New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 177

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 177. Filtering (2)

A month had passed since the short-form video service was launched.

In that time, we had achieved truly explosive growth, and now various videos were pouring out even without us creating content.

“Users increased by tens of thousands again today.”

“Retention time has also more than doubled just this week.”

“Sports content and music content are responding properly.”

“But… an official letter came from the Baseball League. It’s a warning to delete all professional baseball-related videos.”

It was a natural reaction.

Other sports leagues were already taking a portion of advertising revenue.

But the Baseball League wasn’t receiving any revenue sharing.

In such a situation, their videos kept being uploaded, so it was natural for them to be angry.

“Keep ignoring them.”

“Would that really be okay?”

“We don’t need to extend our hand first. If the situation becomes desperate, the Baseball League will propose negotiations first.”

There was no reason to bow our heads first.

We already held the initiative.

All the Baseball League could do was send warning letters.

“But… a problem has arisen.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Whether it’s intentional or a mistake isn’t clear yet, but suspicions are being raised that Daehyeon Baseball Team is receiving unfair calls.”

It was the most powerful card the Baseball League could play.

The umpires were essentially league employees.

If the league had the will, they could change the flow of calls as much as they wanted.

“Do you think the Baseball League directly ordered this?”

“The possibility that the league directly intervened isn’t very high. But one or two umpires could have made such calls while showing loyalty.”

“I suppose many unfair calls came out when specific umpires were assigned.”

“I’ve quantified every call in every game.”

Calls were also part of data.

We had more than enough systems to analyze such data.

Manager Kim had analyzed and quantified every call from the opening game to yesterday’s game.

“Certainly our team received many bad calls compared to other teams.”

“When specific umpires came in as head umpires, Daehyeon Baseball Team’s strike zone became strangely narrow. At worst, even pitches down the middle were called balls.”

Umpires were human after all.

They could make mistakes, and bad calls could be part of the game.

But if such bad calls were repeatedly directed only at our team.

That should be seen not as simple mistakes but as intentional retaliation.

“We should see this as a signal for us to bend and come in on our own.”

“We’re still maintaining first place in the league, but our winning percentage is gradually dropping. If these bad calls continue, the players’ morale might eventually break.”

“We can’t fall for such petty tricks.”

“What should we do?”

Bowing our heads to such games would hurt our pride.

If you run away because a barking dog is scary, it will surely chase after you.

So rather than running away, we had to strike back decisively.

Once they get hit properly, they won’t bark again.

“Edit all the bad call scenes and upload them.

Set them for top priority algorithm exposure so all baseball fans can see them.”

“You mean make Daehyeon Baseball Team look like victims of unfair calls?”

“That alone isn’t enough. We need to plant the perception that Korean professional baseball umpires control games. It’s not one team’s problem – all teams must look like victims for fans to move. From then on, public opinion will be on our side.”

It couldn’t become just Daehyeon Baseball Team’s problem.

If that happened, only Daehyeon Baseball Team fans would be on our side.

But if all baseball teams became victims, we could make all baseball fans our allies.

If that happened, they wouldn’t be able to play games anymore while watching public opinion.

“I’ll create hundreds of versions of bad call highlights and upload them!”

“Once we open fire, baseball fans will find and upload even more provocative bad call videos on their own.”

Distrust of umpires had already spread deeply.

So we didn’t need to incite them.

Just throw a spark, and public opinion would burn the rest on its own.

***

Fire fell on the Baseball League’s feet.

Public opinion exploded in just one week.

Now even major media outlets began formally covering the bad call controversy.

“Why did public opinion suddenly become like this!”

“According to staff investigations, criticism posts are flooding various websites. Bad call video clips alone are being uploaded dozens per day.”

“What have you been doing all this time! You should have blocked it somehow!”

The President’s voice echoed through the Conference Room.

But there was nothing more they could do.

The Baseball League didn’t have the power to control even the media.

“For now, it would be good to sanction a few umpires with severe bad call controversies.”

“You mean send them down to 2nd Team?”

“That’s the only way to calm the criticism.”

“Hmm… We could send them down for about a month then call them back up.”

“Yes, a month would be enough. We just need to weather the storm.”

The league Related Personnel viewed the criticism as just a simple storm.

They thought this incident would also pass soon.

Bad call controversies weren’t new, and they had avoided them the same way each time.

“Did bad call video clips get uploaded to Rollbook too?”

“Rollbook is where the most were uploaded. I don’t know exactly where it started, but bad call videos becoming an issue is definitely because of Rollbook.”

“Those bastards who wouldn’t be enough even if chewed up… Can’t we do something legally?”

The league hadn’t failed to consider Legal Response.

They consulted numerous lawyers, but the answers were all the same.

There was no clear solution.

“If Rollbook had simply uploaded videos illegally, we could have taken action. But they’re receiving videos through formal agreements with Broadcasting Companies, so legally we can’t do anything.”

“Our league didn’t give permission! But there’s still no problem?”

“According to lawyers, it’s a gray area. Morally, consultation with the league would be necessary, but legally speaking, there are no flaws.”

The President couldn’t contain his anger and slammed the Desk hard.

