Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 222

224

“What? Who is that? Surely, he’s not thinking of fighting us all alone?”

“I know, right? Why is he just standing there?”

However, the LHN [League of Human Nature] participants didn’t dare to approach. They had deeply felt the terror of the dense jungle from their experience during the day.

At that moment, Julian and Aula approached from the rear, accompanied by two elves. The elves treated them with extreme reverence because the elves with them were Prisika and Tiela, widely known in the fighting world.

“Welcome, Prisika, Tiela.”

Julian stepped forward, glaring at the noisy elves.

“What are you all doing here! You should be finding the intruder!”

An elf, with silver hair sticking out from under her helmet, responded to him in a blunt manner. Julian was the one who had forced them to come here.

“Can’t you see! The intruder is right there.”

Julian frowned as he looked in the direction the elves were all staring. He was dumbfounded that the person presumed to be the intruder was leisurely standing with his arms crossed, watching them. Moreover, the elves who should be catching him were just standing there, doing nothing but watching from afar.

“You! What are you doing instead of catching him!”

Was his voice too loud? Beomseok, recognizing Julian’s voice, shouted with glee.

“Yo! Julian, long time no see! How have you been!”

Julian blinked, then soon realized that the person halfway out of the forest boundary was Beomseok. Among the opposing team’s game participants, he was the only one who would say such a thing to him.

“You! You bastard! You’re Beomseok, aren’t you!”

“Oh, come on! ‘Bastard’! Why even ask! You should be able to tell at a glance!”

“You, you! Why are you here!”

“Why else would I be here! You were the one who asked who I was in our camp first! So, out of old friendship, I came to visit in person! Haha!”

Julian’s face turned red and purple at his mocking tone, and he shouted at the elves gathered there.

“What are you all doing! Go after him and catch that guy right now!”

Just as the elves were reluctantly about to move, Aula stepped forward to stop him.

“Where are you going! Do you want to get ambushed again! We’ve already lost seven.”

“Then are you just going to let him get away!”

“What are you going to do if we don’t? Are we going to get lost as a group again?”

“But, but…….”

Regardless of their conversation, Prisika gestured for all the elves, including Tiela, to come forward. She didn’t like the fact that she had to follow Julian’s orders, but she couldn’t just stand by when the prey she had been waiting for had come right to her.

“Everyone! Enter the forest and catch him!”

At those words, Aula blocked her way.

“Prisika! What are you doing! Are my words meaningless to you? You know exactly what happened during the day!”

Prisika looked at the lights that were brightly illuminating the area.

“We won’t get lost around here. If we just follow the light, we’ll be right back at the camp.”

Julian, seizing the opportunity, stepped forward to persuade Aula.

“Prisika is right. With the bright light, we won’t get lost in this area.”

Aula hesitated for a moment, finding it plausible.

“But, still, what if something happens.”

“‘What if,’ ‘what if.’ If we keep letting him get away, he’ll keep ambushing us whenever he sees an opening. Then we won’t get any sleep tonight! You know well enough how much the subsequent operation will be affected.”

Indeed, they couldn’t possibly get a good night’s sleep with the intruder right next to them. They would definitely have to stay up all night with their eyes wide open. Extreme physical exhaustion was expected. Even elves needed adequate sleep to maintain their combat power.

Determining that there was no other choice, Aula looked at Prisika.

“Okay. Prisika. You must carry out the operation as carefully as possible.”

“Don’t worry. I will definitely defeat that Beomseok with my sword.”

After saying that, Prisika drew the sword from her waist and slowly walked towards the forest where Beomseok was standing. Tiela and the other LHN participants followed behind her.

The shadow of Beomseok disappeared in an instant. The pace of Prisika and her group quickened.

“He’s running away! We must catch him!”

Prisika, pushing through the bushes and entering the forest, looked around for traces of Beomseok. However, he was nowhere to be seen. All she could see were the bushes brightly lit by the lights and the dark shadows they cast.

‘Where the hell is he?’

