Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 327

329

Heavy raindrops hammered against the clear glass window. Seated at his desk in his office, Beomseok was deep in an important video call with Aula, who managed the White Angel Fund.

“How is the Black Society’s acquisition of Leppard Entertainment progressing?”

– Hohoho. They’re being very aggressive. Even with the price raised to 2,300 krang [fictional currency] per share, they’re selling like hotcakes. They seem truly determined.

Beomseok wore a triumphant expression at those words. Selling shares bought at 830 krang for 2,300 krang meant securing a profit of nearly three times the initial investment.

Since Ilsimhoe’s fund held 13 million shares, the total stock value was approaching 30 billion krang. Of course, a significant portion would have to be retained to defend against hostile takeovers, which would greatly reduce the profit margin, but it was still a substantial sum of money.

“Heh heh. Is that so? We’ll be making quite a bit of money this time.”

– Probably. Once this deal is done, we should be able to increase the White Angel Fund by at least 20 billion.

Beomseok smiled contentedly and replied,

“This isn’t bad at all. By the way, will retail investors or institutions suffer any losses from this?”

– Of course not. As soon as the market opened, we swept up almost all the shares that came onto the market. Currently, the only institutions holding our shares are LHN, Wilkins, and Hero Investment Securities, with only 2%, 2%, and 1% respectively. And these shares are only deposited for stock trading, so they’re never sold, making them insignificant. Well, retail investors hold 7% of the shares, but the Black Society absorbed most of them at high prices early on. We made sure they profited, not lost. Besides, even if problems arise later, the Black Society will take care of boosting the stock price, so we have no responsibility. Hohoho.

“Is that so? That’s a relief. Then how much of our fund’s stake is left?”

– Still a lot. We only started selling yesterday. About 55%?

That meant that Ilsimhoe’s individuals and funds held 80% of the shares, institutions held 5%, treasury stock accounted for 3%, and the Black Society or some retail investors held 12%. Among these, the 5% held by institutions and the 3% in treasury stock were friendly shares, so it could be said that a total of 88% of the shares supported Leppard.

“Then keep selling. Just don’t let the defensive stake fall below a certain level. Got it?”

– Who do you think I am? I wouldn’t make such a ridiculous mistake. Don’t say such absurd things.

“Heh heh. I suppose not. I’m counting on you, then.”

– Alright. Don’t worry. I’m busy, so I’ll hang up now. Offers are still coming in.

“Okay. Got it. Good work.”

After ending the call, Beomseok leaned back in his chair and chuckled. He was amused by the thought of Chairman Lucas’s face when he realized he had been deceived. Lately, he had been living for the pleasure of outsmarting the Black Society.

However, Beomseok’s expression soon turned serious. There was an urgent matter to deal with, but he found it difficult to bring it up out of consideration. He hesitated for a moment before picking up the intercom next to him and connecting to the indoor training facility. Now that the Black Society’s attacks had begun in earnest, he couldn’t afford to keep delaying this matter.

When Diana appeared on the screen, he sighed deeply and said,

“Diana, could you send Erpina to my office? I have something important to discuss with her.”

Diana nodded, seeing his serious expression. She felt that the moment had come. Erpina had not been performing well since the previous fall due to age-related decline in physical abilities.

– Yes. Understood. I’ll send her right away.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Soon after Diana disappeared from the screen, someone gently knocked on the president’s office door. Sensing it was Erpina, Beomseok got up and went to the door himself.

“Erpina, come in.”

She bowed politely and said,

“M-Master. What did you call me for?”

“Hmm. I have something important to discuss. Come on, let’s go sit over there.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Erpina was trembling slightly, as if nervous. Having always looked up to her master, Beomseok, she had sensed what he had been thinking lately. For an elf, there was nothing more disheartening than hearing from her master that she had outlived her usefulness.

He looked at Erpina, who had her eyes lowered to the floor.

“Erpina, how many years has it been since we met?”

“This is our sixth year.”

“It’s been quite a while. Have you had any difficulties during that time?”

Erpina shook her head vigorously. An elf’s life was bound to be enjoyable, no matter what kind of master she had. And Beomseok was not the type to lash out when he was upset, and as a wealthy man, he provided a comfortable life.

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been very happy.”

“Hmm. I see. How was it as a gladiator for the Gods Knights [professional gladiator team]?”

Erpina recalled her days with the Gods Knights. Although she had some issues with physical decline last year, she had generally had a successful career as a gladiator, serving as both captain and support, and achieving good results.

Erpina played a significant role in the Gods Knights’ growth from an amateur team to a strong team in the Central League in just six years.

“It was fun. All the team members were great, and I was happy to play for you, Master.”

“Heh heh. Is that so? I’m glad.”

She stared at Beomseok intently.

“Master. But what did you want to see me about?”

At her direct question, he hesitated and avoided giving an immediate answer. It wasn’t necessarily bad news for Erpina, but if he phrased it wrong, she could be greatly disappointed.

“Well, it’s hard to answer when you ask me so suddenly.”

Erpina’s ears drooped, as if she had lost energy.

“It’s about retirement, isn’t it?”

“Well, since you put it that way, I’ll be honest. It’s definitely about retirement. But I’m asking you to retire because of my circumstances, not because you’re not good enough. In fact, you still have the skills to compete in matches. The reason I’m talking about retirement now is that I have an important job for you.”

Her ears perked up slightly. Although he was talking about retirement, it didn’t mean that she had outlived her usefulness to her master, Beomseok.

“What kind of job are you going to give me?”

“You know that I’ve been having a bit of a battle with the Black Society lately, right?”

“Yes, I know. You’ve mentioned it repeatedly in bed.”

“But there’s a big problem with Ilsimhoe [organization name] right now. The loyalty of the general members is extremely low. With a full-scale war against the Black Society looming, this is extremely dangerous, so it needs to be resolved as soon as possible.”

Erpina nodded slowly. In a gladiator team, unity among the members was crucial for victory. She thought that Ilsimhoe would be no different.

“Yes. So?”

“To make them loyal to the organization, there are a few things that are needed. I want you to take charge of one of them.”

“What is it? Just tell me, and I’ll do my best to help.”

“It’s about giving them benefits. Fortunately, all the new Ilsimhoe members are managing gladiator teams. If we introduce or sell them promising gladiators at a low price, their loyalty to the organization will increase.”

Her eyes sparkled as she roughly understood Beomseok’s intentions. Erpina had been a gladiator herself, but she had also been consistently searching for promising gladiators.

“So, you want me to focus on finding promising players?”

“Yes. But you’ll be taking on a more extensive and organized role than before, so you’ll be very busy. Do you think you can do it?”

Erpina smiled brightly and nodded her head vigorously. Helping her master, Beomseok, was something she could do with a joyful heart, no matter what it was.

“Yes, I’ll do my best. Just give me the order.”

He displayed an electronic document screen on the reception table and looked at Erpina.

“Good. Then I’ll explain what you need to do, so listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

Beomseok pointed to the first item on the document and said,

“First, I’m planning to hire about 30 professional scouts for this job. You’ll lead them and travel all over the world to find promising players.”

“Thirty scouts? That’s more than a World League team! Isn’t that a bit of an overspending?”

He turned over a sheet of paper and explained the next item.

“No. Even that number is far from enough. The promising players you need to find include not only professional gladiators but also all the elves attending elf schools around the world.”

Erpina looked at Beomseok with a shocked expression. The number of elves entering society each year was in the tens of millions, and it would be nearly impossible for 30 people to find them all. As he had just said, the number of people being put in was far from enough.

“T-Then you’re right, Master. Thirty people can’t possibly visit all the elf schools in the world.”

“So, for now, start by searching around our Hairen central government area [fictional region].”

Limiting the search to the Hairen central government area would reduce the number of elf schools to visit by one-eighth, making the burden much lighter. Still, there were over ten thousand schools, so it was still daunting.

Erpina slowly shook her head and said,

“Whew~ Still, there aren’t enough people. We need more scouts.”

“It can’t be helped. This is a new business, so I can’t spend any more money. If we start generating some income, I’ll add more people later, so try to manage with that number for now.”

“Yes, I understand. But there’s another problem.”

“What is it?”

“We need a special purchase permit to buy elves from elf schools.”

A special purchase permit was a permit required to buy elves from elf schools. According to the law, only stores or companies that had obtained an elf market or elf school business license could obtain it, so it was impossible for the professional gladiator team, Gods Knights, to obtain it. But it could be easily solved by creating and operating a separate corporation.

Other professional gladiator teams were procuring elf gladiators in this way, so there was no reason why he couldn’t do the same.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m planning to spend about 50 million krang to run an elf market and an elf school.”

“I see. Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Beomseok unfolded the next document and said,

“And this business is not only to increase the loyalty of new Ilsimhoe members, but also to generate income and normalize our team’s underperforming second team and under-8 team. So, I’ll be hiring new coaches to teach the elves you bring in, so work with Reina to create an education program. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Then be aware of that and go out now.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

Erpina answered in a bright voice and hurried out of the president’s office. She had thought she was going to be treated as a has-been, but now she was at the center of a new business planned by her master, Beomseok. She couldn’t help but feel like she had been brought back from the dead.

Beomseok looked out at the distant sky from the window of the president’s office.

‘I hope this business goes well…’

The cost of investing in this business was roughly 100 million krang. Compared to Seyia’s transfer fee, which would be coming into the team in a few days, it was a drop in the bucket, but it was still a bit of a burden.

However, it was unavoidable for the sake of Ilsimhoe’s unity and to create new revenue streams. If this business got on track, he could have personal business professional gladiator teams that imitated Gods Knights under his command.

In order to buy gladiators with good growth potential cheaply, they would inevitably try to maintain a good relationship with Beomseok. Then many members would participate in the Black Society’s attacks, and the tip of the attack would become that much sharper.

And Beomseok was also trying to solve the current problems of Gods Knights through this business. Even though he was selling promising players cheaply to Ilsimhoe members, the price of buying elves in the elf market was not that high, so this difference would become a new source of funds for Gods Knights. Also, by putting some outstanding gladiators into the under-8 team and the second team to train them, he could get rid of the stigma of being the worst second team.

Last year, the Gods Knights’ second team lost all of their games and ranked last in the league. It was unfortunate, but the current second team had to be gradually cut off and filled with promising players.

A few days later. Esther, who had visited the Grow Lancer team, brought very good news. It was the news that Seyia had finally been traded for 1.9475 billion krang.

As a result, Gods Knights brought another World League-class gladiator into the team and prepared for the next season with a stronger force, and obtained valuable resources that would become the team’s ace in the future.

Beomseok, who was in a good mood, went out to the parking lot early to greet the new team member.

“Beomseok-nim!”

As soon as the flying car that Esther was riding in landed on the ground, Seyia was jumping out. She ran, her silver hair flying, and jumped into Beomseok’s arms. She loved the man who would be her master so much.

Beomseok stroked Seyia’s hair as she hung on to him.

“Heh heh. Good, you came well. How have you been?”

“Yes. But Beomseok-nim, you were too much! How could you deceive me so completely! Do you know how disappointed I was when I just went back to the team before!”

At her grumbling, Beomseok gave her a light kiss on the cheek as compensation. He was truly sorry about that.

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

Ah. The Gods Knights’ squad is slowly being filled. Erpina is gone, but there are already 24 people. Perhaps when Liza and Nikita return in the second half of the league, they will be quite a strong force.

Of course, they are strong now too. Hahaha. But I think they are still far from enough. Some of the main players now have to transfer to the second team or other teams, so it’s daunting.

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