Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 259

261. Diana

“Diana. I know promotion is difficult, but if you’re good enough, it’s not impossible. Just win three in a row, and that should be enough. And the Gods Knights have the power to do it.”

Diana stared at Beom-seok.

“Master. Haven’t you been watching the World League games lately?”

“No. I’ve been too busy. Why?”

She sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Actually, the teams ranked 20th and 19th in the World League this year are the Dark Hyenas and the Snow Girls. And they’re more than 7 points behind the 17th-ranked team.”

Beom-seok was about to smile brightly at the inclusion of the Dark Hyenas, but his expression turned grim. He was happy to hear that Julian’s team might be relegated, but after thinking about what she said, that wasn’t the case. Both the Dark Hyenas and the Snow Girls were World League teams based in the Hieiern Central Government, so if they were relegated, the number of promotion teams that could advance to the Hieiern Central League this year would be reduced to just one. Since both of these teams were falling to the Hieiern Central League, even if three teams from that league were relegated this year, only one spot would open up. This greatly reduced the Gods Knights’ chances of promotion.

“Really?”

“Yes. Unless a team from within the Hieiern Central League is promoted to the World League, we can’t be promoted unless we win the tournament.”

Beom-seok made a sour face. The reason he had been confident about promotion until now was because of the three available spots. No matter how much the Gods Knights had transformed into a strong team, there were still a few formidable opponents when considering the wide leagues in other regions. Especially the East Winds. The Fly Wolves were a team that had been in the Central League until last year, but instead of downsizing like other relegated teams, they had invested more money to further strengthen their squad. Even with Nikita’s addition, the Gods Knights couldn’t easily beat them.

“How can things be so twisted? Other teams have five spots open and are getting promoted just fine.”

“Sigh~ I know. But it’s a relief that it’s not confirmed yet. There’s still a chance that the Dark Hyenas and Snow Girls teams might succeed in staying up, and maybe a team from the Hieiern Central League will move up to the World League.”

If that were the case, it would be a great relief, but it wasn’t an easy wish. There were still about 15 games left in the season, but it would be difficult for the weak Dark Hyenas and Snow Girls to overcome a gap of more than 7 points and succeed in staying up. Moreover, the Hieiern Central League’s teams weren’t very strong, with the Chaplin Whisper team, which had just entered the league, ranked 7th. Looking at this, it didn’t seem like any spots would open up due to promotion.

‘Tch. Vincent, you should have brought Amelie this year. Then we would have had a chance of promotion.’

His arrow of blame was misdirected at Vincent. This was due to the promotion strategy that the Chaplin Whisper team had recently adopted.

The Chaplin Whisper team, which had succeeded in entering the Central League in just three years, had recently taken a breather and entered a team rebuilding phase. The investment from the Chaplin Group had increased significantly, but they apparently didn’t think they were ready for the World League yet. So they hadn’t brought back Amelie, who was on loan, and the team’s performance was also at 7th place. But if they had pushed themselves, it wouldn’t have been impossible. After promotion, they had greatly strengthened the team by adding six World League-level gladiators. Perhaps if they had Amelie, who was particularly good at team play, they could have aimed for promotion.

‘Sigh~ Even if we get lucky and go up, it’s still a problem.’

Bad things come in layers, they say? Even if they managed to get promoted through that narrow needle hole [a very difficult or unlikely opportunity], it would still be a problem. The quality of the Hieiern Central League, which they had thought would be relatively easy, was showing signs of greatly improving. If two World League teams joined, the quality of the league would inevitably increase.

“Diana. Even if the situation isn’t favorable, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. As long as there’s at least one spot open, our team will get promoted. After all, the Gods Knights are the strongest of all the wide league teams in the Hieiern Central Government. And we have Rafine and Nikita. If we just make it to the finals, promotion is as good as guaranteed.”

“I suppose so.”

Diana nodded in agreement. With Rafine and Nikita, the Gods Knights were incredibly powerful in short-term battles. This was due to their ‘Berserker of Fury’ trait. When these two became berserkers and swept through the formation, the opponent had no way to respond. Although there was a penalty of being unable to play for fifteen days, there was no need to worry about the future in the tournament finals.