Prisika, with a clearly tense expression, took a step forward. At that moment, she heard a rustling sound from behind the group and turned her head.

“Kyaaaa!”

The scene that entered her sight was an elf at the very back being grabbed by someone and dragged into the shadows of the trees. Prisika rushed over, but it was already too late. The figure, presumed to be Beomseok, was already up in the tree next to them, and the dragged-in comrade was stiffening.

“That guy went up the tree. Everyone, surround this tree!”

“That’s it! He’s as good as caught now!”

Even though they had lost one comrade, they had achieved a small victory by driving the intruder up the tree. Now all they had to do was shoot him down with arrows.

The elves with bows notched their arrows and aimed at the tree.

“Everyone, shoot!”

At Prisika’s command, the bowstrings were released simultaneously. Branches and leaves fell to the ground along with the continuous stream of arrows. However, the screams they had desperately hoped to hear came from behind them.

“Kyaaaa!”

Two gladiators knelt on the ground with horrified expressions. Beomseok had hidden his presence and infiltrated from behind, slashing their backs. He grabbed a branch extending above his head to prevent the other elves from turning around and soared upwards. Then, he jumped to a nearby tree and hid himself again in the black shadows.

‘This is too easy. It’s completely different from the elves in fantasy games.’

Beomseok, having easily eliminated three more, crouched on top of a giant tree and watched the LHN participants searching the area. With their pointy ears, relatively tall height, and beautiful appearance, they were almost no different in appearance from ordinary elves. But their behavior was completely different. The elves in fantasy were frighteningly strong in jungle warfare, but these elves were only good at swordsmanship and completely useless in everything else. It felt embarrassing to be twisting the wrists of children.

‘Hehe. But I can’t show them any mercy. Blame yourselves for meeting me, your enemy, in the forest.’

Beomseok saw an elf lancer passing under the tree and jumped down, striking her head. And before the group could notice, he jumped back into the bushes and quickly hid himself in the shadows of the trees.

“Everyone, be careful! Another one has been hit! Never go alone!”

The LHN participants were almost in a state of panic. It hadn’t been long since they had entered, and four comrades had already been incapacitated, but they hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Beomseok, the presumed intruder. Even though there were dozens of them left, they could all be annihilated today in this state. The best way to preserve their strength was to leave the forest.

An elf swordsman clung to Prisika and said in a trembling voice.

“S, sister. We need to get out of here quickly. We’re all going to get hit.”

In the meantime, the sound of branches shaking and a clear sword sound echoed from the east. It was obvious that another comrade had been hit. Tiela, with fear in her eyes, looked at Prisika.

“That’s right, sister. I feel like we’re possessed by a ghost. We need to get out of the forest quickly.”

If she, who had the highest adaptability to the forest among her comrades, was saying this, there was no point in fighting. However, Prisika, whose pride was hurt, couldn’t bring herself to move. She was unhappy with the fact that she had to back down again to a modified human gladiator named Beomseok, following Amelie.

“J, just a moment longer. There’s only one intruder. If it becomes known that we, who are dozens, have retreated, there will be no greater humiliation. We must catch the gladiator named Beomseok, no matter the sacrifice!”

“Sister! The one we have to fight now is not just one gladiator named Beomseok. We have to consider the enemy at the mansion and preserve our strength.”

Prisika shook her head at Tiela’s impassioned advice. The game was already as good as lost for their side. The number of those sacrificed so far was 12. It was impossible to attack the other side, who were defending the mansion with a complete strategy in such a state of power difference. It was better to catch Beomseok today and save face.

“No. Let’s look around a little more.”

“There’s no point in looking around! Can’t you tell at a glance!”

At that moment, an elf was dragged up a tree. The LHN participants hurriedly fired arrows, but all that fell was the comrade who had been captured and incapacitated. At this, Prisika clenched her teeth and closed her eyes tightly. She had tried to catch the modified human named Beomseok at all costs, but it seemed impossible. He was the ruler of the forest, and they had only now realized that they were just prey.

