Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 7

The flying taxi carrying Beom-seok landed on the veranda of an officetel [a combined office and residential space] located dozens of stories high. Beom-seok stepped out through the slowly opening railing door and entered the living room. Simultaneously, the appliances inside the house sprang to life.

The temperature control system blasted cold air to quickly lower the room’s temperature, and the 3D hologram TV flickered on, tuned to a pre-set channel broadcasting the boisterous voice of what seemed to be a comedian. Dance music pulsed from the audio system on the stand, creating an unexpectedly lively atmosphere.

Beom-seok briefly scanned the interior and muttered to himself,

“It always looks so compact.”

The officetel where he was staying was undeniably small. It consisted of a living room with a kitchenette, a bathroom with a shower, and a bedroom open on all sides. Despite being called an officetel, it looked no different from a cheap studio apartment at first glance.

After stretching for a moment, Beom-seok took a glass of juice from the refrigerator and plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV.

‘I wonder if Venus is lonely by herself?’

He was worried about Venus, whom he had left alone in the hospital room. Although her condition had improved significantly, she was still a patient. However, he was swamped with preparations. He needed to build a team to participate in the GA Cup, which would be held from mid-June. It was a competition where amateurs and professionals competed side-by-side, and the rules required a roster of 12 starting players and 7 substitutes, meaning he needed at least 19 gladiators. But currently, his team consisted of only him and Venus.

Beom-seok took a sip of juice. As he watched TV, he noticed a letter icon blinking in the upper right corner of the screen. It was a notification that an email had arrived.

Curious, Beom-seok opened it immediately.

“Home system, please check the email.”

Then, the TV screen switched to display a man. He was in his 30s, wearing a flashy suit, and possessed a rather cunning look.

– Hello, customer. This is James from XX Card Team……

“Next!”

At Beom-seok’s shout, the screen changed once again. This time, it was a woman in her 20s wearing a neat uniform.

– Hello, customer. This is Stella, a loan consultant from XX Capital.

“Pass!”

– Hello, this is Naomi, a consultant from XX Mobile Communications. We are……

“Skip!”

– Hello, I am……

“Delete!”

Beom-seok wore a very annoyed expression at the continuous stream of messages. So many spam emails had piled up because he hadn’t checked them for a few days. He stopped checking individual emails and displayed the entire mailbox on the screen. It was more efficient to clear out the useless emails all at once.

‘That’s a loan offer, that’s a credit card offer, that’s a product advertisement, and that’s……’

Beom-seok, who was about to proceed with the mass deletion, paused at one promotional email. It was from a place called Demon Sports Center, and the message stated that they were opening a gladiator course taught by a current professional gladiator. This piqued his interest, as he was planning to enter that field.

‘Oh, a professional gladiator is teaching directly? I wonder which league they’re from?’

The administrative districts in this world were largely composed of four levels: the Federal Government, the Central Government, the Metropolitan Government, and the Regional Government. Starting with the Federal Government, which managed the entire world, there were 8 Central Governments below it, which were further divided into 8 Metropolitan Governments each, and finally into 8 Regional Governments. In other words, within the Federal Government, there were 512 Regional Governments, 64 Metropolitan Governments, and 8 Central Governments.

Each government had its own professional league consisting of 20 teams. The Regional Governments had the Area League, the Metropolitan Governments had the Wide League, the Central Governments had the Central League, and finally, the Federal Government had the World League.

In total, there was one World League, 8 Central Leagues, 64 Wide Leagues, and 512 Area Leagues. The professional teams belonging to these leagues numbered 20 in the World League, 160 in the Central Leagues, 1280 in the Wide Leagues, and a staggering 10240 in the Area Leagues.

At first glance, it might seem like an absurd number, but upon closer examination, it wasn’t. The average area of the Regional Governments, which included the lowest league (the Area League), was 300,000 square kilometers, and the average population was 24 million. Considering that the population of the country Beom-seok belonged to in the real world was half that, and the land area was more than 1.5 times larger, each region could be seen as having the value of a single country. Also, in Europe, where soccer was popular, there were many cases where countries smaller than this had several professional leagues and maintained a promotion and relegation system.

‘Well, let’s take a closer look.’

Beom-seok immediately selected and expanded the Demon Sports Center’s email. Inside, there were various promotional phrases, and as expected of a planned advertisement, the content mainly focused on the professional gladiator.

‘Oh, affiliated with Dragon Knights GC [Gladiator Club]……’

The Dragon Knights team was a professional team based in Herby City, not far from Rima City. They were currently in the Wide League and were considered by many to be a strong gladiator team capable of advancing to the Central League at any time.

If someone was dispatched from such a team, it was safe to assume they possessed outstanding skills. For Beom-seok, who didn’t know much about gladiator matches yet, it could be a good opportunity to learn more about that world in depth.

Intrigued, he scrolled down to examine the next section.

‘They only teach these specialized courses.’

In essence, these specialized courses were training programs designed to develop professional players.

In this world, only elves or modified humans with enhanced bodies could become professional sports players. Elves were born as adults in culture capsules [artificial wombs], and modified humans were created when humans underwent body modification surgery when they reached adulthood. Therefore, players couldn’t be selected through academic sports development programs like in reality.

Instead, each professional team established and maintained its own training institutions or recruited players through sports centers. This specialized course was an example of the latter. Thanks to this system, the quality of the courses was high, but the expensive tuition was inevitably a burden.

‘Hmm. If I take that specialized course, I might be able to find some talented gladiators. Everyone takes the course aiming to become a pro, after all.’

For Beom-seok, who didn’t even have a team yet, the specialized course could be a great help in securing gladiators. Since it was a course that only those with semi-professional skills could take, there would likely be many promising gladiators. Although there was a little over a month left until the GA Cup, it was not enough time for him to build a team from scratch.

“Okay. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”

Beom-seok read the next promotional phrase. It concerned the application deadline, and in an incredible stroke of coincidence, it was limited to noon today. He quickly glanced at the wall clock. The current time was 11 AM. There was only one hour left until the deadline.

“This is crazy. I need to hurry.”

He could miss the application deadline if he wasn’t careful. He rushed into the bathroom, washed up quickly, and changed his clothes. Then, he hurriedly called a taxi and got in.

– Then, I wish you good luck with your endeavors. Goodbye.

Beom-seok barely registered the artificial intelligence’s greeting before quickly exiting the taxi. There was still some time left before the application deadline, but not enough to waste any.

He stood on the street for a moment, looking at the white seven-story building and reading the sign at the top. It was definitely Demon Sports Center. He straightened his clothes, opened the entrance door made of huge glass, and went inside. Instantly, a beautiful voice flowed from the counter in front of the door.

“Welcome. We welcome you to our Demon Sports Center.”

It was a very beautiful, almost ethereal voice. It seemed to belong to a woman who handled information or reception. Beom-seok carefully examined the uniformed woman who greeted him politely. Blue hair and striking beauty. Moreover, judging from the large, pointed ears that were sticking up high, she was definitely an elf.

“Excuse me, I heard there’s a gladiator course here. Where do I apply?”

The blue-haired elf politely clasped her hands together and said.

“Are you talking about the gladiator match course? You can apply here. However, the morning course has already started, so you can’t apply for it. You can only take the afternoon course that starts after lunch. Is that okay with you?”

“Um. The afternoon course is fine too.”

“Then, please fill out this application form.”

The blue-haired elf produced a document the size of an A4 sheet of paper and handed it to him. Beom-seok took it and was about to start filling it out, but he stopped when he saw the words written at the top of the document. It said ‘Gladiator Hobby Class Application Form’.

With a puzzled expression, Beom-seok glanced at the blue-haired elf.

“I’m planning to take the specialized course.”

“Yes? The specialized course? Then, are you saying you’re aiming to become a professional gladiator?”

“Yeah.”

“It would be difficult for a human like you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve had body modification surgery.”

At those words, the blue-haired elf looked even more surprised. Body modification surgery cost tens of millions of Krang [currency unit] at once, making it something that even most wealthy people couldn’t afford.

But the problem was that the clothes Beom-seok was currently wearing were basic and simple outerwear provided at the start of the game. Naturally, he didn’t look like a wealthy person, so it was hard to believe that he was a modified human.

However, she couldn’t simply dismiss the customer’s words as a joke, so the blue-haired elf asked again in a suspicious voice.

“Are you, really?”

“I’m telling you, it’s true. Why can’t you believe what I say?”

At that moment, the elevator doors nearby opened and people began to pour out. Judging from the fact that dozens of elves and men were walking out in pairs, they seemed to be people who had formed a master-servant relationship.

However, there was one person who was different. An elf woman with a bright red suit and unusually green hair. She was walking alone, away from the group, and both of her eyes were different colors, green and red. That meant she didn’t have an owner. She was one of the targets.

The unidentified elf woman approached the desk and spoke to the blue-haired elf in front of Beom-seok.

“Excuse me. I’m going to have lunch. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them to come after 1 PM.”

As she was about to turn around, the blue-haired elf quickly stopped her.

“Reimi-nim [formal title]. Just a moment.”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

The blue-haired elf pointed to Beom-seok with both hands as if introducing him.

“This person says he wants to take the specialized course because he wants to become a professional gladiator.”

Reimi glanced up and down at Beom-seok and immediately replied.

“It would be difficult for a human to become a professional gladiator unless they have had body modification surgery.”

“Yes. This person says that he is a modified human……”

At that moment, she stood right in front of Beom-seok with surprised eyes. He was able to clearly see Reimi’s appearance.

She was a little over 165cm tall and looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. It was hard to tell what her figure was like because she was wearing a thick suit, but even so, the distinct S-curve that was revealed was undeniable. Her green hair was tied back with a red headband and cascaded down to her waist, and her soft, curved features and bright red, plump lips were very attractive. Her complexion was so white that it could be described as pale, and her thick eyelashes and high nose were enough to make anyone admire her. As expected, she was an elf of striking beauty.

Beom-seok swallowed hard, brought his slightly clenched fist to his mouth, and coughed dryly. Then, he glanced at Reimi and opened the information window [game interface displaying character stats].

————————————————-

Name: Reimi.

Classification: Elf (32 years).

Affiliation: Dragon Knights GC.

Fame: 457.

Notoriety: 0.

H Status: None.

Stamina: 6131/6500.

Sociability: 61, Strength: 64, Stamina: 65.

Agility: 73, Balance: 64, Intelligence: 70.

Mental Strength: 60. Judgment: 71, Skill: 51.

Luck: 41.

Current Skill/Potential: 620/623.

————————————————

Personality: Thorough teaching.

Special Notes: Has been a gladiator at Dragon Knights for 29 years. Currently classified as out of power within the team and registered as a loaned gladiator. However, due to her high price, no team wants her, so she is temporarily dispatched to the sports center to teach students the rules and techniques of gladiator matches.

————————————————

‘She’s surprisingly old.’

The average lifespan of an elf is about 100 years. However, considering that they are born as adults in culture capsules and maintain their beauty until just before death, the time they maintain their youthful appearance is quite long. However, internal aging progresses, so when Reimi reaches her current age, her strength and stamina gradually decline, and her mental aspects grow.

‘Still, she’s pretty good.’

Reimi’s current skill and potential are 620/623, which is relatively high. Of course, depending on how you look at it, it may seem like her potential is much lower compared to Beom-seok and Venus. But this is because he is a player and Venus has such good abilities, not because there is a problem with her. Frankly, the current skill and potential that most elves gain immediately after birth are far below that.

In addition, her ‘Thorough Teaching’ is a passive trait with no time limit. It was a useful trait that increased the learning speed of the 5 designated trainees by 1.5 times, and it would be very useful if used as an instructor or coach.

“Hello. My name is Reimi. I’m currently the instructor for the gladiator specialized course.”

Reimi held out her hand, and Beom-seok hurriedly closed the information window and shook it.

“I’m Oh Beom-seok. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m glad to meet you too. But are you really a modified human?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Then, can I test you for a moment?”

Beom-seok nodded as if to say he could do whatever she wanted.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

At the same time, Reimi’s grip tightened and she began to squeeze Beom-seok’s right hand. Recognizing that this was a test, he responded by applying the same amount of force. After a moment, Reimi released her hand and smiled.

“You’re definitely a modified human. If you were a normal human, you would have screamed and collapsed as soon as I put in my strength.”

“Then, are you going to accept my application?”

Reimi shook her head without hesitation. Even if you are a modified human, you need the talent to go pro. You can’t just accept anyone for a specialized course with so many applicants without any testing.

“To do that, you have to pass the test first.”

“Wasn’t that just now the test?”

“No. That was just to see if you were at a level where you could take the test. If we conducted a test against a normal person, they could get seriously injured.”

Beom-seok nodded as if he understood.

“Then, how is the test conducted?”

“You can spar with me for a moment. Then I will tell you whether you pass or not after seeing if you have the talent.”

“Um, really? But when is the test?”

“We will gather all the applicants at 1 PM and conduct the test.”

Beom-seok nodded slowly.

“Okay. Then I’ll see you then.”

“Yes. Then I’ll see you later.”

After saying this, Reimi walked away towards the instructor’s office far down the hallway. Beom-seok decided that it was awkward to go home and come back again, so he decided to have lunch at a restaurant nearby.

—————-

I’ll smoke and go again.