Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 218

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A wide-open space nestled in the heart of a dense forest. Dozens of luxury bus-type flying cars were scattered haphazardly. Along the dirt path that naturally formed between them, Julian strolled leisurely with a red-haired elf in tow. His face was brimming with confidence, mainly because Prisca was following right behind him. She was a gladiator who had held the title of the world’s strongest until Amelie appeared.

However, Prisca looked deeply displeased, her face etched with annoyance. The fact that she, the team’s ace, had to be here at this crucial time when the league matches were in full swing felt utterly absurd to her.

‘Why did the team leader send me here? Why do I have to do this ridiculous thing? I don’t have time for this right now. I have to take back the top spot from Amelie!’

Prisca, biting her lip, recalled the events of about a month ago during the ninth league match. At the time, she had participated as a veteran member of her team, the Ancient Warriors, in a match against Devil Sprites, where Amelie was playing. As a match between the return of the legend and the current best gladiator, the 115,000-seat stadium was filled with cheering fans and reporters from all over the world eager to cover the event. However, Prisca put on a disgraceful performance, suffering a crushing defeat in front of them.

Always filled with pride as the best, she trembled with shame but had to admit that she had been demoted to second place. Having been rendered incapacitated by Amelie three rounds in a row at home, there was no way to excuse it. But she couldn’t back down like this. Prisca had an inevitable reason to defeat her and reclaim the top spot.

‘If I’m not the best, my path to Senocide will be delayed by at least a few years! I must regain the title of the strongest!’

Senocide was the center of administration for the entire world, and a special Walker Auction Market was held there only twice a year. The reason she associated the top spot with Senocide’s Walker Auction Market was very simple. World League-level players who were retiring that year were sold at this auction, and the world’s wealthiest sports enthusiasts gathered to unleash their collecting desires. Thanks to this, the more famous an Elf sports player was, the more exponentially their value increased, and it was very common for Elves who had established themselves as absolute legends to be sold for much higher prices than their prime, even after retirement.

Accordingly, professional teams that owned such gladiators or players showed an interesting trend. They would quickly sell off Elves who were likely to be sold at high prices in the auction before their stamina deteriorated and their reputation was tarnished, thereby securing huge profits. This retirement was at least before the age of 30, which was earlier than other Elf sports players.

However, with the recent reappearance of Amelie, that dream that seemed within reach had vanished. Now, Prisca’s only hope was to defeat Amelie and restore her honor, honing her skills through training and league matches.

“Hehe, Prisca, we’re here. The person we’re about to meet is a woman who will greatly help us in our business relationship, so be careful. Got it?”

Prisca didn’t answer Julian’s words and just turned her head. She knew very well that the reason she was here was because of him. Julian seemed to like this side of her, smiling brightly. He seemed to mistake her dissatisfied expression as a manifestation of her pride as the best.

Standing in front of the red flying bus, he knocked, and the door slid open immediately.

“Julian, welcome. So, did you bring that child?”

Julian, standing on the entrance steps, raised his thumb and pointed to Prisca, who followed behind.

“Of course.”

“Oh, quite capable. I need to reassess Julian. Come on in and sit down.”

The bus seats and ceiling panels moved, turning the interior into a simple meeting place. Julian waited for a moment, watching, and then sat down in an arrogant posture as soon as the seats were arranged. Prisca, still with a sullen expression, sat far away near the entrance, crossing her legs and folding her arms.

Julian glanced at her for a moment, shaking his head and speaking as if asking for understanding.

“Aula, you have to understand. Prisca is an Elf gladiator who prides herself on being the strongest, so she doesn’t easily bow her head to anyone.”

“Hahaha, really? I like that a lot. If you’re the best, you should have that kind of pride. I understand, so don’t worry.”

As expected, Aula understood and moved on, which relieved Julian somewhat. There was nothing to gain from the two clashing and creating a tense atmosphere.

“Then, are we all set now?”

“What do you mean?”

