Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 215

217

“Huhu. Using kids. You’ve been through a lot.”

Bumseok, stretching, smirked with amusement. He felt sorry for the other pro teams who were using all sorts of illegal methods to make some money and were worried about backlash from those around them. Frankly, the manager’s salary to monitor the Elf Gladiator and the hospitalization fees at this mental hospital couldn’t have been cheap.

“Still, there’s no other way. Even though the sports industry has a significant impact on this society, it can’t withstand the condemnation of the entire nation. It’s better for us to preemptively manage our image like this.”

Bumseok nodded. He had seen countless politicians, puffed up with petty authority, fall. They lived as if their power would last forever, but eventually, they crumbled before the great force of the whole. A prime example was the dynasties that once dominated the real world. They justified the king’s authority with all sorts of reasons, but in the end, they disappeared before the guillotine or were forced to step down from the throne by people armed with ideology.

“I guess so.”

As Bumseok and Rebecca chatted and walked, elves gathered around them one by one. He couldn’t understand why, but their gazes were filled with wonder and awe.

At that moment, a blonde elf from the group stepped forward, looking very nervous, and approached Bumseok.

“A-Are you perhaps Bumseok?”

He rolled his eyes awkwardly. He couldn’t understand how this elf knew him. But then, he remembered the one-on-one duel with Amelie and nodded. The match was broadcast worldwide, so it might have been known even in this remote Lolita City.

“Um, yeah. Why?”

“Then, are you the chairman of the God’s Knights?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Then, the blonde elf couldn’t hide his excitement, jumping up and down.

“I’ve seen you on LKS Broadcasting often! God’s Knights never takes in elves without owners, is that true!”

Bumseok was surprised again at those words. Even though it was internet-based, he didn’t expect anyone here in Lolita City, on the other side of the world, to watch LKS Broadcasting.

“R-Really? That’s impressive. How do you know about LKS Broadcasting?”

“How could we not know? Is there any elf sports person in the world who doesn’t know LKS Broadcasting? The broadcasting station shows the lives of pro gladiator teams like God’s Knights and Bluebird, which have adopted new systems for us elves. Not only me, but all elf pro sports people around the world watch it.”

No wonder Karen Program’s popularity had decreased, yet it was still making over 200 million krang [currency] in sales. Across all sports, the number of elf pro sports people was easily over several million. If they all clicked on one or two LKS Broadcasting programs a week, it would generate at least nearly 100 million krang in revenue each month.

LKS Broadcasting had secured millions of avid viewers thanks to God’s Knights and Bluebird.

Bumseok slyly raised one corner of his mouth. He was a major shareholder with 15% of LKS Broadcasting’s stock, so he couldn’t help but feel good that the company had a stable revenue base.

‘I should advise Natalie to start broadcasting in all time slots. With millions of regular viewers, it should be feasible enough.’

Currently, LKS Broadcasting only provided five hours of broadcasting per day. Despite having accumulated a lot of capital so far, the reason for still taking such a conservative strategy was that the broadcasting station had not been established for long and was still considered to have low awareness. If the organization was forcibly expanded in this state, the broadcasting station would close down, unable to bear the size when the popularity of famous programs declined.

However, if there were millions of avid viewers, the story would change 180 degrees. Since the number of searches was guaranteed, funds to support the vast organizational power would steadily flow into the company.

Bumseok stroked the hair of the blonde elf who had given him good information.

“I see. Anyway, please continue to watch a lot in the future.”

“Yes. I’ll always support you.”

“Thanks. Then, take care.”

As Bumseok was about to leave, another elf approached.

“Bumseok. But what brings you to our hospital today?”

Bumseok, looking at the elves gathered around him, wore a troubled expression. He could roughly guess how they would feel if he told them the truth. Cash was leaving to find an owner, while someone had to stay and live lonely for decades, so their hearts couldn’t help but be disturbed.

At that moment, Rebecca quietly whispered in his ear.

“Bumseok. You must not reveal the truth.”

“Why not?”

She looked at the elves surrounding them and held back her words.

“Anyway, you can’t. I’ll explain the reason later.”

He didn’t know what she meant, but Bumseok decided to follow her advice for now. Because she was talking so seriously, he judged that there was some important reason. So, he vaguely said that he came to meet an acquaintance in the hospital and quickly left the place.

Bumseok, walking down the quiet hallway of the hospital building, said.

“But why can’t I reveal the fact that I’m taking Cash?”

“It’s okay to talk about that, but the words that come after that must never be known.”

“What words?”

“The fact that you’re recruiting Cash for almost free.”

Bumseok, still unable to understand, tilted his head.

“Why? Is it related to the upcoming fight?”

“No. It’s all because of the God’s Knights team’s operating method. You may not feel it well because you’re quietly staying still now, but in fact, existing pro gladiator teams are expressing great concern about God’s Knights’ system. That is, the policy of not bringing in gladiators without owners into the team.”

“So what if that’s the case?”

“If something goes wrong, the system maintained by the existing pro teams could collapse.”

Bumseok shook his hand, saying it didn’t make sense.

“What are you talking about? Why would they go bankrupt because of us?”

“It’s simple. It’s because of reasons like today. Right now, some tycoons are looking at God’s Knights’ example and trying to create teams in the same way. It’s because of their desire to have their own harem team. But imagine that the number increases dramatically, and they explore mental hospitals to buy cheap and skilled gladiators? What would happen?”

“What would happen? It’s a win-win for both sides. This side is happy to buy gladiators cheaply, and the other side can sell elf gladiators with negative values and make some money, so it’s not bad.”

