Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 3

#2. The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey

﹂What the hell is Iconic Partners? Sounds like some kind of crypto company.

﹂I heard it’s a sports agency. They’ve got Han Su-hyeok and a few nobodies.

﹂How can they afford to buy a baseball team with that kind of money? Everyone already calls the Warriors the Beggars. What are they going to do?

﹂I guess they have some money, and there’s nowhere further to fall anyway. What’s the difference between being a beggar and a super-beggar?

﹂Ugh, this is driving me crazy. We’re guaranteed to be in last place again next season.

﹂It’s really absurd when you think about it. How does a team that was once talking about a dynasty collapse so quickly?

﹂It’s all because of the current owner. He sold off all the expensive players and gave ridiculously generous FA [Free Agent] contracts to the guys loyal to him. Seriously.

﹂Yeah, things went to hell after that guy came in. Who would have predicted the Warriors would sink to last place and face talk of disbandment?

﹂From 2022, it’s been 9981010… Honestly, at this point, it should be disbandment, not a sale.

A previously unheard-of investment firm, built on a mere sports agency, acquired the Warriors.

The news brought mixed reactions from various people.

The KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] and baseball officials, who had almost given up after several failed attempts to sell the team, naturally welcomed the acquisition.

Returning to a 9-team system was the worst-case scenario they could imagine.

The problem was the Warriors’ fans.

They had lost star players to other teams due to lack of funds, and after the eldest son of the Oh Kang Group became the owner, the entire team was completely ruined. However, the memories of the dynasty era still lingered.

The fans, who had hoped that a more capable company than Oh Kang Group would acquire and revitalize the Warriors, were shocked by the emergence of a company they had never heard of.

To be sold to some no-name company they’ve never heard of, of all things. Is there really no hope left for the Warriors?

Those fans’ concerns seemed to be slowly materializing.

As soon as the news related to the team’s acquisition was announced, additional news that would make fans clutch the back of their necks followed.

﹂I knew this would happen. They’re selling off everything that makes money in the end.

﹂LOL, does it even make money? They’re all eat-and-run guys [players who are overpaid and underperform].

﹂Starting catcher Hwang Sung-min’s batting average this year is 0.191, starting shortstop Song Gi-tae 0.212, closer Han Jin-woo’s ERA [Earned Run Average] is 7.05… My heart swells with pride…

﹂Still, who’s going to fill those spots if they’re gone?

﹂Anyone from the minors could do as well as them.

﹂At least Jung Gi-ho, Jo Sung-oh, and Lee Man-sik aren’t being sold off, I guess.

﹂They don’t engage in political maneuvering… They’re just terrible at baseball.

﹂Ah, no matter what, those three are all Warriors franchises.

﹂Franchise, my ass. Everyone knows they sucked up to the chairman at the year-end party to get their contracts.

﹂So, what are we going to do if they send them all away!

Sports-related internet forums began to blaze.

Even though they were considered the worst of the worst eat-and-run players, they were the only remaining players with name recognition on a team that had sold off all its star players.

What if those three were to leave the team?

Then they would really have to build the team with rookies who were only in their first or second year, used rookies acquired for free from other teams, and aging players who had nowhere else to go.

It was only natural that Warriors fans were furious.

The only ones excited about the fans’ reactions were the FA eat-and-run trio.

With their skills, they might be stuck in the minors if they went to another team, so they had to stick with the Warriors to secure their spot in the first team and receive a proper salary.

Inside the Warriors’ team bus after losing 10-0 to their Jamsil rivals, the Seoul Magicians.

The FA eat-and-run trio, sitting in the back, grinned at each other.

“Hyung [older brother/senior], you don’t have to worry too much, Sung-min hyung.”

“Hehe, Gi-tae, what did I tell you? The club can’t get rid of us anyway. They look like they’re about to set the team bus on fire if we announce a trade now.”

“You never know. At least the hyungs are a catcher and a shortstop, so they can’t get rid of you easily. Me…”

“Jin-woo, you’re fine too. Hey, who’s going to close if they get rid of you right away? You may have been a bit sluggish this season, but you had 13 saves last year. Huh? It’s okay, they can’t get rid of you!”

Of course, the fact that he had nine blown saves in the process of getting those 13 saves, and that his ERA was in the 5s and his WHIP [Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched] was a whopping 1.9, had long been erased from their minds.

For these three, who had secured FA contracts by sucking up to the chairman and superiors, the Warriors were a paradise on earth, flowing with milk and honey [a place of ease and abundance].

Even as the team was stuck in last place, the club’s owner changed, and they even lost 10-0 to their Seoul rivals, they only thought about their own personal gain.

But no one was angry at their voices.

The rookies, who were only in their first or second year, and the powerless players who had been pushed out of the mainstream, closed their eyes and ears, pretending not to hear anything.

The only one who was burning inside was the manager.

He wanted to shout right away.

If they were going to play with that kind of mindset, they should get their asses down to the minors and give their spots to their juniors.

He wanted to shout at the eat-and-run trio who were not only disrupting the team atmosphere but tearing it to shreds.

