A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 471

Rookie of the Baseball Team Is Too Good 471

Rookie of the Baseball Team Is Too Good 471

100 Chapters Asking You (3)

The day the Tampa Bay Rays decided to open the third-floor upper deck of Tropicana Field.

On that very day, when the seating capacity of the home stadium increased to 45,000, and the main justification for the new stadium construction project was established.

The people in the Future Strategy Planning Department, who had accomplished all of this, were enjoying a sweet rest for the first time in a long while.

The location was [Seoul Sauna].

A newly opened Korean-style sauna in downtown Tampa.

“Wow, Kim! This is no joke in terms of scale, is it? It feels like entering a sauna village.”

“Haha, a sauna village… I guess it could feel that way. There are many facilities inside.”

“Kim, where should we go first? Should we start with a light salt sauna? Or go all out with a blazing hot clay sauna from the beginning?”

David Wilson, who was new to Korean-style saunas, could only blink with his mouth wide open.

Dragging David around was John Ramer, who had already visited several times.

“How is it, David? Aren’t Koreans really clever? How did they think of putting salt inside a sauna?”

“Ah, I see. It feels a bit like becoming a salt-baked steak… but, whew, it really loosens up the body.”

Following John Ramer’s guidance, the first place the group entered was the salt sauna.

You know, the one where they spread a lot of salt on the floor and lie down on it to warm up the body.

When David showed a positive reaction in the salt sauna, John Ramer’s guidance became even more unrestrained.

“Uhhh, what is this?! Ramer, this isn’t a temperature a person can withstand!”

“Don’t just stand there, sit down! Didn’t you learn in school? Heat rises, you know?!”

The next place they visited after the salt sauna was the clay kiln sauna.

The hottest place in a Korean-style sauna.

“Kim!!! Kim!!! Don’t just laugh there, come and say something! These people are peeling my skin off!”

“It’s not peeling your skin, it’s scrubbing away dead skin! Ugh, how many times do I have to say it for you to understand?”

Now a culture that is quite well known even among Americans, the time to scrub away dead skin could not be missed.

Jiseop learned for the first time at this moment that this is expressed in Korean pronunciation even in the United States as ‘SAE-SIN’ [meaning ‘new body’ or ‘reborn’].

“Alright, David! Stop complaining and try this! This is amazing!”

“What… is this? This is the first time I’ve ever seen green soup.”

“Ah, what was this again? Seaweed soup with beef? Kim, what do you call it in Korean?”

“Miyeok guk. Mi, yeok, guk.”

After scrubbing away at least 30 years’ worth of dead skin, everyone went to the sauna restaurant for a bowl of hot miyeok guk [seaweed soup] with rice.

At first, David tilted his head at the unfamiliar texture, but after drinking the soup filled with meat, his face slowly relaxed.

“Keeeuh…….”

Afterward, when they each held a glass of sikhye [sweet rice beverage] and sat side by side on the massage chairs installed on the second floor of the sauna, all three of them had expressions as if they were walking in paradise.

“Ugh… this is good, really good. It feels like all the screws in my body have come loose.”

“Ha, haha… What did I tell you? I told you you wouldn’t regret it, right? Ugh, really here is…….”

“Ramer, did you exchange enough coins? I don’t think this massage chair will be enough with just one or two times…….”

Drrrrr, drrrrr.

Du, du, du, du, du.

Listening to the sound of the massage chair loosening the stiff muscles, Jiseop was enjoying this moment for a while.

A feeling of languidness all over the body. A feeling of wandering in a dream. Then, if you take a sip of ice-cold sikhye, how sweet it is.

Was it to feel this happiness that I had suffered so much? I also hope that this feeling never ends.

Jiseop had been entrusting his body to the massage chair with his head empty for a while, but-

“Hmm?”

There was an elderly man passing by in front of him.

A grandfather holding his grandson’s hand and chatting.

‘It’s a good sight,’ Jiseop nodded with his eyes half-open, and then suddenly ‘flashed’ and got up.

The name he had forgotten while enjoying the Korean-style sauna came to mind.

“That’s right, Mr. Flex!”

Jiseop slapped his knee.

“David, have you heard from Mr. Flex? I think he said he would join us later.”

“Ah, that’s right? He said two or three hours would be enough, so it’s about time he came… Ah!”

David Wilson pointed to the bottom of the stairs.

“Isn’t that Mr. Flex standing at the entrance on the first floor? The person who is touching his cell phone.”

“Ah! I think that’s right!”

John Ramer peeked over the stairs and waved his hand.

“Charles! Charless! This way!”

When Charles Flex, who confirmed John Ramer’s gesture, showed a bright smile to the group, David Wilson raised one eyebrow.

“As expected, Mr. Flex is no ordinary person. It seems like he has no intention of resting even on a day like today.”

“No intention of resting?”

When Jiseop turned his head and asked, David nodded slowly.

“Yes, look. Didn’t he bring his briefcase?”

He pointed to Charles Flex, who had just started climbing the stairs.

“A Korean-style sauna and a briefcase… they are items that don’t match at all.”

* * *

David’s guess was correct.

Although he changed into a khaki-colored sauna suit, Charles Flex didn’t seem to have any intention of using the sauna facilities at all.

The moment he found Jiseop sitting in the massage chair, he said without any hesitation.

“Kim, isn’t there a place nearby where we can have a quiet conversation?”

He held up his briefcase.

“I’m sorry to bother you when you’re resting… but I want to tell you something today if possible.”

“Ah, is that so?”

It seemed that words like ‘you need rest’ or ‘recharging is also important’ would not work for this person.

He had been working overtime for several days, but he didn’t seem to feel tired at all.

What is fatigue? He was smiling more vigorously than Jiseop or John Ramer.

“Okay. I think I saw a suitable space earlier…….”

Thus, the place where the people of the Future Strategy Planning Department headed was the rooftop of [Seoul Sauna].

There was a fairly plausible garden here.

A feeling of subtly mixing Korean and Chinese gardens.

Still, there was a stream of water flowing and a cool gazebo was built, so the atmosphere was plausible.

The place where Jiseop and his party sat down was also a bench near this gazebo.

“I think you’ve been getting a sense of it… I’m on my way back from meeting with Dana Sears a little while ago.”

It was as John Ramer expected.

Dana Sears.

A baseball fan who is so hopeless that she hides her identity and comes to see the exhibition game, and one of the few politicians who expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Oh, you must have had a hard time.”

Jiseop nodded.

“If you had an appointment, why didn’t you go with me? You said it’s hard to drive these days.”

“I’m sorry, I should have told you in advance. But I got a sudden call…….”

Charles Flex scratched his head.

“And Kim has been overdoing it a lot lately… I wanted to guarantee at least a minimum amount of rest.”

“Yes, well, thanks to that, I was able to rest well…….”

To be honest, that rest time didn’t even exceed 3 hours, but Jiseop couldn’t complain separately.

Charles Flex had met those picky politicians as soon as the opening of the 3rd floor upper deck was finalized.

I can’t say anything unnecessary in front of my grandfather who is moving more busily than me.

“So… what’s going on?”

Jiseop sat up straight and asked.

“Is it about Sears’ cooperation? There was a promise that they would actively help if we secured 45,000 seats.”

“Well, it’s a similar context. However…….”

Charles Flex took a sip of sikhye that John Ramer had brought.

After catching his breath, he said in a serious expression.

“Kim, let me ask you one thing first.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“The opening of the 3rd floor upper deck has been finalized. Now Tropicana Field has become a 45,000-seat stadium. Then,”

Charles Flex’s gray eyes turned to Jiseop.

“Where is the next move of the Future Strategy Planning Department heading?”

“Next move?”

“Yes, what is the next goal of our Future Strategy Planning Department that Kim, you are thinking of?”

“Well, I haven’t thought about it very seriously…….”

Jiseop looked at John Ramer and David Wilson once each, then turned his gaze back to Charles Flex.

“Shouldn’t we go to the new stadium construction side after all?”

“A new stadium?”

“Yes, from the beginning, the opening of the 3rd floor upper deck was to build the justification for the new stadium construction project. Now that the justification has been secured, in earnest…….”

“Hmm, I see. Right, it would be natural to connect that way.”

Swoosh.

It was at this moment that Charles Flex took out a thick document from his briefcase.

“Well, then, would you like to check this? It’s enough to just skim through it briefly.”

“This is…….”

When Jiseop tilted his head, Charles Flex picked up the sikhye and said.

“It’s a document I received from Dana Sears’ office.”

He continued.

“It’s too complicated to tell you the context in detail… To put it simply, it’s close to a basic agreement. It’s about the content that if the Tampa Bay Rays clear these conditions, they will allow the construction of a new stadium.”

“Ah, so that’s why it’s a basic agreement?”

Jiseop, who received the document, began to look at the table of contents with a serious expression.

A serious look that made John Ramer and David Wilson unconsciously hold their breath.

After looking at the contents for a while, Jiseop’s reaction to tapping the document on the table was this.

“Mr. Flex.”

“Um!”

“This book…….”

“Yes, tell me!”

“Is there a three-line summary……?”

“What?!”

When Charles Flex looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, Jiseop scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

“Haha, I’m sorry! I’ve adapted to everything else, but I’m not used to reading texts yet. Ugh, why do I fall asleep when I see only tiny letters…….”

This is why early education is important.

You have to instill the habit of reading books from an early age.

Jiseop is making leisurely noises, John Ramer is nodding in agreement with Jiseop.

Charles Flex sighed deeply, then smiled bitterly and tapped the document in question.

“Well, well, no one can be perfect…….”

He was vaguely aware of Jiseop’s weakness in text.

“To put it really simply, it’s about this. In order to build a new stadium, you have to clear all 36 conditions presented by the city government.”

“Are you saying there are 36?”

There were far more conditions than I thought.

“Isn’t it natural? A huge amount of public funds will go into the construction of the new stadium. The city government would have been determined to get everything they could get.”

There were many types of conditions, but each of those conditions was not easy.

First of all, it was necessary to make a huge donation, and the land compensation had to be paid above a certain level.

Not only that, but public facilities for citizens must be included near the stadium, and the facility must also have an obligation to employ at least 15% of the underprivileged.

“But there’s no need to worry. It’s not like the Tampa Bay Rays employees have been standing still for the past few years.”

“Are you saying?”

“It means that 35 out of 36 conditions have already been met.”

Charles Flex continued.

“Originally, 34 conditions were met, but this time we increased to 35 by opening the 3rd floor upper deck.”

“35 out of 36 conditions have already been met…….”

Jiseop’s eyes, which had been blurred by the aftermath of the text, became clear again.

“Then the one remaining thing can be a new goal for our Future Strategy Planning Department.”

“That’s right. That’s why I went to meet Dana Sears to figure it out.”

“Okay. Not bad.”

Jiseop nodded.

“We achieved the first championship in the club’s history, which was said to be difficult, and we also opened the 3rd floor upper deck… What can’t we do?”

Jiseop was even smiling brightly.

“So… what is the one remaining thing? What conditions do we have to achieve?”

“Hmm, that’s it.”

The story that came out of Charles Flex’s mouth the next moment was almost the first time Jiseop had ever heard of it.

“You have to get club value certification.”

“Club value certification?”