Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 10

While investigating various aspects of creating a team, Beomseok discovered an interesting fact: this world was quite lenient towards gambling, which had led to the great success of sports betting. Fans would bet, almost as a ritual, hoping their favorite team or player would win, while professional gamblers made scientific bets based on data and information to earn large sums of money. The fees generated from this became a financial resource for the sports associations, contributing greatly to the development of sports by funding leagues and supporting professional teams.

But was Beomseok interested in this sports betting? Yes, because of the upcoming Lima City Spring Athletics Meet. Athletics hadn’t become a professional league due to a lack of popularity, but it had established itself as a top-tier gambling sport worldwide because it was easy to bet on simple record competitions. Therefore, a lot of money changed hands during the competition, and the efforts and sorrows of gamblers trying to make big money here were truly poignant.

Beomseok was thinking of cashing in on this. Of course, it would be extremely difficult for him to beat all the specialized gamblers and betting companies to make a lot of money, but for this one Lima City Athletics Meet, he had a higher chance of winning money than anyone else. His agility was 92, making him faster than anyone else in the city when it came to speed, and he was the only one who knew that information. If he could secure a lot of funds here, Beomseok could form a team with better gladiators.

However, he faced a difficult problem: the maximum bet allowed per game was only 100,000 krang [currency]. It was a considerable amount, but it was not enough for him, who wanted to make a lot of money. If the stakes were low, the income would also be low.

So, he decided to get help from Venus and Laimi. Although elves were treated like pets, unlike dogs or cats, they could engage in financial transactions because they lived in society. With their help, he could bet as much as 300,000 krang at once.

Eventually, Beomseok visited Laimi and revealed his thoughts, and he was able to achieve the desired result. He told her that if he made a lot of money this time, he would become her owner, and she immediately agreed.

Having completed all the preparations, Beomseok registered his name with the local athletics federation and took a few tests to participate in the competition. To maintain the quality of the competition, individual participants must exceed a certain record to be eligible to participate.

Of course, he passed the qualification test with the minimum record at this time. If he had set a good record here, this fact would have been known to other gamblers, and it was obvious that his income would be greatly reduced.

“Good, the weather is great today.”

In the vast field of Lima Main Stadium, the grass, full of spring sunshine, was showing off its greenness. On the track around it, elves wearing short, tight hot pants and shirts were lightly jogging to warm up.

The weather was warm for spring. It was a great day to hold an athletics competition where records were contested. Beomseok pretended to wipe his sweat with a towel around his neck and looked around. Elves in almost underwear passed by him, and he wasn’t one to ignore them.

“Beomseok. It’s almost betting time.”

Laimi, who was sitting on a long bench next to the track, waved her hand and called him. It was almost time to start betting. He slowly got up from the grass and brushed off the grass on his butt.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 8:55.”

Hearing that, Beomseok looked at the audience seats in Lima Main Stadium. People in groups of three or five were coming in with newspapers and files in their hands, and they seemed to be having an in-depth conversation. It was clear they were discussing today’s betting strategy.

“The audience is starting to gather.”

“Yes. There’s about an hour left until the game starts.”

Today’s game started at 10 o’clock, and the first event was the first heat of the 200M track event preliminaries. It was a game that also applied to Beomseok, who participated in the 100M, 200M, and 400M events, and he was expecting a lot of income here. Since it was the first event of the first game, many people would be interested, so he thought that a lot of money would be bet.

“Wow. I was lucky anyway. I got to participate in the first game where attention is focused.”

“That’s right. I looked it up and it said that the average total betting amount for these games is about 9 million krang. That’s a lot of money for a preliminary.”

After saying that, Laimi floated a 3D stereoscopic image in the air and opened an internet window to enter the betting site.

Beomseok brought up the calculator screen on his electronic notebook and started calculating. The maximum amount he could bet per event was 300,000 krang. Since 8 people were running, the amount he could earn when he came in first was about 2.4 million krang in total. However, this was only in terms of probability, and the income changed even more due to various conditions. Gamblers did not bet the same amount on all the players running on the track, and Beomseok had his own betting strategy.

“Laimi. Maximize the betting amount in the first game and keep clicking. As soon as it starts, you must make my side’s betting amount as large as possible.”

Beomseok’s plan was to bet 300,000 krang on himself at first. It seemed like a simple strategy, but it had its own psychological warfare hidden.

In fact, when gamblers bet, they carefully calculated the odds of winning due to various factors. They examined the player’s record, condition, weather, and even the condition of the track, and then calculated the probability of each player winning first place to create a betting formation.

But what choice would gamblers make if bets suddenly poured into a player with a very low probability of winning? Unless they were fools, it was a natural step to pour bets into other players who were more likely to win.

Beomseok was aiming for this.

In his case, the only known record was the test record given to individual participants, and even that was barely at the cutoff level, so there was no way that any gambler would have any expectations for him. In addition, if a large sum of 300,000 krang was poured in as soon as betting started, it was obvious that the expected income would drop significantly, so no one would bet on him. Then, naturally, the expected income would increase significantly.

As the hour hand pointed to 9 o’clock, Laimi’s anxious voice was heard.

“Beomseok. Betting is open.”

It was starting now.