“Okay. So now we know what we have to do, right?”

“That’s to maintain first place in the league. Then we won’t have to face a strong team in the first round.”

“That’s right. That means we only have to climb two more steps to reach the finals. Got it?”

“Yes. I understand.”

Having heard her answer, Beom-seok returned to his seat and watched the arena with a worried expression. Although he had spoken confidently, he was still worried. Even strong teams could lose to weaker teams due to surrounding circumstances. It didn’t matter in league matches, but it was a different story in tournament competitions, where each match meant going from heaven to hell.

‘Surely we won’t lose with this squad, and with me here.’

But before long, Beom-seok shook off his worries. His arrogance was soaring. In fact, he had experienced a near-defeat draw against Amelie before, but he was consoling himself that it was due to the difference in power. In his mind, the world’s strongest gladiator was always himself.

As time passed with these thoughts, the second round began. This time, gladiators made up of the second string took to the field, including Nikita, who had played a big role in the first round, but all she had done was throw a long spear from the rear. Naturally, she hadn’t used much stamina, so there was no problem with her participating in the second round.

“Everyone, charge!”

The two sides engaged in another fierce battle. The Gods Knights had the upper hand. Even though they were the second string, the Gods Knights’ gladiators weren’t weak. Soon, the balance of power was broken, and the Orion Pets team began to retreat endlessly. Oscar, who had been pushed to the bench, went berserk and swung his greatsword wildly, and Nikita protected him appropriately and responded, adding stability to the play.

Thanks to this, Beom-seok, who was watching from the dugout, had a satisfied look on his face. Thanks to Nikita, Oscar’s flawed play was revived, reducing one of his major concerns. She was truly like a welcome rain for the Gods Knights.

Soon, the second round ended in victory, and as Beom-seok won again in the third round, the Gods Knights took the 3 points from the 23rd league match.

“Where the hell is this cafe?”

It was a spring day when the green energy of budding sprouts covered the earth. Although the season was still in full swing, Beom-seok was suddenly walking through the crowded entertainment district of Ravelocity. Ravelocity was the central city of the Masaha Metropolitan Government within the Laponi Central Government, a large city with a population of 10.1 million, and it was almost halfway around the world from Lima City, where he lived.

Beom-seok didn’t even know why he had come to this place. The person he was supposed to meet hadn’t told him the exact reason yet.

‘Why does Vice Chairman Lewis want to see me?’

Last night, just as Beom-seok was spending a passionate night with his elves, he suddenly received a phone call. At first, he tried to ignore it because it was late, but after persistent calls, he finally answered. And just as he was about to burst out with a loud curse, he had no choice but to shut his mouth. The other party was none other than Vice Chairman Lewis. He was the vice chairman of the Federal Professional Gladiator Association and was on the same level as LHN, Wilkins, and the Chaplin Group, so Beom-seok couldn’t ignore him. He was a place to lean on in times of need, so it was only natural.

But Lewis’s expression when he asked to meet was quite serious. He didn’t say much, but he seemed to have some worries and asked to meet urgently, so Beom-seok couldn’t refuse. Thanks to this, he was suffering today, traveling halfway around the world.

“By the way, where is Zeros Cafe? It’s supposed to be around here, but they all look the same.”

Beom-seok was overwhelmed by the spectacle of holographic signs adorning the sky. Lima City was also a big city, so it had a similar atmosphere, but not as much as here. Finding his way in this situation was no easy task. He had no choice but to take out his electronic notebook and turn on the route-finding navigation.

He examined the red line on the screen and muttered to himself.

“Hmm. I just need to go straight a little further and turn into the alley on the right.”

Following the navigation’s guidance, he arrived at a shabby coffee shop in a narrow alley. The feeling of a 70s-style rural teahouse was strong, and Beom-seok was very surprised. He thought that a wealthy tycoon would choose a place with some charm, but this was not the case at all. He even suspected that it might not be the right coffee shop.

At that moment, an elf with brown hair standing in front of the door approached him.

