Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 164

164. Winter League (6)

“Oh! Then isn’t that great? But what’s bothering you so much?”

Olivia was happy for a moment, then tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“Well, it’s not an offer from a team. An agency wants to sign with me.”

“That’s still good news. If you sign with an agency, it’ll be much easier to find a team.”

“I guess so.”

“That’s wonderful! There’s still time before the season starts. Maybe you can play in the major league again next year?”

Olivia couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke.

However, Donald’s expression remained dark.

“But there’s one thing that’s bothering me.”

“What is it?”

Olivia tilted her head and asked.

Donald hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening his mouth.

“The agent is from a country called Korea. They’re suggesting I try to advance into the Korean league.”

Donald carefully watched Olivia’s reaction.

“Korea? That Korea in Asia?”

“Yes, they proposed that I play there and then try to challenge the major league again.”

“I’ve never thought of that, but it sounds like a good offer?”

“Right. Maybe it could be a better opportunity.”

“What’s worrying you? Are the contract terms too low?”

“No…”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even asked how much the salary would be.

It wasn’t the most important issue right now.

He wasn’t considering going to the Korean league to earn more money.

“Then it seems like a worthwhile option to consider? What’s the matter?”

“…Mom.”

“Huh? Me?”

Olivia’s eyes widened.

“If I have to go abroad to play, Mom will have to live here alone.”

“Donald, you’re still like a child.”

Olivia burst into laughter, then smiled and replied.

“Yes…?”

“Mom’s not a child, and it’s not like I can’t live alone.”

“It’s dangerous for you to live here alone. Even if something happens, it’ll be hard for me to come right away.”

Donald’s expression was full of worry.

“Then I can go to Korea with you. It would be fun to live abroad for once.”

“But you don’t know anyone there, and it’ll be hard to work because you don’t speak the language?”

“I can make friends. And I can work when I come back to America.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

Unlike Olivia’s bright expression, Donald still looked worried.

“Of course. What could be a problem if I can watch my son play baseball?”

“Then… is it okay for me to go to the Korean league?”

“Of course. I should start studying Korean from tomorrow?”

Olivia’s expression showed excitement.

Seeing her reaction, Donald finally had a faint smile on his face.

* * *

The very next day, in the afternoon.

We were able to meet with Donald Watson again.

“Watson, did you talk to your family?”

“Yes, both my wife and my mother told me to go for it. And my mother said she wants to come to Korea and live there too.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

A smile finally appeared on my face.

“But can you help my family live in Korea? They don’t speak Korean at all, so it seems like there will be many inconveniences in living there.”

“Of course. We were already planning to hire employees who can speak foreign languages at our agency anyway. Oh, if you’re okay with it, they can just stay at our agency. Watson has to go to away games a lot anyway.”

Since 72 games were away games, he had to leave the home stadium for half the time.

Besides, there were many teams close to our accommodation, so that might be better.

“Would that be okay?”

“Of course.”

Watson seemed relieved only after I answered without hesitation.

“And there’s one thing I want to ask.”

“…?”

“I trust Kang’s sincerity now, but I still doubt whether Dream Agency is an agency that can send me to the major league. Even if scouts come to the Korean league to observe, it’s another thing to properly promote me to the major league teams and sign a contract.”

I fully understood Watson’s concerns.

Even though we had an alliance with Sky Corporation, which has its headquarters in the United States, we had no experience in directly signing contracts, and none of our players were major leaguers.

But we had one strength that ordinary agencies didn’t have.

It wasn’t intentional from the beginning, but it had become a good weapon that we could fully utilize.

“Just a moment.”

I took out my smartphone and went to our agency’s SNS [Social Networking Service] channel page.

Then I showed the screen to Watson.

“This is our agency’s SNS channel. As you can see, we have 800,000 subscribers. It hasn’t even been a year since we started the channel, so the number of subscribers will be much higher than now. This channel will be the main channel for promoting Watson. Almost all the people who subscribe to our channel are probably interested in baseball, so there’s a high possibility that it will be recommended to people who are interested in baseball, right? That goes for American fans and major league officials as well.”

“Oh…”

Watson seemed more confident after seeing our channel directly.

“Our agency has its own powerful marketing channel, and as I said last time, we have an alliance with a local agency in the United States. Besides, there are three players who are trying to advance to the major league after the next season, so I’m very interested in the major league.”

Oh Seok-hoon, Park Seong-joo, and Michael Scott were all players who could advance to the major league.

I immediately added a word.

“It’s a weakness that we don’t have any major league players or contract experience right now. But isn’t it certain that we can provide more effective and reliable marketing for Watson than other agencies?”

“Hmm… I see. Then when can I go to the major league?”

It was a straightforward question.

“When do you want to go, Watson?”

“Honestly, I want to go as soon as possible. If possible, right next season. I’m not ignoring the Korean league, but my goal is to play in the major league again as soon as possible.”

“If that’s what Watson thinks, I’ll make it happen. But you know that you have to prove your skills enough in the Korean league, right?”

“Of course. You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll pour everything I have into it, wherever it is.”

I could feel a burning determination in Watson’s eyes.

Now it was my turn to make the last request.

It was a basic but most important part.

“And there’s one thing I want you to promise for sure. No, it’s not just good to do, but you must keep this.”

“What is it?”

“From now on, you must never cause any problems, even by mistake. If you promise me that for sure, I will do everything I can to help Watson play in the major league again.”

If Watson caused a problem even once in Korea, not only would Watson’s chances of advancing to the major league disappear, but also the credibility of our agency and the team could fall to the ground.

“Of course. Even if Kang didn’t say it, I swore to God that I wouldn’t cause any problems in the future. That will never happen.”

“Then that’s it.”

A smile appeared on my face.

“Thomas, am I really doing the right thing by making this decision?”

Donald took a deep breath, turned his head, and asked Thomas.

“Donald, you are still a competitive player. This choice will definitely be a good opportunity, so don’t worry and do your best.”

Thomas stroked Donald’s shoulder and said.

Watson, who was lost in thought for a moment, looked at me and said.

“Kang, I’ll trust you.”

“Watson, I’ll make sure you don’t regret your decision to go to the Korean league. Instead, the salary will probably be capped at $1 million. The salary for foreign players who are entering the Korean league for the first time is capped [limited].”

It was a much smaller amount than what Watson was receiving in the major league.

“It doesn’t matter how much the salary is right now. As long as I can go back to the major league.”

“Then I should go and find a team for Watson to play for now.”

I smiled brightly at Watson.

After finishing the conversation with Watson, I returned to the accommodation with Lee Joo-hyuk.

Now it was time to talk to the general managers of the Jaguars or other teams.

It was clear that the Jaguars needed a foreign hitter like Watson, but it was difficult to be sure whether they would take the risk of signing him.

There was no choice but to try.

As promised, I contacted the Jaguars first.

I was able to receive a reply not long after.

* * *

The next day, early in the morning, I moved to meet with Jo Gwang-hoon, the general manager of the Jaguars.

Coincidentally, Jo Gwang-hoon was in the United States to prepare for the spring camp that would be held in a few months.

He must have been busy preparing for the spring camp, but he made time for me without any hesitation despite my sudden contact.

However, as befitting a country of enormous size, it took two hours to arrive even though it didn’t seem that far on the map.

After finishing the short trip-like move, I could see the training ground that the Jaguars would use as a camp.

I was able to quickly find Jo Gwang-hoon, who was moving busily.

“Oh, it’s even nicer to see our CEO Kang in the United States.”

Jo Gwang-hoon greeted me happily as expected.

“General Manager, is the spring camp preparation going well?”

“Our team employees have already done all the camp preparations, and I’m just here to check in advance.”

“Michael Scott was so eager to come to the spring camp soon.”

“Hahahaha. That guy is so commendable. How much better is he going to do next year?”

Jo Gwang-hoon laughed heartily as if he was in a good mood just thinking about Scott.

“He’s already fully adapted to the Korean league, so he’ll have even better results next year.”

“Euhahaha. If he does better than last season, won’t he get MVP [Most Valuable Player]? I feel good just imagining it.”

Jo Gwang-hoon laughed heartily for a long time before asking me.

“By the way, what brings CEO Kang here?”

“I have something to discuss with the General Manager.”

“Discuss with me? Don’t tell me… did you really succeed in finding a foreign hitter?”

Jo Gwang-hoon looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.

“I knew it. I knew everything would be fine if I trusted CEO Kang! I was worried because the data sent by our scouts wasn’t very good. What kind of player is it? Do you have a video?”

Jo Gwang-hoon was in an overly excited state, so I paused for a moment before answering.

“We’re trying to sign with Donald Watson… I think he’s a player who would be a good fit for the Jaguars, so how about trying to recruit him?”

What kind of reaction will Jo Gwang-hoon show?