Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 109

110

“You said your name is Rin, right?”

At Bumseok’s question, Rin straightened her posture and immediately answered.

“Yes.”

Bumseok chuckled at her rigid appearance and subtly stared at her. To scout her, he needed to check her abilities first, so he intended to open her information window. No matter how much he trusted Vincent’s judgment, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t make a mistake.

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Name: Rin.

Classification: Elf (5 years).

Affiliation: Dragon Knights GC.

Fame: 82

Infamy: 0.

H Experience: None.

Stamina: 7821/7900.

Social Skills: 55, Strength: 77, Stamina: 79.

Agility: 72, Balance: 75, Intelligence: 72.

Mental Strength: 73. Judgment: 77, Skill: 42.

Luck: 61.

Current Skill/Potential: 683/894.

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Trait: Beastly Nature of the Giant.

Special Notes: Promising player of the Dragon Knights GC team. Her main weapon is the glaive, and she is specialized in the vanguard position.

——————————–

‘Hmph. I was worried for nothing. Very good.’

Her physical stats were close to Widerigger’s, and her other stats weren’t bad either. Her potential was 894, so if she was developed properly, she could be sufficiently utilized as a substitute in the World League. Moreover, the trait ‘Beastly Nature of the Giant,’ which increased all stats by +8 for 150 minutes upon activation and increased the stamina and strength of all allies by +1, was very attractive.

No matter how he looked at it, the 22 million clang invested in her was not at all a waste. No, she was a promising player that he would have to buy even if it cost twice as much.

“What do you think? Do you like her?”

At Vincent’s sudden question, Bumseok closed the information window and composed himself. He had already decided to scout her, but there was no need to give off an impression that he was desperate.

“Yes. I like her appearance very much.”

“Only her appearance?”

“Ahem. I’ll have to test her in detail to know for sure, but I think the rest isn’t too bad either.”

Vincent, who had seen through his feigned nonchalance, wore a faint smile on his lips.

“As expected, you’re amazing. You can tell what kind of person someone is just by looking at them. Teach me that method.”

Bumseok, with a startled expression, frantically waved his hands. It was too sensitive a question to answer truthfully.

“Ha, haha. How would I know such a thing? I just looked at her and thought she was okay because she didn’t have any excess fat and her eyes were bright.”

“Oh, really? So you’re saying you can judge someone just by looking at their appearance. You’re not ordinary after all. I’ve been a professional gladiator for a long time and walked the path of a leader, but I haven’t reached your level… Anyway, a common person can’t keep up with a genius. I’m so envious.”

“No. That’s not it. I just said that because she looked good on the outside. I need to test her to make an accurate judgment.”

Vincent, after examining Bumseok from head to toe, immediately opened his mouth.

“You’re not trying to lower Rin’s price under the pretext of testing her, are you? If you try to lower it by even 1 clang, I might just give you 12 million clang as we initially discussed and end this loan deal. As you know, our team has a lot of money from Goria’s transfer.”

Bumseok made a deep, groaning sound at his inflexible negotiation offer. He was using a brinkmanship tactic [a negotiation strategy characterized by creating the impression that one is willing to push a situation to the point of disaster rather than concede]. There was no way to lower the price. Of course, he could put pressure on them by saying he would nullify the loan deal itself, and it would be a fight worth trying, but if the transfer fell through, he would suffer extreme losses.

‘As expected, Director Vincent is not easy to deal with. Oh well.’

Honestly, it was almost impossible to buy a promising player like Rin at this price. Before, Dragon Knights had financial difficulties and had no choice but to offer her, but after trading Goria and earning 150 million clang, the situation had changed completely. If the director hadn’t been willing to loan Rafine and Oscar, the negotiation itself might have been called off.

It was better for him to step back at this point. Since Esther was there, he could definitely get a 5 percent discount.

“Let’s postpone the price negotiation and talk about various options. I don’t really want to lower the price anyway.”

“Oh, really? I knew you would buy her for that price. Hehehe. I’ll tell you now, selling Rin is a big loss for our team. To be honest, if I hadn’t already hinted to Rin that she would be sent to your team, I would have seriously considered calling off this transfer negotiation.”

