Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 114

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The night view of Siot City Colosseum, boasting 60,000 spectator seats, looked truly desolate. The slowly extinguishing night lights and the branches of roadside trees, subtly illuminated by streetlights, swayed eerily in the strong wind. The red brick road leading out of the Colosseum was littered with trash, and the fountain, dry and still, reflected the stars in the dark night sky.

A group of people in silver tracksuits walked through this scene. It was Beom-seok and the gladiators of God’s Knights. However, their slumped shoulders and lack of energy made them look dejected.

“Sigh~ I can’t believe we were so thoroughly defeated,” Beom-seok grumbled. His words spread through the team, deepening the gloomy atmosphere.

Today’s GA Cup 8th round match had been a bitter experience, a harsh reminder that they were, in his words, “frogs in a well” [naive and inexperienced]. They had lost to the Sea Mobidicks, who used a Sword-Shield formation to neutralize Beom-seok and quickly overwhelm the other gladiators. There was nothing they could do.

They might have found some solace if they had put up a good fight, but the 3-0 defeat was hard to swallow. Even knowing that Sea Mobidicks was a contender for the Delroy Wide League championship, this loss was a shock to the confident Beom-seok.

Reimi, walking beside him, tried to offer comfort. “Master, there was nothing we could do today. Don’t worry too much; the opponent was just too strong. We have next year and the year after that.”

Sea Mobidicks was indeed strong, boasting four Central League-level gladiators and top-tier Wide League gladiators from the starting lineup to the reserves. God’s Knights, with only Beom-seok, Erfina, and Erica as reliable forces, were simply outmatched.

“Still, it’s a shame. If we had faced a lower-level Wide League gladiator team, we might have had a chance…”

Beom-seok stopped himself. Even that was unlikely. It was easy to assume that the difference between a top-tier Area League team and a lower-tier Wide League team wasn’t significant. After all, the bottom ranks of the Wide League were often occupied by newly promoted teams or those with limited resources. However, the reality was quite different, primarily due to the increased financial investment that came with promotion.

Upon entering the Wide League, teams experienced a rapid increase in revenue from season ticket sales, team merchandise, and sponsorships, often more than doubling their income. Admission fees jumped from 150 crang to 350 crang, and increased media exposure led to substantial gains in sponsorship revenue. This, in turn, boosted the team’s stock price, allowing them to raise even more capital through rights offerings [issuing new shares to existing shareholders].

The funds acquired by a promoted team at this time could amount to about 50% of their previous team value, with a minimum of hundreds of millions of crang flowing in. Most of this money was used to recruit gladiators, significantly strengthening the team.

In other words, even a lower-tier Wide League team would be a difficult opponent for God’s Knights.

“Still, Master, we made it to the targeted 8th round, even without Rafine and Oscar.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

God’s Knights’ initial goal had been to pass the 7th round. Although they lost in the 8th round, they had achieved their objectives.

As a result, Beom-seok earned 5.1 million crang in GA Cup admission revenue and 12.5 million crang in GA Cup tournament prize money from the 5th to 8th rounds. Additionally, 1,500 season tickets were sold, generating 2.7 million crang in revenue. The team’s total income during this period was 28.76 million crang, including 4.2 million crang in general admission fees for season games, 810,000 crang in team merchandise sales, and 3.45 million crang in League Cup admission revenue and prize money. After deducting 1.44 million crang in taxes and 5.04 million crang for tournament expenses and gladiator allowances, they still had a net income of 22.28 million crang.

However, today’s crushing defeat worried Beom-seok. Unlike other promoted teams, God’s Knights couldn’t conduct a rights offering, which would make entering the Wide League challenging. While Oscar and some of his subordinate elves had high growth potential and could perform well in the Wide League in about two years, the other affiliated gladiators did not. Most had close to zero growth potential and would likely be demoted to the reserves or the second team, except for Chiria. It was clear that they would struggle in the Wide League without a clever plan.

‘Damn it. The current money is not enough.’

With his current funds of 137.47 million crang, Beom-seok could only recruit one or two promising gladiators with Wide League-level skills. That wasn’t enough to strengthen the team’s strategy. It would be better to recruit and train a large number of promising players while they were still in the Area League. Area League-level promising gladiators cost around 20 million to 40 million crang, allowing him to recruit about five people.

‘The problem is Jermia.’

During the last promotion tournament, Beom-seok had easily defeated Great Hyena and advanced to the Area League with Jermia’s help. However, having to recruit her for various reasons was a burden. Jermia’s original value was over 400 million crang. Although it had fallen sharply due to the drug use incident and internal discord within her previous team, it still remained near 200 million crang. As a result, he would have to spend a lot of money soon, hindering his ability to purchase promising players.

‘Well, let’s think about the future later.’

Beom-seok, adopting a “what will be, will be” attitude, shouted to everyone, “Okay, let’s go home!”

“Yes!” The team members answered energetically, straightening their shoulders. The joy of seeing their master was greater than the heartbreak of the defeat. They had arrived in Siot the day before for the away game and hadn’t seen their master for two days.

They hurried to the parking lot and boarded Aaron, who was waiting. They sped off towards Lima City, where the God’s Knights training camp was located.

Having lost in the 8th round of the GA Cup, God’s Knights began to focus on league games. Although the League Cup tournament remained, it was held only about once a month and wasn’t too burdensome.

God’s Knights’ record up to the 18th league game was 8 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses, placing them 8th in the league with 27 points. They needed 13 more points to reach the safety zone of 40 points and avoid relegation. They only needed to win 4 games and draw 1 in the remaining 20 games, making it almost certain they would stay in the league.

