Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 224

226

“What is this! This is a scam!”

Aulla’s physical abilities weren’t great, but her mental capabilities were astonishingly high. With all stats except for talent exceeding 90, it was hard to find any flaws. Adding to that, her special ability, ‘Hand of Finance,’ was almost fraudulent, granting a +4% profit on all deposit and loan transactions for herself and her subordinates. For example, she could maintain customer deposits that required 4% annual interest with only 3.84% interest, and she could maintain all loans with a 6% interest rate at 6.24%.

While a 1 million Crong [currency unit in the game world] savings account might only yield an extra 1,600 Crong per year, the story was completely different when considering the total deposits and loans of the entire LHN Group. If she became the head of LHN Financial Group and her trait affected all employees, Chairman Wilkins’ hope of becoming the industry leader would vanish like a spring dream.

‘What to do? I can’t just kill her.’

Beom-seok glared at Aulla with murderous intent. Keeping her as an enemy would be too burdensome. But he couldn’t just secretly eliminate her to remove the threat, because she was a woman. He was the type of person who hated even raising a hand against a woman.

Slowly kneeling, Beom-seok tapped Aulla’s head with his finger.

“Hey. Shouldn’t you say something if you have something to say?”

“B-But…”

Aulla still couldn’t lift her head. He sighed deeply. He figured even he would find it hard to initiate a conversation in this situation.

“Hmph~ Well, I’m busy, so contact me later.”

She grabbed Beom-seok’s ankle as he tried to leave. In this urgent situation, she couldn’t afford to waste time on formalities.

“D-Did you pass the documents on the chip to the other elders?”

She seemed to be referring to the data Julian used to bribe the judges. Beom-seok, who hadn’t passed it on yet, shook his head.

“No, not yet. But it looks like I will soon.”

At those words, Aulla raised her head and shouted.

“No!”

“Why not? Shouldn’t they pay the price for their wrongdoings?”

“But! If my grandfather is ridiculed by his friends because of that, I might lose my position as the group’s successor!”

A strange light flashed across his eyes. Aulla’s trait would be incredibly powerful if she inherited LHN Financial Group, but otherwise, it would be worse than a generic trait. For example, even if she deposited 1 billion Crong in a bank, her annual income from the trait would only be 1.6 million Crong.

However, he couldn’t make a decision easily. There was no guarantee that Aulla would be removed from her position as successor if he handed this document over to Chairman Wilkins and his group. Deciding that he needed to think about it, Beom-seok decided to buy some time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but let’s wash up first. I can’t have a conversation in this state.”

Aulla nodded, seemingly thinking the same thing. The embarrassing scene had already been witnessed, but it certainly wasn’t the right atmosphere for a conversation.

“O-Okay. But you absolutely can’t pass the documents to anyone else in the meantime.”

“Alright. I’ll grant you that much. But you know what will happen if you try anything funny, right?”

“Don’t worry. I would never attack you.”

“Then, are you going to your camp or the valley? The valley is much closer.”

Aulla’s choice was obvious. She didn’t want to walk for a long time in this unpleasant mood. Fortunately, the valley had clean water flowing, making it suitable for washing, and she had prepared spare clothes in her bag in case she got lost in the forest.

“Take me to the valley.”

“Alright. Follow me.”

With those words, Beom-seok turned west and began to lead the way. After crossing a small forest and a mountain, they arrived at a valley with a refreshing stream flowing through it. The slope was steep and looked dangerous, but there was water collected between the rocks, making it not too bad for bathing.

“You can do it over there.”

Aulla, who had챙겨n [taken] her change of clothes and toiletries, stared at him intently. For a lady to bathe, there should be no lecherous gazes of men nearby.

“Are you going to stay here?”

Beom-seok, wearing a disappointed expression, stepped back awkwardly.

“Of course, I have to avoid it. I’ll be nearby, so call me loudly when you’re done washing.”

Aulla looked at him with distrust as he left. According to the information, he was a man who felt affection for women as well. She needed to be careful in case he tried to peek. She had Tiela and the other elves surround her to cover her, and then she took off her clothes. And she began to wash her naked body in the valley.

‘Seriously, women are like that…’

Beom-seok was in a place where he could clearly see the valley water where Aulla was washing. He pouted and made a dissatisfied expression. He was trying to peek at her bathing, but the elves were positioned around her, blocking his view.

Well, he could let it go this far. He couldn’t call a woman who readily showed her naked body to a strange man a woman. But he couldn’t endure her bathing for over an hour. It couldn’t be like this unless she was trying to scrub off ten years of grime.

“This is driving me crazy. Is she training a dog? How can she take a bath for so long? Damn it.”

After a while, he heard splashing sounds from the stream. Thinking she was done, Beom-seok dusted himself off and got up, then went down the slope.

And as he reached the outskirts of the valley, he heard Tiela’s shout.

“Beom-seok. Miss Aulla is ready to talk.”

Beom-seok, who was already going, shouted towards Aulla, who was wearing a white blouse and jeans.

“Hey, you! Did you do laundry! Why did it take so long to take a bath!”

Aulla puffed up her cheeks and glared at him. She seemed angry that he had used such insulting language to a lady. However, she didn’t voice her complaints. The upcoming conversation would be a very important turning point in her life, so there was no need to make the atmosphere hostile just because her pride was slightly hurt.

“I’m sorry. I felt uncomfortable. Please understand.”

Beom-seok sat down on a nearby rock and opened his mouth bluntly.

“Alright. Well, there was a reason, so I’ll just let it go. Then let’s continue the story. You’re saying that the document I have shouldn’t be handed over to Chairman Wilkins and the others, right?”

“Of course. Please, I beg you, just pretend you don’t know about this.”