Bumseok licked his lips and continued the negotiation. Vincent seemed to be contemplating, so he wanted to finalize this deal quickly. The moment the stamp was put on it and the money changed hands, Rin would be his elf.

“First of all, the contract period is one year, right?”

“That’s right. I think it would be good to set it around the end of next season.”

That was less than a year. It was already almost a month since the season had started.

“Hmm. Yes. Let’s do that. But I’d like to add a little flexibility here.”

“Flexibility? In what way?”

“Depending on the circumstances of both teams, we can terminate the mutual loan agreement during the winter transfer market with sufficient compensation.”

At Bumseok’s suggestion, Vincent looked troubled. It was an option that would not benefit Dragon Knights at all. If he took Rafine and Oscar away during the winter transfer market, he would have difficulty forming a gladiator lineup in the spring season.

“Hmm. That’s a difficult request. But why are you trying to include such an option?”

“Actually, I didn’t think about it when Oscar and Rafine were here, but in the current state, I think our team could be in danger of being relegated if we’re unlucky. I want to prepare for that.”

Vincent cast a calm gaze at him.

“I don’t think you need to worry too much. God Knights is not a team that will be relegated just because Oscar and Rafine are gone. You’re there, and there are many other useful players like Erica and Erpina, right? Besides, we’ve also scouted our team’s second team and Rin this time.”

“Yes. I agree with that. However, this year, our team plans to focus on the GA Cup and League Cup rather than league matches. So, we plan to have the second team and substitutes participate in away games.”

Vincent’s eyes widened. No matter how strong God Knights was, giving up away games could put them in danger of relegation. After all, half of the 38 league games, 19 games, were away games.

“Why are you taking such a risk?”

“To raise transfer funds.”

“Transfer funds? What transfer funds?”

“I’m going to scout gladiators enough to challenge the promotion tournament to the Wide League next season.”

Vincent wore a complex expression. Certainly, if they achieved excellent results in the GA Cup and League Cup as he said, a lot of money would flow into the team. The prize money for the GA Cup and League Cup was no joke.

Sports betting was active in this world, and a significant portion of the profits from it flowed into the sports associations. The Avon de Professional Association alone earned about 300 million clang a year from gambling. About 60 percent of this money was spent on prize money for the GA Cup and League Cup.

So, based on an Area League professional team, the total prize money received for winning up to the 7th match of the GA Cup was 13.7 million clang. With this amount of money, they could buy a young and talented Area Leaguer and still have money left over. Moreover, these cup competitions were not included in the league matches. Of course, season tickets were not valid, so a huge amount of admission revenue was expected.

“Hmm. So, you mean you’re going to neglect league matches and increase revenue through cup competitions?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“So, if you don’t get the number of wins you want this season, you intend to bring Rafina and Oscar to put them into league matches?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Without hesitation, Vincent made one suggestion.

“Then there’s no need to bring Rafine and Oscar. If it’s dangerous, just loan our team’s gladiators. I’ll give you as much as you need at a cheap price.”

Bumseok, with a plausible expression, nodded. Dragon Knights was a newly promoted team that had just entered the Central League. The characteristic of such a team was that useful resources were scarce, but surplus resources were extremely abundant. But if these useless resources came to the Area League, they could be quite active. They were just unqualified as Central Leaguers, but they didn’t lack professional skills.

“That’s a good idea. Then please help me if the situation I’m worried about happens.”

“Okay. Don’t worry. Is there anything else?”

“What else would there be? I just need to talk about how much the appearance fee and point fee are, roughly.”

Bumseok discussed the appearance fee and point fee for Rafine and Oscar, as well as the gladiators from Dragon Knights who would be loaned this time.

First, the appearance fee for Rafine was set at 90,000 clang and the point fee at 24,000 clang. Oscar, who was going to the second tier, was set at 30,000 clang and 8,000 clang. And the five gladiators who were loaned to God Knights showed almost similar skills, so it was decided to pay them all an appearance fee of 6,000 clang and a point fee of 1,500 clang.

“Okay. I think that’s about it. What do you think?”

At those words, Rin, who was standing next to him, had a big smile on her face. The moment the acceptance comment came out here, she would be reborn as an elf serving her master.

