Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 102

103

*Swoosh.*

As Beom-seok and his group stepped out of the elevator, an elf, seemingly a hotel employee, approached to guide them. They followed the gently curving hallway until they reached a wide, wooden door. The employee opened it, revealing the scene inside.

A banner proclaiming ’51/52 Avand Area Pro Team Opening Celebration’ hung across the upper front of the room. Beneath it, the spacious room held rows of black wooden tables draped with white lace cloths. Numerous figures stood on either side of a silk path leading to the stage, engaged in amiable conversation.

However, a peculiar detail stood out: not a single person crossed the silk path, which neatly divided the room in half. They weren’t even glancing at it.

Just then, someone gestured to Beom-seok, who was standing there, momentarily lost in thought.

“Beom-seok! Over here!”

The caller was none other than Lucas, the chairman of Windhouse and a member of the Black Society [a powerful, influential organization], who had recently acquired the Black Cats team and become chairman of the Gladiator team.

Beom-seok greeted him with a smile.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Lucas.”

“Haha, it has. But who is this?”

Lucas looked at Vincent questioningly, and Beom-seok immediately responded.

“This is Director Vincent of the Dragon Knights. Please, introduce yourselves.”

Lucas smiled broadly and extended a hand. Having entered the Avand area’s Gladiator scene, he was well aware of Director Vincent’s reputation.

“Director Vincent, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m new to the professional Gladiator world, but I’ve heard a great deal about you.”

“Hmm, and who might you be?”

“I’m Lucas, the new chairman of the Black Cats.”

As if a memory surfaced, Vincent shook his hand. He knew that many Avand pro teams were being sold to outside investors, and he’d heard that the Black Cats were among them.

“Ah, is that so? Nice to meet you.”

“Come, follow me. I’ll show you around.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Vincent followed Lucas toward the tables on the right side of the room, the people seated at the left-side tables looked noticeably worried. Beom-seok didn’t know the reason, but he didn’t feel it was important enough to investigate, so he simply followed behind with his elves.

“Come, sit here. You can sit here too.”

At the table Lucas led them to, two unfamiliar young figures were already seated. Since it was a six-person table, Beom-seok pulled a chair from a nearby table and unfolded it. He then took a tray of drink glasses from a passing waitress elf and placed the liquor and drinks on the table.

“Director Vincent, have a glass of champagne.”

“Alright, thank you.”

As if parched, Vincent drained the champagne in one gulp. Lucas, who was about to propose a toast, awkwardly lowered his glass. Beom-seok chuckled and refilled Vincent’s glass, saying,

“By the way, Mr. Lucas, who are these two gentlemen?”

“Ah, these two? They’re the managers of the Sea Dolphins and Growl Wolves.”

The Sea Dolphins and Growl Wolves were Gladiator teams within the Avand Area League, known for their consistently mid-tier Gladiator squads. However, Beom-seok knew that the managers of those teams were not young men. While some people maintained their youth through body modification procedures, their clothing and hairstyles suggested they weren’t that old.

“That’s strange. I thought the managers of those teams were older.”

“They were.”

“They *were*?”

“Our Black Society has acquired 51% of the shares of the Growl Wolves and Sea Dolphins teams. The chairmen have already been replaced through a temporary shareholders’ meeting, and these two were appointed as managers yesterday.”

Beom-seok suddenly recalled the conversation during the promotion evaluation team’s visit and nodded. He’d heard that Lucas was buying more teams in the area league, and it seemed he’d succeeded.

“Ah, so these two are also members of the Black Society?”

“That’s right. They’re new members who underwent body modification procedures last year. They’re about a year senior to Emma. Now, they’ll be the vanguard of the Black Society’s entry into the sports field and support your team.”

The two stood simultaneously and handed Beom-seok their business cards.

“Hello, I’m Izak. I’ve heard a lot about you from Emma.”

“Hello, I’m Zeros. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Beom-seok quickly retrieved his business card and handed it to them, saying,

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Oh Beom-seok. I’m currently the chairman of the Gods Knights and a Gladiator.”

“Yes, we know. We’ve been watching your highlights today.”

After exchanging greetings and sitting down, Beom-seok looked at Lucas with a puzzled expression. He welcomed them warmly, but they seemed too young to be managers. Even if they were intelligent members of the Black Society, he doubted their ability to handle the job at such a young age. However, since he was also a young chairman and the people in question were right in front of him, he decided to remain silent.

“Mr. Lucas, is it alright for us to sit together like this? There are eyes watching us.”

“It doesn’t matter. Aren’t we all members of the Avand Professional Association anyway? What’s wrong with people from the same group gathering at an important event? If we don’t interact, it might look strange.”

Understanding, Beom-seok nodded. No one would find it odd for even distant relatives to gather on Thanksgiving for ancestral rites. This was similar. Since they met at an official gathering, there was no reason to argue.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“By the way, you did very well before. Thanks to you, things became easier.”

“Did well? What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the promotion evaluation team. Thanks to you, Gordon and some neutral figures came over to our side. How did you come up with that idea?”

He was referring to the brief manipulation during lunchtime. Beom-seok had heard that a man named Ross had been taken to the police station, and he’d used that information to sow discord with Gordon. After that, things went smoothly, and they secured the professional advancement rights.

He glanced at Vincent and Esther, aware that he couldn’t share too much of the inside story in front of them.

“Well, I just heard that a man named Ross was taken to the police station, so I got suspicious and blurted it out. At the time, I had nothing to lose. The association was trying to deprive our team of its professional advancement rights at all costs.”

Hearing that, Director Vincent’s eyes widened.

“What? The association was trying to deprive your team of its professional advancement rights?”

“Yes, that’s right. Fortunately, Ms. Gloria, an external evaluation team member, couldn’t stand it and intervened, so we were safe. Otherwise, our team’s professional entry this year would have been impossible.”

Gloria was the leader of a radical women’s group and harbored a strong dislike for elves. She disapproved of pro teams profiting from them and consistently gave them 0 points whenever she participated in a promotion evaluation. How desperate must she have been to defend a pro Gladiator team? Vincent, taken aback, asked again.

“No, the association not only made that zealous Gloria a promotion evaluation team member, but she also *helped* your team?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since then, we’ve been frequently interacting and building a relationship.”

“No, what was so wrong with the promotion evaluation team that she helped you?”

“Let me give you a simple example. You know about our Gods Knights’ medical facilities, right?”

Of course, he knew about it from the newspapers. It wasn’t just a simple pro team medical facility; it was practically a professional sports medical corporation. Vincent had heard the news and wondered what Beom-seok was doing.

“Hmm, I know. But you went too far. I can’t understand wasting your team’s precious funds like that.”

“Yes, it’s all because of the promotion evaluation team’s visit. I learned in advance that their movements were unusual, so I purchased a large amount of equipment for the medical facilities, hoping to score points. But even with medical equipment on the scale of a sports professional corporation, they didn’t give us high scores. Gloria stepped in because she was dumbfounded, and we barely made it.”

Vincent stared blankly. Even with such absurd medical facilities, Gloria was going to give them stingy scores, suggesting a strong sense of manipulation. Having been in the Gladiator world for a long time, he knew that meeting certain promotion requirements during the evaluation usually resulted in high scores. Even though Gloria had given all 0 points in previous evaluations, no team had ever failed to be promoted.

“What’s the reason? If the association pulled such tricks, there must be a reason.”

“It’s simple. I didn’t grant their request.”

“What did they want?”

“They told me to kick out our team member Emma for no reason. I couldn’t do that because there were no moral issues, and she was dedicated to Gladiator. So, sanctions followed.”

“Ho, does that mean Emma is a criminal or has moral flaws? Like she used drugs in the past or something?”

“No, nothing like that. She was just an ordinary bank employee who was laid off and entered the Gladiator world. However, it seems she was disliked by an important figure in Ross’s faction.”

The current Federal Professional Gladiator Association was divided into 7 factions: Ibrahim’s (the current president), Cooper’s (the vice president), Louis’s (also a vice president), and the smaller factions of David, Angela, Johansson, and Richard. Ross belonged to the largest, Ibrahim’s.

But the problem was that recruiting and releasing a Gladiator was the sole authority of the pro team, regardless of faction. No matter how strong a force they had, they had no right to tell them to kick out a Gladiator who had done nothing wrong.

Director Vincent glared at Ross, who was sitting far away on the left-side table. A normal director might have been intimidated by the Federal Professional Gladiator Association president’s line, but he was different. He’d always been a maverick and never bowed to anyone.

Then Lucas quickly stepped in. Beom-seok had set the stage, and now he was going to set the table.

“So, I’m going to turn things upside down today. Shouldn’t we prevent such absurd things from happening again in our Avand area?”

Director Vincent nodded emphatically.

“Of course. Those guys won’t come to their senses without a good scolding. So, how does the Black Cats chairman plan to handle this?”

“I’m thinking of removing Mr. Bite, the current Avand Association president, from his position and promoting Mr. Brian.”

Bite was in the same faction as Ross, while Brian was a member of Cooper’s faction. These were giant factions vying for the second-in-command position within the Federal Association. Even if Brian became president, the Federal Association wouldn’t disadvantage the Avand area. However, it wasn’t the association president election year, so a formal replacement would have to wait at least two years.

“But is that possible? Isn’t it the wrong time to replace the association president?”

“Yes, but there’s an exception. If five pro teams in the area propose it and more than five association members submit it, a temporary vote will be held. If they get more than two-thirds of the votes, they can replace the president.”

Director Vincent wasn’t familiar with such detailed association rules. Still, Lucas spoke with such confidence that he assumed such a clause existed.

“Hmm, but will that be easy?”

Beyond easy, they’d already taken care of it. In addition to themselves, they’d persuaded seven other teams under the guise of sponsorship contracts. They’d also won over Gordon, the promotion evaluation team members, and some members who felt wronged by Ross. The main challenge was securing more than two-thirds of the votes, but they believed that creating an issue and gradually persuading others would be enough.

“Yes, we’ve gathered enough people to submit the agenda. The problem is that there’s no special material to create an issue.”

“Why isn’t there? You can let them know what happened to the Gods Knights team.”

“The thing is, many of the members willing to help us are directly or indirectly involved in that matter.”

“No, the people involved in the incident are helping Chairman Lucas? Why is that…?”

“In fact, they were also deceived by Ross. He orchestrated the incident but deliberately went to the police station on the day of the promotion evaluation to shift the blame. The other participating members noticed this and promoted the Gods Knights.”

“Oh, what a bad guy. To commit such bad deeds and try to pass the responsibility on to others without taking responsibility himself… He’s a guy we can’t leave alone.”

“That’s right. But all of this was done by Ibrahim’s faction. Ross is just a henchman.”

“Well, like father, like son [a common idiom implying that a son inherits negative traits from his father].”

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

As the weather gets colder, it seems autumn has arrived. When the leaves fall and the ginkgo is picked, winter will come, and another year will pass. And on the day when the heat comes again next year, Perfect World will be over. I counted the days, and that’s exactly what it was. Of course, it could be faster if I do a series of chapters, but I’ve been enjoying playing these days. Hehehe;;;

Well, then I’m going to watch the Manchester United vs. Chelsea soccer game now. Have a comfortable day, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.