Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 184

The opening ceremony for the promotion tournament was held simultaneously in eight cities within the Silronia region, each serving as a venue for the first round of matches. Announcers at each colosseum took turns reporting on the electric atmosphere of their respective locations, broadcasting the event live across the entire Wide Area Government [a large administrative district]. The event continued with congratulatory performances by invited singers and celebratory speeches by prominent figures.

Around 3 PM, the grand opening of the promotion tournament, which aimed to qualify teams for the Delroy Wide League [the highest professional gladiator league], commenced with a formal declaration by the president of the Pro Gladiator Association.

– Greetings, gladiator fans watching the matches on TV, both here at the venue and at home! This is the Ellington City Colosseum, where the first match of Group A in the promotion tournament leading to the Delroy Wide League is about to begin. Today, the Gods Knights of Avon and the Splash Mice of Ebis will clash in a fateful battle for a chance to advance to the Wide League. I’m very curious to see who will emerge victorious in today’s match. What are your thoughts, commentator?

The commentator responded to the announcer’s question.

– Well, I think the Splash Mice team, with their superior overall strength and well-rounded roster, has a distinct advantage.

– Oh, really? From what I’ve heard, the Gods Knights are also a very strong team, especially after their recent performance.

– Yes, of course. However, it’s undeniable that the strength of the Gods Knights largely depends on their ace gladiator, Oh Beom-seok. The problem is that he’s unlikely to play due to a recent shoulder injury, and key players like Rafine and Oscar are currently out of the squad. In this situation, it’s hard to say…

The commentator, who had been rambling on for a while, suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the arena. He had just seen a gladiator with the number 1 on his back walking out towards the arena in front of the Gods Knights’ dugout, lightly warming up. The gladiator assigned the number 1 in the Gods Knights was none other than Beom-seok.

The announcer, with a surprised expression, spoke to the commentator.

– Is this really happening? It looks like Oh Beom-seok is going to play. Well, judging by the suit he’s wearing, it certainly seems so.

– If that’s the case, how do you think the match will unfold?

– Ah, it’s hard to predict. The Splash Mice team will need to assign at least two gladiators to mark Oh Beom-seok. He’s not only highly skilled, but his combat sense is so outstanding that if they let him run wild, it’ll be a real headache. But if they go with this strategy, they’ll suffer a loss of power elsewhere, which is also a problem. Someone has to face two Gods Knights gladiators, and that’s definitely not an easy task. Frankly, I think the Gods Knights overcame their early slump and secured second place in the Avon League thanks to Oh Beom-seok’s excellence.

Beom-seok, who overheard the commentary from the broadcast, chuckled. He was pleased that they were amplifying his presence. One of the reasons he was playing today was to make the Splash Mice team aware of his presence and, ideally, avoid a direct confrontation.

‘Then the Splash Mice will be reluctant to risk a draw, so they’ll have no choice but to engage in a physical battle. That’s exactly what we want. Heh heh.’

The Gods Knights gladiators, who had finished their warm-up, entered the dugout. Beom-seok, loosening his stiff wrist joints, approached Susan, who was organizing the medical kit.

“My shoulder feels surprisingly okay.”

“Well, the torn muscle has healed for now. But it’s not fully recovered, so you’ll gradually feel pain as the match progresses.”

“Then should I take a painkiller first?”

Susan, who had closed the medical kit, calmly shook her head.

“No. It’s better not to. Pain tells you if there’s something wrong with your body and prevents you from making excessive movements.”

“But won’t it affect my performance?”

“Of course, it will. But as a team doctor, I don’t recommend it. Well, if it gets too much, I’ll let you have one.”

“Hahaha. I suddenly feel like an elementary school student. Okay, I won’t take it for now.”

Susan, who was about to turn around and go to the medical area, stopped.

“Oh, and be sure to come to me for a check-up after each round.”

“Why? Are you asking me out on a date? Well, if you want, we can do it now. I’m always open to you, Susan.”

She narrowed her eyes sharply and glared at him.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes right now. I’ve made arrangements for you to participate in the match, but the chairman still considers you a patient. As a team doctor, I have a duty to protect your health by stopping you from playing if there’s a problem.”

“I, as a man, have a duty to go on a date with the woman I love, but…”

Susan stared into his eyes for a moment and then turned away. Although she had calmed down considerably, she still regretted their first night together. The somewhat chaotic three-person encounter had bruised her pride.

However, she didn’t dislike Beom-seok’s persistent attempts to win her affection despite her constant rebuffs. The intense satisfaction she felt in his arms that night was constantly disrupting her reason. Unfortunately, all the shameful memories of their first night were coming back to her, but ironically, the sexual satisfaction she felt that day was also deeply imprinted on her female instincts.

She sat in the team doctor’s waiting area and glanced at Beom-seok. She didn’t know why she was doing this, but she justified it to herself by saying that it was her duty as a doctor to look after her patient.

– The match will begin in five minutes.

After a short announcement, the stands in the arena became noisy. At the same time, the squad of Gods Knights gladiators for the first round, which appeared on the electronic display, was quite strange. Not only was there an unfamiliar name, Jelsomina, but Agelia, who had only been learning gladiatorial combat for half a year, was also prominently listed at the end of the list as the team leader. Moreover, Beom-seok, who had been expected to play, was not on the list, so the audience couldn’t help but feel that the Gods Knights had given up on the important first round.

Beom-seok, who was watching this reaction from the bench, smiled faintly. Others might think that the Gods Knights had given up on the first round, but in reality, there was a high-level strategy hidden behind it. The intention was to use the swordsmanship of the unknown Jelsomina and the quick feet of Agelia to achieve a small victory in the first round, where the main forces of the opposing team would participate.

Although Jelsomina lacked physical abilities, she possessed the best skills among the gladiators who were playing today, except for him. However, the interesting fact was that the Splash Mice team’s information about her was that she was just a rookie who had been newly recruited in the rookie draft three days ago. If so, they would mark her as a gladiator with poor skills when she was working as a free-roamer [a gladiator who isn’t assigned to a specific opponent]. Before the match had even started, they would be able to reduce the number of their opponents.

And Agelia had a speed that no one could match. The fact that she was made the team leader meant that they would use her for her speed, and the Splash Mice would mistakenly believe that the Gods Knights were aiming for a draw to force a showdown.

‘If these two misconceptions are combined, we can not only drain their stamina in this first round, but also achieve victory if we’re lucky. Heh heh heh.’

Beom-seok stood up and called Agelia and Jelsomina, who were about to go out, to remind them of today’s plan once again.

“You two are the key to this match. Jelsomina, don’t forget to pretend to accidentally defeat the all-mark man [a gladiator assigned to mark a specific opponent] at the beginning. Then the next all-mark man will be careless, so you can easily deal with him.”

“Yes. I know.”

Beom-seok looked at Agelia this time and said.

“Agelia. If it looks like our team is going to lose, you have to run away and aim for a draw. Can you do that?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. No one will be able to catch me.”

“Good. Then you both have to do it for sure. The success or failure of this gamble depends on what you do.”

Agelia and Jelsomina, with determined expressions, nodded and followed their other first-round teammates into the entrance tunnel. Soon after, they went to the center of the arena with the signal to advance and faced the Splash Mice team in formation.

‘It has to work out.’

The Ellington City Colosseum, where the match would take place, was a wide, flat arena without any obstacles. Thanks to this, it was very easy for the runner to move around, and this was one of the reasons why the Gods Knights had taken out this adventure card [a risky strategy]. No matter how badly the match went, they could ultimately use Agelia to aim for a draw.

Still, a trick is a trick. Beom-seok couldn’t help but feel uneasy. If they lost in the first round, they would have to win at least one round from the Splash Mice in the remaining rounds, so he had to run the match recklessly in the face of his shoulder injury. However, if this strategy succeeded and they achieved a result better than a draw, the Gods Knights’ chances of winning today’s match would be greatly increased. Beom-seok would be able to play in all but one of the remaining rounds, and the option effect of his trait, ‘Great Will,’ could be carried over to the showdown.

