Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 381

383

Swae-aek.

Priscilla’s sword descended with ferocious speed. The aura radiating from the world-class gladiator was truly immense.

Beomseok retreated, attempting to evade her attack, but it proved difficult. With his right arm injured and his spear lost, countering Priscilla’s onslaught was a challenge.

He did have a katana as a backup at his waist, but there wasn’t enough time to draw it. Her attacks were that threatening.

‘Tch. This is infuriating. What a disgrace.’

He couldn’t see the stands, but he could imagine the fans’ expressions. On the holographic screen, a slow-motion replay showed Priscilla using Jasmine as bait to cripple his right arm. Drone cameras captured the scene from his blind spot.

“Hey! Isn’t sacrificing your own teammate a bit much!”

Priscilla, mid-swing in a wide arc towards Beomseok, offered a wry smile.

“That’s what Jasmine wanted, too. As you know, Jasmine’s philosophy is that a pro should win at any cost. Our director, whom that child adores, will be very pleased. Trading a W0-class gladiator [a low-ranking gladiator] for Beomseok’s right arm is a great deal.”

He looked at Priscilla with pity. Though her voice was calm, she was filled with anxiety. Beomseok knew the reason: the fear of not being ‘bought’ by a wealthy patron.

Priscilla had stated in several interviews that her dream was to become the strongest gladiator and be sold at the World Walker Auction Market at the age of 30. The elves at the World Auction Market were world-class sports gladiators. Their transaction prices soared due to the relentless bidding of wealthy collectors, and the best elves were sold for exorbitant amounts. Therefore, the affiliated team would sell them when the strongest gladiator reached the age of 30, both as a gesture of goodwill and to maximize profits.

However, with the rise of Amelie and Zakid, she had fallen to third place in the gladiator rankings. If Beomseok surpassed her, she would drop to fourth, fueling her anxiety. For some reason, the title of ‘strongest’ rarely applied to someone in fourth place.

‘She’s gone crazy because she wants to find a buyer.’

Beomseok’s irritation spiked. He understood Priscilla’s feelings, but he resented becoming a pawn in her ambition. He, too, was aiming for the top, and surpassing the third-ranked gladiator was his stepping stone.

Beomseok struggled to block the incoming sword with his left forearm and collided with Priscilla, hoping to create distance and buy time. Seeing her stumble backward, he swiftly drew his katana with his left hand.

“Hmph. Trading my arm for a W0-class gladiator is a great deal? We’ll see about that.”

Priscilla, regaining her composure, smirked.

“Still so confident. With one arm, and a right-handed person losing their right arm, can you really stand against me? Just give up and face me in the third round. Then I’ll defeat you with my skills and prove that I’m the best.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That won’t happen. Unless your team’s director is an idiot, they won’t let you and me fight one-on-one.”

Priscilla glared at him.

“Why? Do you think I can’t beat you?”

“Of course. You can’t even beat a one-armed man like me, so how could you win in a real fight!”

With that, Beomseok dashed forward, his sword tracing an erratic path. The strike lacked power, but its unpredictability forced Priscilla to barely deflect it, bracing for the next attack.

There was no time to counter. His katana, which should have been deflected, was already slicing towards her waist.

Barely parrying the blow, she retreated in shock.

“N-No way!”

Beomseok pressed his attack, extending his sword.

“No way? That’s all you’ve got!”

With a clash of metal, the long blade grazed Priscilla’s face. It was a close call that could have incapacitated her. Her eyes widened with fear at Beomseok’s unexpected skill.

‘H-How can this be happening…? He’s overwhelming me even after losing an arm? This can’t be happening!’

Her disbelief was understandable. No matter how skilled a gladiator was, their combat power would significantly decrease if they were partially incapacitated. Moreover, he had lost his right arm, which was even more critical. Since he couldn’t use his dominant hand, he couldn’t wield the sword properly.

However, he had hunted in the field for countless years. He had suffered many injuries and had instinctively learned how to overcome crises to survive.

One of those survival skills was one-armed combat, and the swordsmanship Priscilla was witnessing was its manifestation. However, one drawback was that it focused too much on intimidation. It aimed to escape the crisis by intimidating the opponent, but reckless movements could lead to significant mistakes and cause him to suffer greatly.

But he had no choice. If he didn’t take the risk now, Priscilla’s momentum would continue to build. Then he would be subjected to a one-sided attack and eventually be defeated.

“Ugh!”

Beomseok’s sword spun like a whirlwind in a strong wind, flying towards Priscilla. Unable to predict the direction of the attack, she stepped back, but his sword stretched out and reached near her philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip]. She quickly twisted her upper body to evade, but she was struck in the abdomen by Beomseok’s knee and staggered backward.

“You made a mistake! I’m not someone you can handle alone!”

Priscilla frantically blocked Beomseok’s continuous sword strikes with her own. She tried to fight back with all her might, but it was useless. Beomseok was attacking with the ferocity of a tiger and the agility of a leopard.

Her eyes gradually filled with despair at his inhuman momentum. She acknowledged that he was an opponent she couldn’t overcome, just like Zakid and Amelie.

Her heart wavered with sorrow. She couldn’t regain her composure because she knew that all her efforts had been in vain.

She felt like giving up. There was no way she could surpass the opponent who was driving her into a corner with one arm and maintain her position as the third strongest, which she had considered her last line of defense.

‘What’s wrong? She’s like a completely different person?’

Beomseok questioned Priscilla’s subdued movements. He had achieved his goal, but it was too easy. She, who had once reigned as the world’s strongest, was performing so poorly that she seemed like an ordinary gladiator. It seemed like he didn’t need to push himself too hard, but he decided to keep pressing on.

It could be a trick to deceive him.

Beomseok quickly kicked Priscilla’s knee, who was constantly staggering backward. It was a feint, so it wasn’t a very powerful attack. However, she fell sideways like dry straw after being hit in the leg by this absurd kick. Beomseok was bewildered by this ridiculous sight.

Wow! Wow!

As the fans’ cheers echoed through the arena, Beomseok placed the tip of his sword on Priscilla’s neck, who was staring blankly at the sky. And he lightly asked a question because her eyes looked like those of a corpse.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“………”

“Can’t you hear me?”

“………”

But Priscilla still didn’t answer. Her dream of finding a wealthy patron at the age of 30 had vanished, so the shock was bound to be great. So Beomseok kept the tip of his sword pressed into her neck. The game was always ruthless.

Looking at the clock on the scoreboard, Beomseok smiled slightly. He thought that he might be able to win if he played well. Only 10 minutes had passed in the game. It was enough time to win.

‘Oh. Should I join the main camp!’

Beomseok quickly ran towards the iron bridge. Seeing him defeat Jasmine and Priscilla, Seiya sensed the momentum and ordered the God Knights’ team members to launch an all-out attack. Soon, the God Knights, with Beomseok joining them, swept through the Ancient Warriors’ main camp, which had lost morale, and won the first round.

“Geez. What happened?”

Beomseok, returning to the dugout to the cheers of the crowd, kept tilting his head. He felt good because he had won, but he couldn’t understand Priscilla’s actions earlier. He had thought of her as a rival, but she had collapsed so easily that he felt let down.

Diana, wearing a bright smile, approached him.

“Master. You did a great job. Thanks to you, we were able to win the first round. If we do well, we might be able to win the game today.”

Beomseok looked at her with strange eyes. They had won the first round thanks to luck, but there was no guarantee that this would happen again. The Ancient Warriors, with Priscilla, were a strong team.

He flicked Diana’s forehead lightly with his finger and nagged.

“What do you mean, win? We were lucky this time. Don’t you know that it’s a miracle if we even draw today?”