Bumseok glanced at her and immediately shook his head. He felt sorry for her, but he couldn’t end it here.

“Well, I’m not the decision maker, so I can’t sign it right now.”

“What do you mean you’re not the decision maker?”

“Yes. We have a team manager named Esther. Strictly speaking, I’m just a gladiator belonging to the team, so I need her approval. I’ll call her soon, so please wait a moment.”

Vincent nodded absentmindedly. No matter how much Bumseok was the chairman, he was by no means the team’s representative, the manager. It was going through one more step, but it was necessary to take a clear procedure because it was a contract involving a lot of money.

“I see. Okay. I’ll wait a moment.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“What. It’s all about making sure.”

Bumseok, who slightly raised one corner of his mouth, called Esther, who was in the manager’s office. Now, once she activated her trait, the agreed amount would be reduced by 5%. It was a small amount of money, but if he saved it well, it would be a big help.

Soon after, Esther, who arrived in a hurry, looked at him and said.

“Is the transfer negotiation over?”

“Yeah. We’ve agreed to this amount.”

Bumseok displayed the agreed details on the screen and explained what had happened so far in detail. After listening to this silently for a while, Esther activated her specialty, ‘Genius of Deals,’ and stared at Vincent.

“So, we just need to give you 10 million clang.”

“That’s right.”

“But is it really okay to agree to the transfer as it is?”

“Why? Are you not happy with the negotiation details?”

“No. Apart from the negotiation details, this amount is exactly the same as the amount previously disclosed through the media.”

“What does that matter?”

“What do you mean? The trade between our team and Dragon Knights is of great interest to local media. That’s why there was such a fuss before. The reporters will probably find out about this agreement somehow and publish it in the press. Don’t you think so?”

At those words, Vincent immediately expressed his agreement. The transfer details were secret, but they were somehow leaked. This was because the team’s media representative secretly gave them to reporters as news items in order to maintain good relationships with them. This was also the case with Dragon Knights. The fact that Goria’s transfer fee was 150 million clang was already known to all local residents through the media.

“I guess so. What’s the problem?”

“What if the Red Hyena team that bought Goria thinks they’ve been deceived after seeing this article? Since the amount is completely different from the contents of the media article three weeks ago, they’ll know that Rin was the original trading partner. Is that okay?”

Vincent’s face changed color and he looked flustered. Honestly, Goria’s growth potential was not good, so there was a high probability that he would remain just an average gladiator. Then the Red Hyena, who bought him at a high price, would greatly regret their decision that day and would want to take it back somehow.

But what if the current negotiation details were published in an article? They would surely use this as an excuse to question him, and his team could fall into a difficult situation.

Of course, he initially denied it, but he kept his mouth shut at the soaring price not long after, so he couldn’t be said to be completely innocent. So, even if he suffered some losses now, he needed to adjust the agreed amount to prepare for any eventuality. It was difficult to return 150 million clang in the current team situation.

“Bumseok, I think we need to change the price negotiation price.”

Bumseok smiled triumphantly because he had expected it. No matter how veteran Vincent was, he couldn’t help but be in front of Esther’s trait.

“How?”

“I’d like you to give us about 8.9 million clang.”

It was exactly 5% off as set. If he tried to cut it further, the deal would be canceled as a penalty, so Bumseok immediately nodded.

“Well, I have nothing to lose, so I’ll do that.”

“Oh, and please keep the fact that Rin was the original target of the deal a secret. Today’s deal is just about taking her away at a cheap price because we had no choice but to replace Goria. If you promise this, our team will pay 5% of the appearance fee and point fee of the children who were loaned today.”

It was a word that would naturally come out, so Bumseok immediately nodded.

“Well, you don’t have to go that far. Yes. I understand. I have to listen to you because you want it, Director. Then I’ll have to rewrite the contract.”

“Okay. Please do.”

He looked at Esther and sent her a wink. He thought she was so admirable and so pretty. The money she saved today was at least 1.1 million clang. It could be said that she had done several times the value of her annual salary with a few words of conversation.

Bumseok soon completely revised the contract and completed today’s deal with Esther’s electronic signature.

============================ Afterword ============================

Did you have a good weekend? Another new week starts tomorrow. Have a rewarding one, everyone. I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow.