Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 150

The recording began with the caster’s enthusiastic greeting.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the real conversation began.

“I never imagined I would see CEO Kang Hyun-woo here. Is there a special reason you’re visiting high school baseball despite your busy schedule?”

“The professional baseball season is over, so it’s hard to get through the days without baseball. Besides, today isn’t just any game; it’s the final. I couldn’t resist coming.”

The caster nodded, responding to my words.

“Is there any player you are particularly interested in watching in today’s game?”

“It’s not that I have a particular player in mind. I wanted to see the young players who will become the future of Korean baseball, and Jinhan High is my alma mater. I wanted to come and support them in person.”

“So, you didn’t come because there’s a player you really want to scout?”

The caster asked as if she was hoping for a specific answer.

Did she think I came because I was interested in Ahn Bum-seok?

I was curious, but that wasn’t the sole reason I came.

“Of course, there are players I’m interested in.”

“Oh! Can you tell us who that player is?”

The caster’s eyes sparkled as if she thought she was about to get the answer she wanted.

“The players from both teams who will be playing shortly. They are the main focus today.”

“That’s right… They are all main players.”

The caster quickly hid her disappointment, smiled, and continued the interview.

“Which team do you think will win today’s game?”

“Actually, it’s clear that Sucheon High is more likely to win because Ahn Bum-seok is starting pitcher, and the pitcher’s performance is crucial in a short-term game. But the fact that Jinhan High has made it to the finals means they are a formidable team, so I don’t think the game will easily lean to one side. I think the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win in a high-pressure game like today’s.”

The interview continued as I answered several questions from the questionnaire.

As we talked, the interview was coming to an end.

The caster asked me the final question.

“Lastly, if you have any words for the student athletes watching this broadcast?”

I carefully started speaking, pondering my words.

“Deciding to become an athlete is a really significant and difficult decision. To stand on the professional stage, you need constant effort and patience. It’s never easy to put in that effort and patience at a young age.”

“That’s right.”

“One thing I want to ask of you all is, while working hard is a given, I hope you don’t just run looking only at first place. You didn’t start playing baseball to win the competition. You like it. You just want to do it because you love baseball.”

I took a breath and continued.

“I hope all the players can enjoy the process of improving their skills step by step through their hard work.”

“Thank you for the kind words. We’ve been with Kang Hyun-woo, CEO of Dream Agency.”

With the caster’s closing remarks, the interview ended.

I exchanged greetings with the MBS staff and left the sports booth, heading back to the stands.

Soon after, my edited interview video was broadcast.

└Did Kang Hyun-woo go to see Ahn Bum-seok to scout him?

└There’s talk that Ahn Bum-seok is going straight to the major league.

└Isn’t it better to develop your skills enough in Korea before going?

└Yeah, Bum-seok. Become the best in Korea and go to the US in style.

└I wonder how much Ahn Bum-seok can grow if he’s managed by Kang Hyun-woo.

└If they help him from high school, wouldn’t a monster be born in Korea? ㄷㄷㄷ [Korean internet slang for ‘ㄷㄷㄷ’ which expresses awe or amazement]

└If Ahn Bum-seok enters the domestic draft, he’ll have to go to the Pelicans. Would he want to go to a perennial bottom team? He’d want to go to at least a mid-tier team.

└That’s a huge risk. It’s really ironic that the top picks in the draft have to go to the worst teams in the pros.

* * *

After finishing the interview and coming out, there were already quite a few people sitting in the stands.

Students wearing Jinhan High and Sucheon High uniforms were filling the stands, likely on a group outing.

Since it was a high school baseball game, there seemed to be many parents of the players.

I was about to go back the way I came when,

“Oh? It’s Kang Hyun-woo!”

“Can I get an autograph?”

Some spectators recognized me and were surprised, then rushed over.

“Of course, sure.”

Since they were families of baseball players, almost all of them recognized me.

The surrounding spectators who saw me signing autographs also approached one by one.

Fans who didn’t have anything to get signed took pictures with me.

It was a happy thing in itself that there were people who wanted my autograph, but I couldn’t help but feel the strain in my arm.

It was fortunate that there weren’t too many spectators.

I finished signing autographs for all the fans who came up to me and returned to my seat.

When I arrived, Lee Joo-hyuk was talking to some foreigners.

They were conversing in English.

“Hello.”

I approached and greeted the foreigners.

“CEO, you’re here?”

“Joo-hyuk, who are these people?”

“The atmosphere didn’t seem ordinary, so I talked to them, and they’re major league scouts.”

“Oh, really?”

I was able to shake hands with two scouts with Lee Joo-hyuk’s interpretation.

-We want to sign a contract with Ahn Bum-seok of Sucheon High.

-We are planning to analyze Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo, who are on the recruitment list, from various angles.

Nice!

Now, major league scouts were also interested in Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo.

It hadn’t been long since we partnered with Sky Corporation, so the two scouts being here meant that they judged our players based solely on their actual performance.

It was a moment where I could feel that the two players had definitely grown.

My thoughts on Ahn Bum-seok were already expected, so it wasn’t new.

“Do Seok-hoon and Seong-joo know?”

I asked Lee Joo-hyuk as if I didn’t know anything.

“We were just talking about that. They’ve been on the recruitment list for a while.”

“Can you tell them they can ask me anything if they have any questions about the two players?”

Lee Joo-hyuk immediately translated my words into English.

Then one of the scouts started talking first.

“He’s asking if you have any intention of applying for posting [system where a player’s team allows them to negotiate with MLB teams] next year?”

In fact, both Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo could have applied for posting this winter and tried to advance to the major league if they had made up their minds.

But I didn’t push for it because I thought they needed to build up their physical strength and experience.

“It’s good to advance through posting next year, but if they wait one more year, they’ll be completely FA [Free Agent]. There’s a higher possibility of advancing then.”

After all, FA has a much wider range of negotiations.

I could feel a slight disappointment on the scout’s face after hearing my answer.

Immediately, another scout next to him asked a question.

“Is a split contract possible?”

The reason why Na Joon-ho didn’t challenge the major league was because of this.

“Um… To be exact, I’d have to talk to the players specifically, but there’s almost no possibility of a split contract [A contract where a player spends time in both the major and minor leagues].”

Although it was a short time, I was able to promote Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo while talking with major league scouts.

* * *

Now the game has finally started.

Sucheon High’s starting pitcher was, as expected, Ahn Bum-seok.

The fact that a sophomore was chosen as the starting pitcher for the final alone showed what kind of player he was.

Now he’s starting his practice pitching on the mound,

Whack!

Whack!

“Wow!”

“It’s no joke.”

Lee Joo-hyuk and I exclaimed almost simultaneously.

It was rare to see the quality of a high school student’s fastball.

The sound of Ahn Bum-seok’s ball hitting the catcher’s mitt could be heard all the way to the stands.

Naturally, I shifted my gaze to the electronic display board,

150km/h.

152km/h.

The speed was also enormous.

On top of that,

A sharply curving 138km/h slider.

What was certain was that there were very few or no players who could easily target him at the high school baseball level.

Practice pitching was finished, and Jinhan High’s first batter approached the plate.

I turned on the TV broadcast on my smartphone to get accurate information about both teams and analyze them.

“Play ball!”

The umpire’s call felt even louder, perhaps because the stands weren’t full.

Ahn Bum-seok started throwing powerful balls, just like during practice pitching.

Whack!

Whack!

Whack!

“Strike out!”

-Ahn Bum-seok is showing aggressive pitching from the first batter.

-The pitching right now is just at the level of a professional player. I thought Michael Scott had arrived [referencing a character known for high performance].

-I wonder if Jinhan High will be able to target Ahn Bum-seok.

Jinhan High’s batters weren’t making proper swings.

There was no way to deal with a pitcher who skillfully used both a powerful fastball and breaking balls, which are rare in high school baseball.

Moreover, as Jung In-gyu had worried, Ahn Bum-seok’s condition seemed to be at its best today.

As the saying goes, baseball is a pitcher’s game; even professional hitters can have a hard time when the opposing starting pitcher is on a roll.

Looking at the dugout, the faces of the Jinhan High coach and coaches were darkened.

Even if they tried not to show it, it seemed difficult to hide it completely.

They needed to deplete the limited number of pitches as quickly as possible to get Ahn Bum-seok off the mound,

Perhaps because he was confident in his condition, Ahn Bum-seok was efficiently managing his pitch count with aggressive pitching.

He was clearly showing what a 탈 [beyond] high school level player was.

Fortunately, Jinhan High was also holding on without allowing runs, albeit barely.

The game was proceeding tightly at 0:0 until the second inning.

During the game, some pitchers began to warm up in the bullpen.

Because it was a tournament to decide the winner in a single game and it was the final, it was standard to make player substitutions faster than usual.

However, since the pitching of both teams’ starting pitchers was so good right now, there was no reason to replace them unless there was a sudden injury.

Moreover, Sucheon High had the best pitcher on the mound, so that was even more the case.

If the starting pitcher pitched a shutout until the 9th inning with a limited number of pitches, there would be no need to replace him.

However, due to the nature of high school baseball, where the completeness of the defense is inevitably lower than that of professionals, the possibility of that happening was not high.

The bullpen pitchers were also just warming up lightly, not preparing to be put in right away.

It seemed like they would start warming up in earnest after the 5th inning at the earliest.

As I turned my gaze as if passing by,

Oh?

A familiar name caught my eye.

It was a name that remained clear in my memory.

It was a name I could never forget.

“Could it be…?”

Could it really be the player I remember?