Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 127

129

According to Esther’s report some time ago, the acquisition of Agelia was successful. The transaction price was 32.77 million Krang, exactly 5% less than the 34.5 million Krang Eliot and I finalized before leaving the negotiation table. It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t personally welcome Agelia due to my participation in the national team, but I was happy to hear that she had become one of my gladiators.

Esther and Lexter were also reportedly busy traveling around for another acquisition. The gladiator within acquisition range was Hestia. Although her growth potential was somewhat lower than Agelia’s, she was still an elf gladiator with considerable swordsmanship skills for her age, making her immediately useful.

In addition, there were gladiators transferring out of God’s Knights. Mirle, who had been in the mid-tier, received an offer of 3.3 million Krang from the Flower Sisters team based in Mesa City in the Arkan region. After a perfunctory inquiry, she was reportedly eager to go, as Mesa City was the hometown of the master she served. Therefore, Beomseok told Esther to let her go if she wanted. Although the number of gladiators was insufficient, he wasn’t one to hold onto someone who wanted to leave. In the end, the final transaction price was set at 3.47 million Krang, and Mirle went to her master’s hometown team as desired.

Meanwhile, the Avand Gladiator National Team, where Beomseok was playing, was struggling in the third round of the World Cup. Out of the five home and away games played, they barely managed to maintain a precarious second place in their group, just ahead on round points.

Currently, in the other national teams’ groups, Murova was leading with 5 wins out of 5, and Ionic was in third place with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. Lastly, Landnik was in fourth place with 5 losses, already confirming their elimination from the preliminaries.

However, one worrying thing was that Avand was going to fight Murova, the top team in their group which included a World League team, at home in their last, sixth match, even though they were in the lower ranks. And Ionic had already finished all their matches against the formidable Murova, so they were going to face Landnik, who currently had 5 losses, away from home. Because of this, the atmosphere in the Avand gladiator world had been terrible lately. They had high expectations for Dragon Knights’ participation in the Central League, which would allow them to reach the World Cup final qualifiers for the first time, but they were far from meeting those expectations. Therefore, the local media was already subtly treating their elimination in the third round as a foregone conclusion, and with self-deprecating voices, they were strictly analyzing and evaluating that the Avand team still lacked the strength to advance to the World Cup final qualifiers.

However, the fans had not yet given up hope. It was possible that Avand could beat Murova with some luck, or Ionic could unfortunately lose to Landnik. Accordingly, they were filling the 110,000 seats of the Lima City Colosseum, where the final match was to be held, burning with their last hope.

Above the Lima City Colosseum, two flying buses were slowly descending towards the parking lot. The surroundings were filled with local fans and reporters waiting for them. As the national gladiators, led by Clark, got off the lead vehicle, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd.

“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”

“Win this time for sure! Then it’s the final qualifiers!”

“I bet 5,000 Krang today! You have to win!”

Beomseok, who was getting off the rear vehicle, pouted and muttered to himself.

‘Probably going to lose all that money. Tch.’

His mood had been very bad throughout the third round of the World Cup qualifiers. He hadn’t participated in any of the matches until the last game. There was no way he could be in a good mood. To be honest, he even secretly wished for the area team to lose whenever the national team matches were held without his participation. He was starting to regret being tricked by Clark into participating in the grueling tactical and team organization training.

He glared at the coach, who was patting the shoulders of the starting gladiators in front of the lead vehicle and sending them out.

‘What is this? Leaving my pretty Agelia all alone.’

Beomseok clenched his fist as he thought of Agelia. Yesterday, during a break, he had called his subordinate elves at the God’s Knights training camp and greatly regretted agreeing to the national team call-up after seeing Agelia’s tearful eyes yearning for him. If he had stayed put in the team, he would have been spending moments of pleasure, receiving devoted service from his subordinate elves, including Agelia.

He snorted and said to Lapine and Oscar, who followed him out.

“Let’s go! What are we doing just standing here?”

At that moment, a young lady outside the restricted line hurriedly ran through the barrier set up by the security guards. Judging by the pen and notebook in her hand, it was clear that she wanted an autograph. Beomseok, who thought there would only be home fans, smiled brightly and opened his arms in welcome. Lima City was Beomseok’s territory.

“Lapine, you were really amazing. I was really impressed. Can you sign here?”

The female fan, who passed by Beomseok, ran to Lapine and held out her pen and notebook. She had always been in charge of the national team’s free-roll position [a flexible role in the team], so she participated in every game. Thanks to this, she had definitely made an impression on the fans, and her popularity had greatly increased.

Seeing this, Beomseok smiled brightly and trembled with his clenched fist. Annoyance surged, but he couldn’t show it because it was directed at his elf, Lapine. However, there was no way that an elf who always watched her master’s mood would not know his current state.

“Um, I’m sorry, I’ll have to decline. The national team match is soon, so I don’t have time for this.”

The security guard who followed quickly grabbed the sullen female intruder and pushed her out of the restricted line. Beomseok, who watched this with satisfaction, gestured to Lapine and Oscar and joined the national team’s moving line. They entered the Colosseum along the restricted line surrounded by reporters and fans.

“Okay, national team members, please follow me this way.”

A man in his 30s, wearing event staff clothes, guided the national team gladiators, including Clark, to the left corridor. Because he always played games here, Beomseok knew that he would soon be going to the gladiator waiting room.

The moment of fate.

Now, when Clark announces the list here, the direction of Beomseok’s winter national team journey will be decided. If he is called as one of the 19 participating gladiators, he will be put into the game, and if not, he will be immediately dismissed. With his current mood, he didn’t think he could sit in the audience and watch the national team game. It would be better to go to Agelia, who was eagerly waiting for him, and give her a night of passion.

A little later, in the home team waiting room, Clark, the coach of the Avand national team, and 38 affiliated gladiators, including Beomseok, gathered in one place and had a serious conversation. In particular, Clark was standing in the center, looking straight at each of his affiliated team gladiators and passionately speaking.

“Listen carefully, everyone. We are currently in second place in the group stage, but we are only ahead of Ionic in third place by round points. In addition, the team we will face is the Murova regional team, which is expected to advance to the World Cup finals, and Ionic will face the weakest team in the group stage, the Landnik team. In the current situation, it is very difficult to hope that Ionic will lose. We must win this game today to participate in the final qualifying round. Everyone, do your best to defeat Murova! Understand!”

When Clark finished the conversation with a loud voice, the Avand national team gladiators sitting in their seats shouted loudly in response.

“Yes!”

Clark nodded and opened his electronic notebook and said.

“Okay. Now, I will call the list of 19 people who will participate in the game.”

At that moment, the surroundings became quiet. If they lost this game, Avand’s national team would only be able to be selected in the first round of the next World Cup qualifiers, which would start anew in three years. In order to find a wealthy master who would buy them for their master or for fame, they had to participate in this last game somehow.

“Ilise. Will start as the main vanguard.”

Then, a black-haired elf who was sitting in the center of the circle with a confident expression raised her hand and stood up. She was an elf who had recently been recruited by Dragon Knights and was currently the ace of the national team.

“Yes. I will do my best.”

“Doing your best is not enough! Do your utmost!”

“Yes, yes! I understand.”

“Good. Sit down!”

Ilise, who let out a sigh of relief, looked at the blonde elf next to her and sat down. She was a fellow gladiator who had been recruited at the same time, and although she was a bit older, she was currently the captain of the national team due to her outstanding skills. There was no way she didn’t know that she would be nominated next.

“Mersi. Will start as the commander of the rear.”

Then, the blonde elf that Ilise was looking at jumped up.

“Yes. Coach! I will do my best in the game.”

“Good. Sit down. Next is Isabella!”

“Yes.”

When a red-haired elf stood up, Clark said immediately.

“Will start as the main mid-tier!”

“Yes. I will do my best to repay the coach’s trust.”

