Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 190

The God Knights’ second match was against the Blood Vampires, who had defeated the Flying Angels in the A2 group match. Compared to their first opponent, the Splash Mousses, the Blood Vampires were a significantly weaker team. The God Knights easily defeated them with a score of 3 wins and 1 draw. Beom-seok only participated in one round, and the team advanced to the third match.

Three days later came the semi-final match against Dark Chaos. The God Knights fielded many second-string gladiators in this match, and as expected, they suffered a crushing defeat, losing three rounds in a row. Although heavily criticized by fans, they took solace in the fact that they would be in top condition for the 3rd and 4th place match and prepared accordingly.

“Come on, come on! We have hot dogs! Delicious hot dogs for only 20 krang!”

Beom-seok and the God Knights team members had come to a colosseum in Siot City, located within the Silronia region government. They walked together along a street lined with stalls. Fans wearing black and white shirts passed by frequently, glancing at them with animosity. Today was the day of the semi-final match between the Black Cats and Chaplin Whisper. Depending on the outcome of this match, their favorite team could face the God Knights in the 3rd and 4th place match. However, the fans’ eyes did not yet contain outright hostility. They seemed confident that their team would make it to the finals and win promotion.

‘Still, this is a bit unnerving.’

Feeling awkward, Beom-seok quickened his pace and entered the Siot City Colosseum. There was no point in lingering and risking a fight with ill-tempered fans, which would not be good for the team. Aside from the hefty fines, if things escalated, they could lose their right to participate in the 3rd and 4th place match or even have their promotion nullified.

Soon after, they arrived at the stands and sat in the VIP seats on the west side, a neutral area, and waited for the match to begin.

Wriggle wriggle. Wriggle wriggle.

The 60,000-seat Siot City Colosseum buzzed with activity. Divided into two sides, with VIP seats in the west and general seats in the east, the fans were shouting at the top of their lungs, hoping for their team to win.

Finally, with the signal to enter, the gladiators of the Black Cats and Chaplin Whisper entered the arena, a circular space 100 meters in diameter. They stood facing each other on the flat ground in the center, preparing for battle.

At this moment, Diana, who was sitting next to Beom-seok, tilted her head, looking at the Chaplin Whisper team formation with suspicion.

“Something’s really strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“Those five Chaplin Whisper gladiators who were assigned team numbers consecutively from 41 to 45.”

He glanced at the gladiators Diana pointed out with an indifferent gaze.

“What about those kids?”

“They’re second-string gladiators who have never participated in a formal league match before.”

Beom-seok, meeting her gaze, responded incredulously, “Don’t say ridiculous things. Would they really put in second-string gladiators in a match that’s a crucial crossroads for whether or not they advance to the Wide League?”

“But I’m sure. I have all the members of Chaplin Whisper memorized. If you don’t believe me, I can find the data and show you.”

“Really? Let me see.”

At his urging, Diana took out her information notebook and showed him the Chaplin Whisper gladiator organizational chart.

The gladiators she was questioning were clearly listed on the second-string roster as Ionis, Landra, Yamiya, Hiyas, and Emirese. As she said, they had never participated in a formal league match, and furthermore, they had never even appeared in a second-string match. Moreover, what was even more absurd was that they were all young elves under the age of 10, and only one of them had a history of playing for another professional team.

Beom-seok couldn’t help but be dumbfounded that they were putting these rookies in such an important match.

“Chaplin Whisper. Are they crazy? Why are they sending out kids like this in today’s match? Are they perhaps aiming for the 3rd and 4th place match like us?”

Diana shook her head strongly, denying it.

“There’s absolutely no way. Chaplin Whisper is somewhat ahead of the Black Cats team in terms of strength, and their gladiator pool is solid. Their situation is completely different from ours.”

“Then why are they doing such a crazy thing?”

“W-Well, I don’t know either. But we’ll find out when the match starts.”

Indeed, the outcome of the match would be revealed once it started, and based on that, they could easily grasp Chaplin Whisper’s intentions. The reason Beom-seok could think so leisurely was because he was in the position of an observer. Rops, the coach of the Black Cats team, who had to face them directly, must be on pins and needles, unable to predict the future at all.