‘Hmm, can’t do that, can’t do that.’

But he couldn’t.

Hwang Sung-min and Song Gi-tae were connected to the golden line leading to the general manager and the head coach, and Han Jin-woo was the president’s high school junior and a distant cousin of the pitching coach.

Even though the club’s owner had changed, the close-knit network between them was deeply rooted in the team.

The manager, who had no support within the team, decided to ignore reality, thinking of his daughter’s face, who would be getting married soon.

But the next day, the solid world they thought would never change was turned upside down.

* * *

On the morning of the 2027 KBO Draft, Gong Seung-chan, the head of scouting for the Seoul Warriors, who was about to write his resignation letter and start the handover process, headed to the president’s office with a dumbfounded expression.

‘Why are they looking for me? Who? The president’s office should be empty.’

His decision to leave the club was closer to being forced than voluntary.

Player selection was controlled by the general manager and the scouting team leader, who were senior and junior alumni from the same university.

How many promising players had he missed out on because of that?

The Warriors, who had taken autumn baseball [playoff baseball] for granted until 2021, plummeted to 9th place in 2022, when the new owner took office, and had not escaped the bottom ranks from 2023 to 2026 this year.

In the midst of all that, there was only one hope: the precious first-round pick they had obtained by finishing last.

Gong Seung-chan, who had once been an outfielder for this team, created the best possible draft list for the team.

A list based solely on skill and potential, without any personal feelings.

But that list was thoroughly ignored by the team leader and the general manager, and instead, players they had picked based on school ties and regional connections joined the Warriors.

And now the team is paying dearly for those choices.

After that happened several times, Gong Seung-chan finally decided to write his resignation letter.

He didn’t have a place to go right away, but he thought it would be better to deliver food than to be in this hellish place.

‘Knock, knock.’

But why are they looking for me? A scout who has decided to leave the company and has no real power?

The parachute president [an executive appointed from above], who had come down from the Oh Kang Group headquarters after the baseball team’s owner changed, naturally stepped down from his position.

Thanks to that, the president’s office was empty. Sitting there was a young man he had seen somewhere before.

“Welcome, Chief Gong Seung-chan.”

“Yes, but who… are you looking for me?”

“I’m Park Sung-hoon.”

“Park Sung-hoon? Park… Sung… Ah!”

Only then did Gong Seung-chan realize that the young man in front of him was Park Sung-hoon, the CEO of Iconic Partners, the new owner of this club.

“You’re CEO Park Sung-hoon. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. But what brings you to…”

“What else would the owner of a club be looking for a scout for? It’s because of the rookie draft this afternoon.”

“Ah, I’ve already submitted my resignation… And our team leader and other scouts have already left for the venue.”

“I told them to come back.”

“Yes?”

“I told them to come back to the company. The draft room will be a bit lonely today, but you and I will have to go alone.”

“Yes?”

Chief Gong Seung-chan stared at him as if asking what that meant.

But Park Sung-hoon couldn’t answer his questions. He was just as frustrated, because it was Han Su-hyeok, the real owner of the club, who had given these instructions yesterday afternoon.

‘You’ve confirmed that 100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD] has been deposited into the corporate account, right?’

‘Yeah, Oh Kang handled all the taxes, so it was deposited cleanly without a single penny missing. Man, my heart is pounding.’

‘Don’t be so petty, man. What’s with the heart over a measly 100 billion… Anyway, make sure it’s well covered that I’m the beneficial owner.’

‘Of course. It’ll be a big deal if it gets out that a current player owns a stake in the club. I’ll take care of that, so don’t worry… I’m more worried about the budget.’

‘Just hold on with the 100 billion for now. I’ll think about the long-term club budget separately.’

‘Long-term budget? What are you thinking?’

‘Well, if it doesn’t work out, I might just go to the Major League for a while and rake in a few years’ worth of salary?’

‘Ha, haha, hahaha… Look at this guy’s guts. Yeah, I’ll try to reduce the deficit and hold on somehow with the club’s operations. By the way, you said to only take a guy named Gong Seung-chan from the scouts to the draft, right?’

‘Yeah, he probably wrote his resignation letter, but it hasn’t been accepted yet. Reject it and have him take care of all the scouting-related work.’

‘Really? What about the others then?’

‘They should all be fired. I don’t know about the other departments, but the scouting team is a real trash can. Anyway, there’s no time tomorrow, so keep them tied up at the company and go to the draft with Chief Gong Seung-chan.’

‘Hmm… Where did you get that information from, you high school punk… Well, this is your club, not mine. Okay, I’ll do as you say.’

‘Good. Then let’s meet at the draft tomorrow. And you have to draft in the first round no matter what. So there won’t be any strange noises about prior collusion or anything later.’

‘Okay. Don’t worry about that, but won’t you really regret it later? Are you really not attached to America?’

‘Hyung.’

‘Why?’

‘That was my dream.’

‘Crazy.’

Park Sung-hoon, recalling what happened yesterday, said to Chief Gong Seung-chan with a firm expression.

“Let’s surprise the world today.”

* * *