The tense moment continued to flow. With each person being called, joy and disappointment were exchanged in all directions. Especially when calling the 7 people who would belong to the second team, the degree was even more severe. The starters had such strong skills that there was almost no comparison, so it was almost certain, but the skills of the candidates were all similar, so it was difficult to predict who would be selected.

“Lapine! Will participate as a free-roll!”

Lapine, who was watching Beomseok’s mood, quietly stood up and shouted.

“Yes. I will do my best in the game.”

“Good. Next is Oscar!”

“Yes.”

“You will stand at the forefront of the second team.”

“Yes. I will do my best in the game.”

As Oscar sat down, Beomseok’s face was distorted enough to be worth seeing. There were only two people left. The thought that he might have to sit in the audience again made him angry. If his skills were lacking, he would blame himself, but no matter how he looked at it, there was no one in the current national team gladiators who could match his skills.

“Next is Eirene.”

“Yes.”

“Is the mid-tier of the second team.”

Eirene smiled brightly and nodded. She had made a big mistake in the first game and thought she was out of the coach’s favor, but unexpectedly, he called her again. In the home game against Ionic, she had tripped and fallen badly while running behind the vanguard. Thanks to this, the mid-tier’s assault formation was messed up, and they failed to cross the river in time, and the vanguard who had crossed first suffered greatly, resulting in a loss in that round. This aftermath made it difficult for the team today, creating a decisive opportunity.

However, since she was playing in the game again today, she was able to restore her honor in front of the fans and the master who had disappointed her.

Eirene expressed her gratitude by bending her waist 90 degrees.

“T, thank you. Today’s game. I will definitely win and restore my honor.”

“Huhu. Good. Sit down.”

As Eirene sat down, Clark closed his mouth tightly for a moment. Because it was the last participating gladiator, the gazes around him were too hot. But he couldn’t just drag on like this. Eventually, he opened his mouth and called someone.

“Lastly, Oh Beomseok! Will participate as a backup for the rear and commander.”

Beomseok, who slowly took his butt off his seat as if he wasn’t very interested, raised his right hand without sincerity.

“Well. Since I’ve been called, I’ll do my best for now.”

Even with his loose tone, Clark turned his head without any rebuke. He could guess that he was greatly pleased with the slight smile on his lips.

“Okay. Then the 19 gladiators who have been called now should thoroughly groom and inspect their equipment and gear in preparation for the upcoming game. And the gladiators who unfortunately did not participate in today’s game should look forward to the future and wish their colleagues good luck.”

“Yes!”

“Yes~”

Amid the exchange of energetic and sullen answers, Clark turned around and left the door. Now that he had finished his work here, he was going to the dugout. Today’s game was going to be very difficult, so there was a lot to prepare in advance.

Afterwards, Beomseok and the 19 participating gladiators, who had finished preparing to participate, left their seats wearing their respective suits and gear.

‘Hehehe. Finally playing today, huh? Murova, wait. I’m going to crush you miserably.’

Beomseok, who was putting his luggage in front of the dugout bench, was laughing to himself. It was because he was looking forward to his first national team game. Moreover, the opponent was Murova, which included a considerable number of World League-level gladiators. There was no better opponent to evaluate his current skills.

Clark, who was sitting in the coach’s seat and watching him, gestured and called him.

“Hey. Oh Beomseok. Come here.”

Beomseok’s face, which had been smiling pleasantly, was crumpled enough to be noticeable. The flaw of today was that some of the achievements he would make in the future would be attributed to that guy.

“Why?”

“I have something to say, so come here.”

Beomseok, grumbling, approached and sat next to the coach’s seat. And he looked at the seat Clark was sitting in and made an even more unpleasant expression. The seat he was sitting in was the seat that Diana, the coach of God’s Knights, sat in. For some reason, he felt bad because it seemed like that hateful coach had invaded his territory.

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

Hew. What kind of rain is this that’s so drizzly? Haa~ I was surprised by the thunder and lightning earlier. The lightning and thunder were hitting at the same time, so it was very scary. That means it’s hitting right in front of you.

Then everyone, be careful of lightning in the rainy weather. I hope you all have a pleasant weekend. Then I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow.