Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 375

Esther managed the negotiations for Irene. Advised by Beomseok, she relentlessly pressured Arnold, driving Irene’s price down repeatedly.

Since the team had openly decided to sell her, Irene’s selling price was inevitably reduced, and Esther exploited this fact. Thanks to her efforts, they had achieved significant progress, and today they were to make the final decision.

Offers to acquire Chiria and Siya poured in. Not only existing teams but also Ilsimhoe [a powerful organization or faction within the story’s world] members were competing to acquire them. The reason was simple: their selling prices were very low.

The God Knights offered 6.8 million Krang [currency in the story’s world] for Chiria and 11 million Krang for Siya. These were bargain prices, less than twice their annual salaries, so many teams were interested.

Of course, it might seem like a loss for the God Knights, but internally, it was different. By selling them, they could save on unnecessary salaries and recoup the losses in just a year or two.

However, this made it urgent for the God Knights to secure gladiators. They needed to fill the vacant rear position left by Siya, and their target was Rezaris.

If they could acquire her, the God Knights’ rear would have a fantastic lineup. With Seiya, nearing W1 level [a power or skill ranking], as captain, and W1-level Bertia and W0-level Rezaris as guardian gladiators, the rear would be as strong as Ancient Warriors, the top-ranked squad.

Moreover, if Agelia and Venus developed as expected, and Nikita was rotated in occasionally, the rear would be very stable.

“Diana, I need a favor. Is that alright?”

Early in the morning, Beomseok, who had briefly visited the chairman’s office for business, spoke to Diana through the intercom. It was an important matter, so it needed to be handled discreetly.

Seeing his troubled expression, Diana cautiously replied,

“What’s going on? Is it serious?”

“Well, it’s a bit like that. I need to talk to Erica urgently. Could you send her up to the chairman’s office?”

Perhaps sensing something, Diana slowly nodded. Erica had only participated in one league game last year.

That was only because they were playing against a very weak team, and it was a consideration given that she and Diana were elves serving Beomseok. Now that they were in the World League, such considerations were impossible. Her situation needed to be resolved quickly.

“I understand. I’ll send her up right away.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Beomseok immediately hung up the intercom, folded his arms, and stared at the ceiling. He worried about how to persuade Erica without upsetting her. The disappointment of an elf deemed unnecessary by her master was surprisingly profound. It was necessary to always be mindful of her mood and approach her carefully when speaking.

A moment later, the chairman’s office door opened, and Erica, wearing training clothes, slowly entered. Her expression was quite stiff, as if she had a rough idea of what was coming.

“M-Master, you called for me?”

Beomseok immediately jumped up from his seat and walked towards the reception sofa. He gestured for her to sit and said,

“Erica, welcome. Come and sit comfortably here.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Erica sat down, Beomseok smiled brightly and rubbed his hands together. He was worried about where to begin. He hoped Erica could retire from active duty with as little hurt as possible.

“Hmm, Erica, when did we first meet?”

“It was not long after Erpina unnie [Korean term for older sister or close female friend] was recruited, and I came in with Diana unnie, so it’s been about seven years.”

“Hmm, seven years, huh…? Yes, it’s been quite a while.”

“Yes, that’s right. I joined the team from the very beginning of the God Knights.”

“Hehe, that’s right. So, how was it living in the team all this time?”

It could only be happiness itself. She met Beomseok when he was busy plotting to go to the Walker Auction Market [a place where gladiators are bought and sold]. It was when her master was most desperate, so she was very grateful to him for buying her. If Beomseok hadn’t accepted Vincent’s offer then, her search for a master would have been delayed much longer.

And the past seven years had been happy. Although she was heartbroken that she hadn’t been able to participate in league games recently, Erica had originally felt disgusted with the gladiator life, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

The reason she was suffering now was that she didn’t contribute much to her master’s team, the God Knights. The reason Erica was happy now was simply because she was by her master Beomseok’s side.

“It was good. I was able to serve Master, and I was able to live a team life with many like-minded colleagues.”

“Hehe, yes. But didn’t you have any difficulties while living here?”

Erica immediately shook her head wildly, making her red hair flutter. She had no difficulties while living in the God Knights.

This was because she had fulfilled her lifelong wish by meeting her master, and Beomseok was giving her a considerable allowance. A significant portion of the 20 million Krang allocated for dignity maintenance expenses this year was paid as allowances to affiliated gladiators, and the amount allocated for Erica’s allowance was 400,000 Krang.

This was much larger than the salary of an average office worker, so she could buy whatever she needed at any time. Of course, it was a headache to write fan letters from fans, but this didn’t matter much either.

There was no one who sent her letters, and most of them were taken care of by the office workers hired by Beomseok.

“No, I don’t.”

“Hmm, that’s a relief… But if you need anything, tell me anytime. I’ll listen to you anytime.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Beomseok, who smiled faintly, scratched his head. He was putting off what he wanted to say and just rambling on about useless things. Soon, an important guest was scheduled to visit the training camp, so he had to finish this quickly.

Beomseok decided to be direct. There was no reason to delay what had to be done.

“Hmm, yes. Actually, the reason I called you here today is… to ask you for a very important favor.”

“What favor? Just tell me. I’ll do anything I can do. I’m always ready to obey Master’s words.”

As if she was admirable, Beomseok patted her on the shoulder. The advantage and disadvantage of elves is that they listen to their master’s words too well. So, it’s hard to know what they’re thinking, but it’s often convenient in many ways.

“Hehe, yes. Since you say so, I’ll speak frankly. Actually, with the God Knights rising to the World League team, it has become necessary to create a new department.”

“A department? What kind of department?”

“It’s a job that analyzes the opposing team’s strength and reports it to the team’s coach. Until now, the coach, Diana, or the other coaches have been handling this haphazardly, but now we’re a World League team, aren’t we? Now, those guys have to focus on strategizing, so we need to hire a power analyst separately.”

Erica’s expression brightened. Her specialty was ‘team analysis’. She could comprehensively evaluate a designated team’s strength and identify various strengths and weaknesses to target. She was confident in that field.

And as with all specialties, it reflected the character’s passion. Although she had been living as a gladiator for decades, Erica’s most desired job was team analysis-related work.

At this time, when she was heartbroken because she couldn’t participate in league games, she couldn’t help but be excited because she might be able to devote herself to what she really wanted to do.

“T-Then, am I going to be the team analyst?”

“That’s right. I’m going to hire two new analysts and have them form a team with you, and then thoroughly analyze the opposing team that you’ll be competing against and report it to Diana. How about it? Can you do it?”

“Of course! I really wanted to do that job!”

Beomseok looked puzzled at the unexpected reaction. He thought she would be disappointed, but she seemed to really want to be a team analyst. But it wasn’t bad for him. Erica had willingly accepted the offer, so he had less to worry about.

Beomseok, feeling relieved, burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, I’m so glad it was something you wanted to do. To be honest, I was worried you’d be disappointed.”

“Not at all. Actually, I was disappointed that I couldn’t go to league games recently, but now I have something to do. Now that I think I can be helpful to the team, I feel like I’ve thrown off a heavy burden.”

“Yes, I’m so grateful you feel that way. Then, since it’s a team you’ll create and operate, make a plan and report it to me as soon as possible.”

“Okay. But can I start today? I want to get started right away.”

Then Erica would have to miss team training from today. But it didn’t matter at all. She wasn’t contributing to the God Knights team right now, so there was no problem even if she dropped out right away. No, that was much better. With less than a month left before the league started, it was necessary to quickly form a power analysis team.

“Go ahead. The strategic analysis team must be operational before the league starts.”

“Okay, Master. Then I’ll get busy and leave now.”

“Okay, good job.”

Erica, leaving her seat, was smiling brightly. Now, she just had to do what she wanted to do for her master, Beomseok, so her heartache disappeared.

“Okay, now that I’ve finished with Erica, I need to take care of the next thing.”

Beomseok, returning to his seat, opened the electronic documents and began to examine the contents. There were many things to prepare for in anticipation of the guest who would visit the training camp this morning.

Woo-oong. Woo-oong.

Around noon, a blue luxury flying car landed at the God Knights training camp. A man in his 40s was in the car, and as soon as the car landed, he opened the door and emerged with a relaxed gesture. It was Jade, the trade manager of Ancient Warriors.

Beomseok, knowing that the guest he was waiting for had arrived, quickly stepped forward.

“Welcome, Mr. Jade.”

“Hahaha, yes, Mr. Beomseok. It’s been a long time.”

Jade recognized him and immediately pretended to know him well. In fact, the two had met before. When Beomseok was playing in the lower leagues, Jade was the World League team trade manager who first recognized his potential and approached him.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s already been five years since we met.”

“Hahaha, yes. I was very hurt right after being coldly rejected by Mr. Beomseok at the time. I had no doubt that he would grow into the best ace gladiator on our team if we only recruited him. And now Mr. Beomseok is proving that. It’s really heartbreaking.”

“Hahaha, I’m sorry. But I also had a lot of worries at the time. It doesn’t make sense to reject a recruitment offer from the world’s strongest team.”

“Yes, so I was very shocked. I had prepared a huge price and salary, but I never imagined I would be rejected.”

“I’m really sorry about that. I had to build up the God Knights.”

Jade burst into a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha, but as a result, wasn’t it the right choice? The God Knights have entered the World League today.”

“Oh, is that so? Hehe, that’s definitely right.”

Jade, who smiled broadly, frowned slightly again and gestured towards the car door that had just opened. Perhaps nervous, his companion wasn’t coming out.

“Rezaris, come out quickly. You have to greet Mr. Beomseok.”

Beomseok, surprised by the words, hurriedly stood next to Jade. Because the windows were tinted black, the inside of the car wasn’t visible from where he was standing.

Beomseok wore a bewildered expression as he watched Rezaris hesitantly emerge. She shouldn’t be here now, before the deal was completed.

“How have you been?”

“Y-Yes. Anyway, welcome…”

Beomseok gave Jade a questioning look, asking why he had brought her. If this deal fell through, Rezaris would definitely suffer a great mental shock.

“Hahaha, you seem surprised to see Rezaris?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Mr. Jade knows our team’s situation well, doesn’t he?”

“Of course, I knew it well. But Rezaris overheard that the God Knights had offered to recruit her after meeting Mr. Beomseok in Senocide [location in the story], so I couldn’t help it.”

“Overheard? How?”

“Well, Rezaris boasted about her meeting with Mr. Beomseok to her teammates, didn’t she? Then, one quick-witted kid put ideas in her head, saying, ‘Isn’t it a deliberate meeting for recruitment?’ Thanks to that, Rezaris, who was full of expectations, came to me and asked me about the details. So, I couldn’t hide it and admitted the truth.”