Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 192

Three days later, in the afternoon, a grand festival was underway at the Elliton City Colosseum, the culmination of the promotion tournament. The Gods Knights and the Black Cats were about to clash in the 3rd and 4th place match, battling for the last promotion ticket. Following that, Dark Chaos and Chaplin Whisper would fight for the title of the tournament’s strongest.

Hours before the matches, fans flocked to the stadium, eagerly awaiting their gladiators. Local spectators, drawn by curiosity, enjoyed the festive atmosphere and entered the Colosseum early.

*Weeeeng.*

Seeing Aron descend into the north parking lot, leaving a trail of light, the Gods Knights’ cheering squad in silver shirts rushed north. Elf security guards, already on standby, followed to clear a path to the entrance, awaiting the gladiators’ arrival.

Soon, the door opened, and Beomseok jumped out, triggering cheers.

“Wow! Gladiator Oh Beomseok! We’re counting on you today!”

“This time it’s Gelsomina! Fighting!”

Gelsomina, looking around in bewilderment, was followed by Emma, who stood beside her. Despite their short acquaintance, they had quickly become friends, being the only two cyborg women and only a year apart in age.

“Gelsomina, just smile and walk past. If you make eye contact, they’ll ask for autographs. Especially since you’re a rookie who performed so well in the last two matches, it’ll be even worse,” Emma advised.

“Ah, okay, Unni [older sister or female friend].”

Beomseok, already inside the Colosseum, greeted them with a smile as they moved along the restricted path.

“Hehe, our Emma is taking good care of Gelsomina.”

Emma gave him an awkward look as she walked.

“We should help each other as fellow women.”

“Right. We’re the only three cyborgs on the team, so we need to help each other,” Beomseok emphasized, subtly including himself in their group. Both were potential targets, and he intended to build rapport. Especially with Emma, whom he’d known for a long time, but hadn’t yet achieved a satisfactory level of affection with, due to her focus on training. With the possibility of breaking away from the Black Society at any time, he needed to quickly cultivate a closer relationship.

Whether she realized it or not, Emma innocently smiled and agreed.

“Yes, that’s right. Please take care of me in the future, Beomseok-nim [honorific title].”

Beomseok nodded and glanced at Emma.

“But Emma, are you playing today?”

Emma’s expression darkened, and she shook her head.

“No, I can’t participate.”

Beomseok looked puzzled and scratched his head. Emma hadn’t participated in any matches during this tournament. It seemed Diana had excluded her due to the deteriorating relationship between him and the Black Society. Emma didn’t know it yet, but the elves under his command knew of his hostility towards the Black Society.

‘But there’s no need to exclude Emma.’

Recently, Emma had significantly improved her swordsmanship and physical abilities through consistent effort. Physically, she had already surpassed the Wide Rigger level [a specific combat level or class], and her swordsmanship was far better than most amateur gladiators. Importantly, she often inflicted decisive blows during matches with her unique sense, making her among the top in the team in terms of kill points.

He thought he should have a stern talk with Diana. It was one thing if ability was the issue, but it wasn’t right to discriminate against team members based on personal relationships.

“Don’t be too disappointed. Diana probably didn’t let you play in today’s match out of consideration for your relationship with the Black Society. Lucas, the chairman of the Black Cats, is your Black Society senior, after all.”

“R-really?”

“Of course. Your swordsmanship may be a bit lacking, but judging from your performance, you definitely have a killer instinct. This ability is a great help in matches, so the team can’t ignore it.”

Killer instinct. In soccer terms, it was similar to goal-scoring ability. Gladiator matches were played by 12 people, so if even one person was missing, the tide would quickly turn. Someone would have to face two opponents alone, which was very difficult. Of course, there were ways to compensate using terrain and formations, but if it lasted too long, stamina would be greatly reduced, negatively affecting performance. And if the number of incapacitated gladiators exceeded three or four, formations and terrain wouldn’t solve the problem.

Therefore, it was best to knock down opposing gladiators whenever an opportunity arose, and the person who could do this best was a gladiator like Emma, who possessed a killer instinct.

“Okay. I won’t be disappointed, and I’ll work hard.”

“Yes. Keep working hard with that mindset. You have good growth potential, so you’ll be able to become a great gladiator someday.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Emma smiled brightly, seemingly cheered up. Beomseok was famous for his exceptional ability to recognize talent, so she felt good that he said she had talent. She was already creating a friendly atmosphere and walking affectionately with Gelsomina.