“Good. Then bet 300,000 krang each on my 200M and 400M games to be held in the morning.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Following that, Laimi bet 300,000 krang each on the virtual keyboard floating in the air. With this, the betting for all the games to be participated in in the morning was completed. Of course, there were the semi-finals and finals in the afternoon, but the group allocation was divided differently depending on the record results of the morning games, so it was not possible to bet now.

Beomseok monitored for a while and then went out to the track. He wanted to watch a little more, but for now, it was better to warm up for the game.

– We will start the 200-meter preliminary in 10 minutes. The first group of players participating in the game, please stand by in front of the starting line.

At the broadcast announcement, Beomseok, who was in the middle of stretching, straightened his back and walked towards the starting line. Many elves walked behind him as if following him. They were the players who were going to run in the 200M track race, and they were trying to prepare in advance because their turn would come soon.

“200M preliminary first group players! Everyone to the track!”

As soon as those words came out, some of the elves who were preparing stepped forward. Beomseok secretly looked at the information windows of his competitors. There was no special meaning, and it was an intention to check the abilities of the opponents he would be running with. Athletics was classified as a sport that was greatly affected by physical stats because the technology was simple. In particular, track races were even more so, so if you only checked the information window, you could roughly tell how many seconds the opponent would run in.

Well, it was already useless to check because he had already placed a bet, but that’s not how people’s minds work.

‘Good. Everyone is at a level that I can be relieved at.’

The stats that are the main focus of running are agility, strength, and stamina. Among these, the most affected was agility, and all seven people running together were below 70. After all, it was impossible for a monster like him to surpass Beomseok in a city competition, not a local government competition.

Beomseok glanced at the group of other elves waiting for their turn outside the track. And he focused his attention on a woman with blonde hair neatly braided and her hair up so that her neck was clearly visible. She was Agelia, an elf and currently a professional athlete belonging to Darwin Pharmaceuticals. Her 100M record recorded a while ago was a whopping 5.275 seconds. It was almost close to Beomseok’s record, so he had to pay attention. In particular, she was a sprinter who ran the 100M, 200M, 400M, and 400M relays, so there was a high possibility that she would run on the same line as Beomseok.

Beep.

“First group. Everyone in your positions.”

At those words, Beomseok hurriedly straightened his posture. Then, he put both feet on the starting block, bent his upper body forward, and put both hands on the floor.

At that time, Laimi’s voice was heard from afar.

“Beomseok! It’s 37 to 1!”

At those words, Beomseok, who was preparing to start, smiled brightly. The strategy worked perfectly. The fact that the total betting amount exceeded 10 million krang, even though it was the first game, was very encouraging.

And the sound of an electronic sound coming from somewhere.

Beep beep beep. Ding!

As soon as that sound ended, the players of the first group kicked off and jumped out. A game that would end in a very short moment. But for Beomseok, it was a very important game with a huge sum of over 10 million krang at stake.

‘Hahaha. Good, I can win!’

A roar of cheers erupted from the stands, which were already full.

The pounding of his heart and the powerful, dynamic legs like whips. Beomseok was smiling with his mouth torn apart, regardless of the bodily signals that were being transmitted every moment. He confirmed that he was running on the same line as the first group leader, who was running at full speed even though he was running with plenty of energy to spare.

If he went to the finish line like this and spurted, he would be guaranteed to be the first in the group without any surprises.

“Huh?!”

Beomseok, who had reached the last 15-meter point in an instant, began to dash towards the goal. The elf runner who had been running with him until then was surprised and chased after him with all his might, but could not catch up. 10 meters, 5 meters, and goal!

His 200m preliminary record, which can be seen at the top of the 3D video, was 11.019 seconds.

Beomseok, convinced that he was first place, shouted and raised both hands with fists clenched. Then, he wrapped the white tape around his waist all over his body and jumped around looking at the audience seats.

Following that, Laimi, who had been chasing after him through the photo line outside the track, ran towards Beomseok and hugged him.

“Beomseok! It’s a whopping 11.1 million krang. 11.1 million krang!”

In fact, after deducting the 5% commission and the 300,000 krang betting fee, it was about 10.15 million krang. But even this amount was easily more than one-third of Laimi’s value. She couldn’t help but be so happy, caught up in the hope that she could serve her master.

“Laimi. We did it! Hahaha!”

“Sniff. Yes.”

Beomseok was constantly striking victory poses. And Laimi, who was hugged in his arms, was shedding tears like chicken droppings.

However, the atmosphere in the audience seats was not very good. It was because they lost a lot of money because some unknown beggar won first place. In addition, those rotten things were messing with their nerves by loitering in front of them as if they had won the world championship at the World Championships.

“Hey! You bastard! Get in quickly!”

“Yeah! A guy who came in first in the preliminary round, what the hell is this fuss!”

Sensing the ominous atmosphere in the audience seats, Beomseok calmed down and looked around.

Then, oh my god. Not only was the audience angry, but a man who appeared to be the host was waving his hands, telling him to get out quickly because he had to proceed with the next game. Also, one of the players who ran with him was looking at them with a look of madness and spinning his index finger around his ear. Only now did he think that he had been too excited in the preliminary game, so he patted Laimi and quickly left the track.

—————–

Next, I’ll go again.