Rebecca, looking at him seriously, shook her head.

“Of course, it looks like that on the surface. But if a significant number of elves who come to mental hospitals find happiness by meeting owners in this way, what kind of reaction would the elf players in existing teams show?”

Then, without a doubt, a riot-level situation would occur. If they could meet an owner by going to a mental hospital, there was no need to stay in the existing pro team.

“T-That’s right. It would be very fatal to other pro teams.”

“Yes. The team will face a collapse-level ending in exchange for selling gladiators at a very low price. So, the existing pro teams have made a secret agreement on this. When selling elves sent to mental hospitals to teams like God’s Knights, they must call for a higher price than the original price. That’s why Vice President Louis prepared this fake document.”

Bumseok made all sorts of ugly faces. He was happy that he had found a route to buy cheap and good gladiators, but this was going over the water at the beginning. He didn’t understand, but he was annoyed because he was the one who was harmed.

“That’s too much. God’s Knights isn’t some axis of evil, why are they colluding in such a petty way?”

“It’s their way of trying to survive, so there’s nothing we can do. But don’t worry. They’ve decided not to interfere at all when selling healthy gladiators.”

Bumseok didn’t even scoff at those words. The elves in the mental hospital were a matter of life and death for other pro teams, so they were tolerating it, but if they restricted even ordinary gladiators, the story would be different. If that happened, this side also had all sorts of thoughts.

“Lucky for them. They didn’t do anything to hang themselves.”

Rebecca turned her head at his serious threatening remarks.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean? I’m saying that if they restrict even ordinary gladiator recruitment, I would have gone wild. If I stirred up public opinion and flirted with expensive elf gladiators, they would suffer no small amount of damage. Because if they don’t sell it to me cheaply, the elf won’t stay still.”

Rebecca felt a momentary eerie feeling. If that happened, a war would break out in the sports world.

“That can’t happen! The trend is still with the existing pro teams.”

“Huhu. But the justification is on my side. God’s Knights is running a pro team fairly, not through illegal means.”

“But the unilateral majority may try to eliminate God’s Knights by catching some fault. Do you want to dissolve the team into thin air?”

“I don’t have any reason to worry about the team dissolving in that situation anyway. If I can’t recruit gladiators, it will naturally go bankrupt, right? And it doesn’t matter if it dissolves. If I have money, I can create a second and third God’s Knights endlessly through other people. If I keep messing with them so persistently, I’ll eventually win.”

“Is that as easy as it sounds?”

“Of course it’s not easy. If God’s Knights goes bankrupt in that way, I’ll open an elf market. After that, I’ll go around elf schools all over the world, absorb a large number of promising players, train them, and put them into teams under my control, and then bring them up to the pro league in large numbers and start a war again. Then, eventually, the system I adopted will win.”

Bumseok’s ability to see promising players was something that even Director Vincent would give up on. If he created a powerful team with his ability and continued to promote them to the pro level, the existing pro teams would eventually have no choice but to give up on the sanctions. It’s only once or twice that they bring down a healthy team with unreasonable methods, and if they continue to do so, it will cause a great stir in society.

After that, Bumseok’s forces, armed with legality and justification, would grow by stealing the gladiators of existing teams at very low prices through media play, and later would collapse the current pro system.

“T-That’s right.”

“So, tell them not to do such things behind my back again. If they misjudge and touch my temper, they’ll be gone.”

“Huu~ I understand. I’ll talk to Vice President Louis and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Rebecca felt a bit regretful for having said it, but on the other hand, she was relieved that she had grasped his intentions in advance. She knew that if other pro team forces misjudged and sanctioned God’s Knights, it would lead to the worst situation, so she could prevent the crisis in advance. That much, Bumseok’s remarks were a threat to the existing pro teams.

Rebecca, sighing, took him to the ward where Cash was staying. The reason she came here today was to take Bumseok to Cash.

“Ah. Cash, you mean? She’s doing swordsmanship training right now.”

Bumseok and Rebecca wore puzzled expressions at the words of the elf nurse sitting at the ward station. Most elf gladiators who went straight to mental hospitals were very disgusted with swords. It was the cause of their ruined lives, so they naturally couldn’t stand to see it. But Cash was training with that sword that was like an enemy. It was completely incomprehensible with general common sense.

Unable to bear his curiosity, he asked a question.

“Why is she doing swordsmanship training? Usually, they don’t do that, right?”

“I don’t know because she doesn’t talk. All we know is that she’s been training from dawn to night every day since she came to this hospital.”

Although it was amazing, Bumseok didn’t think it was a bad thing. If she continued to learn swordsmanship, the gap of over a year wouldn’t be that big.

“Really? How do I get to Cash?”

“First, can you tell me about your relationship? Cash is a person of interest because she’s involved in a crime, so her identity must be confirmed before you can visit her.”

Rebecca held out an electronic document and said.

“I’m Rebecca, an agent of Vice President Louis of the Federal Gladiator Association. I came here on business, so tell me quickly.”

The elf nurse, confirming the contents of the document, relaxed her suspicious expression. Cash’s ownership on the document was Vice President Louis.

“Ah. Is that so? Then, if you go down to the first floor and go out the back door, you’ll find a backyard that’s blocked on all sides. She’s probably training there.”

Bumseok, hearing those words, hurried to the backyard of the hospital. He seemed eager to see Cash, who might become his new lover elf.

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

Everyone, have a nice day. I’ll see you again next time.