Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 232

234

“Ah. Well. I also don’t understand that point at all.”

Beomseok narrowed his eyes slightly.

“So, I was wondering. Would it be alright if I saw Herse?”

Hobs waved his hands almost frantically. Showing her an elf without an owner could lead to serious consequences. The reason he had Beomseok put on makeup earlier was to prevent him from being noticed by the elf gladiators owned by the team.

“That won’t do. You know that, don’t you?”

“But, if I don’t see her directly and examine the details, I can’t be sure. If I wear sunglasses, a helmet, and a suit, she won’t recognize me either, so please, just let me meet her once.”

“Ah. That’s a difficult request. What should I do….”

Seeing Hobs troubled but unable to refuse, Beomseok decided to push a little more aggressively.

“Then let’s do this. If Herse recognizes me, I will unconditionally buy her for 190 million Krang.”

At those words, Hobs glanced at him slyly. No matter how good her growth potential was, selling a gladiator for that price, without knowing her flaws and not even included in the candidates, would be nothing but beneficial for the team.

“Re, really?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Ah. But if you meet her wearing a suit, she might think it’s strange.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just tell her we’re sparring to assess her potential.”

“That’s true. Okay, I understand. Then I’ll go prepare a training suit for you.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Hobs left the room and returned about 10 minutes later. In his hands was a silver suit, which, except for the emblem and product trademark, looked very similar to the training suits of the God Knights.

Beomseok put on sunglasses, changed into the suit, and left the room with him.

“Come. This way.”

Beomseok arrived at an indoor training ground. The surroundings were covered in green, with scratch marks from swords and other weapons here and there. He watched the ground, seemingly fascinated by the slight indentations with each step, and spoke.

“By the way, when is Herse coming?”

“Well, I sent someone to call her, so she’ll be here soon.”

Beomseok nodded and fiddled with the katana he wore on his waist. It was slightly different in size from his own sword, so he needed to get used to it.

Soon after, the training ground door opened, and an elf with green hair entered with a clerk. Beomseok had seen Iphis’s face in photos, so he immediately recognized her as her younger sister, Herse.

‘As expected, they’re identical twins. Very pretty.’

Her height was about 175 [approximately 5’9″], which was about average for an elf. Her S-line figure was very sensual, especially her breasts, which seemed about to burst. Her eyes were deep and melancholic, and her nose was quite sharp and high. Her small, red lips, set on a slender jawline, were naturally glossy even without makeup, and the line from her long neck to her collarbone was so alluring that it relentlessly stirred Beomseok’s instincts.

‘Good. Now all that’s left is to check the information.’

Satisfied with her appearance, he immediately opened the information window. He couldn’t buy a 190 million Krang child based on looks alone. Frankly, with that money, he could buy nearly 200 elves with decent faces on the market.

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Name: Herse.

Classification: Elf (9 years old).

Affiliation: Huan Irons GC.

Fame: 4121.

Notoriety: 891.

H Status: None.

Stamina: 8800/8800.

Sociability: 84, Strength: 87, Stamina: 88.

Agility: 88, Balance: 94, Intelligence: 81.

Mental Strength: 88. Judgment: 91, Skill: 71.

Luck: 74.

Current Skill/Potential: 846/943.

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Special Trait: Spiritual Communion of Twin Goddesses.

Special Notes: After her twin sister Iphis transferred last year, her individual performance plummeted. Recently, she has been deemed surplus to requirements and relegated to the second team. She mainly uses a sword and has the potential to be a mid-level or vanguard fighter.

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‘Wow. Good. This is higher than what I saw when I checked Erpina.’

Herse’s physical abilities averaged in the late 80s. It was slightly lower than expected, but her mental aspects were very high for her young age, so overall, she could be considered very excellent. And her growth potential of 943 exceeded Matilda and was approaching Jermia’s level. It was slightly higher than Erpina’s evaluation, so Beomseok felt like he had gained a bit of an advantage.