“Are you Mr. Beom-seok?”

“Hmm. Yes.”

Beom-seok answered and looked her up and down. She was wearing a subtle beige suit and had a pretty decent appearance. However, there was one critical flaw: both of her eyes were brown. Intrigued, Beom-seok spoke again.

“Who are you?”

“Yes. I’m Daisy, and I’m with Vice Chairman Lewis.”

He sighed deeply and looked relieved. It seemed he had come to the right place.

“Nice to meet you. But where is Vice Chairman Lewis?”

“He’s already inside. He’s waiting for you now.”

Beom-seok looked at his watch and tilted his head. Because it was such a long distance, he had left early, so there were still 30 minutes left until the appointment time. Nevertheless, he was already here, so it seemed like the situation was urgent.

“Okay. Then take me to the Vice Chairman.”

“Yes. Please follow me.”

As Beom-seok entered, the musty smell of mold stimulated his nose. There were LED lights, but some of them were out. Naturally, no customers would visit, so it was too easy to find Vice Chairman Lewis sitting alone. The old man with his chin resting on his hand holding a cane at the inner table was him.

Beom-seok waved his hand and approached happily.

“Vice Chairman Lewis. It’s been a long time. How have you been?”

Lewis got up from his seat and greeted him personally.

“Welcome, Beom-seok. Come, sit here.”

Beom-seok looked around and opened his mouth.

“But isn’t it dangerous to come with only Daisy? This alley looks dark, gloomy, and deserted.”

“It’s okay. Daisy is good enough to protect me. She may look like this, but she was quite famous in the World League as a technical gladiator in her younger days. If you give her a real sword, even if 100 ordinary guys come, they can’t do anything to me.”

Beom-seok glanced at Daisy and said as he sat down.

“Oh, really? She’s quite amazing.”

“Hahaha. That’s right. In fact, that child was the reason why I and my friends became so engrossed in gladiatorial combat. Well, Wilkins got sulky in the middle and went off to the tournament side.”

“Oh. Really? Didn’t Chairman Wilkins watch gladiatorial combat anymore?”

“Hahahaha. He was sulky because he lost Daisy to me. After I created a gladiatorial team, I recruited her, who was retiring, and made her my elf. Thanks to that, my friends who were just waiting for the Walker Auction Market were left empty-handed. Hehehe.”

Beom-seok smiled at the old men’s trivial past. They looked kind of cute at times like this.

“Hahaha. That’s too much. How could you stab your friends in the back like that?”

“That’s how the world is. If you have something precious, you have to do everything you can to get it. That way, you won’t regret it later.”

“Hehe. I guess so.”

Lewis took a sip of the coffee on the old table and looked at Beom-seok.

“By the way, you’re amazing.”

“Yes? What are you talking about?”

“Oh. I’m talking about the incident where you screwed over the Black Society. I heard from Balbar that you cleaned them out. It was very interesting.”

Beom-seok scratched his head, embarrassed.

“Oh. It’s nothing. I just took advantage of the Black Society’s carelessness and hit them once. If they had prepared more thoroughly, I would have had a pretty tough fight.”

“But aren’t the Black Society guys ordinary? It’s because you’re so great that such a thing happened. Anyway, I was very impressed.”

“Well. I guess so. Hahaha.”

Beom-seok admitted it in the end. He was very weak to other people’s compliments.

Vice Chairman Lewis continued.

“And also the incident that happened at the villa before. I heard that you solved everything by using your tricks in the middle. Thanks to that, we were able to end the game without any major problems, so I’m very grateful.”

“Haha, haha. What are you talking about? If there’s something coming, there’s something going. I also got cash thanks to you, didn’t I? I worked as much as I received, so don’t worry too much about it.”

“I guess so? Oh, right! Come to think of it, you’re the guy who caused a ruckus at the LHN building? Anyway, you’re really amazing.”

He made an awkward expression and glanced at Lewis. He wondered what he wanted, since he was just making small talk like this. Judging from the fact that he kept hesitating, it seemed like it was something difficult to talk about. It seemed like he had to be direct to get to the point.