Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 198

“Then let’s have Hina decide on this matter. First, contact the Fire Ox team and tell them that we’re open to salary negotiations with Hina. After that, ask Hina if she’s willing to transfer and then we can decide whether to proceed with the transfer.”

“Yes, I understand. I will handle it that way.”

Esther said, handing over another document.

“Next is gladiator recruitment. Many teams, including those relegated last season, have inquired whether we’re willing to trade gladiators.”

“Oh? Really?”

Beomseok examined the document with interest. God’s Knights needed to address their shortage of capable gladiators through recruitment. Especially since the other teams had initiated the requests, he figured these gladiators would be available at below-market prices.

He went through the list, checking the proposed prices and briefly reviewing their personal records.

‘Not bad.’

While prices varied depending on age and ability, an Elf Gladiator with an owner typically cost between 9 million and 25 million krang [currency], while an Elf without an owner ranged from 20 million to 80 million krang. Given the team’s current financial situation, purchasing the expensive ones would be difficult, but older Elves with lower values or Elves with owners were worth considering. He made a list, noting gladiators with strong individual records relative to their team’s strength, all within an affordable price range. The sheer number of inquiries made it impossible to visit and assess each gladiator personally.

After sifting through the documents, Beomseok’s eyes widened at a gladiator listed at the end. It was a trade proposal from the Golden Lions, and the target was Jermia. The asking price was 145 million krang, aligning with the expected price range, but the fact that they had initiated the trade was encouraging. It would be easier to negotiate a lower price, and it would resolve several potential issues that could arise from directly recruiting her.

‘Heh heh. This. Jermia must have been performing very well. This makes things easier.’

Jermia had been involved in a serious incident within the Hyena Group’s gladiator team before transferring to the Golden Lions after Beomseok promised to be her owner. The worrying part was that Beomseok had been deeply involved as a stakeholder at the time. The promotion tournament to the Area League and the drug use case were prime examples, and recklessly recruiting her could prompt the Hyena Group to raise issues, linking the incident to Beomseok.

While he would likely be acquitted due to lack of evidence, it could still create suspicion among other teams. Every time God’s Knights recruited a cheap, problematic gladiator, opposing teams would cast suspicious glances.

However, this single document resolved everything. Since the deal for Jermia originated from the Golden Lions’ request, not God’s Knights’ intention, there would be no negative repercussions. If the Hyena Group questioned the deal, presenting the trade request document would resolve any concerns.

Beomseok, with a triumphant smile, separated Jermia’s trade case and handed it back to Esther.

“I’m going to proceed with recruiting Jermia. Investigate the general details and report back to me separately.”

She stared at the document with a puzzled expression. Esther hadn’t been with the team during the Jermia incident, so she was unaware of the details. Therefore, she couldn’t understand why Beomseok wanted to recruit a gladiator costing 145 million krang.

“D, Director. If we try to recruit this gladiator, we’ll have to spend most of our team’s funds. Wouldn’t that be too much?”

“I know it’s a lot. But we must recruit her. If we can’t bring her in, God’s Knights will face a major crisis. So, we have to handle this matter as carefully as possible.”

“Crisis?”

“I’ll explain it later when I have a chance. For now, just know that we absolutely must recruit Jermia.”

Esther hesitated, then nodded. Since Beomseok was so insistent, she couldn’t continue to object.

“Yes. Then I’ll prepare a detailed trade strategy for Jermia and report it to you.”

“Okay. Thank you. Now, tell me about the next item on the agenda.”

“Next is the report on the budget for next year’s expenditures.”

Esther said, displaying the electronic document on the screen for Beomseok.

The first item was the expenditure for gladiator salaries. Currently, there were 37 gladiators with owners active in God’s Knights. It seemed like a lot, but since most of them were on the second team or the bench, their salaries weren’t very high.

Silvia and Hoomin had agreed to 1.15 million krang as a result of negotiations, and Lillis, Emma, and Hina were to be given 1.3 million, 1.4 million, and 1.32 million krang, respectively. Chiria was to receive 1.9 million krang due to her recent significant improvement. The other 8 candidates were settled at a total of 7 million krang, and the 24 in the second team were to be finalized with a total of 8.3 million krang. As a result, the total salary expenditure for God’s Knights this year would be 22.37 million krang, a considerable increase compared to last year.