‘By the way, Emirese? I’ve heard that name somewhere before. Who was she?’

Beom-seok, repeating the name of one of the unidentified five in his head, subtly looked at the screen Diana had opened again. If she was a gladiator he remembered, she was likely a fairly famous gladiator or a promising prospect, so it was worth checking out.

And Beom-seok’s eyes widened when he saw that the gladiator Emirese had previously played for Sea Undines. It was a gladiator he had noticed when the God Knights were active in the amateur league two years ago. He quickly opened his electronic notebook and searched for information about Emirese.

‘That’s right. It’s that kid, Emirese!’

Emirese had a high growth potential of 948 and was also excellent in swordsmanship, so she was playing as a starter in the Wide League team Sea Undines despite her young age. As a result, her price was quite high, so Beom-seok could only smack his lips, and he eventually gave up his desire after hearing that another team had secretly recruited her.

But now, she was wearing the Chaplin Whisper suit and appearing in this place. If she hadn’t been idle for the past two years, she would have become a considerable powerhouse. If the other four were also of similar skill level, then the Black Cats would be in for a tough time today.

“Looks like the opponent for the 3rd and 4th place match will be the Black Cats after all.”

Diana replied calmly to Beom-seok’s sudden words.

“I think Chaplin Whisper will win too. I have a feeling that those five rookies are definitely hiding something special. Otherwise, there’s no way they would have put them in a match like today’s.”

Beom-seok nodded and briefly got up from his seat to look at Erpina, who was sitting behind him. He needed to get closer to open the information window and check their abilities, but it was impossible now because of the distance. Her characteristic, ‘keen eye,’ could identify the information even if there was some numerical error, as long as the gladiator was in her field of vision. Although there was a limit of having to watch for 5 minutes, he thought he could check the abilities of all the unidentified Chaplin Whisper gladiators if he watched today’s match.

“Erpina. Find out the abilities of Ionis, number 41 of Chaplin Whisper, and Landra, number 42, Yamiya, number 43, and Hiyas, number 44, and let me know. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Beom-seok sat down again, the gladiators from both teams were slowly closing the distance as a whistle blew.

At that moment, Chaplin Whisper’s formation suddenly changed to a Boar’s Head formation [an offensive formation that sacrifices defense for attack]. The Boar’s Head formation is rarely used in tournament matches where the team’s survival is at stake. In order not to lose in a match, you had to avoid wasting even one round and constantly strive not to lose. The Boar’s Head formation was like a double-edged sword that could lead to defeat if not managed properly.

“Aren’t they taking too much of a risk?”

The moment Beom-seok expressed his doubts, the Chaplin Whisper gladiators rushed towards the Black Cats’ solid defensive line all at once. And just before the collision between the two teams, the gladiators who appeared to be Ionis and Landra vigorously swung the whips they were holding towards the Black Cats’ formation.

Whack. Whack.

The heavy whips, like clubs, quickly broke the Black Cats’ formation into three pieces and skillfully bound two gladiators, lifting them into the air. And then, the ends of the whips returned to Ionis and Landra, strongly slamming them into both sides of the arena.

At this, Beom-seok’s eyes widened, and he jumped up from his seat. The technique of Amelie, a legendary gladiator of the past, was being displayed in the arena.

‘They’re definitely Amelie’s disciples! She’s the mentor who laid the foundation for Rebecca’s transformation swordsmanship, and she’s also the elf who is Father’s lover.’

While he was surprised, Yamiya, Hiyas, and Emirese, led by Rebecca, penetrated deeply into the Black Cats team’s formation, which was in chaos, and wildly stirred them up, wielding their swords like wolves attacking a flock of sheep.

The Black Cats’ gladiators were pitifully collapsing without being able to resist. At that time, the match was stopped, and the medical staff rushed out of the Black Cats’ dugout and ran towards one of the gladiators who had been attacked by the whip a moment ago. Whether she was injured by the fall damage due to the height difference, she was unconscious and being carried on a floating stretcher.