“What else? LHN Financial Group agreed to join our economic organization if we put together the strongest gladiator team, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. My grandfather and I clearly promised to join. But why?”

“Why else! I’ve put it together now!”

Aula snorted at Julian’s urging.

“How do I know that the kids you brought are the strongest?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? I brought Prisca! Unless Amelie participates in this fight, she’s the strongest! That’s a fact that anyone involved in gladiatorial combat knows!”

Aula shook her head leisurely and smiled brightly.

“It seems that the strongest you think of and the strongest I think of are a bit different.”

“How are they different!”

“They are definitely different. I don’t put losers in the top spot, no matter how famous they are.”

Julian sighed deeply and glared at her. He couldn’t possibly not understand what she meant.

“So, you’re saying that you’ll keep your promise only if we win this fight?”

“Needless to say.”

“Isn’t this too much? I got my father to agree to have LHN join the economic organization under the pretext of preparing gladiators to be mobilized for this game. If you don’t join, I’m dead.”

Indeed, LHN’s name would have been essential to assemble such a squad at this time when the season was in full swing. However, that was Julian’s situation, and Aula had nothing to do with it.

“What did you say when I was taking down Rainbow Group before? You said you’d only give me the Hyena Group’s ledger if I succeeded. It’s the same for me. If you win this fight, I’ll keep my promise, and if not, you get nothing.”

“Ah, Aula. Are you really going to be like this!”

“So win. Prove that you’re the strongest by winning. Why, are you not confident?”

It was such a fundamental point that Julian could only bite his lip tightly and couldn’t really argue. Certainly, as she said earlier, it was contradictory to give the title of the strongest to a loser. And he was confident that he could win this game. He had assembled a team of powerful gladiators and prepared various other miscellaneous tactics.

He relaxed his posture and glanced at Aula nonchalantly.

“Okay. Then you won’t go back on your word if we win?”

“Don’t worry. My grandfather and I are financiers for whom trust is life. We will never say anything different as long as you keep your promise.”

Julian immediately reached out his hand and said.

“Then give me the final roster and photo data from their side.”

“Why? Do you need it for your strategy?”

“Yes. I’ve launched a miniature spy satellite into the sky above here. If I have the video data, I can monitor what tricks they’re up to at any time.”

Aula smiled wryly at those words.

“Oh, Julian, you’ve put in quite the effort.”

“Of course, it’s a major event for LHN to join our economic organization, so I have to provide that level of service.”

“Hahaha, really? Are there any other services?”

“I’ve bribed the judges who will be officiating this time. Because of the situation, I can’t blatantly make biased calls, but I can get various kinds of help. And I’ve released a considerable number of wolves in the forest around here.”

Aula looked at him with a puzzled expression. She understood bribing the judges, but she didn’t know what benefit he was trying to gain by releasing the wolves. Wolves were canids, but they were wild animals, so a lot of training was needed to distinguish between friend and foe.

“Are they trained wolves?”

“No, they’re completely wild.”

“Then they might attack us, right?”

“It’s okay. I’ve prepared a powder that wolves are extremely reluctant to approach. If you sprinkle it nearby or put it on your suit, you don’t have to worry at all. And even if they attack, the wolves’ teeth can’t inflict physical damage that would injure or incapacitate someone wearing a suit, so it doesn’t matter.”

She made a dumbfounded expression. Clearly, the other side would also be wearing suits, so being attacked by wolves wouldn’t cause any harm.

“Then why did you release the wolves? It’s not helpful at all?”

“No, it’s very helpful.”

“How?”

“Actually, even though we’ve mobilized a satellite, it won’t be very effective if they use this dense forest as a shield and launch a surprise attack. The only places the satellite can see well are the open streams or around their villa. But if there are wolves, it’s a different story. When an intruder approaches, wolves alert their pack with howls, so if we just detect that sound, we can roughly figure out their movement in the forest.”

