Chapter 187

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

“The trip to America has been cancelled? What do you mean? And you’re suddenly saying I have to go to Korea?”

Messi, who had rejected Saudi Arabia’s enormous offer and decided to go to America, couldn’t process this thunderbolt of news.

“Inter Miami has already pulled out. They’ve informed us they can’t sign a contract with us.”

“Why?”

“It’s because of Gwangwoon, who submitted a new proposal to us.”

Gwangwoon?

He had heard the name before.

Wasn’t it supposed to be the world’s largest corporation?

“They sent you a K-League recruitment proposal, so Inter just gave up.”

“Isn’t the Hobbs Family a pretty big company too? So how can they just give up like this because Gwangwoon submitted a proposal?”

The Hobbs Family operates in the construction business in America.

With annual revenue of 15 trillion won, they had acquired and were managing Inter Miami.

“Compared to Gwangwoon, that level isn’t even a pebble.”

“Gwangwoon is that big?”

“Enormous. If you’re picking the world’s top company right now, Gwangwoon is the first to be mentioned. Plus, you might not know this, but there are many chilling rumors about Gwangwoon. They say to grow their weight class, they’ve trampled countless companies and people until now.”

“So Hobbs got scared because of that and backed out?”

“Yes. Even while we were negotiating with Inter Miami, we kept getting proposals from various places. But the moment news got out that Gwangwoon had contacted us, they all cut off.”

In other words, every club that had made offers to Messi withdrew in a hurry upon hearing Gwangwoon’s name.

Is it really that much?

Gwangwoon’s notoriety?

“Then… what should I do?”

The manager who handles all of Messi’s contracts cautiously brought up the topic.

“How about seriously considering the K-League?”

“No, we decided to go to America because of the children’s education, security, and infrastructure, right?”

“Well, actually security is better in Korea. There are no gun incidents there. And their infrastructure is also very well developed.”

Messi had decided on America for those reasons, but also because the Spanish community there was well established.

“And Miami was going to give me shares and pay broadcasting royalties too, right? We were going to do branding business too.”

Moreover, Inter Miami had set up various stable income generating conditions for Messi.

It was meant to lay the foundation so he could build a business under his own name even after retirement.

“Don’t worry about that. Gwangwoon has already offered terms far more generous than that. Plus, they’re planning to recruit all your former teammates to the K-League, and they’re thinking of growing it to an enormous scale that the American league can’t even compare to.”

Messi was thinking about his life after retirement.

The best example was Beckham.

Wasn’t he still doing big business after retirement, having expanded his own brand even further?

Messi had decided to go to America looking at exactly that.

But he never dreamed the situation would be overturned like this.

“Can I trust this?”

“If you’re thinking about business potential, this side might actually be better. The subsidiaries Gwangwoon has are substantial. PikPik, Faceweb, Enflix, Wizny, and so on. They dominate almost every field. Now they’re extending to sports, and they seem willing to actively push your branding business there too.”

In other words, Gwangwoon’s infrastructure was simply outstanding for doing branding business.

“…”

Still, he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Korea, out of nowhere.

Plus, the Korean league wasn’t well known globally.

Especially, wasn’t one of the reasons for going to America the World Cup?

The next World Cup is in America, so he wanted to get his body accustomed there in advance.

But now he has to go to the K-League with no connection whatsoever.

“What if I refuse?”

“Speaking seriously, you might never be able to play professionally again.”

“!?”

Messi looked at his manager as if wondering if he was really being serious.

“I’m not joking. All the major league teams have already withdrawn their offers for you. Do you think this is a coincidence? They know too. That if they carelessly interfere with Gwangwoon’s business, they could face serious retaliation.”

“Then if I refuse this offer…”

“No team will make you a recruitment offer. And… we can’t predict what kind of harm Gwangwoon might do to us.”

Looking at the manager’s expression, he definitely didn’t seem to be joking.

Messi felt like he had finally realized the truth of the world after playing soccer all his life.

