Chapter 157: It’s Time (3)
Of course, the reporters did not give up that easily. They continued to shove their mics in my face as if they wanted a clear answer even if it was just a single word.
“Can’t you tell us right now?”
“Yes, no. Please tell us at least that much.”
However, I did not tell them anything related to it.
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The Masters Tournament started like that.
The US Augusta National Golf Club.
There were close to 100 participants. Each of their skills were above average. It made sense since this was a tournament with such strict qualifications that even most famous golfers could not attend.
Maybe that was the reason. Han Sul Yi seemed much stiffer than usual. The way she kept looking around made it seem as if she was observing all of the famous golfers.
However, her mouth was still alive.
“There’s no need to be nervous. They are all great players, but you are the best, Mr. Hwi Ram.”
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“You seem to be more nervous than I am, Miss Sul Yi. Stop looking around and focus.”
I had participated in many golf competitions after winning the Golden Dragon Cup.
My caddie had always been Han Sul Yi. I’m sure that there were more talented caddies around, however, I didn’t feel the need to change caddies.
It wasn’t as if I lost any tournament with her as my caddie.
I’m sure that this Masters Tournament would be the same.
Only the world’s greatest players were gathered here, however, my reputation was pretty high as well. I’ve participated in 11 tournaments and won 11 times since I earned the qualifications to round in the PGA.
I’ve also recorded a shockingly low number of strokes at each competition as well. Even when I was at my worst, my total score for four rounds was 20-under par.
Thanks to that, many experts had selected me to be one of the favorites to win. I was an oppressive top dog, even amongst the world rankers.
That was the reason that the largest gallery was stuck with me, along with the most cameras.
The Masters Tournament started like that. I satisfied everyone’s expectations and led in first place with an overwhelming difference.
I recorded first place in the first round with an 8-under par, while I recorded 6-under par on the second round in order to finish the cutoff in first place.
I then recorded 5-under par and 7-under par in the third and fourth rounds respectively in order to finish with a total score of 26-under par.
It was a new record for the lowest strokes at the Masters Tournament. Not only that, it was 8 strokes less than the former record of 18-under par.
Whiiiiiiiiiiiiistle-
Clap, clap, clap!
“Daehanmingook hurray!” (TL: Daehanmingook is full name of Korean Republic in Korean)
There was whistling, cheering, and clapping once I finished the final champion putt.
I was serenaded by the camera flashes as well.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Honestly speaking, I was confident about winning the Masters Tournament. This was because I put in so much effort to use Jewels of Luck with high Luck Indexes each round.
Thanks to that, I wasn’t really satisfied with the score of 26-under par. I thought I’d get at least 30-under par after using so many high index jewels.
Anyway, I managed to easily become the star of the day, just as I wanted.
The interview immediately started.
There was no need for a translator. I had used my focus skill to study English whenever I had some time so that I could now speak fluently without much of an accent. (PR: But the accent is the best part of learning any language!)
It started with the typical questions.
How it felt to get a new record, how it felt to go wire-to-wire in first place, how it felt to win, who was the first person I thought about when I finished my champion putt, etc.
Simple things like that.
The question I had been waiting for came up near the end of the interview.
“The prize money for this tournament is 1.9 million dollars. Are you planning on donating all of your winnings to the Dandelion School again?”
“Of course.”
“There are many places you can donate to other than the Dandelion School. Is there a special reason you only donate to the Dandelion School? The rumors say that it is because you are the founder of the Dandelion School, player Kang Hwi Ram. Can you say something regarding those rumors?”
“That is correct.”
I kept it short and sweet.
However, I guess it was too short and sweet. The reporter did not seem to understand.
“Excuse me?”
“I promised to reveal everything if I won the tournament today. That is why I will borrow this platform to announce it. I am indeed the founder of the Dandelion School. I did not reveal it until now because I did not want people to get the wrong idea about my intentions.”
I had spent a lot of time to come up with this response. I was researching how to say it so that it could touch as manypeople as possible.
That was how I came up with this response.
“My childhood was a difficult one. Although I had a chance to go to school, I lived a life without knowing what my talents were, what I should do with my life, nor what kind of person I should be. Because of that ......”
‘Studying is something you do on your own. Whether it is English, Math, Science, or even if you are learning something technical, the most important thing is your desire to learn.
‘However, I thought that it was the job of adults to instill that sense of desire in young children.
‘I thought their job was to tell me why I should study and what I should study. I also thought they would help me want to study.
‘I did not have such opportunities. I just closed my eyes and did what I had to do in order to avoid a dark future.
‘I am certain that there are still students like that. There are a lot of students who are talented and would study harder than anybody else if they had the means, however, they cannot do so because they do not have the means.’
“I’m sure that I cannot save all of them. However, as long as it is possible, I wish to provide children like that the opportunity to thrive. That’s the only reason.”
It was a pretty long interview. Other reporters wanted to interview me afterward as well. Naturally, there were Korean newspapers that wanted to interview me as well.
Thanks to that, it took about an hour to complete all of the interviews.
But I felt refreshed after finishing all of them. Now I just needed to go back to my lodging and rest.
“Miss Sul Yi, shall we go? Hmm?”
Han Sul Yi was looking at me, however, her gaze was different than before. She seemed to be half out of it.
Seeing as how she wasn’t responding when I was calling her, she seemed to have been like this for a while.
Han Sul Yi was not the only one like that. The gallery surrounding me seemed to be in awe as well. Some people even whistled and clapped for me.
This was the same for the other players. They had been giving me angry glares the whole tournament because I was in first place by an overwhelming advantage, but they were all looking at me warmly now.
Yes! This was the type of atmosphere I wanted.
Now it was time to reveal more about myself. I plan to reveal that, in addition to being a pro golfer, I have shares in many companies and that I am a businessman seeking out talented individuals.
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Then people who can help me should flock to me like clouds.
At least I hope that happens.
“Miss Sul Yi. Let’s go.”
“Excuse me? Ah, yes. Let’s go.”
Riiiiiiiing-
I sat up as soon as I heard my phone ringing. It was because it was Energy One’s President Kim In Hwan.
Kim In Hwan had been extremely cautious these days as well. He contacted me using a new phone that he purchased in secret rather than using his original phone.
Of course, my phone was a separate newly made phone as well.
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
– I think we did it. That employee submitted his resignation as soon as he came in this morning.
That meant that he must have taken the bait.
However, we can’t relax just yet.
“Please drag it out as long as possible. You need to almost beg for him to stay in order for him to not question those files, hyung-nim. The Golden Dragon side may question things if it goes too easily.”
– I will do that. Oh, and congratulations. I was 100 percent certain that you would win, however, it was thrilling to watch.
“Haha, thank you very much.”
It was already a wonderful afternoon. However, both my body and mind felt even better after the call with Kim In Hwan.
‘What a beautiful day!’
It was a nice spring day. I could also see heat shimmers in the yard.
The thing that made me feel even better was the laughter of children. Eun Kyung, who was now in fourth grade, had brought friends over and they were running around that yard.
Just watching them filled me with energy.
However, the thing that made me feel the best was, of course, my mother’s voice.
“Isn’t it still a bit cold? You’ll catch a cold like that. Come inside.”
“It’s not cold at all because it is sunny. I’ll come inside in a bit.”
Now that I thought about it, the sun was shining brightly today. It was the perfect weather to read the newspaper.
I sat down on a chair and opened up a newspaper.
I could easily see all of the hottest news on my smartphone, but reading a newspaper was more entertaining. It was nice to feel the pages in my hands and it wasn’t bad for my eyes either.
Every single newspaper had articles about me on the front page. Some were all over the front page, while others had extra pages because the front was not enough.
It was thanks to the PGA tournament that ended a few days ago. After winning the Masters Tournament which was one of the major tournaments, I won another competition as well, making it impossible to not talk about me.
The information on them was pretty similar. They were all made with the information I sent around or from the interviews.
There was nothing about golf because there was nothing fresh about my golfing anymore. I participated in two or more competitions each month and won every time.
The reporters had already written about that plenty of times.
That was why they had been looking for something to write about me other than golf.
So, it was no wonder that they bit onto the information I sent around.
[Everything about Kang Hwi Ram.]
[He is the founder of the Dandelion School. However, he has not meddled in the administration of the school after creating it. Talented culinary mastermind Mr. Lee Soo Bong, as well as other experts, have full control to run it.
In order to be transparent about the foundation’s use of funds, they display all donations and expenses on the website. This was also an idea that came from Kang Hwi Ram.
Kang Hwi Ram is also the owner of many businesses.
The one that stands out the most is a Vietnamese food ingredient company called AFC. He invested 230 billion won last year in order to gain 60 percent of the shares of that company.
He has also invested heavily in startup companies, having shares in over 20 promising small businesses.
The following is an interview with player Kang Hwi Ram.]
> What is your secret to being able to own so many businesses when you are so young? You are not even 30 years old yet.
“There is no special method. Whether it is stocks or real estate, I just happened to succeed wherever I invested money. All I can say is that I got lucky.”
> They said that you do not involve yourself in the administration of the Dandelion School at all. Will you continue to do that in the future?
“There was a reason I founded the Dandelion School.
“I wanted to get away from the educational system that train students to focus on getting into college.
“I wanted each student to be able to find their hidden potential and to teach them based on that potential. I also wanted them to learn something they could immediately use in the world.
“As long as the teacher stay true to that goal, there is no reason for me to intervene in the administration of the school when I do not know much about education.”
> I heard that you are continuing to buy shares in many companies. Do you have a goal in mind?
“Both talented individuals and promising businesses face the same issue of a lack of funds in the beginning. Even if they have amazing abilities, many of them fail due to a lack of funds.
“I hope to continue helping those businesses out if I am able to do so.”
> Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
“There are a lot of good people in the world, but also some who are not so good. There are people who approach you with bad intentions even if you try to help someone with good intentions.
“Many passionate businessmen end up getting hurt because of those people.
“I lack the eyes and knowledge to tell those bad people apart from the good.
“That is why I need a lot of advice and experts. I wish to team up with many talented individuals to pick out the bad intentions and support the passionate and determined entrepreneurs.
“I look forward to many recommendations from everyone.” ]
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The conversation did not move away from how I had intended it to go. It seemed as if they had decided to be my hands and feet.
Maybe that was the reason, but I had heard that my startup support company, Fulfill, had been bombarded with calls ever since the article was released. There were people asking them to support them, as well as others who wanted to recommend someone they knew.
Fulfill’s head of human resources team contacted me immediately if any special individuals popped up. That was what I told them to do.
Riiiiiiiing-
I got another call from Fulfill’s head of human resources.
I was always full of expectations whenever I picked up the call from him. He had called about five people so far, and they were all nationally known instructors.
They’ll play a big role in telling the duds from the jewels.
‘I wonder who it is this time.’
Translator: Miraclerifle
Proofreader: Borderline Masochist
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