Thump, thump, thump.

A wide indoor space was filled with filming equipment. Dozens of people were busy carrying and installing equipment. All the camera lenses and lights were focused on a luxuriously decorated living space, complete with plush beds and various electronic devices.

In the back of the dark filming set, Beom-seok and his subordinate elves sat in comfortable chairs, diligently reading their scripts. A middle-aged man, secretly watching them, was angrily scolding the staff.

“Why isn’t she here yet! The main characters are all here, reading the script and preparing, but it’s ridiculous that an extra who only shows her face for a few seconds hasn’t arrived 30 minutes after the scheduled filming start time! Hey! Did you contact her!”

A blond young man, receiving the middle-aged man’s sharp gaze, scratched his head awkwardly. “Well, she left early, but she said she’s late because her private flying car broke down on the way.”

“Does that make sense! Is there only one flying car in the world! She can just take a taxi!”

“I told her that too, but her manager keeps saying nonsense about fixing the flying car…”

The middle-aged man looked dumbfounded. “Hey, is she crazy? Or is she stupid? She’s resisting even though I told her to take a taxi?”

“Well, she says she can’t take a taxi and is saying things I can’t understand.”

The middle-aged man, unable to contain his anger, stomped his foot. “Why did you cast her!”

“Well, I was looking for a newcomer who was cheap and unknown…”

“Even so! You should have cast someone with a brain!”

“I’m sorry. She seemed fine on the outside…”

The middle-aged man, breathing heavily, shouted, “You, contact another entertainment agency right away and ask them to send a new actor within 30 minutes!”

“Yes? Anyone?”

“What do you want me to do in this situation! We can’t just keep waiting! Anyone would be better than that crazy bitch!”

The blond young man hesitated for a moment, then quickly left. The middle-aged man shook his head, composed himself, and walked towards Beom-seok, who was sitting comfortably and watching the scene.

“Excuse me, Beom-seok. I think we’ll have to postpone the CF [commercial film] shooting for 30 minutes. We’re urgently replacing the cast.”

Beom-seok glanced at his watch and replied, “Well, is it really necessary? She said she’s coming, so let’s just wait a little longer.”

“No, I can’t use a newcomer with that kind of attitude.”

Beom-seok clicked his tongue and nodded. As the director of today’s CF shooting, he couldn’t interfere with the cast replacement.

“Then we just have to wait 30 minutes?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’d like to ask for your understanding.”

“Yes, I understand. Then let’s wait.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The middle-aged man turned around, relieved. He had expected Beom-seok to be aggressive, given his profession as a gladiator, but he was surprisingly understanding. Famous celebrities often got angry and interrogated him in such situations.

At this time, Diana spoke to Beom-seok. “Master, are you okay with this?”

“Well, what else can I do? It’s not like the CF director is doing it on purpose; it’s just that one of the cast members broke the schedule.”

“But we’ll miss the afternoon training time.”

That was a concern, but there was nothing he could do. This CF shooting was requested by the main sponsor, Zeus Group, so Beom-seok couldn’t act as he pleased. Besides, the appearance fee for this CF shooting was 32 million crang, a substantial sum thanks to Beom-seok’s selection as one of the world’s top 5 promising players and Rafine and Oscar’s activity in the Central League. Such a lucrative opportunity was unlikely to come easily, making it too precious to give up.

“Well, let’s take a day off today. Everyone must be tired from performing in the league for a long time, so it wouldn’t be bad to give all the members of the team a day off.”

Diana nodded, agreeing with Beom-seok. They had been working hard during the first half of the season with league games, GA Cups, and so on. A day off from training wouldn’t hurt.

“Yes, that’s right. Then I’ll tell the other team members that there’s no practice this afternoon either.”

“Okay, contact them quickly and come back. Some kids might come out to train if the contact is delayed.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Diana quickly took out her electronic notebook and approached the filming set door. As she reached for the doorknob, the door burst open.

Surprised, she stepped back as a pink-haired woman rushed in and bowed deeply to everyone.

“I’m sorry! I’m late!”

Beom-seok’s gaze turned to the confident voice.

‘What… what is she?’

The pink-haired woman was soaked, as if she had been caught in the rain. Her black high heels were covered in mud, and her hair was tangled and unsightly.

The CF director, dumbfounded, approached her and said in a neurotic voice, “Who are you? This area is restricted to authorized personnel only.”

She bowed again at a 90-degree angle and greeted, “Hello, my name is Karen. I’m here to shoot a CF today.”

“CF shooting? Are you by any chance the one who said she would be late because her flying car broke down?”

Karen straightened her clothes and replied, “I’m really sorry. My car broke down on the way…”

The CF director frowned and pointed to the door. “Go home right now.”

Karen opened her eyes wide, embarrassed. “Yes? Go home?”

“I’ve already cast someone else. There’s no place for you anymore.”

She grabbed the director’s collar and pleaded, “No, no! I have to appear in this CF today!”

“Hmph. You say you have to appear, but what time is it? I can never put a child like you, who has no sense of responsibility, in front of my camera. Get out of here quickly.”

“I… I told you I had circumstances. So please…”

“Circumstances? You’re saying you have circumstances when you insisted on fixing the car when you could have taken a taxi? Are you telling me to understand now?”

Karen turned pale and looked at the director. It would be a disaster if she couldn’t get the CF job today. Finally, she decided to tell her story.