Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 62

The Villain on the Mound – Episode 62

Speed was picking up.

Thwack-!

“Strike! Batter out!”

[Strikeout! Jung Ha-sung notches another save today! Achieving his 26th save of the season!]

With the Athletics’ rise, Ha-sung was given more save opportunities.

Thanks to that, Ha-sung’s saves accumulated faster than expected.

[Jung Ha-sung rapidly accumulating saves!]

[Jung Ha-sung’s save accumulation begins, aiming for the most saves in the first half!]

Stories about Ha-sung poured out from everywhere.

Not only in Korea and the United States, but now even Japan was starting to cover related articles.

[Korean Major Leaguer Jung Ha-sung is challenging a new Major League record.]

It was only covered in some columns, but considering the relationship between Korea and Japan, this was a significant change.

Considering that Japanese media had not covered Ha-sung until now, it showed how amazing his performance was.

‘If it goes like this, I might get greedy too.’

And Ha-sung also started to get a little greedy.

‘First of all, it would be good to set a new record. Because the more buzz there is, the more my recognition will increase.’

Superstars are always accompanied by buzz.

Whether it’s consistent performance or a one-time event record, it creates an event that will capture national attention.

‘Hmm, first of all, it would be good if public opinion about my record challenge became a bit stronger.’

In Korea, the reaction is hot.

But in the United States?

It was still lukewarm compared to Korea.

‘The media is covering it a lot, but the only people talking about me are the die-hard fans.’

The reason why general fans’ interest is low, unlike the media’s significant coverage, was one thing.

‘Is it the limitation of the closer position after all?’

A closer is a position that only one person can have on a team.

In Japan, they were incredibly popular and even called guardian gods.

As evidence, the salary a closer receives was about the same level as a starting pitcher.

Of course, not as much as a top-tier starter, but they were recognized for their sufficient value.

But Major League Baseball is different.

‘Starting pitchers are already signing contracts with a total salary of over $100 million. Soon it will exceed $200 million, $300 million.’

Starting pitchers literally sit on a pile of money.

They sign long-term contracts and receive huge amounts of money that ordinary people cannot receive.

But relief pitchers were different.

‘Mariano Rivera, the legend of relief pitchers, receives a salary of only $15 million.’

It was a lot of money, but considering that Mariano Rivera is the representative closer of Major League Baseball, it was a very small amount.

This did not change much in the future.

‘[Aroldis] Chapman, who threw the fastest ball in human history, barely exceeded $100 million in salary after playing 12 seasons. On the other hand, starting pitchers’ salaries are rising rapidly.’

After 2020, there were many pitchers who received more than $30 million annually.

It means that a starting pitcher can earn the money a relief pitcher earns after playing 12 seasons in just 4-5 seasons.

‘This is why the public’s attention is focused on starting pitchers.’

The public is interested in star players.

The value of a star is determined by the salary they receive.

The closer position was bound to receive less attention than the starter.

‘Well, let’s think about this later… First of all, I need to get the public’s attention focused on me…’

Several methods flashed through his mind.

“First, I need to create my image.”

Creating an image.

It’s not easy.

But Ha-sung knew how to do image making.

Of course, he didn’t know if it would work now.

“It will cost some money, but the risk isn’t great.”

Ha-sung checked his balance and then accessed the website.

* * *

[Jung Ha-sung achieves his 27th save of the season!!]

As usual, Ha-sung succeeded in saving.

Prominent American sports media wrote articles about his record.

[Oakland Athletics’ Jung Ha-sung has increased his rookie consecutive save record to 27.

At the same time, he successfully set his first Major League career milestone by breaking the rookie record for most saves in the first half.]

Ha-sung finally broke the Major League rookie record for most saves.

As a result, Ha-sung broke two Major League records in his debut year alone.

The media covered it significantly, but as usual, only enthusiasts’ posts were uploaded to Reddit.

-Jung Ha-sung is really amazing.

-Isn’t this the first time an Asian has done this since Ichiro [Suzuki, a famous Japanese baseball player] ?

-It’s a somewhat racist remark, but I agree.

-He’s already achieved two Major League records.

-If he continues to build a closer career like this, won’t he surpass Rivera’s record?

-The possibility is high enough.

-What if he switches to a starter?

-It’s hypothetical, but I’m curious lol

Enthusiasts exchanged their opinions and poured out their interest in Ha-sung.

-But since when?

-Jung Ha-sung is really amazing.

-I think he’s the most amazing rookie playing in the Major League recently?

-Why isn’t this guy getting more attention?

More and more netizens were talking about Ha-sung.

-Don’t you guys think so too?

-Of course. How many rookies throw over 100 miles [161 kilometers] per hour?

-My friend is with the Athletics. He said Ha-sung might switch to a starter next year?

-Is that real?

-Yeah, I heard it directly.

And stories about Ha-sung’s conversion to a starter began to emerge.

I don’t know where it started, but such news spread quickly through the Internet.

There, Facebook and MySpace, etc.

Posts about Ha-sung also increased dramatically on various social media.

-Do you know Jung Ha-sung? He’s a Major League player. He’s so cute.

-He’s a Major Leaguer, so he’s a man? A man is cute?

-Yeah. He has a different charm than American guys? Above all, he’s very talented.

-Really? Do you have a picture?

-[Picture]

-Oh… I thought he would be small because he’s Asian. He’s big.

-He’s got a good body?

Stories were spreading among female users on social media.

It was unusual.

Major League Baseball is popular regardless of gender, but their interest suddenly increased.

In particular, it was unique that female users were feeding him on social media and rapidly increasing his awareness.

‘It’s going well.’

But Ha-sung didn’t think it was strange to see that.

‘It’s worth the money I spent.’

All of this was his doing.

‘It’s commonly used in the future, but not many people are using it in this era yet.’

It was a kind of public opinion manipulation.

He bought Facebook or Internet users with money to write posts related to him.

“Hehe, with this, my awareness will continue to rise.”

Awareness is ultimately about being talked about.

There is a saying in the old proverb.

A word without feet goes a thousand miles.

Even in the days when there was no social media or the Internet, rumors spread quickly.

People like to talk about others.

What if you put feet on such rumors?

That’s not just ordinary feet, but the feet of the Internet.

‘The ripple effect of social media can be seen just by Barack Obama being elected. But there are still no people who are trying to use this commercially.’

In just a few years, influencers will pop out.

A world will be created where ordinary people suddenly become celebrities and sweep away huge amounts of money.

In the process, it will be reduced to a means of publicity and a huge marketing market will open.

Ha-sung used the method a little earlier.

His fame, that is.

“With this, my name will spread quickly among the kids. Of course, they will be interested in me.”

If the public is interested, the media has no choice but to cover his news.

“If the media covers it, the public will be interested in it again. An infinite cycle is turning.”

Ha-sung had several safety devices in place while planning this project.

He used a pseudonym when hiring people and used escrow [a financial arrangement where a third party holds funds] when paying money.

He thoroughly hid his identity.

Of course, since he used escrow, he can find out if he wants to.

“It will be a long time before this marketing method becomes an issue and controversial. There is no possibility that I will be controversial.”

It was a bold method that he could do because he knew the future.

And the effect of this method was very good.

* * *

[Jung Ha-sung achieves his 28th save of the season!]

When Ha-sung’s article came out, social media was heating up.

-Jung Ha-sung got another save!

-Again? Did he upload it last time too?

-Oakland has been doing well recently.

-Wow… but is that easy to do?

-It’s not easy! He threw over 100 miles!

-100 miles? That’s amazing?

When someone posted, reactions poured in.

Some of them were promoters, but they didn’t know each other’s existence, so they continued like everyday conversations.

Faced with these netizens’ keen interest, media companies also began to react one by one.

“There’s a lot of interest in Jung Ha-sung, isn’t there?”

“What’s that? He was originally a hot potato.”

“That’s true. In the past, they only talked about it on Reddit? But these days, they’re also mentioned a lot on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Look here.”

The subordinate showed the page full of stories about Ha-sung.

The frequency of mentions was definitely higher than before.

“Hmm… there are more than I thought? And these guys seem like young girls?”

“I think they’re teenagers. Most of them say Jung Ha-sung is cute and has a good body.”

“Teenagers like Asian kids?”

“It’s a minority. But the reason why it didn’t become mainstream is because of its small size. Jung Ha-sung is almost like a football player [referring to his build and athleticism].”

“No matter how you look at it, it’s not an Asian physical. Anyway, it means it’s becoming a hot topic for kids too, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I have to write an article right away. Add one more special feature.”

“I understand.”

These media companies were not the only ones reacting.

Originally, sports articles were consumed a lot in a specific age group.

But since they said that even teenagers were watching, there was no reason for the newspaper to not publish a special article.

[Let’s find out about Jung Ha-sung, the guardian deity from Korea.]

[Why is Jung Ha-sung special?]

[What will happen to super rookie Jung Ha-sung’s future?]

As Ha-sung had expected, each media outlet covered Ha-sung in detail through special articles.

The public, who came across these articles, became interested in Ha-sung again, and the cycle began to turn.

Everything was going according to the story Ha-sung wanted.

And there was someone who was surprised while watching this cycle.

‘What is it…?’

That person was Isabel of J&J Agency.

‘Why has Jung Ha-sung’s awareness increased so much?’

J&J Agency collects various data such as the frequency of searches for players belonging to the company and the number of times they are mentioned on social media.

They periodically sent reports on awareness to the agent.

The report in front of Isabel’s eyes right now was the awareness report.

However, compared to the last check, awareness had increased significantly.

Isabel was surprised and immediately called the marketing department.

“Hello? Yes, this is Isabel. Is this report I received today accurate?”

[Which report are you talking about?]

“Jung Ha-sung. Compared to last month’s report, awareness has increased too much. The frequency of SNS searches has also increased.”

[Just a moment.]

A slight silence flowed and the other person’s voice was heard.

[There’s nothing wrong, everything is normal.]

“Normal?”

“Yes. Recently, the frequency of searches on SNS and Google has increased significantly. We are also aware of the reason, but the report is certain.”