemiro.
“Casemiro, huh... Never heard of him.”
“Haha. That makes sense. He hasn't made his pro debut yet, after all. But he's a prospect with outstanding talent.”
“Hmm... I don't really trust players I haven't scouted myself or seen with my own eyes for Union Berlin.”
“I see. But I'm convinced Casemiro will become a world-class soccer player soon.”
If I could, I'd whip out a contract right then and there and sign him on the spot.
But I didn't say I wanted to bring Casemiro on board recklessly.
The moment I showed interest in Casemiro here,
that agent would surely shop him around not just to Union Berlin, but everywhere else.
'No need to pay a premium transfer fee.'
So, I started acting like I had zero interest.
“Hmm. If he's that good, the transfer fee must be pretty steep...”
“Even so, could you just make some time to see him once?”
“......Alright. Then let's have him try out before the transfer window closes. But if he passes the tryout, he has to sign with Union Berlin—no exceptions.”
In truth, it was an unreasonable condition.
But I pushed it on the agent anyway.
'If I give him a good evaluation and he bolts to another club, that's a loss.'
Right now, I was the one holding the cards.
Casemiro might end up feeling slighted by this as a player.
But whatever.
“Yes, no problem. Casemiro really wants to come to Union Berlin.”
It didn't seem like that would be an issue.
Before long, Union Berlin had become an El Dorado for prospects.
***
Just as my conversation with Casemiro's agent wrapped up positively,
the new TikTok launched by Park Jung-ah was spreading rapidly worldwide, riding the wave of smartphone adoption.
I'd thought it might be a bit premature before launch, but she insisted I trust her and pushed ahead.
And she proved herself right.
“Oppa, remember this: a good product and good service will trend on their own.”
She'd considered splitting TikTok and Guten like Elon Musk did with his companies,
but in the end, Park Jung-ah just made TikTok a subsidiary of Guten.
It was decided that Guten would acquire TikTok.
For reference, in exchange for 51% of TikTok's shares, we got 5% of Guten's shares plus cash.
I wondered why not take it all in shares,
but according to Park Jung-ah, taking only shares could lead to us getting split up by antitrust laws.
Well, Guten was already a private company with our family holding nearly 50%. With this TikTok acquisition, we picked up another 5%, gripping 55% of Guten.
The German pension fund held 11%, 32% was publicly traded,
and the remaining 2% was in the hands of our friendly allies.
Oh, for reference, that's voting shares.
Like Google, we'd issued plenty of non-voting shares too.
Gotta learn from the best.
Anyway, I didn't have much interest in company management or making money.
Park Jung-ah was handling it just fine.
“But why didn't you short subprime mortgages with our whole fortune back then? Shorting makes money out of thin air.”
And whenever I got frustrated with my overly cautious little sister and tried to give advice,
“Shut up and just play soccer, oppa.”
I'd get hit with profanity from my little sister, so now I kept my advice to a minimum.
In any case,
after TikTok's launch, the stock prices of the companies Park Jung-ah ran soared.
My assets were growing just by breathing.
'Is this what they call fuck-you money?'
Even so, reporters occasionally came asking how I'd manage Guten going forward.
Since my sister's face hadn't been exposed to the media yet.
In other words, whenever Guten did well, I was the one in the spotlight.
[New conglomerate heir 'Guten' successor Park Chan-hyuk on reporter's question... “That's not fun and cool.”]
No bold reporter in the world would risk their life exposing a chaebol who didn't want his face out there.
So, all the reporters' attention was on me.
“Do you have any plans to apply CSV to corporate operations?”
Well, when reporters asked, I just mumbled my way through.
‘......CSV? Isn't that the Terran worker in SCV?’
The terms they used were all ones I'd never heard in my life.
Unlike my complete ignorance in business management, running Union Berlin had reached a masterful level.
“We'll need to set up food courts or food trucks once the stadium's done soon—how about holding a cooking competition and uploading it to TikTok in a variety show format? And while we're at it, let's make accounts for Union Berlin on YouTube and TikTok.”
“......Can't you stop bringing me work?”
“Bad idea?”
“No, the idea itself is good.... But don't you think you've piled way too much work on me already!”
I'd toss a fresh idea at Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler, and he'd flesh it out into something concrete.
“Oppa, why not just nominally acquire the club?”
Lately, with Union Berlin tearing it up in the top flight, Park Jung-ah had started visiting.
And when she tried giving advice on club management, I'd shut it down firmly.
“Ugh. Why do you think no other clubs do that? German soccer fans would revolt. You told me to get as much recognition from them as possible for our family's safety!”
Privatizing the club would spark a huge controversy for sure.
“......So who's the lady behind you?”
“My friend.”
“A friend? She looks quite a bit older than you.”
“She's a year younger than me.”
“......”
Park Jung-ah always brought a woman along, and I quickly realized she was trying to force an arranged marriage on me.
***
He'd become a hot topic with his rejuvenated dribbling, but Cafu looked utterly spent after that run.
“Boss, I think Cafu needs a rest for the next match.”
At the medical coach's words, I nodded.
Given Cafu's age, pushing him too hard wouldn't do any good.
“Take a vacation. Go play with your kid.”
I removed Cafu from the next match lineup and gave him time off.
“My son is about the same age as you, Boss.”
“......You married young.”
“Yeah, so aren't you getting married, Boss? I had a kid at your age.”
“Huh? Suddenly got something urgent—gotta run. Enjoy your vacation!”
In that split second,
I felt the parental nagging vibe from Cafu like it was Chuseok with my parents, and I bolted.
After hurriedly escaping the medical center, I headed to where the prospects were training
and called up Virgil van Dijk, who had adapted somewhat to Germany, to the first team.
'Later on, we could go left Virgil, right Min-jae.'
If Thiago Silva didn't transfer, sticking with a back three like now wasn't bad.
'That'd just be the Wailing Wall.'
By the way,
back in the second division days, Union Berlin was known for its attacking prowess. Before I knew it, we'd become the team with the league's best defense.
And as the sports adage goes: attack draws crowds, defense wins games.
Union Berlin started racking up points at a rapid pace.
***
In Bundesliga Round 9, against Hannover, Union Berlin won 4-0 and kept a clean sheet.
[How did attacking powerhouse Union Berlin become a defensive fortress?]
Union Berlin's rock-solid defensive wall became the talk of the town.
Then in Round 10, the away match against Arminia Bielefeld.
With Union Berlin leading 2-0, and Cafu visibly fatigued in the 70th minute, in came Virgil van Dijk, who had somewhat adapted to Germany.
Normally, prospects debut at home rather than away.
It's consideration for them to adapt with fan support in a familiar environment.
But Park Chan-hyuk didn't extend that courtesy to Virgil.
He believed Virgil could shrug off that kind of pressure.
“Virgil, I want you to become a lion.”
For reference, even lions know their cubs are precious and don't drop them off cliffs.
But Park Chan-hyuk didn't know that.
Virgil van Dijk took the field amid Park Chan-hyuk's encouragement
and proved his talent.
[Virgil van Dijk's fantastic clearance! This is a truly goal-saving defensive play!!]
***
[Virgil van Dijk debuts in an away match. “When I hear the Boss's words, I feel like I've become the world's best defender.”]
After the match ended, I immediately focused on planning tactics for the next game.
Union Berlin's next opponent was
[Union Berlin vs. Wolfsburg showdown!]
Wolfsburg, who won the title in the original history this season.