Diana glanced at the arena. While Beomseok was returning to the dugout, Priscilla was lying motionless in the middle of the arena. Diana, who had lived without an owner for decades, knew how she felt.

“But it’s possible today. Priscilla will fall into a long slump.”

“What are you talking about? Why would Priscilla fall into a slump?”

“Because the reason to fight has disappeared. She has now lost her dream because of Master’s appearance.”

“Why did she lose her dream?”

“Because she’s now fallen to fourth place in the gladiator rankings. She fell to third place with the emergence of Zakid and Amelie, but until now, she could fight with a glimmer of hope. The top three gladiators in the gladiator rankings are often exposed to the media due to the competition between broadcasting companies. But now that she has lost her third place, she can’t enjoy that effect, which will cause wealthy people to close their wallets at the World Walker Auction Market in Senoside. No one will pay a large sum of money close to Priscilla’s current value to buy a gladiator who is not well-known.”

Beomseok stared at her.

“What are you talking about? I haven’t risen to third place yet. The world gladiator rankings are determined by performance. I have to play about 10 more games to reach third place.”

“Hehe. It’s not a matter of rising or not. It’s the media exposure that matters. Experts have already placed Beomseok in the top three gladiators in the world, and today, Master unilaterally drove Priscilla into a corner while being partially incapacitated and eventually won. But will the media recognize her as one of the top three gladiators in the world?”

Beomseok, resting his chin, nodded. There was a slight difference between the world gladiator rankings’ 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and the world’s top 3 gladiators. The former was determined by performance, and the latter was influenced by perception. Now that Priscilla had been thoroughly defeated by him today, the media’s attention would be directed to Beomseok.

“That could be true. Then Priscilla must be very disappointed.”

“It’s not just disappointed, it’s heartbreaking. Her retirement at 30 has completely disappeared. Someone with her skills will have to play in active duty until at least 40.”

Beomseok flicked her forehead again with his finger. No matter how true it was, there were things you could say and things you couldn’t. Especially when it came to being happy through the misfortune of others, you should keep your mouth shut.

“Until 40. Don’t say useless things and tell me the next plan.”

This time it was quite strong, and Diana rubbed her forehead and said.

“I think we should continue as is until the second round. We need to gauge the atmosphere. It seems that Priscilla is shocked right now, but she may recover soon.”

“So?”

“And then watch the third round. If Priscilla still seems like she does now, we’ll send the starters in a row in the remaining rounds to aim for victory.”

Beomseok looked at her with a strange expression. Then the starters’ stamina would be greatly depleted, and he was worried about the next game. In the away game that would take place a week later, the God Knights would meet the Forest Elves. This team was the third-place team in last year’s World League and had a formidable gladiator squad.

“You know that the next opponent is the Forest Elves, right? They built an undefeated home record last season.”

“But we have Master. That myth will definitely be broken this year.”

Beomseok made an awkward expression towards Diana, who was speaking with confidence. If he nodded here, it could be seen as showing off, but her words were completely correct.

As long as he was there, they couldn’t lose the next game. The Forest Elves were the team that Tiela, whom he had fought at Chaplin’s mansion before, belonged to, and their home coliseum was a dense forest of trees.

“Tch. Okay. Do as you please.”

After saying that, Beomseok returned to his bench and sat comfortably. It seemed that he would sweat a lot in the third round as well, so he was trying to conserve his energy.

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

Even though everyone is busy trying to survive, the world is so mean. Germany is actively helping European countries, including Greece, that are experiencing financial crises, and while presenting rosy prospects, they are adding the words ‘I wonder if structural problems will be solved’ at the end, creating a loophole to escape. In reality, those structural problems are important, but the media articles are missing an explanation of them. Well, if they explained it, the public would know that it’s like pouring water into a broken jar, so there’s no way they would explain it. That’s why people without power and backing all die.

Hew~ Then everyone have a pleasant weekend. I’ll see you again tomorrow.