What irritated him more was Rollbook’s arrogant attitude, as if looking down from above him.

That gaze endlessly scratched at his pride.

“So there’s no way?”

“Legally we can’t do anything. But that doesn’t mean there’s absolutely no method.”

“You’re saying there is a way? Tell me.”

“If all team owners rebel, we can pressure them strongly at the league level.”

“You mean the teams could tell them not to upload their videos to Rollbook?”

If law couldn’t stop it, the remaining card was public opinion.

If each team publicly spoke out, their fans would naturally follow.

Eventually, even without legal flaws, they’d have no choice but to take down videos under strong public pressure.

“We’ll need to convene a team owners’ meeting.”

“But if we hold a meeting, Daehyeon Baseball Team’s owner will also attend.”

“It doesn’t matter. If other owners side with us, that person will just sit quietly in the Meeting Hall like a useless sack of barley.”

In the end, it was a numbers game.

If just over half the owners agreed, Rollbook would lose justification.

And the President believed that the team owners would surely follow the league’s will for the sake of their teams’ performance.

***

A team owners’ meeting hosted by the baseball league was convened.

The President arrived earlier than usual, planning to greet the long-standing team officials he had known for years.

Though it was called a ‘team owners’ meeting,’ in reality, it was mostly attended by team managers or presidents.

The President had become familiar with their faces through countless meetings and events.

He believed he would face those familiar faces again today.

However, the first person to arrive was someone he had no acquaintance with at all.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Jung-hoo, Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”

“Hmm, this is a team owners’ meeting. Haven’t you come to the wrong place?”

“Though the Tiger Fund General Manager serves as team owner, all authority rests with me in his absence.”

“I’m just saying this because it’s rare for team owners to come directly to such meetings instead of team managers.”

“I had time and attended. Is there some issue with my qualifications to participate?”

“Not at all. Please go inside.”

The President let out a hollow laugh.

He had expected the Daehyeon Baseball Team Manager to come, but instead this person called a branch manager showed up.

It didn’t matter who came anyway. They would just sit quietly in a corner without saying a word.

“Come on! Let’s receive the next customer.”

“We received word that someone from Samjin team has arrived.”

“President Park must have come.”

Samjin Baseball Team had always sent president-level personnel to meetings.

He had maintained ties with them for over 10 years.

Picturing that familiar face with a smile, he went out to the meeting hall entrance.

But this time too, a completely unexpected person was entering the meeting hall.

“Ch-Chairman, is that you?”

“So you’re the President. Nice to meet you.”

“Are you attending the meeting personally?”

“If it’s a team owners’ meeting, shouldn’t the team owner come?”

“Having President Park come as usual would be sufficient for this meeting.”

“Since I’m here anyway, I’d like to hear it myself.”

The appearance of Chairman Oh Hee-geon.

He was the pillar of Samjin Group and a figure called a symbol of Korea’s economy.

His appearance made the President’s breath stop.

How did this happen?

The President’s body froze at Chairman Oh Hee-geon’s appearance.

But the appearance of the next person made the President feel dizzy.

“Older Brother! Have you already arrived? I hurried as much as I could but I’m a bit late.”

“Chairman Kim, it’s been a while.”

“I haven’t had time to pay my respects lately. Since I heard I’d see you today, I even went to the bathhouse this morning.”

“Haha, let’s go inside.”

Daehwa Group Chairman Kim Seong-hyeon.

When another group chairman appeared, the President lost his words entirely.

But that wasn’t the end.

The moment Chairman Jang Dong-gu of Daehyeon Automotive, owner of Kai Baseball Team, entered, the President felt dizzy and leaned against a chair.

Since Kai Automotive was acquired by Daehyeon Automotive.

This was the first time the chairman personally attended a team owners’ meeting.

“The remaining team owners are running a bit late.”

“There’s still a little time left, so won’t they arrive soon?”

Chairman Oh Hee-geon said while looking at his watch.

Chairman Kim Seong-hyeon attended to him devotedly from his side like serving an older brother.

Meanwhile, team owners arrived one after another.

While some cases like GL Group and Charlotte Group sent vice chairmen, most chairmen attended the meeting personally.

“I can’t tell if this is a baseball league meeting or a business leaders’ meeting.”

“Doesn’t it have more weight than a business leaders’ meeting? Even GL Group Vice Chairman attended.”

Since GL Group lost their semiconductor business.

They hadn’t appeared at business leaders’ meetings.

So there had been few opportunities to gather like this, making this a true business leaders’ meeting convened after a long time.

People who wouldn’t gather unless for national events had assembled in one place.

The President couldn’t understand the situation at all.

A suspicion crossed his mind that perhaps Tiger Fund had pulled some strings.

But the expression of this person called Branch Manager Lee Jung-hoo wasn’t much different from his own.

He was looking around with surprised eyes at the faces of the chairmen and vice chairmen attending the meeting.

Why on earth had this situation come about?

The President couldn’t understand.

He had inadvertently become the person who summoned chaebol chairmen and vice chairmen.

While he maintained his position in bewilderment.

The meeting start time had already passed.

An unprecedented scale team owners’ meeting, with all chaebol chairmen and vice chairmen in attendance, quietly began.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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