‘Hmm. Spiritual communion of twin goddesses? The reason her physical abilities have recently declined is because of this.’

Her special trait was, in a word, amazing. With an option to increase all stats by +10 when the twin sisters were within sight of each other, it could be said to be a rare trait. Perhaps this was why her physical abilities had declined so sharply. With Iphis’s transfer, the trait was no longer activated, so all her stats had to drop. However, this alone could not fully explain Herse’s slump. She was experiencing difficulties not only in her physical abilities but also in her technical aspects.

Beomseok closed the information window and offered a handshake to Herse, who was approaching.

“Hello, Herse. Nice to meet you.”

She shook his hand and tilted her head, puzzled by the stranger’s greeting.

Wearing a suit and sunglasses, she couldn’t recognize him at all.

“Yes, hello. But who are you?”

As soon as those words came out, Hobs stepped between them. Beomseok’s identity should not be revealed yet.

“Herse. You don’t need to know that. Just think of him as a welcome guest.”

“Ah… Yes, I understand.”

Herse still had a look of incomprehension, but she could roughly guess the other person’s identity based on the atmosphere. She had been told that the team might sell her, so she thought he might be a trade representative from another team.

Hobs looked at Beomseok and said,

“Well, what are your impressions after seeing her?”

“Her physical condition doesn’t seem bad. With that physique, I think her growth potential is high.”

Hobs smiled brightly. He didn’t know how he had assessed Herse’s value so quickly, but judging from the favorable comments, he thought he had passed the first stage of a successful trade.

“That’s right. In fact, it’s not easy to find such a promising prospect.”

“But I still don’t know why she’s in a slump. Hmm. It doesn’t seem like she’s secretly hiding an injury.”

“Yes. We’ve also investigated in various ways, and it doesn’t seem to be an injury.”

Beomseok stroked his chin, circled Herse a few times, and then looked at Hobs.

“Would it be alright if I had a spar with her?”

Hobs nodded and turned his gaze to Herse. After all, he had to have a spar to justify why he was wearing the suit. If he said he wore the suit just for the meeting, she might think it was strange.

“Herse. This person wants to spar with you. Go put on your training suit right now.”

“Yes, I understand. Then please wait a moment.”

Herse went to a nearby dressing room without hesitation. It didn’t matter to her whether she was traded or not, but there was no need to refuse Hobs’s request. If she refused to spar and this trade was canceled, he might hold a grudge and postpone her retirement. Occasionally, gladiators would become coaching staff or office workers, and it was better to be obedient to avoid such an end in the future.

Soon after, Herse returned, having changed into a gold suit, and stood in front of Beomseok.

“Yes, I’m ready. When will we spar?”

He drew his katana and said,

“We should do it now. There’s no need for you or me to waste time.”

Herse looked at him calmly and drew the longsword she wore on her waist, gripping it in both hands.

Hobs retreated far behind. If he, a regular person, got caught up in a professional gladiator’s spar, he could be turned into finely minced meat. It was better to avoid the area for a long and healthy life.

“It seems like everything is ready, so let’s begin.”

“Shall we? I’ll go easy at first, so don’t feel too pressured.”

With those words, Beomseok suddenly lunged forward. It was such a quick dash that she stepped back with a bewildered expression. And she barely managed to twist her arms to deflect the incoming sword tip. But that wasn’t the end of it. Beomseok’s katana, deflected by the recoil, was directing its gleaming blade towards Herse’s waist with a small rotation.

In her haste, she jumped to evade, but the sword tip seemed to be alive, rapidly approaching, aiming for her chest.

Clang!

A clear sound and another deflected katana. Beomseok, having stopped his attack, took a deep breath to regain his posture and looked at Herse with narrowed eyes. As a result of the examination, her swordsmanship was not as bad as he thought. Her basics were quite decent, and her posture in dealing with the opponent’s attacks was also very good.

‘Hmm. These are very good basics, so why is she showing a decline in swordsmanship? What’s the problem?’

