Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 143

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“Hmm. Well, if that’s the case, I’m relieved, but if the negotiations fall through, won’t the Lima City viewers look at our team unfavorably? That’s what I’m a little worried about.”

“Don’t worry. Since it’s content for the first episode, if the negotiations fail, I’ll discard today’s footage at my discretion. Viewers want to see the protagonist overcome obstacles and succeed, not fail. I know they’ll immediately change the channel, so I can’t include dark stories from the first episode.”

If the secret was kept until the negotiation was settled and the footage was discarded in case of failure, there would be no harm to the Fire Lions. Cooperating with the filming didn’t seem like a bad idea. No, the thought of his face appearing on TV was subtly exciting.

“Well, I understand. First, I need to get the captain’s approval for the filming, so I’ll let you know whether we can cooperate after I get permission.”

“Yes. Thank you. Hehehe.”

Lee-Dan looked at Beom-Seok and said,

“Well, then, the seats are ready, so let’s go inside.”

Beom-Seok glanced at Natalie, who nodded. He was speechless at how sociable the woman was. But, he was relieved that the worrying part was resolved. Anyway, now that they could film, her favorability wouldn’t drop.

‘But why did Fire Lions allow filming? If a scene of a failed recruitment accidentally airs, it would be a very difficult situation.’

The God Knights were the team that ownerless Elf Gladiators yearned for. They probably had more desire to join than any other World League team. If Hestia saw the failed negotiation scene in this situation? She would probably go wild and make a mess of her team or be uncooperative with team training. Even though they said they would discard the footage if the negotiation failed, it wasn’t a risk worth taking at face value.

However, he didn’t care and soon went up to the reception room on the second floor with Lee-Dan’s guidance. Since he would censor the content to be aired anyway, he could just delete the problematic parts.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll go see the captain about the filming and get permission.”

“Yes, please do.”

As Lee-Dan left the reception room again, Beom-Seok leaned back comfortably on the long sofa in the center of the room. Seeing this, Natalie pointed the camera at him and said in a strong voice,

“Beom-Seok, please make a more serious expression. It’s not good to look so relaxed before an urgent transfer negotiation.”

He snorted. Other times would be different, but today’s negotiation didn’t matter if he had a relaxed attitude. He didn’t know how many teams were negotiating to recruit Hestia, but the two most likely teams were within his sphere of influence. Since he had such an advantageous position, this negotiation would be much easier.

However, he couldn’t honestly reveal this to Natalie, who was close to an outsider.

“How can I run a team if I get nervous about this little thing?”

“But if you do that, the viewers’ response will drop. You have to create a more urgent situation to make it fun.”

Beom-Seok frowned. He should be grateful that he brought her here, but now he’s telling him to act. Of course, he could do it, but if he made a nervous expression, Lee-Dan might misunderstand and try to raise Hestia’s price. That was absolutely unacceptable for the team’s finances.

“Don’t say ridiculous things. No matter how much it’s for fun, you shouldn’t completely distort the truth. Why should I look nervous here?”

“Then does that mean today’s gladiator recruitment isn’t very important?”

“It’s important. But there’s no need to be desperate. Is Hestia the only gladiator in the world? I’ve already spread out in all directions and prepared alternatives. Focusing on recruiting one gladiator will negatively affect the recruitment. I just need to choose the gladiator with the lowest price compared to their ability.”

At those words, Natalie’s eyes sparkled as she approached.

“So you’re saying you’re also negotiating with other teams.”

“Of course. It’s too obvious in this industry.”

“Can you tell me which teams they are? And what are the names of the gladiators?”

Beom-Seok shouted.

“Of course I can’t tell you! If their names are mentioned on TV, the position of their teams will be seriously affected!”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking if you don’t know! Our team never uses ownerless Elves. So if they are virgin Elf Gladiators [Elves who have never been contracted to a team], they desperately want to be recruited. But they find out through TV that the negotiation with our team fell through because the team made unreasonable demands! It’s too obvious what those Elf Gladiators will do. If I feel like you’re trying to dig up this information, the filming will be over.”

Natalie nodded, understanding roughly. Elves always want owners, so if they find out that they missed the opportunity right in front of them, they will get very angry. Then the team would be in great trouble, and they would obviously be reluctant to trade with Beom-Seok in the future. It would be a big loss for the God Knights, so they had to be careful.

“Ah. I see. Okay, I understand. I won’t ask about this.”

“No, beyond not asking, you must never reveal it to the outside world under any circumstances. Got it!”

“Yes, I will.”

Beom-Seok sighed deeply, ended the conversation, and picked up a candy from the snack basket on the table and crunched it. Natalie, who was watching this, started filming him again without saying a word. The cold atmosphere seemed to show the seriousness of recruiting Hestia. It might have been a personal view, but if they put a simple comment in the subtitles, the viewers would all think so.

After a while, Lee-Dan and an Elf with blue hair appeared in the reception room at the same time. Beom-Seok, who was only destroying the candy, looked at the door with surprised eyes. A fairly tall height of about 180 centimeters [approximately 5’11”], a voluptuous chest, sharp eyes, and a perfect body like a delicate full-body sculpture. And a beautiful face with soft features. It was Hestia, whom he had just confirmed.

‘No. Lee-Dan. Is that bastard crazy? What is he doing bringing Hestia here?’

There were often cases like this during negotiations with other teams in the past, but that was when the opposing team’s trainer in charge didn’t know the characteristics of the God Knights. But this time, he had clearly stated the team’s color and warned them to be careful. This would not have happened if there were no other intentions.

He opened Hestia’s information window just in case. He was slightly suspicious of whether she was real because such an unbelievable situation had occurred.

————————————————-

Name: Hestia.

Classification: Elf (7 years).

Affiliation: Fire Lions GC.

Fame: 194.

Infamy: 0.

H Status: None.

Stamina: 7700/7700.

Sociability: 42, Strength: 71, Stamina: 77.

Agility: 72, Balance: 74, Intelligence: 65.

Mental Strength: 69. Judgment: 71, Skill: 43.

Luck: 60.

Current Skill/Potential: 644/896.

————————————————

Characteristic: Steadfast Loyalty.

Special Note: Currently affiliated with Fire Lions.

————————————————

‘It’s her.’

Hestia’s physical abilities were at best average for a Wide League Gladiator. However, her swordsmanship skills were very high compared to her peers. Everyone was recruited into the Fire Lions team during Elf school, so they focused on swordsmanship rather than physical strength. She was more interested in swordsmanship, which required various techniques and senses, than physical training, which was a simple repetitive task.

Thanks to this, she was somewhat alienated from the promising player transfer market, which values physical aspects, but she was priced at a decent amount due to her excellent skills.

Up to this point, Beom-Seok would not have shown much interest. Although her potential was high, it was slightly ambiguous to use her as a starter in the World League in the future because it was slightly less than 900. However, she had a very good advantage. It was the characteristic of ‘Steadfast Loyalty’, which was an option that increased all stats by +10 when the owner was in sight. In other words, if she became his Elf, she would not only be reborn as a high-level Gladiator at the Wide League level right away, but also always show improved game ability in games where she played with him, because the characteristic effect was always activated. It was enough to use her as a starter in the future without any difficulty.

“Okay. Hestia. Follow me.”

Lee-Dan took her and sat her across from Beom-Seok. Then Hestia bowed politely. She was trying to be polite because he might become her owner.

“Hello. I’m Hestia.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Oh Beom-Seok. I’m the chairman of the God Knights.”

“Yes. I know that very well.”

Beom-Seok looked at Lee-Dan with a troubled expression.

“Ah. By the way. What’s going on? Is it okay to bring Hestia to this place?”

He slightly raised the corners of his mouth and said,

“We’re fine. Don’t worry about it.”

In other words, Lee-Dan didn’t make a mistake. Beom-Seok smiled slyly. If you look closely at the context, you can see that Hestia was already his.

‘Hehe. In the end, the only negotiation targets are the Blue Bird team and our God Knights. And they’ve already decided to sell it for 24 million.’

The reason he thought this was very simple. The Blue Bird team, the superficial competitor, was a professional gladiator team led by Inspector Kyung-Gam Lexter, and like the God Knights, they did not hire ownerless Elves. This was because the police, who had to comply with the law, could not follow other professional teams that operated the team in an unorthodox way.

Therefore, only the two teams were on the trading list, and if they were willing to complete this deal for 24 million Krang [currency unit], it didn’t matter at all to bring Hestia to this place now. This is because the Blue Bird team is currently offering 24 million Krang at the current trading price. Even if the negotiation with him fell through, they could hand Hestia over to the Blue Bird team, so there would be no problem for the Fire Lions.

‘This is the first time a negotiation has ended without even starting.’

However, he couldn’t express his inner thoughts as they were. If the fact that the Blue Bird team and he had colluded was revealed to the parties involved, all deals would be off. He put on a serious expression again and opened his mouth.

“Hmm. Well, if that’s the case, I won’t say anything else. Then let’s start the negotiation. How much is Hestia’s price that your team wants?”

“First, we will offer 28 million Krang. It’s 2 million Krang lower than the 30 million Krang you offered before, so you’ll be satisfied.”

‘Satisfaction is bullshit! I know that it’s already been decided at 24 million Krang!’

His stomach was boiling, but Beom-Seok didn’t show it at all and spoke in a calm tone without any change in expression.

“Hmm. I appreciate your consideration, but as I said on the phone earlier, our financial situation is not very good. The most we can offer is in the early to mid-20 million Krang range, so we can’t accept 28 million Krang.”

“Ah. You said that. Hmm. What should we do? Then how about 26 million Krang? You can solve it by taking out a loan from the bank, right?”

Beom-Seok was convinced that his prediction was not wrong at all at the clearly lowered price. If he wasn’t thinking about 24 million Krang, he wouldn’t have lowered the price by 2 million Krang with just one complaint.

However, Beom-Seok shook his head and showed his disapproval. It was a good price, but he couldn’t give 26 million Krang as it was when he already knew the price the other party wanted.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not? It would be a great benefit for the God Knights to buy Hestia at this price.”

“But I don’t want to buy it by taking out a loan. I only came here today with the hope that it might work out, but I have no intention of overdoing it.”

Beom-Seok remained firm. He had no intention of wasting time dragging out a negotiation that had already been concluded.

Lee-Dan looked embarrassed at this. He mistakenly thought that he was not interested in Hestia. Well, he was rejected half a year ago, so it was highly likely that he was looking for alternatives in other teams. Otherwise, he would not have been negotiating so recklessly. Lee-Dan’s choices were now only two. One was to go out as strongly as he was prepared to break off the negotiation, or to find out the price Beom-Seok wanted and match it as much as possible.

After thinking for a while, he finally chose the latter. He had to sell Hestia quickly so that he could accelerate the recruitment of the gladiator that his team was aiming for with stable funds.

“Th, then how much are you expecting?”

“At most 24.5 million Krang. But even this is not certain. It’s a very urgent trade, so I haven’t been able to accurately assess the financial situation. Our team leader is currently reviewing it closely, so the conclusion will be reached around tomorrow.”

Lee-Dan breathed a sigh of relief. It was because he mistakenly thought that his choice a little while ago was right. Beom-Seok’s words implied that the God Knights had squeezed everything out while recruiting Hestia. He thought that if he had pushed forward strongly, this negotiation would have certainly ended as it was.

“Ah. I understand. Then let’s expect 24.5 million and resume negotiations tomorrow. It’s such a low price that I have to discuss it with my superiors.”

“Yes. I understand. But I’ll send our team leader tomorrow. I have something urgent to do.”

Lee-Dan nodded his head right away. Whether it was the chairman or the team leader who was selling the second-tier gladiator, everyone was grateful.

“Yes. I understand.”

Beom-Seok shook hands with Lee-Dan and left right away. It was a transfer negotiation that lasted less than 10 minutes, but the result was quite good. Everyone knew the price that the Fire Lions team wanted because they had colluded with the Blue Bird team. However, Natalie seemed quite disappointed that it ended in such a short time. It was physically impossible to make a one-hour broadcast program with 10 minutes of footage.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Today marks the end of all baseball in 2011. Hahaha. Ah. What am I going to live for now? Hahaha.

Then everyone have a good week, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.