“If Hina leaves, that means it will be 21.05 million krang.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Good. Salary payment is a very important matter, so prioritize the budget. What’s next?”

“Yes. It’s the welfare budget for gladiators’ dignity maintenance, transportation, and improvement of treatment. We’ve allocated 7 million krang for that.”

Beomseok’s eyebrows twitched. This item had more than doubled compared to last year.

“That’s quite a lot, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It seems like there weren’t enough private flying cars for commuting, so we bought two more, and we decided to pay more attention to dignity maintenance now that we’ve moved up to the Wide League.”

Indeed, moving up to the upper league meant raising the gladiators’ profile. Beomseok nodded, trusting that Esther would handle it well.

“Okay. Let’s proceed as is. What’s next?”

“Yes. 18 million krang will be spent on staff and other labor costs, and an additional 2.8 million krang is expected to be spent on other welfare costs such as food and housing.”

That meant another 20.8 million krang. He forced a smile, his face darkening.

“Ha, haha. That’s a bit much.”

“Yes. But it’s an item that hasn’t increased much compared to last year, so that’s some consolation.”

Consolation, my ass. Beomseok fanned his face with a palm fan, trying to cool down.

“Okay. What’s next?”

“We’ve allocated 15 million krang for event expenses.”

“Huh? 15 million krang? That’s about three times more than last year’s budget?”

“Yes. To be honest, we had a hard time last year because we set this budget too low, so we had to allocate an additional budget. Especially since our God’s Knights Supporters Club was founded this year, an additional 2 million krang will be spent each year as support funds. Considering this, we should allocate 15 million krang.”

Convinced, Beomseok decided to move on to the next item.

“Let’s do that. Is there any other cost to be incurred?”

“We’re estimating 5.5 million krang for electricity, water, and training ground maintenance costs, and 21 million krang will be spent on using the Lima City Colosseum next season.”

Beomseok looked dazed and leaned back in his chair. The team’s current funds were 126.18 million krang, and subtracting the expenditures so far left only 35 million krang.

However, fortunately, the sales of team emblem products and season tickets were still pending.

“Esther, what about the income side?”

“First of all, the team emblem products haven’t been released with this year’s design, so no income has been generated. However, approximately 18,000 season tickets have been sold, resulting in an income of 77 million krang. Of course, 3.8 million krang was spent separately on taxes for this, so the actual income is 73.2 million krang.”

It was a significant amount, but Beomseok, urgently needing to recruit gladiators, couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t enough. However, it wasn’t time to be disappointed yet, as season tickets were still being sold and team emblem products hadn’t been released.

“Is there any other income? Like TV broadcasting fees?”

“Yes, there was. About 12 million krang.”

Beomseok inadvertently gave Esther a puzzled look. No matter how famous God’s Knights had become recently, 12 million krang in TV broadcasting fees was far beyond expectations.

“That much? Why?”

“Actually, the actual broadcasting revenue is only 3 million krang. LKS Broadcasting sent 9 million krang, and I didn’t know where else to allocate it, so I included it in the TV broadcasting fees.”

LKS Broadcasting was the company run by Natalie, which filmed the daily lives of the God’s Knights team and provided it to viewers. Beomseok didn’t particularly want appearance fees, but since Karen’s broadcast had recently generated a lot of money, it seemed like she was paying attention to him.

“Heh heh. Really? I’m very grateful for this.”

“And LKS Broadcasting has also provided 6 million krang for a 2-year sub-sponsor contract fee.”

That meant Natalie had sent him close to 15 million krang in total. Although she had a somewhat annoying personality, Beomseok, feeling he had raised her well, smiled broadly. She had been a great help since the Rainbow Group incident.

“Is there anything else?”

“Rainbow Hotel has offered 10 million krang for a 3-year sponsor contract fee. And 12 million krang has come in from two other places.”

Beomseok’s face was now beaming. He hadn’t expected to receive a large amount of sponsorship last year, but 28 million krang had already come in.

“Really? By the way, didn’t the Rainbow Group sign a multi-year sports contract last year?”

“Yes. It’s the Rainbow Group, but this time it’s the Rainbow Hotel. The corporation is different, so there won’t be any problems even if we receive it again.”

She was scratching his itch, as expected, his wife was different. He decided to meet Gloria soon and listen to the next report.

“Is there anything else special? I’d like it to be on the income side.”

“Yes, there’s one more thing.”

“Really? Is there another place where team funds will come in?”

Esther shook her head lightly.

“It’s not team funds, but rather Director’s personal income.”

There was only one personal income worth reporting to Esther: a commercial film (CF).

“My personal income? Is there a CF request?”

“Yes. Chaplin Sports has offered to provide 40 million krang on the condition that Director and Agelia appear.”

Beomseok rested his chin, showing great interest. 40 million krang was quite a lot. He had received 32 million krang when he filmed the Zeus Construction CF before, but that was only possible because all the lover Elves were mobilized at the time.

“40 million krang for just the two of us?”

“Yes. It’s a series with a story.”

Since it was a series, he expected at least three CF shoots, anticipating a slightly annoying task. Still, 40 million krang at this time was a great help, making it difficult to refuse.

“Really? What kind of advertisement is it?”

“I heard it’s an advertisement for jogging shoes.”

Beomseok opened his eyes slightly. A gladiator like himself advertising jogging shoes? It felt somewhat out of place.

“No. Why are you putting me in a jogging shoe advertisement?”

“Agelia is the main focus of this CF. Director, you know about the documentary about our team that airs on LKS Broadcasting, right?”

Of course, he knew. Even now, Natalie was probably diligently walking around somewhere in the training camp, holding up a camera.

“Yeah, I know.”

“The story about Director and Agelia’s meeting there seems to have received a great response from viewers. So, Chaplin Sports wants to adapt this incident and use it for product promotion.”

“Heh heh. So that’s why it’s 40 million krang. It includes intellectual property rights. Chaplin Sports is quite clever. They’re promoting based on an actual event, trying to increase the product’s credibility at the same time.”

Without hesitation, Beomseok decided to accept the CF shoot. The image of him running around with foam in his mouth flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t give up the huge sum of 40 million krang. Beomseok’s situation wasn’t very good.

“Okay. Contact Chaplin Sports and tell them I’ll do it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then the report is over now, right?”

“Yes. The report is over for now… But I have one suggestion left.”

He closed the approval window and met Esther’s gaze.

“Really? Tell me. What’s the suggestion?”

“Have you ever heard of a site called G Ranking?”

The G Ranking site was a non-profit organization created and operated by gladiator fans who had accumulated specialized knowledge about gladiator matches. It offered various gladiator-related services for fans worldwide. It was very popular, with a cumulative membership of 200 million, and it was gaining credibility compared to other related sites due to the quality of information it provided. Beomseok also often used it to obtain recruitment-related data.

“I know it. But why?”

“I’m thinking of sending a donation of about 100,000 krang to that site. Is that okay with you?”

Beomseok looked puzzled. The G Ranking site was purely non-profit, operated with donations from gladiator fans and related workers, so he didn’t understand why they had to send such a large sum.

“100,000 krang? Isn’t that too much?”

“Actually, if you look at the G Ranking site, they rank the top 1000 players in the world, and your name isn’t on it. So, I’m going to send a donation and subtly send them data on your activities to get a fair evaluation.”

“Is this for team promotion?”

“Yes. It would be very promotional if your name and our God’s Knights, the gladiator team you belong to, appeared on that site.”

Since it was a site with 200 million viewers, it would definitely be promotional. He figured even just being in the rankings would be worth 100,000 krang.

“Okay. Do as you please.”

“Yes. Then I will handle it that way.”

Esther bowed and left the director’s office with busy steps. She had a mountain of work to do with today’s approval items, so she quickly got to it.

Beomseok, who had been watching her, called up the recruitment strategy document and started making revisions. With the changes in funds, a change in strategy was essential.

============================ Author’s words ============================

Everyone have a good day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.