Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 108

The trade of Goria, which had stirred up the local media, ultimately ended in victory for the Red Hyenas. When the Chaplin Whisper team offered 120 million krang [currency in the story] with their massive financial power, the Red Hyenas immediately added 30 million, offering 150 million krang. While the Chaplin Whisper team was contemplating, the Dragon Knights immediately transferred Goria to the Red Hyenas team. They urgently needed money to recruit gladiators, and the transfer deadline was approaching. Wasting time to get a few more coins, only to have this great trade canceled, would be a significant loss. Selling an unknown prospect who might barely play as a starter in the Wide League for 150 million krang was not an easy task.

“Alright! Everyone worked hard. You’re all dismissed to go home!”

It was around sunset. Diana, having completed all of today’s team organization training, gathered all the gladiators and dismissed them. For the FA Cup 5th round in two days, excessive training schedules today and tomorrow were prohibited.

With bright expressions, the gladiators of Gods Knights patted each other on the back and headed to the training building with showers. Even though they met their master every day, they couldn’t face her with bodies dirtied from training. It was always necessary to clean up with a shower before returning.

“Diana, let’s go back too.”

Beomseok and his subordinate elves headed to the dormitory building. There was plenty of space to wash up in the residence, which was made by opening up the entire 3rd floor, so there was no reason to go to the shower room with the other elves.

He picked up the bag placed on the bench outside the training arena and took out the electronic notebook inside to check it. This was to check if there were any external phone calls during training.

Seeing several reception indicators on the top of the screen, he turned on the screen. The same number was listed several times, which was Vincent’s communication number.

‘Hmm? Why did Director Vincent contact me? Is it about the loan of Lapine and Oscar?’

Although Goria had been transferred to the Red Hyenas team yesterday, the loan requests for Lapine and Oscar had not fallen through. Recruiting her was just one option, and there was another option: to proceed with the loan in the form of a swap with these two and five Dragon Knights’ second-string and reserve gladiators. Beomseok would receive an additional 12 million krang separately.

‘But why is he contacting me now? It’s already been three weeks since the talk came out.’

The transfer deadline was Friday, four days later. There was still enough time to trade, but it was strange that the Dragon Knights, who were in a hurry, had not contacted him for three weeks.

Currently, their team had 1 win and 3 losses after four games. It wasn’t at the stage of discussing relegation yet, as it was still early in the league, but looking at their weak squad, it was right to urgently recruit gladiators who could become immediate assets. This was not the time to waste time idly.

Because of this, Beomseok had been assuming that the loan had been canceled. Since there had been no further word after the Rainbow Hotel incident, it was understandable. Frankly, he only found out through the media that Goria was a recruitment target.

“Well, I’ll find out if I check.”

Beomseok gestured for his subordinate elves, who were waiting, to head to the dormitory first, and then opened the electronic notebook. Then, he immediately contacted Director Vincent.

– Beomseok. Is that you? Hahaha. Nice to hear from you. I thought you were angry because I didn’t contact you for a while since you weren’t answering the phone.

Director Vincent was speaking jovially as soon as he appeared on the screen. He was slightly annoyed, but not to the point of not answering the phone.

“What exactly happened? You were the one who made the loan offer first, but you didn’t contact me at all.”

– I’m sorry about that. There were circumstances.

“Is it perhaps because of Goria’s transfer issue?”

– Hmm. You know about it. Well, the local media made such a fuss, so there’s no way you wouldn’t know.

“But what exactly happened? I can’t understand what happened at all.”

– It’s as it says in the article. The trade talks between you and me spread to the media, and because of this, many surrounding professional teams flocked to try to take Goria. And yesterday, the final agreement was reached with the Red Hyenas for 150 million krang.

Beomseok, with a dark expression on his face, silently stared at him on the screen. The Red Hyenas were a Wide League gladiator team owned by the Hyena Group, to which Julian belonged. The fact that such a promising prospect had gone there was not pleasing.

However, on the one hand, he wanted to know how great her growth potential was that the transfer was finalized with such a large amount.

“But 150 million krang is quite a lot of money, so why did the Red Hyenas buy her? I don’t understand at all.”

– Well, I don’t understand either. After talking, they seemed to be quite wary of your team. Every time there was a discussion, they always asked how much Gods Knights had offered.

Beomseok frowned. This meant that this transfer was definitely a provocation from the Hyena Group towards Gods Knights. He had expected it, but he couldn’t help but be worried. It was expected that there would be difficulties as they would interfere every time the trade was announced in the media.

‘Tch. It probably won’t matter much. Teams negotiating transfers with our team won’t want to announce that fact to the media.’

When trading, it often happens that the details of the transfer are leaked to the media in order to gain an advantage in negotiations. However, opposing teams could not use this strategy against Gods Knights. If the elf gladiator found out about the transfer through media articles, they would make a fuss to be transferred, and the team would have no choice but to sell them at a low price. If this transfer was canceled, the elf gladiator’s next action was too obvious.

‘Oh, but why did Goria go to the Red Hyenas so willingly?’

Beomseok tilted his head at the sudden thought. It was strange that Goria went to the Red Hyenas without any resistance, even though the media had been all over it. If she were a normal elf, she would have turned the team upside down to go to Gods Knights.

“Ah, by the way. Did Goria go to the Red Hyenas willingly?”

– Well, yes. If she were old, it might be different… but for a young gladiator, it’s better for her future to play as a starter in a lower league than to play in the second team, isn’t it?

“Director, that’s not what I meant. There’s no way a kid who was supposed to come to our team would go to another team willingly for that reason, is there? She would have caused a lot of trouble. Probably even more than Oscar.”

Director Vincent smiled.

– Hahaha. What can we do? The gladiator who was supposed to go to your team is someone else, so there’s no reason for Goria to make a fuss.

Beomseok widened his eyes and said.

“The gladiator who was supposed to come to our team wasn’t Goria?”

– Yes. Actually, there were two young gladiators who joined our team last winter. One was Goria, who you know well, and Arnold, the team leader, strongly recommended her, and the other was an elf named Lynn, whom I had been watching. The kid I recommended to you was Lynn.

“Then why was Goria the one who received attention in the media?”

– I don’t know either, but Goria showed outstanding performance in the second-team games, while Lynn quietly stayed in the under-8 team. Isn’t that how sports media is? If they don’t know, they just go for the eye-catching kid first.

Beomseok, with a look of dismay, said.

“So, you’re saying the Red Hyenas took the wrong kid?”

– That’s right. They took a very plausible-looking husk.

“A husk?”

– Originally, Goria was born with outstanding physical abilities, but in my opinion, her growth potential was almost zero. Of course, she might acquire excellent swordsmanship skills through endless effort, but her natural ability is only good enough to be a Central League reserve. She can’t go beyond that.

Such a kid could never be sold for 150 million krang. With that amount of money, you could buy a lower-tier Central League starting gladiator, but you couldn’t invest in a prospect who could barely become a reserve.

“Isn’t this a scam? Selling such a kid for that much money.”

– Where is there a scam in a transfer? If you have the insight, you buy a gladiator at a low price, and if not, you lose money. And I clearly said to the media at the beginning that it wasn’t Goria. The media who didn’t believe me and the guy who bought her after only reading the article are idiots.

A broad smile spread across Beomseok’s face. When he thought about it, there was nothing harmful to him. Rather, it meant that the Red Hyenas had made a big loss by doing something foolish, which was a very pleasant thing. Their misfortune was his happiness.

“Hahaha. I guess so. Yes, congratulations on hitting the jackpot in this transfer market.”

– Huhu. You can say that again. Thanks to that, I can buy another useful starting gladiator this winter, so I’m relieved. The team’s in a terrible state right now.

After a moment of hesitation, Beomseok continued.

“By the way, why did you contact me now? Didn’t you urgently need Lapine and Oscar?”

– Um. That’s right. But because of this Goria media article, there were too many onlookers, so it was a bit difficult to contact you. If the fact that I was negotiating with you separately was caught by reporters, it could have ruined this jackpot deal.

He nodded silently. In fact, the reason why Goria’s value increased so much was because the contents of his conversation with Vincent were exposed to the media. But what if they proceeded with a separate negotiation here and a deal for Lynn was made? It was certain that the teams aiming for Goria would notice and back out. Vincent, who wanted to sell Goria at a high price, would have wanted to wait quietly until the transfer was completed.

“I see. Then when will you proceed with the transfer for Lynn? There are only four days left until the transfer deadline. Three days after today. And I don’t have time in two days because of the GA Cup 5th round game.”

– I know that too. So, I called because I wanted to meet early tomorrow morning to finalize the transfer. How about it? Is the time okay?

Beomseok calmly nodded in agreement. He wouldn’t have time unless it was tomorrow.

“Yes. Then let’s do it tomorrow.”

– Okay. Then I’ll come to you myself tomorrow.

“You’re coming yourself, Director?”

– Yes. I can’t send that Arnold guy to negotiate with you, can I? It’s obvious he’ll get ripped off.

Beomseok clicked his tongue regretfully. It would have been very convenient if Arnold had come as the negotiation manager. He works hard for the team, but he has absolutely no eye for elves, so he could be easily manipulated.

“Well, it’s a pity, but please do so. I’ll keep my time open tomorrow morning.”

– Okay. Then I’ll trust you and go tomorrow. Good work.”

After saying that, Vincent must have ended the call, as the hologram screen turned white. Beomseok carefully put the electronic notebook in his arms and hurriedly walked to the office building. Although a rough agreement had been reached at the Rainbow Hotel last time, he had to prepare thoroughly since Vincent was coming in person.

The next morning, Director Vincent, as promised, came to Gods Knights’ training camp with a group of elf gladiators. With a total of six people, if this negotiation ended successfully, they would play as Gods Knights’ gladiators this year. Of course, the team’s strength would decline significantly for a while with Lapine and Oscar being loaned out, but it wasn’t too bad.

He would gain many benefits from this transfer with the loan.

First, Lapine and Oscar would gain a lot of experience while playing in the high-level Central League, and they would return next year stronger. In addition, Matilda, who was the vanguard, could be sent back to her original position as a midfielder, filling the void left by Hera, who had left recently. And by bringing in a new prospect named Lynn, he could further increase the team’s growth potential.

“Director Vincent. Welcome.”

“Beomseok. Nice to see you.”

After exchanging simple handshakes, Beomseok looked at the gladiators lined up behind him. He was looking for Lynn.

‘That must be Lynn.’

Beomseok found her very easily. Lynn was the only elf among the six who didn’t have an owner, so it was natural. The eyes of an elf who hasn’t obtained an owner were odd-eyed [different colored eyes].

‘Her appearance is excellent.’

Beomseok, who slowly examined Lynn’s appearance, expressed great favor.

As an elf, she was quite tall, about 175 centimeters, and her unusually long blonde hair flowed down to her waist. Her eyes were very clear, with odd eyes of gold and blue, and the bridge of her nose, which continued from between her eyebrows, was soft and high. And her gracefully flowing features were beautiful enough to match her slender neckline, and her slender figure was enough to make his heart flutter.

Beomseok circled around her, examining her, and expressed satisfaction before asking Vincent.

“Director Vincent. Is this the kid named Lynn?”

“That’s right.”

As expected, Beomseok turned his gaze back to Lynn. She was trembling like an aspen leaf, probably because she was very nervous. Thanks to the director’s consideration, the opportunity to obtain an owner, which could be said to be the dream of an elf, had come right before her eyes, but the moment Beomseok shook his head, it would all be for nothing. This moment was bound to be very tense for Lynn.

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

Today, I would like to talk about growth rate. As I mentioned in the text before, growth rate differs depending on several factors.

First, growth rate differs depending on the value of potential ability. If there are two elves, A and B, each with a current skill of 500. If A has a potential ability of 600 and B has 1000, then B, the latter, will grow faster. That’s why professional team officials in the game tend to think of rapidly growing elves as promising prospects.

Second, growth rate differs depending on the value of stats. Even if they have the same potential ability, elves with lower stats grow much faster. For example, when there is an elf with a strength of 60 and an elf with 90. The elf with a strength of 60 can see a faster increase in stats.

Third, it is the elf’s enthusiasm. It is natural that elves who develop themselves through constant training are faster than elves who do not.

Fourth is experience. Elves who have gained experience through many games have increased mental abilities such as judgment and sociability. And physical abilities also increase a bit.

Fifth is the surrounding environment. To put it bluntly, it means training facilities and physical coaches. Without this environment, growth potential is extremely low. That’s why Beomseok is paying attention to expanding training facilities.

Everyone have a pleasant weekend. I’ll see you again tomorrow.