Looking at the recent cases where she had stepped up, there were often cases where she became incapacitated due to ridiculous mistakes. Given that the cause of the mistakes was usually a lack of basic skills, the current situation was completely incomprehensible. Herse possessed better basic skills than any of the elf gladiators he owned.

Beomseok, with an incomprehensible expression, raised his sword above his head. He was planning to push her more aggressively now. To grasp Herse’s exact swordsmanship ability, it was necessary to push her to the limit.

“Now I’m going to go all out. You won’t be able to win, so just focus on enduring.”

At those words, Herse was so surprised that her eyes shook. She had barely managed to block the two previous exchanges, and he was confidently declaring that he would attack at a higher level. Although she had fallen so far that she couldn’t even be included in the candidates now, she had once risen to the starting lineup within the team. There were not many people in the world who could afford to push her like this with such composure.

In an instant, her face turned pale. She roughly guessed the identity of the other person. Excellent swordsmanship, a male modified human. When she compared these traits with the fact that he was looking for gladiators to recruit directly and was hiding his identity by wearing sunglasses, there was only one person she could think of.

‘Su, surely… that person?’

However, she kept her mouth shut. He had once complained about the difficulty of trades on TV, and the most worrying part was if the elf he was trying to recruit recognized him. And he added that if this happened, he would have no choice but to declare an unconditional waiver of recruitment to be considerate of the other team. Of course, Herse couldn’t pretend to know Beomseok for the sake of her future happiness. The only thing she could do now was to show off her skills in any way possible and make him desperately want to recruit her.

Herse let out a strong shout to build up her energy.

“Come on!”

“Hehe. Herse, you’re full of energy. Good. Then I’m coming.”

At the same time as those words, Beomseok’s sword tip pierced Herse’s abdomen. The momentum was so intense that she was taken aback and twisted her body to avoid it. But that wasn’t the end of it. The katana that had grazed the air was subtly tracing a trajectory and turning towards her neck.

Clang. Screech.

After a clear metallic sound spread out, a battle of strength was unfolding with the two swords touching each other. The advantage was Herse’s. Beomseok’s katana was gradually being pushed back. If he activated his special trait, he could have responded sufficiently, but he ended the power struggle by retreating. The purpose of this spar was not to win, but to examine Herse’s problems. There was no reason to use his special trait to decide the outcome early on.

Beomseok continued to thrust his sword, pressing Herse.

‘Her swordsmanship is quite decent. What’s the problem with this kid?’

She was excellent not only in her basic skills but also in the way she constructed her swordplay. The way she attacked all directions evenly with concise and quick movements, and the sense of adjusting the strength appropriately, was very impressive. At this level, it would not be a problem to evaluate her as a Central League-class gladiator.

However, after exchanging a few blows, he could see Herse’s left shoulder opening up in a ridiculous way. The mistake was so shocking that Beomseok doubted whether she was the same person he had been fighting until now.

‘What is this? Why is she making such absurd mistakes?’

However, Beomseok, who had noticed this weakness, did not dare to attack. He didn’t want to end the victory already, but the bigger reason was that an unknown sense of unease flashed through his mind. His instinct, which had experienced countless years of battle, was sending a warning signal not to approach.

At that moment, Herse lowered her sword with a sharply tense expression.

“Ah. I’m sorry. That was a mistake.”

Beomseok, who had lowered the end of his katana, said in a quiet voice.

“A mistake? Really a mistake?”

“Yes. It’s a mistake. I’ll do it properly this time, so please give me another chance. Please.”

“Well, if you say so, then that’s what it is. Okay, then I’ll go in again.”

As soon as the words were finished, Beomseok went into a horizontal slash. It was a very light movement, with the purpose of creating distance rather than knocking Herse down. If he kept a relatively strong opponent within arm’s reach, he could be in great trouble if he was caught.

Knowing this well, Herse lightly dodged and quickly stepped forward, rushing towards him.

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

Then everyone have a pleasant day. I will see you again tomorrow.