Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Park Jung-ah and Union Berlin
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***
Training was underway at Union Berlin's training ground, Iron and Blood.
Union Berlin had built brand-new training facilities through a massive construction project.
[Union Berlin names new training ground 'Iron and Blood' to commemorate fans' dedication.]
└ Wow lol, romance MAX.
└ This is football, this is sports.
└ No one left who isn't cheering for Union Berlin yet~?
└ If you're Korean, please cheer for Union Berlin!
I had suggested a name for the training ground that symbolized Union Berlin, and with the approval of Chairman Dirk Zingler and the staff, it was adopted as the official name.
Union Berlin fans also loved "Iron and Blood," the phrase that represented them.
‘The training environment has definitely improved.’
The youth players drew motivation from watching the first-team players train in the same space.
The first-team players, seeing the youth surging up from below, regained their shaken初心.
‘That aside….’
I stared intently at Yannick Foight, who was training with the players while smiling.
“What’re you staring at so hard?”
Daniel Teixeira spoke up, finding my dazed gaze at Yannick odd.
“Yannick seems… different somehow.”
“Feels like he’s become a true man.”
As Daniel Teixeira said, aside from his unique aura, even with his five-star rating, there wasn’t a huge difference from before.
‘Maybe because only his mental stats shot up dramatically.’
I’d probably have to see him in a real match to know for sure.
Anyway.
In three days, the DFB-Pokal second-round match against Paderborn would take place at the stadium rented by Union Berlin.
Even with the game just days away, the atmosphere at Union Berlin’s training ground was upbeat.
‘The players are that confident in victory.’
I didn’t even consider losing to Paderborn once. Like FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the last match, Paderborn was a relegation-threatened team from the 2. Bundesliga.
‘Football is round, so upsets can happen.’
But upsets are called upsets precisely because they don’t happen often.
Three days passed quickly.
The DFB-Pokal second-round match was held at the stadium rented by Union Berlin.
“Hart sind die Zeiten und hart ist das Team.”
“Times are hard, and the team is tough.”
“Darum siegen wir mit Eisern Union.”
“That’s why we triumph with Iron Union.”
Union Berlin’s chants echoed, and flags symbolizing Union Berlin waved majestically.
“Korean fans are here too, I see the Taegukgi….”
Seeing the Taegukgi among them stirred various emotions.
Amid the complex feelings, the biggest was an inexplicable dread.
It felt off to have such emotions while fans cheered.
But I couldn’t help it.
‘…Fuck, what about the military?’
It was that serious an issue for me.
Actually, dodging the military wasn’t a problem.
I had German permanent residency.
However, after hyping up Korean patriotism, using residency to skip service might draw some side-eye.
[Park Chan-hyuk: Talks patriotism but skips service with residency?]
[‘Black-Haired German’ Park Chan-hyuk’s scam on the nation….]
[‘The second Steve Ryu?’ Let’s look into Park Chan-hyuk….]
I could already envision the headlines from reporters who’d latched onto their prey.
Korean journalists would hound this relentlessly.
And on this issue, I didn’t expect fans to defend me.
‘They might not beat me up over it if I’m lucky….’
In Korea, military service was a no-shield zone.
Even after the backlash, plenty of fans would stick with Union Berlin, but it’d still leave regrets.
‘But I can’t serve twice….’
I thought about official exemptions.
‘The classic is getting Olympic team bronze or Asian Games gold….’
I got that players got exemptions, but as a manager, was I eligible? Not sure.
Unfortunately, related docs weren’t easy to search online.
‘Ah…. Someone give me a three-line summary! In the future, I’d just click GPT and done.’
I inwardly cursed Park Jung-ah.
‘Park Jung-ah, what’re you doing! As a future person, develop ChatGPT or something!’
She might retort what I was doing, but I had a comeback.
I was in arts and athletics.
‘…Can’t ask to be exempt as Union Berlin’s steadfast mascot.’
Even during the ongoing match, my head was tangled with military thoughts.
***
Meanwhile, at that time.
‘Bitcoin’s launch is really just around the corner now. The day regular folks could mine it was January 8, 2009….’
Former idol Park Jung-ah had visited the stadium to watch Union Berlin’s match.
Her visit was related to building a data center.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, starting with the data center, we’re considering relocating our headquarters too.”
In Europe, business talks at football matches were quite common.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say no European hated football.
“By the way, didn’t know you liked football. Unexpected.”
“My brother’s the manager here.”
“Oh. Chan-hyuk. I know him. Great manager.”
Just revealing her connection to her brother Park Chan-hyuk shifted the mood.
The wariness toward a rich Asian vanished, and the conversation flowed naturally warmer.
‘…Oppa has a lot of fans.’
This was the power of a football manager in Europe.
The mayor of the Köpenick district asked about the tactics Park Chan-hyuk used.
Honestly, Park Jung-ah didn’t know much about football.
She just parroted what Park Chan-hyuk had said.
“Oh…. I see!”
But to a non-expert, that was plenty.
‘This works.’
Anyway.
The messenger business run by her family was expanding rapidly alongside smartphone launches.
Negotiating pre-installation on smartphone apps using family-held Apple shares had greatly helped early growth.
Some issues arose, but they passed without major trouble.
- Sorry, little miss, uncle’s busy….
- It’s Park Jung-ah speaking.
- …For real?
Even Steve Jobs, infamous for his ‘personality,’ couldn’t curse at Park Jung-ah.
Cursing at an adult was one thing; at a young girl (13 years old) was another risk level.
The former could be spun as prickly artist or eccentric genius; the latter was just toxic waste.
Even Steve Jobs had to worry about the reputation of ‘cursing and making a teenage Asian girl cry.’
‘If he’d cursed, it might’ve gone smoother….’
Park Jung-ah regretted that a curse might’ve eased negotiations more, but anyway.
With smartphones kicking off the 4th Industrial Revolution, data centers were growing vital.
‘Cloud computing, was it?’
Park Jung-ah was steadily preparing for future opportunities.
Köpenick, Union Berlin’s home area, was ideal for a data center.
The precise administrative name was Treptow-Köpenick, Berlin’s largest district with the lowest population density.
As the capital, it offered stable power, ample land, and low disaster risk—perfect for data centers.
And beyond that, Park Jung-ah had her own goal.
‘Making this our family’s territory wouldn’t be bad.’
Köpenick was great as a modern fiefdom. Locals already favored Park Chan-hyuk.
‘Population’s a bit low.’
But jobs would naturally boost it.
They’d become a human wall protecting them from the coming disaster.
‘Subprime mortgage crisis.’
Park Jung-ah had initially planned to leave the subprime response to Park Chan-hyuk.
He knew about it too.
“…All our assets on shorting?”
But their talk forced her to scrap that.
“Yeah. That’s how we make big money.”
“Oppa, how many lives you got?”
“Second one.”
Just recalling that day made her head throb.
Moderate profit-taking was fine—expected even.
But all-in was another dimension.
‘…Entrust money to Oppa, and our family’s done for, no trace left.’
Crises were times when ‘just die then’ shouts outnumbered patient persuasion.
While Park Jung-ah agonized over her brother Park Chan-hyuk.
“Yannick Foight! Fußball Gott!!”
Union Berlin scored first, and the mayor beside her jumped up, cheering and starting the Union Berlin chant.
‘…By the way, why’s Oppa all tied up?’