And in fact, this strategy was, in a way, an unavoidable choice. Since he had to miss two rounds anyway, they needed a countermeasure for this, and using Jelsomina, who was still veiled, was also a very good method.

Beeeep.

A long whistle sounded and the match began. The Splash Mice gladiators kept their distance from the Gods Knights’ formation and moved left and right, looking for a timing to attack. However, it wasn’t easy, and they only hesitated, not daring to rush in.

After some time for exploration had passed, the crowd in the north stood up all at once and cheered. It was the Gods Knights’ away fans who were expressing their joy when they saw Jelsomina, who was performing as a free-roamer, defeating the Splash Mice’s gladiator number 24, who had come out to mark her, after a chaotic battle.

Beom-seok, who was sitting on the bench, clenched his fists and shouted so loudly that the dugout seemed to shake.

“Yes! My prediction was right!”

The gladiator number 24, who had just been incapacitated, had participated in the first round, but his skills were significantly inferior compared to the other starting gladiators of the Splash Mice. Naturally, he was an easy opponent for Jelsomina, and she was eventually able to defeat him after a chaotic battle.

‘Good. Who’s going to mark her next?’

Soon after, another marker caught Beom-seok’s eye. And after checking the number 32 on the screen, he smiled bitterly. The Splash Mice were still underestimating Jelsomina, and they had sent the least skilled of the remaining gladiators to mark her. According to the information he had gathered, she was not at the level to face Jelsomina either.

‘Well, I guess they can’t highly rate Jelsomina, who only turned pro three days ago. Even if I were the opposing team, I would have considered the defeat of gladiator number 24 to be just a mistake. But this game is going too well. Heh heh heh.’

If Jelsomina eliminated the marker this time as well, the numerical ratio between the two teams would be 12 to 10. Then, no matter how outstanding the individual abilities of the Splash Mice were, it would be impossible for them to win this round.

He quickly got up and looked at Diana.

“Diana! This is our chance! Tell Erpina to refrain from attacking and just stall for time!”

Agreeing, she grabbed the microphone and immediately informed Erpina of this.

If there was no damage to the main camp while Jelsomina was eliminating gladiator number 32, this round would go as the Gods Knights intended. Of course, it would be a headache if the Splash Mice changed their strategy to a defensive one due to their numerical disadvantage, but there was absolutely no need to worry about that. This was because Beom-seok was missing from the first round, and the Gods Knights’ main force had much superior stamina than them.

Currently, it was too much for the Splash Mice to play three consecutive rounds due to stamina issues, while they were able to. Thanks to this, if they couldn’t win this first round, they would have to send out the starters who played in the first round in the second round, fearing the participation of the Gods Knights’ main force, including Beom-seok. The second-stringers, with some starters mixed in, could never face the Gods Knights’ elite. But the problem was the third round. They could send out their starters again here, while the Splash Mice had to send out their second-stringers to conserve stamina. Even with some of the exhausted starters. If so, they might lose in the third round. Difficulties were expected in the future match management. Because if they couldn’t win in all the remaining rounds, there was no way to avoid the showdown in which Beom-seok would participate.

‘Good job, Jelsomina. Keep going like this.’

One side of Beom-seok’s mouth was involuntarily raised upwards. As expected, Jelsomina was driving gladiator number 32 and launching a one-sided offensive. Gladiator number 32, whose face had turned yellow, tried his best to block, but soon his side was hit by her sword and he collapsed like dry straw on the cold floor.

The audience’s cheers echoed through the arena.

The Splash Mice team gladiators looked quite nervous at the fact that they had lost another teammate. Since two of them had been defeated in a row, it was difficult to dismiss it as a coincidence. Soon, a gladiator with the number 4 on his back stepped out of the group and ran towards Jelsomina, who was far away. This time, it was a highly skilled player who was among the top players in the team.

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

I uploaded it a bit late today. It’s not that I’m trying to test the work reservation function. I haven’t used it much until now because it goes up at 57, 7, and 17 minutes each, but I feel sorry for myself who is staring at the monitor around 12 o’clock, ready to click. If the ranking difference is not that big, I’m thinking of going on like this.

Then everyone have a good day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.