Aula looked at Julian with a newfound admiration. Contrary to what she thought, he had quite the clever streak. There was no reason to get caught since the miniature satellite was unlikely to be seen, and there was no problem with having wolves in this forest since wild animals had been living there since the past. The opposing team might suspect something, but they could never prove any foul play. However, it wasn’t perfect yet.

“What if the wolves leave this forest?”

“Hmm, that’s why I bribed the judges. They’ll be scattering food around the forest, saying that the wolves might cause damage. If there’s enough food, no wild animal will ever leave its habitat.”

“Okay. Then how will you distinguish the howls caused by conflicts between wolves or with other wild animals?”

“Don’t worry about that either. Such conflicts only occur and end in adjacent areas, but when they launch a surprise attack, howls occur continuously in all areas of their movement. The sound detection device we’ve prepared has a movement path prediction program that can analyze these differences.”

Aula applauded his thorough preparation. Now that they could detect the opponent’s movements, they could lie in wait and annihilate them all at once if they launched a surprise attack.

“This is amazing. Thanks to you, we can proceed with the game comfortably.”

“Hehe, you could say that. Now, give me the roster.”

She quickly pulled out the opposing team’s roster and handed it to Julian. He looked at a black-haired Elf on the first page and made a surprised expression.

“Louis is really putting in the effort. He’s mobilizing Eurine, who’s ranked 4th in the world.”

“Hmm, it’s a battle of pride, so he must have sharpened his claws.”

Julian turned his head and shouted towards Prisca, who was sitting far away.

“Prisca! Eurine is coming out as an S-class gladiator on their side. Are you going to be okay?”

Prisca reluctantly looked at him and spoke in an ominous tone.

“Do you think I’ll lose to her? For your information, Amelie and I are the only ones in the current gladiatorial world who have received an S2 grade or higher.”

“Hehe, good. Then I want you to take care of it for sure.”

Julian was relieved and continued to flip through the roster. Unlike other grades, the skill difference between each stage of the S grade was very extreme. S3 simply meant a skilled person in the top 10 in the world, but S2 grade meant that they possessed abilities that would be remembered as legends. No matter how Eurine was ranked 4th in the world, the skill difference was greater than that number.

He skipped past three W-grade gladiators and trembled as he examined the C-grade gladiators. An unexpected person was participating in this game. It was that damn Beomseok, who had thoroughly humiliated him.

“T-that bastard. That’s him, right?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Julian gnashed his teeth and jumped up from his seat, shouting.

“Hey! Aula! You should have told me sooner that this guy was coming out!”

Aula, who was picking at her ear as if her eardrum was ringing, frowned and said.

“Oh, come on. I found out recently too. He joined the team last.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. But why is this guy participating in this game?”

“It’s probably because he received a gladiator named Cassie as a gift. Vice President Bruce recently sold Cassie to Beomseok for 510 million crowns [currency], but in reality, there was no financial transaction.”

At that moment, Prisca, who had been sitting still until now, stood up and slowly approached. Then, she pushed Julian, who was blushing, aside and leaned her hands on the table, glaring at Aula.

“Who did you just say?”

“Hmm, Oh Beomseok. He and Julian over there don’t seem to get along very well, and he’s participating in this game.”

“Really? Then is that the Oh Beomseok who’s playing for the God Knights team in the Deloy Wide League?”

“That’s right. But why are you asking that?”

Prisca, who was returning to her seat without answering, smirked. She had unexpectedly caught a big fish in a game that she thought was a waste of time.

She had heard very insulting words when she faced Amelie and lost in the last ninth match. It was the statement that she was the second opponent to make her draw her sword. It was just a feeling of inferiority, but the word ‘second’ made her feel like she was being implied to be the third person. Prisca, who couldn’t put anyone else above her, looked at Amelie’s match videos and eventually realized that it meant Beomseok.

‘Good. I’ll defeat that guy this time and challenge Amelie with a new mindset in next year’s spring season.’

Prisca sat down and hummed happily. This task, which she had been annoyed with as a pointless waste of time, was now recognized as one of the steps towards Amelie, so she couldn’t be more excited.

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

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