Beomseok and the Gods Knights team members arrived at the gladiator waiting room, took a short break, and then headed to the dugout.

The stadium was packed with spectators, with no empty space visible. Most were from the Avon de region. Ironically, people from the same region were bickering, booing at the opposing team’s cheering section as if it didn’t matter. They weren’t there as Avon de residents, but as residents of Yoddesh and Lima, the home cities of each team.

“Black cats have always been unlucky animals! You’re bound to lose, so don’t expect anything!”

“That’s a load of crap! The black cat’s bad luck only applies to the opponent! The ones who are going to lose unluckily are you Gods Knights!”

Beomseok smiled faintly, enjoying the fans’ enthusiasm, not the ridicule.

He carefully wiped the katana in his hand with a cloth and placed it in the scabbard on the bench.

*Ttiriri. Ttiriri.*

The call suddenly rang from his bag. Beomseok unconsciously picked up his electronic notepad and connected the call.

“It’s been a while, Beomseok-gun [term of respect].”

Seeing the person in the hologram video, he frowned inwardly. It was none other than Lucas, the chairman of the Black Society.

“What brings you here at this hour, Chairman?”

“Hahaha. I was just curious since I haven’t heard from you, so I gave you a call.”

Since the Rainbow Group incident, Beomseok hadn’t contacted Chairman Lucas at all. The reason was simple: the Black Society had not only hidden the truth but also contributed to the attack on the Rainbow Group through Vice President Hobbs of Unique Bank, a subordinate. This was a fatal betrayal, which Beomseok couldn’t tolerate.

The only reason he was answering the phone now was that his capture of Emma, a fellow Black Society member, was insufficient, and he still didn’t have the power to attack the Black Society. Otherwise, he would have smashed the electronic notepad as soon as he saw his face.

“Is that so? I’m sorry. As you know, I’ve been a bit busy lately, with the Rainbow Group case and the promotion tournament.”

“Hahaha. I guess so. You must have been busy. By the way, how did you move Chairman Wilkins? You solved the Rainbow situation very nicely.”

Beomseok sighed deeply. He was still dumbfounded when he thought about what happened then.

At the time, the Rainbow Group was defending against the creditors’ attack with funds amounting to billions of Krang [currency]. However, the amount of debt was so large that it was impossible to stop, and eventually, he persuaded Chairman Wilkins to avert the crisis.

But the funny thing was that what they couldn’t do with billions of Krang, Chairman Wilkins solved without spending a single coin.

‘Wilkins Financial Holdings will take over all of the Rainbow Group’s bonds, so anyone who wants to sell their bonds can bring them to Wilkins Bank at any time.’ As soon as this sentence was announced through the media, the creditors who had been lined up in front of the Rainbow Hotel until the day before disappeared completely, and the Rainbow Group regained its peace as if nothing had happened. Moreover, the even more absurd thing was that none of the creditors who went to Wilkins Bank to sell their bonds did so.

As a result, Beomseok fully felt the power of prominent figures, and even though he was furious, he didn’t dare to attack the Black Society. No matter how he looked at it, the power of the Black Society surpassed that of Chairman Wilkins.

“It’s confidential, so I can’t tell you carelessly. If you want to know, you’ll have to pay the price. I’ll consider it if it’s about 10 billion Krang.”

“What, what 10 billion Krang? Are you really going to do this between us?”

Beomseok, suppressing his anger, said indifferently.

“It’s information that moved the great Chairman Wilkins. You have to give that much to make a profit.”

Lucas chuckled. As he said, if it was information that could move Chairman Wilkins, it was worth that much.

“I guess so. If I could move Chairman Wilkins, that money wouldn’t be a waste at all. Hahaha.”

“Okay. If you understand, please tell me what you need. Why did you contact me? Chairman Lucas isn’t so idle that he would call me without a reason, is he? Is it about today’s match?”

Lucas smiled faintly.

“Hehe. I like that you’re quick-witted.”

“You like that I’m quick-witted? I’m afraid this is going to be an unpleasant story.”

“Well, it could be unpleasant, or it could not be. It’s likely to be a constructive conversation between the two teams.”

Beomseok stared at him sharply.

“Are you suggesting match-fixing?”

“If you want to put it that way, you could say that.”

After staring at Lucas for a long time, he waved his hand and joked.

“Hahaha. We have enough ability to beat the Black Cats team, so there’s no need to lose on purpose. So, don’t worry and tell Director Hobbs to do his best.”

“No. It’s the opposite.”

Beomseok looked dumbfounded. He had helped the organization from collapsing, but now they were not only kicking him out but also asking him to hand over his belongings. A person shouldn’t be so shameless.

Flushing, he adjusted the camera zoom to enlarge his face, hiding the background. Then, he got up and left the dugout.

“If it’s the opposite, you’re telling us to lose.”

“That’s right. In fact, our Black Society is quite attracted to the sports business sector. We’ve been ignoring it until now, but after running a team directly, we realized that the income is quite good. So, a significant number of members have decided to enter the sports business sector starting next year, but the problem is that the Black Society’s foundation is too weak in this area. We have few teams, and the teams in the upper leagues are so low in recognition.”

“It’s all about making money anyway, so there’s no need to worry about recognition, is there? You may or may not know, but the league with the best return on investment is the Area League. The gladiators’ salaries are very cheap.”

Lucas quietly shook his head.

“But if we want to have a voice in the Professional Association, it’s essential to have a World League team. A huge amount of money will be invested in the future, so we need the power to safely protect this property.”

Beomseok, roughly sensing the Black Society’s intentions, gave a strange look.

The reason the Black Society first set foot in the gladiator world was to protect the Gods Knights from the Economic Federation’s influence. So, they joined hands with the Cooper Vice President faction, established a base in Avon de and its vicinity, and created a guard line.

But now, the Black Society was trying to cross that line. Just as they had betrayed him, they were going to betray Vice President Cooper again and claim a new faction in the Professional Gladiator Association.

Beomseok, walking down the hallway, stopped in front of a door with a sign and grabbed the handle.

“Hmm. If you urgently want to have an upper-level team, you can just buy it with money, can’t you?”

“That’s difficult. Strangely, people in this field have a strong sense of territoriality towards outsiders. Even if you buy a World League team with money, they just think that a rich fool has come in, and they don’t try to recognize you. In other words, the right to speak is halved. And the bigger problem is that there’s no one who wants to sell the team, even if you want to buy it.”

Beomseok nodded, fully understanding.

Honestly, most World League teams were operating at a loss. No matter how much income came in, to be in the top 20 out of more than 10,000 professional teams worldwide, they had no choice but to spend more money than that. So, the chairmen of the World League teams were mostly sports tycoons who had many lower league teams. For them, the World League team was a matter of honor and pride, not a means of making money. If they needed funds, they could just create another lower league team to earn money, but they wouldn’t sell their faces.

Beomseok slightly pulled the ring and opened the door.

“I guess so.”

“So, I’m saying, please take care of it this time. I’ll give you a generous reward.”

Beomseok, entering the room, reduced the camera zoom again and smiled.

“Hahaha. Chairman Lucas. It’s funny, but what should I do? I’m in a very sensitive position to share such jokes?”

“Joke? Sensitive position?”

He focused the electronic notepad camera on the scenery of the room. Several people in white T-shirts were looking at Beomseok, who opened the door without knocking, with strange eyes.

“Actually, I’m in the referee’s room for a special reason. I accidentally left Emma out of the entry list, so I’m trying to correct it. Chairman, why are you joking at a time like this and making it difficult for me?”

Lucas, pale-faced, forced a smile, revealing his white teeth, and waved at the referees. If the referees took issue with the match-fixing, the Black Cats would immediately face a huge penalty: elimination from the tournament and forced relegation to the amateur league.

“Ha, haha. Yes. Joke. Yes, it’s a joke. Hahaha. We’re close enough to share these jokes, so don’t worry about it. Hahaha.”

The referees were awkward, unable to understand the meaning, and tilted their heads. At this, Beomseok immediately cut off the communication and began to discuss Emma’s participation.

============================ Work Afterword ============================

I had some problems with the internet line yesterday and the day before. The Explorer speed became extremely slow and often disconnected, so at first I thought it was a PC problem and formatted it, but it was still the same. So, I thought it might be a hardware problem and used the netbook I had put away, but it was the same again. So, I contacted the internet line provider in the morning, and they said they were under construction. If it hadn’t worked at all, I would have known it was a line problem and given up… Thanks to that, the amount I uploaded yesterday was wrong, and the back part was completely gone. I’ve only added the part where the context is broken, but it’s about six lines. Please check it once before reading this article.

Oh, and while I was wrestling with my PC yesterday, I thought it was an Explorer problem and installed Firefox. At first, I didn’t know because the symptoms were the same. When I checked it after the line was restored today, it was very fast. I clicked Explorer first and then Firefox, but Firefox came up first. Hahaha.

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