Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 214

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“Okay, let’s say I’m in. When do you need my help?”

“From next Sunday for fifteen days.”

Bumseok’s face turned grim at those words. He wasn’t in a position to be distracted for two weeks. There were three season games during that period. Without himself and Rapine, who were key players in the team, even a draw would be difficult. God Knights would inevitably lose 9 points. In the Deli Wide League’s lower ranks, where fortunes shifted with every point, this was akin to suicide.

“What? Two weeks?”

“Yes. Gladiators from various teams and freely recruited individuals will gather, so it seems necessary to conduct some organizational training.”

He shouted back, annoyed.

“Are you kidding me? Our team has a thin layer of gladiators, so even the absence of one starting member has a big impact. You’re going to borrow me and Rapine for two weeks? Then we might be relegated to the Area League next year! Do you even know how much damage that would cause?”

“The team value would drop by at least 1 billion Krang.”

“Why are you saying that when you know it so well?”

“Because I’ll make sure it doesn’t drop. And even if we’re unlucky and it does, I’ll compensate you for it.”

His voice was so confident that Bumseok calmed down. It wasn’t too late to continue being angry after hearing the explanation.

“How?”

Louis, smiling with his dimples showing, chimed in, saying.

“I’ll help your team.”

Bumseok looked at Louis and asked again.

“Vice President? In what way?”

“I’ll lend you two Central League-level gladiators for a year during this winter’s transfer market. And if you’re still unlucky and get relegated, the three of us here will pool our money and compensate you separately. Would about 500 million Krang be enough?”

Bumseok, resting his chin on his hand so that it covered his philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip], let out a hollow breath. In a gladiator match with 12 participants, the difference two skilled players could make was significant. With the increase in operational gladiators, physical strength could also be reinforced, which would be more than enough to make up for the 9 points lost.

Moreover, even if they were relegated, they would receive 500 million Krang. That was more than the amount earned in the Wide League in a year, so it seemed like sufficient compensation. If they used that 500 million Krang to recruit skilled gladiators, returning to the Wide League the following year would be a piece of cake.

“Not bad.”

“And as compensation for this, I’ll give you a promising elf gladiator. Her name is Cassie, and she’s quite useful.”

“How skilled is she?”

“She’s still young, so she’s only at the Central League level, but her growth potential is amazing. I heard you have a good eye for promising players. You’ll probably like her a lot when you see her.”

Bumseok suddenly gave him a suspicious look. He didn’t know how much growth potential she had, but a promising player with Central League-level skills would cost at least 200 million Krang. No matter how urgent their situation was, it seemed unreasonable to give her up as the price for bringing in himself and Rapine.

“An elf like that wouldn’t be cheap, but you’re giving her to me as compensation for this? Is she really a Central League-level gladiator?”

“That’s right. She consistently received a C2 rating on the G-Ranking site until last winter.”

C2 meant she wasn’t low-level. If she had that much skill last year, she would have grown even more this year. Even if he estimated conservatively, she would be worth at least 300 million Krang.

“This is even more unbelievable. Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then why are you paying with a C2-rated promising player? Her value must be no joke.”

“It’s very simple. She doesn’t have a rating at all right now.”

“She doesn’t have a rating? Why not?”

“Her professional gladiator registration has been revoked.”

Giving away a promising player who had even received a C2 rating for free. On top of that, her professional gladiator registration had been revoked. There could be various reasons, but Bumseok could only think of one.

“Is she experiencing mental issues?”

“That’s right. She’s currently hospitalized in a specialized elf psychiatric hospital. Actually, we’re hoping that you’ll become her owner and have her participate in the fight this time. We have a shorter preparation period than that Valbar bastard, so it’s very difficult to recruit useful freely recruited personnel.”

The value of an elf gladiator confined to a mental hospital was negative. To prevent problems from spreading to other gladiators, they were never sold to the general public. Therefore, the only place for such an elf was a mental hospital, which naturally incurred expensive medical expenses.

But now, Vice President Louis was trying to involve himself and Rapine with a non-performing asset, an elf, and at the same time, strengthen the freely recruited personnel. It was a win-win-win situation. He would gain a great deal from this deal, rather than suffering a loss. As expected of an old fox. However, there was nothing bad for Bumseok either. In a typical transaction, if the other party benefited, the party involved would suffer a loss, but now it was a win-win deal for both of them. There was no reason for him to refuse.

“How old is Cassie?”

“Ten years old.”

“So, she was nine years old last year, isn’t it a bit late to be experiencing mental problems?”

He was right. The period when elf gladiators experienced mental problems was usually right after graduating from elf school and joining a professional team. They entered society with big dreams of finding an owner, but when faced with the reality of having to live as a professional for decades, the shock was immense. After a year or two, they were divided into elves who adapted to their situation and those who couldn’t and went straight to the mental hospital. An elf around the age of nine would have passed that turbulent period. Moreover, Cassie had grown to the point where she received a C2 rating. To have that level of skill, she had to have built up her physical abilities and swordsmanship to a considerable level through training, which meant she hadn’t experienced mental problems before.

“That’s right. Actually, she became like that after being scammed in a gambling scheme.”

Bumseok tilted his head, unable to understand. Elves without owners were always yearning for one, so they were constantly targeted by gambling scammers seeking illegal profits. They would simply lie and say they would become their owner, and they would fall for it right away, like clueless girls from the countryside.

However, the professional teams were well aware of this. The reason why managers were always assigned to professional gladiators was to prevent such incidents. In Jeremia’s case, if she hadn’t sneaked away from her manager because she wanted to eat a hot dog, her meeting with Bumseok would never have happened.

“She was scammed in a gambling scheme? What were the managers doing?”

“Sigh~ One of the culprits was the manager.”

Louis, licking his lips, began to explain.

The problem occurred during the winter of the year before last, when Cassie was on loan to the Zelda Forces team based in Zelda City. However, one of the new managers sent with her conspired with a local gambling scammer to rig matches. He lured Cassie with the promise of becoming her owner and made her change the outcome of the matches.

Bumseok chuckled when he heard this. This type of crime was quickly discovered. The illegal gambling prevention system was the cause. This equipment detected illegal gambling by converting the win rate and the distribution rate of gambling bets. Thanks to this, he had been dragged to the operations committee in the early stages of the game’s athletic competition. Fortunately, he had prepared perfectly in advance, and thanks to Inspector Lexter’s favor, he was released safely. Otherwise, he would have been wearing handcuffs by now.

“That manager is an idiot. Illegal gambling is easily detected.”

“He was a rookie, so he didn’t know anything.”

“Huhu. You should have educated him more thoroughly.”

“I regret it so much. I thought he was a diligent guy, but he caused such a big accident… Tsk tsk.”

The people caught by the police in this incident were the manager and a foolish scammer who didn’t know anything. The mastermind and the gambling scam ring that bought them off took the cash they had collected and disappeared without regret when their fellow scammer was caught by the police. Of course, the president of the gambling company they had established was also caught, but he was just a victim of identity theft and was released soon after.

Up to this point, it was fine. Other elves would have been angry at being deceived, but they wouldn’t have fallen into mental illness. The problem was that the manager’s feelings for Cassie were genuine. He had expressed his feelings to her before and proudly declared that he would become successful and make her his elf. Then he stretched his hand to gambling scams and ended up in prison. How would Cassie feel? In the end, she couldn’t bear the burning pity and affection and turned the team into a mess, ending up being dragged to a mental hospital.

Bumseok, having heard the whole story, looked perplexed. It was because of the relationship between the manager and Cassie. He felt a little sorry to separate two lovers who were yearning for each other.

“This is a difficult story. I feel like I’m becoming a bad person.”

“Well, it might be a little difficult, but isn’t that how elves are? Once you take them, they’ll be more absolutely obedient to you than anyone else, as if nothing ever happened.”

“That’s true, but…”

He was worried, but he couldn’t help but be interested. He knew how much benefit the addition of a Central League-level player would bring to the God Knights. He could see it clearly from Jeremia’s example. In fact, the Wide League games, which had been daunting until now, had become manageable with her addition. If Louis included the two players he was lending, he wouldn’t have to worry about being relegated in this year’s league games.

‘Sigh~ I have a fire under my feet, I don’t have time to think about others. It’s all that incompetent guy’s fault.’

Bumseok recalled his own situation and simply threw away his conscience. Frankly, he wasn’t that nice of a guy. And if Cassie, who was confined to a mental hospital, wasn’t taken by Bumseok, she would have to spend decades alone in the hospital. He decided to save a pitiful elf’s life and close his eyes, and everyone would be happy except for the manager in prison.

However, there was one condition that had to be met for this deal to be concluded. It was to confirm Cassie’s abilities, the item of the transaction. If her growth was poor, there was no need to recruit her while enduring an uncomfortable feeling.

“Well, I’ll decide after meeting Cassie. I want to see if she’s really as useful as you say.”

Vice President Louis looked at him with a bright face. Cassie’s growth potential was so great that even World League officials were very interested in her. If Bumseok really had a good eye for promising players, as Rebecca said, he would definitely like her.

“Do as you wish. But you, Bumseok. If you like Cassie, will you agree to this deal?”

“Yes. There’s no reason to refuse. If she’s as you say, Cassie wouldn’t be just any gladiator that can be recruited for a penny or two.”

At his answer, Louis and the old men and Rebecca in the room sighed in relief. With individual strengths already lagging behind, it would be very difficult if Bumseok was missing. If he joined, a gladiator who could match an S-class gladiator with a Central League-level gladiator slot would be added, which would somewhat alleviate the power gap between the two forces.

Louis looked at Rebecca and said.

“Then you take Bumseok to Cassie. You know where the hospital is, right?”

“Yes. The location information is on my electronic notepad.”

“Okay. Then good luck.”

“Yes. Then I’ll go now.”

After that, Bumseok said a simple goodbye and left the building. However, he didn’t go to see Cassie that day. It was the day of the 12th match against Morae, so long-distance travel was prohibited to maintain his condition. The mental hospital where she was confined was located quite far from Avon de.

Three days later. Bumseok visited the Jeno Elf Psychiatric Hospital in Lolita City with Rebecca. When he arrived in front of the main gate, he was quite surprised by the atmosphere inside. He had expected a gloomy, eerie white building with iron bars, but it was completely different.

Although the blue energy had faded a lot because it was autumn, there was a large garden, and golden carp were swimming in a small pond surrounded by long benches. Elves were walking together in groups of three or five on the paths spreading in all directions, and some were sweating and exercising in the training room visible through the glass windows.

Bumseok, looking quite surprised, looked at Rebecca with an awkward expression.

“It feels like I’ve come to a wealthy person’s mansion. This facility is too good.”

“It has to be good. The elves here are all sports players who have shown abnormal behavior because they couldn’t bear the pain of not finding an owner. They’re keeping illnesses that can be cured just by finding an owner locked up due to team circumstances, and if the facilities are poor on top of that, what do you think will happen?”

Bumseok finally understood. They were already being criticized for running sports teams in a devious way, and if they locked up elves who couldn’t adapt in a place with poor facilities, the backlash from the media and elf protection groups would be enormous. It was better to spend some money and hospitalize them in a mental hospital that looked decent on the outside.

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

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.