Although Messi was a superstar on par with the world’s best, there was something above him that governed everything.

“………..”

It seemed his choices had disappeared the moment Gwangwoon submitted their proposal.

***

“Really?”

“Yes. Messi has accepted the proposal from Gwangwoon. Gwangwoon is already massively spreading this news to the media.”

I couldn’t believe it, so I quickly turned on my phone.

Sure enough.

The main portal site was filled with nothing but talk about Messi.

-Messi is coming to the K-League?????

-Seriously stop lying

-Jeong Jin-ho’s recruitment power is insane.

-Daejinho

-Gwangwoon said they’d pour money into sports and it was true

-Wow. Messi is coming? Is our K-League really becoming a super premier league?

The communities and SNS were in an uproar too.

The whole world was buzzing over the news of Messi joining the K-League.

“They actually got him.”

“The strategy team seems to have put in a lot of effort. They offered generous conditions for Messi to come to the K-League. They probably couldn’t refuse on their end.”

Even so, joining a place as unfamiliar as the K-League must have given Messi a lot to think about.

Especially since going to America was nearly finalized, wasn’t it?

I don’t know what circumstances led Inter Miami to overturn the negotiations, but there were many teams Messi could have joined even if not there.

Yet choosing Korea means the strategy team’s hard work paid off.

“Recruiting Messi was the most important part of this investment scenario. Now that it’s succeeded, we can move forward without obstacles.”

Making Korea the center of sports.

To execute this, we need magnificent, massive, and new stadiums like Tottenham’s new ground.

The government has already positively received this industry and begun cooperating as a national project.

Although astronomical costs would be involved, headquarters seems to believe future recovery of principal is sufficiently possible.

“Please tell the strategy team they did a great job.”

“Yes. Those guys probably know that the real work starts now.”

“Oh, what happened with that Saudi thing?”

“Well, Saudi strongly protested and even sent a direct complaint to our company.”

Saudi had proposed an investment to us, but according to our newly changed investment guide, they must receive an evaluation from the ESG Association.

That’s why the Saudi government is angry.

“That can’t be helped.”

“Yes. Actually, besides Saudi, there’s quite a lot of money our headquarters needs to spend this time. The domestic sports industry investment is one thing, and hundreds of trillions of won are going into the projects currently underway in Africa.”

To be honest, I felt a bit sorry for our headquarters.

The Africa project, rather than thinking about our company’s profits, is a project for people suffering from extreme hunger.

In other words, it’s not a profitable business for Gwangwoon.

“Our Gwangwoon Group’s annual revenue is enormous, isn’t it? And that’s thanks to you, President. So whatever business you want to do, headquarters actively provides funding. Even if it causes losses of tens of trillions of won, compared to the money you bring in, it’s trivial.”

Hyung-nim and our headquarters and strategy team all know that the Africa project is by no means a profitable project for the company.

They simply felt sorry that people are still starving to death in this 21st century, and this charitable project they started to help them has grown to this extent.

Nevertheless, Hyung-nim follows my wishes without complaint. He knows well that the more we earn, the more we should give.

Plus, he probably also wants to encourage his younger brother.

“By the way, President. As per your previous instructions, we’ve been buying up all the grains, and prices have risen quite a bit. The problem is that predictions of another severe crop failure like two years ago are coming out, so prices are expected to surge even more.”

Global warming is increasingly affecting our lives. Rain doesn’t fall where it should, and falls excessively where it shouldn’t, causing floods and disasters to continue endlessly.

Also, the main grain-producing regions are reporting potential crop failures again this time.

“What about the food we’ve stockpiled? Is it enough for relief?”

“Yes. But prices are shooting through the roof right now. They’ve already tripled.”

I took a deep breath and waited. We’ve already piled up grain to the point our warehouses are overflowing, and it’s enough to help people suffering from famine.

Moreover, with prices soaring that much, the losses would be severe, so it would be right to stop purchasing here, but—

“…!”

My intuition brushed past the back of my neck. A pleasant thrill was spreading throughout my body. Perhaps it’s thinking that we need more food than this to help people.

“Don’t worry about the price. Please acquire as much as possible.”

***

The Saudi royal family’s aggressive investment in NEOM City and the sports market had two reasons.

One was to change Saudi Arabia’s currently poor global image.

Second was to transition their current income, which depends solely on oil, to various businesses including tourism.

With alternative energy being steadily researched, oil might become a relic of the past like coal in the future.

It was exactly that concern that led Prince Hamud Salman to make strategic investments.

Especially in sports, he had put significant money to grow the scale of competitions and was gradually taking over the world sports market.

“…Who pulled out this time?”

“The American construction company S&G. They say they won’t participate in our project anymore.”

But news that disturbed Hamud Salman kept coming.

While it’s true that NEOM City wasn’t proceeding according to the original plan, the construction of various infrastructure in Saudi was progressing well.

Then the construction industry should be cheering and rushing to Saudi to get work, but the opposite was happening now.

“Don’t tell me they’re refusing because of Gwangwoon?”

“Yes. There are places participating in the project Gwangwoon is doing in Africa right now, and even places not participating are getting scared and withdrawing because of news that Gwangwoon and Saudi are at odds.”

The NEOM City project that was progressing well is now on the verge of suspension.

Things got tangled up when Gwangwoon announced their position that they would absolutely not invest unless receiving an ESG Association evaluation.

“How can those bastards be more afraid of Gwangwoon than our Saudi oil money?”

“It’s Gwangwoon, after all. Companies won’t collapse even if they refuse our Saudi investment, but if they upset Gwangwoon, no matter how big they are, they could crumble in an instant.”

In the past, Russia, China, or America were called the world’s thugs, but now Gwangwoon was playing that role.

How can a mere company wield such influence?

Moreover, the White House, which should be restraining them, is acting as Gwangwoon’s lackey, making this phenomenon even worse.

“So if we don’t follow Gwangwoon’s will, the project will be difficult to proceed?”

Just a few years ago, at Salman’s single word, companies would tremble and visit the royal palace directly to bow their heads.

But now the situation has changed.

No one fears Saudi’s massive oil money.

They bow their heads, submitting to Gwangwoon’s power, which is much closer and more threatening.

“Tell those who don’t want to work with us to do as they please. Find other companies.”

Prince Salman, who had a tight grip on the Saudi regime, couldn’t bow his head because of his pride.

“Your Highness, how about trying to negotiate with Gwangwoon now…”

“What? Absolutely not!”

“But looking at Gwangwoon’s movements now, the situation seems serious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hasn’t Gwangwoon been buying up grain companies and stockpiling grain like mountains for a while now?”

Gwangwoon was currently buying up food at an almost excessive rate.

“There’s a rumor circulating about that.”

“What rumor?”

“That Gwangwoon is intentionally causing crop failures to spike food prices.”

“!?”

Salman paused for a moment, then furrowed his brow.

“That’s nonsense.”

“This isn’t something to laugh off. Didn’t Gwangwoon cause major earthquakes in Turkey and then Morocco, which resisted their will? Earthquakes can’t be predicted, and it’s supposedly impossible to artificially cause strong earthquakes. Yet they did it, which means…”

“They can manipulate the weather to cause crop failure?”

“Yes. If the worst crop failure in history comes this time, grain prices will rise even higher than now. And doesn’t our Saudi import 90% of its grain?”

If the worst crop failure arrives like this, Gwangwoon, which holds large quantities of grain, will gain tremendous power.

Especially for countries like Saudi that rely heavily on imports, it would be fatal.

If Gwangwoon threatens with food, there would be no way to respond.

“This is crazy…”

As his thoughts reached that point, cold sweat began to flow down Salman’s face.

It seemed he had chosen the wrong opponent.

End