But the more frightening fact was that nearly half of the Black Cats gladiators were lying on the floor, devastated. Originally, when a wearer is injured, the suit’s brainwave detection sensor immediately informs the dugout of this fact via wireless communication, so the time it takes to stop the match and for the medical staff to come out is almost instantaneous. It was partly because the Black Cats’ dugout was in a state of confusion and sent out the medical staff late, but it was hard to believe that they had suffered so much damage in such a short time.

‘Ugh. The difference in class that Director Vincent talked about is exactly this.’

Beom-seok recalled the conversation he had with Vincent while recruiting Gelsomina and bit his lip. At the time, he vaguely understood that the gap between the God Knights and Chaplin Whisper was widening due to the recruitment of gladiators using massive financial power, but after watching today’s match, it was completely different. Chaplin Whisper was already reaching a distant mountaintop that his fingertips could not reach.

“Hoo~ Looks like the opponent for the 3rd and 4th place match has been definitely decided.”

Diana, with a serious face, expressed her agreement.

“Yes, that’s right. Even though there’s no time to come up with countermeasures, the fact that the Black Cats collapsed so easily means that there’s a big difference in skill. As I predict, the winner of this tournament will be Chaplin Whisper.”

Beom-seok let out a sigh and a hollow laugh.

“Hoo hoo. Does that mean they’re stronger than the Dark Chaos team?”

“Yes. Probably.”

“Hoo~ This is driving me crazy.”

He expressed his feelings through profanity, wearing a frustrated expression. Fortunately, there was no chance of meeting Chaplin Whisper through this tournament, but if they were to be successfully promoted to the Delroy Wide League this year, he was worried about how they would navigate the league matches. Even the gladiator teams that were currently remaining in the Delroy Wide League were no worse than the God Knights, and Dark Chaos and Chaplin Whisper, who were expected to be promoted together, were strong teams that could reach the top of the league even with their current strength. As much as the level of the Delroy Wide League had increased, the risk of relegation had become even greater.

‘Maybe it’s better not to get promoted at all.’

However, Beom-seok immediately shook his head. Even if they were relegated the very next year, it was much better to participate in the Wide League than not to.

The benefit of being in the Wide League was the income. The daily admission ticket, which was 150 krang, would more than double to 350 krang, and the support from sponsors would increase both qualitatively and quantitatively. In addition, additional side income was expected from TV broadcasting rights, increased portrait rights and CF [commercial film] fees for affiliated gladiators, and strong sales of fan emblem products. With this money, he could buy several useful gladiators, which would be of great help in strengthening the team’s strength.

‘Still, it’s better to avoid relegation if possible. To do that, we need to strengthen our strength. But the money that goes into that won’t be cheap…….’

In order to strengthen their strength with a small amount of money, it was better to recruit gladiators who were in their prime rather than promising prospects. Gladiators with less potential for development were much cheaper even with the same skills. However, in the case of the God Knights, such gladiators would be less useful if they went to the upper league, so it would be like throwing money away. However, it was also difficult to insist on only promising prospects in the current situation where they had just over 120 million krang in funds. The most urgent strength that the God Knights needed to supplement when they were promoted to the Wide League was a gladiator who could show a satisfactory level of performance when immediately put into the game.

Beom-seok, who couldn’t do this or that, recalled an elf gladiator in his mind.

‘I should recruit Jeremia this time. I have to bring that kid in someday anyway.’

Jeremia used to be affiliated with the second team of the World League team Dark Hyenas, but around this time last year, she was loaned to the Great Hyenas team, which was trying to prevent the God Knights from being promoted to the professional league, and she antagonized Beom-seok. However, she was seduced by his words that he would become her owner and helped the God Knights get promoted, and soon after, she even took drugs, putting her affiliated team, Dark Hyenas, in a big crisis, and was forcibly transferred to the Central League team Golden Lions.

But now, her abilities were needed. He didn’t know how Jeremia had been doing for the past year, but until last year, she had the skills of a Central Leaguer. If she was recruited into the God Knights, she would become the next best player after Rafine, and it was clear that she would play the role of a game changer on the difficult journey. In addition, her growth potential was 948, so she could be used usefully even in the final league, the World League, and her price had dropped significantly due to her frequent troubles recently, so if he did well, he could probably buy her with his current funds.

Determined, Beom-seok quickly left the stadium and went to a secluded place.