84. The New National Team Representative (1)
It was late evening, the sun gone and night dimly settled in.
Baek Jinwoo came up to the rooftop of the house and sat down cross-legged.
“Huuuup.”
He slowly drew in a breath.
“Fuuuuh.”
Then he slowly let it out again.
He kept breathing while checking whether he could feel the existence of qi in the meridians and dantian that HunGyo had told him about.
‘So far, I don’t feel anything.’
Did this thing called qi really exist?
Even if it definitely existed since summons used it, could a player really use it too?
It would have been natural to doubt, but Baek Jinwoo did not.
Because it was something HunGyo — the best teacher he knew — had taught him.
Besides, there was no need to be impatient anyway.
The Clear Heaven Heart Technique was something he practiced for his health, stamina, and senses anyway.......
And in the end, it was the summons that fought.
Because of that, other thoughts naturally began to surface in his mind.
The first person that came to mind was Yoo Jia.
‘She’s really something.’
She was a woman with deeper ambition than he had expected.
He thought she would be satisfied just raising 「Yoobaek」, but the moment the topic of a guild came up, the look in her eyes completely changed.
Even when he told her they could take their time recruiting ten guild members, she came back just a few hours later with a plan.
Her proposal was to bring his four disciples and all of Ilwol’s executives under their command, and beyond that, to make all ten members of the national team into SKY members.
‘Not bad.’
The domestic stage was narrow anyway.
Once the world league ended, they would have to play on the world stage, so there was nothing wrong with clearly consolidating the domestic scene into a unified guild first.
‘Besides, Yoo Jia will handle all the complicated stuff anyway.’
All Baek Jinwoo had to do was fill SKY with people he liked and give only them consulting.
Hwang Juwon, An Gijeong.
He had taught both of them before, and they weren’t bad.
It was not that their instincts were especially outstanding, but they had a certain seasoned quality to them.
Anyway, this was Yoo Jia’s opinion.
Rather than that, sway public opinion and kick out Baekho’s four from the national team, then put Oh Sunyoung into the national team.
And the remaining three spots?
Hold interviews for the initial members before SKY officially launched!
Take applications from the existing rankers!
‘But can this really happen however we want?’
To be honest, he did find it strange.
After all, this was basically saying that 「Yoobaek」 alone would control the entire South Korean national team, and not only would there be issues of fairness, but there was no way countless people in the industry would just sit back and watch.
But Yoo Jia told him not to worry.
She said everything would be fine.
She said she was planning to hold a press conference tomorrow regarding the rumors of discord, and that all he had to do was speak according to the script.
‘A press conference, huh.’
Fuuuuh.
A faint metallic sound slipped from Baek Jinwoo’s mouth as he exhaled.
He had merely woken up after being in a traffic accident, but his life itself had changed.
Money? A house? A car?
Things that had once been objects of envy were now just part of his ordinary daily life.
Sometimes he even had thoughts like this.
‘Maybe I already died, and this place is heaven or something.....’
Nah.
There was no way.
And even if that were true, nothing would change.
His senses were vivid, and the air was fresh. Baek Jinwoo was clearly living in the present.
Anyway.
Having someone as smart as Yoo Jia by his side was a blessing too. For now, he intended to keep following where she led.
* * *
The next day.
“Wear this when you come.”
Yoo Jia spread out a fine suit and held it up against Baek Jinwoo’s body.
“Kah, as expected, expensive stuff really is the best. It just looks completely different.”
“What is this?”
“What do you mean, what is it? Clothes. Don’t tell me you were planning to go to a press conference in the cotton T-shirt you wear for training?”
“.......”
Without a word of complaint, Baek Jinwoo took the clothes and went to change.
Clunk!
The door opened, and the figure of Baek Jinwoo stepping out was…….
“Wow.”
Clap clap clap!
Yoo Jia applauded.
Baek Jinwoo was one of those people who looked good in anything because his face carried it all, but among all outfits, suits suited him especially well.
—As expected of my lord.
“...When did you get here?”
—It was almost five hours, so I came to recharge and happened to witness a precious scene.
“You’ve gotten a lot more glib lately.”
Swoosh!
Baek Jinwoo reverse-summoned HunGyo, then summoned him again.
Resetting summon time!
This was what the summons referred to as “recharging”.
“Anyway, I just wear this and say exactly what’s in the script, right?”
“Yes. No questions, just a statement. Did you memorize the script?”
“More or less. It was shorter than I expected.....”
“Hehe, why say a lot? You just say the important parts and leave.”
He had no idea how things were supposed to unfold, but apparently if he just said this much, everything would be taken care of.
There was no reason not to do it.
* * *
Murmur, murmur.
Maehwa Hall, a famous center in Seoul.
A huge crowd had gathered at the press conference venue.
The rumors of discord within the national team were already causing a stir, and now that Baek Jinwoo himself—the captain at the center of it all—was coming out to speak directly, there was no way people would not be interested.
There were two chairs on the stage.
One for Baek Jinwoo, the main figure of the conference, and one for Yoo Jia, the moderator.
— Ahem, ahem, we will now close the hall doors.
All the invited reporters were already seated.
Fortunately, not a single reporter was bold enough to be late to a press conference that practically guaranteed a scoop.
How much time had passed?
—National team captain Baek Jinwoo and Yoo Jia, CEO of Yoobaek, will now present their position. Please keep quiet, everyone.
With that announcement, creaaak! the stage door opened.
Chakakakakak!
The sound of camera shutters filled the room.
Step, step.
As Baek Jinwoo and Yoo Jia walked confidently through the white flashes, the reporters clicked their tongues in admiration.
Weren’t these the hottest figures who had turned South Korea upside down this year?
And on top of that, their looks were no joke.
‘Damn, he looks incredible.’
‘They really are a perfect-looking man and woman.’
‘He’s not even a player, he just looks like a celebrity.’
The reporters were citizens of South Korea too.
The absurd performances Baek Jinwoo had shown in the qualifiers flashed through their minds.
‘Someone complained about a guy like that?’
‘Honestly, Park Ho was definitely in the wrong here.’
‘Park Ho? More like Park Idiot Bastard.’
Public opinion had already tilted completely.
If anyone dared publish an article criticizing Baek Jinwoo?
Not only the reporter, but even the media company that published it could end up utterly ruined given Baek Jinwoo’s current status.
So in a situation like this, what kind of announcement were they trying to make with this press conference?
“Hello, I am Yoo Jia, CEO of Yoobaek.”
Yoo Jia took the microphone first.
“The reason we invited all of you here today is to clearly state Yoobaek’s position regarding the rumors of discord within the national team. Accordingly, we also intend to omit the Q&A session.”
“....Yes, you’re saying you won’t be taking questions?”
“After inviting this many people, don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
A few hot-tempered reporters voiced their complaints, but Yoo Jia ignored them.
There was no rule anywhere that said a press conference had to guarantee an official Q&A session.
Nod.
When Yoo Jia looked at Baek Jinwoo and gave a small nod, he stood up.
At once, the complaints vanished like a lie, and everyone focused on him.
That was because Baek Jinwoo had now gained the kind of charisma that could captivate the public through his mere presence alone.
“Ahem.”
After lightly testing the microphone, Baek Jinwoo pulled out the lines Yoo Jia had written for him in his head and began reading them clearly, one by one.
“Hello. I’m Baek Jinwoo. First of all, regarding the rumors of discord involving the Baekho executives this time, I will acknowledge them as true. Also, I believe everyone understands why I said I can no longer work together with Baekho Guild.”
Thanks to the battle for public opinion up until now, the public already knew most of it.
What kind of complaints Park Ho had made, and even why Baek Jinwoo had excluded Baekho from his consulting.
The public understood that much.
But.
The evidence and witness recordings of the political maneuvering Park Ho carried out afterward were enough to send him crashing into ruin.
“The World League is such a difficult stage that even if ten players unite with one heart and one mind, there’s no guarantee they’ll achieve good results. But when I saw him carrying out schemes like that behind the scenes, I simply couldn’t bring myself to say we should work together.”
Right, right.
Most of the reporters nodded as if they agreed.
“So I would like to make a proposal.”
A proposal?
What kind of proposal?
Chakakakakak!
Once again, the sound of shutters burst out sharply.
“As captain, I intend to reorganize the national team roster.”
“......”
“Reorganize the national team?”
“Is he trying to cut all the Baekho guys?”
“.....That far?”
As people began murmuring, Baek Jinwoo smiled.
“If I can do even just that, then I will stake my position and everything Yoobaek has, and promise that in this World League we will make at least the semifinals.”
“......!”
The semis?
The reporters’ mouths fell open.
That statement alone was a huge scoop!
“.....South Korea, which couldn’t even make the Round of 16 and kept getting crushed in the qualifiers, is going to make at least the semifinals?”
“Is that even possible? There are only three months left until the league starts.”
“That’s not something that can happen just because Baek Jinwoo is good by himself…..”
The public still did not know Baek Jinwoo’s true level yet.
But there was one thing they knew for certain.
Domestically, he was the strongest!
And that in this World League, they had to stake everything on Baek Jinwoo!
To put it bluntly, hadn’t Baekho Guild failed to show anything over the last three years?
“I will stop here. I leave the judgment to the people.”
In any case, the authority to select the national team belonged to the Player Headquarters.
But the Headquarters could not act recklessly without the people’s approval.
That was the nature of a public office.
Wow, this is huge.
‘What a terrifying man. He knows better than anyone how deeply the people long for success in the World League.’
‘Honestly, who cares whether the Baekho guys make the national team or not? If the better players are the ones competing, that’s even better for us.’
Taken to the extreme, there were countless people in South Korea right now who argued that they would not care even if a criminal sat on the national team, as long as they could make the Round of 16.
The national economy changed depending on the World League rankings.
In other words, it was a matter of survival. And right now, South Korea was far too hungry.
The press conference was a success.
It was broadcast live, and public opinion was not bad.
“Those Baekho bastards. They kept getting crushed on the world stage and still walked around puffing out their chests. Good riddance.”
“Seriously. Of all people to mess with, and they mess with the nation’s hero.”
“For me, Baek Jinwoo gets forgiven for everything just because he was one of the main figures in taking down the gangs. I’m on Baek Jinwoo’s side no matter what.”
“Same here. Thanks to Baek Jinwoo, I slept soundly for the first time in ages. This year, let’s go without Baekho, okay?”
“It really would be thrilling if they actually made the semifinals.”
The main current of public opinion was basically: <Let our Jinwoo do whatever he wants!>
Nice.
Yoo Jia clenched her fist and shook it vigorously.
Things were unfolding exactly as she intended.
She and the staff had worked hard to shape the initial public reaction, sure, but everyone did that much, didn’t they?
Beep, beep!
Yoo Jia had finished up her miscellaneous work at the office and was about to get into the car.
Boom!
A bizarre lifeform with both hands made of blades blocked the front of the vehicle.
“Hm?”
A familiar summon.
“Hey.”
The four Baekho executives walked out from nearby.
Kang Geonho, brooding heavily over something.
And Park Ho along with the other two executives.
“Don’t we have something we need to talk about for a moment?”
Park Ho’s lips were trembling with rage.
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