“Retreat! I’ll cover the rear, everyone return to camp!”

The LHN participants, revealing expressions of relief through their face shields, moved towards the light of the camp. Prisika, backing away as if guarding the rear, watched the surroundings, aiming the tip of her trembling sword into the darkness.

‘I really have to be careful. Even Emilie can’t beat him here. No matter how good I am, I’ll be taken down in an instant if I’m careless.’

Still, thanks to her guarding, they were able to reach the edge of the forest without any further casualties. Prisika, confirming that all her comrades had safely escaped, quickly turned her body towards the camp. And just as she was about to take a step over the forest boundary, she stopped, her eyes wide open. The cold blade of a katana was touching her neck.

“You’re Prisika, right?”

Prisika, terrified by Beomseok’s eerie voice, uttered a trembling voice.

“Y, yes. That’s right.”

“Hehe. Well, this is an honor. To see the highest-paid elf in the fighting world right in front of me. Hmm. If we had met for another reason, I would have gotten an autograph, but it’s a shame.”

She swallowed hard and said in a thin voice.

“W, who the hell are you?”

“You don’t know my name? I thought I revealed it before the battle.”

“Yes. I know that you are Beomseok. What I want to ask is, who are you to be able to show such combat power? I didn’t feel this despair even when I fought Amelie.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m less skilled than Amelie, let alone you. So don’t praise me too much.”

Prisika shouted.

“Don’t lie! Your combat sense is ahead of anyone else. I couldn’t even swing my sword once at you.”

“That can’t be helped. The place where we fought was a forest shrouded in darkness. No matter how skilled a swordsman you are, you can be defeated by even a small fry in the jungle.”

“But there were at least dozens of us.”

“Wow, even after being defeated like this, you still underestimate the terrain. Just now, you guys threw yourselves into the deep sea where man-eating sharks lurk, even though you don’t even know how to swim. No matter how many dozens there are, you can’t possibly beat me alone. Hehe. I’ll give you some advice this time, but next time you face me, think first. Don’t dare to crawl into the forest where I am at night with kids who get lost and wander endlessly even during the day. This is no different from suicide.”

Prisika closed her eyes tightly.

“Okay. Let’s say that’s the case. What are you going to do with me now?”

“Well, what should I do? I thought about getting rid of you in one go, but I don’t want to decide the outcome with you like this.”

“T, then are you going to let me go like this?”

“Well, it’s a bit difficult to just let you go. If we had a head-on fight, I might be defeated.”

“Then what are you going to do with me?”

Beomseok rummaged through his chest pocket with his left hand and took out a square chip. It was the memory chip containing the data that Julian had bribed the judges with.

“Okay. First, hold out one hand.”

“Hand?”

“Just hold it out without saying anything.”

Prisika reluctantly held out one palm, and Beomseok dropped the chip onto it.

“W, what is this?”

“Hmm. You don’t need to know. You take this to a woman named Aula and tell her exactly what I say. Then I’ll let you go safely this time.”

She suddenly lit up her eyes. There was no reason to refuse the opportunity to face Beomseok again with just one errand.

“What should I tell her?”

“The data in this will soon be in the hands of Chairman Chaplin and Vice Chairman Bruce, so don’t do any more ridiculous tricks to manipulate the number of gladiators who are incapacitated like you did during the day. If you keep doing it, you’ll be hit twice as hard.”

“A, I understand. I’ll be sure to tell her.”

“Okay. Thank you. Then see you later.”

Soon after, the katana that had been wrapped around Prisika’s neck disappeared without a trace. She hurriedly turned around to check Beomseok’s appearance, but all she could see was the faintly swaying bushes, and she couldn’t find any sign of him anywhere.

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

Ah, it keeps getting late on weekends. I just got back from drinking. Ah. I have an appointment tomorrow too, I’m worried about it. Hahaha.

Then everyone have a happy Lunar New Year. I’ll see you again next time.