“I don’t want to for now. I have several reasons to inform the elders about this situation.”

Aulla was taken aback by the negative remarks, but she tried to maintain her composure as much as possible and sat next to him.

“What’s the reason why you have to do that?”

“It’s very simple. The elders decided to buy this document even if they have to pay a big price.”

Aulla’s eyes widened. The fact that the elders were buying this document meant that her flaws might already be known.

“Y-You. Did you say that I was involved in this document?”

“Not yet. Only Julian has been mentioned for sure.”

She stabilized her rapidly beating heart. Then she had plenty of room to escape. However, the problem was that Julian should never know this fact.

Aulla looked at Tiela and the elves who were with her.

“You guys. Can you step away for a moment?”

They didn’t move at all. They were ordered by Julian to protect Aulla and find out why she was trying to meet Beom-seok. If they went back without knowing anything, they would be severely reprimanded.

“We can’t. We were ordered not to leave Aulla alone for even a moment.”

Aulla, who roughly guessed their intentions, smiled. It was too easy to persuade the elves. Fortunately, since a significant number of gladiators and martial artists had been defeated yesterday, the rest were assigned as low-paid Wide Rigger-class [a type of low-skilled worker] or lower skilled people except for Tiela.

“If you pretend you don’t know about today, I’ll help the rest of you get a master soon, although it will be difficult for Tiela. Are you still going to refuse?”

The other elves, whose eyes were shaking, looked at Tiela with desperate expressions. If she just turned a blind eye, they could fulfill their lifelong dreams right away. With Aulla’s wealth, she could more than keep her promise.

Tiela, who had become weak-hearted, sighed and said.

“Are you really going to keep your promise?”

“Yes. Although it belongs to the lower league, our LHN Group also has a professional fighting team for promotion under its umbrella. If I use my influence, I can buy you and find you a master. And I’ll try my best for Tiela too. How about it?”

Tiela nodded calmly. She thought it would be impossible because she was so expensive, but she couldn’t ignore the wishes of the other elves because she was reluctant to hear a single scolding. And since she wasn’t a gladiator belonging to the Hyena Group, she had no reason to keep her loyalty to Julian.

“Okay. Then I hope you keep your promise.”

As she stepped back and distanced herself, her fellow elves chased after her with tears in their eyes of gratitude. With Tiela’s decision, they could now end this miserable masterless life.

Now that there were no ears around to hear, Aulla continued her conversation with Beom-seok.

“Hmm. Why didn’t you mention me? If you’re going to give this document to me, you’re saying you know the relationship.”

“It’s simple. You only have circumstances, but no definite evidence.”

Aulla nodded as if it were natural. Certainly, she had entrusted all matters related to the scheme to Julian, so he couldn’t have any evidence. She even regretted whether she had made a fuss for nothing. If she just silenced Julian and pretended not to know, she would be suspected, but she would avoid the worst.

“So, I’ve been caught in your fishing net?”

“Fishing? I just threatened you to stop cheating. It’s a very despicable act to bribe judges to adjust the number of kill deaths.”

“Well, it is. But I couldn’t help it. I had to win this game for my grandfather.”

“But isn’t it time to stop now? You’ve already lost in terms of numbers, haven’t you?”

Aulla immediately shook her head.

“No. That’s why I have to do more. If I don’t have any other help in the current situation, I can never beat you.”

“Really? Then there’s no need to be lenient. I’ll send you and Julian away at the same time.”

She smiled brightly and said.

“Hehehe. Did you think I would lower my head and say yes if you threatened me like this? You can’t do anything to me without evidence. My grandfather trusts me absolutely.”

“Hehe. I’m sorry, but I have evidence that you were involved in this bribery case. I was going to let it go because you looked pitiful, but if you come out like this, I can’t help it.”

“What are you talking about! You said there was no evidence!”

“It’s just a joke. Actually, there’s definite evidence.”

His eyes were full of sincerity. Since there was definite evidence, it was natural that he would be like that. The electronic notebook in Beom-seok’s arms was diligently running the recording function.

“R-Really? What evidence?”

“Well, you’ll find out later. A notice to terminate this game early will be sent soon along with that data. Then, good luck.”

As he tried to get up from his seat, Aulla grabbed his wrist. Although she was suspicious, she couldn’t risk her position as successor. And there was no way to confirm the evidence at all.

“If you hand over that evidence to me and promise to be quiet, I’ll give you 100 million Crong.”

“100 million Crong? Do you even know how much money that is?”

“I know. But it’s not more expensive than that evidence. How about it? Are you not interested?”

Of course, he was very interested. 100 million Crong was enough money to buy a promising player with Wide Rigger-class skills. But it wasn’t nearly enough to resolve his resentment with her.

“Of course not.”

“This is enough! Do you want more money! Okay, tell me the amount you want. I’ll give it all to you.”

“I don’t want it even if you give me 10 billion Crong.”

Aulla, trembling, shouted with a resentful expression.

“Why on earth!”

“Because you are an enemy that must be eliminated.”

“What are you talking about! We met for the first time today, how can we be enemies!”

Beom-seok smirked. He had met her once during the LHN headquarters building invasion. But he couldn’t tell this story as it was for various reasons.

“The first time? Well, I guess it’s the first time. But think back to the Rainbow Group incident. I had so much fun back then that my head is still throbbing.”

Aulla, recalling what happened at that time, trembled with a terrified expression. At Julian’s request, she had driven Rainbow Group, which was run by Beom-seok’s acquaintance, to the brink of bankruptcy. But that incident had become a boomerang and was strangling her.

“H-How do you know that?”

“Hehe. It seems that you don’t recognize it because only a certain part is summarized. The financial data that bribed the judges was taken from the secret ledger that only the executives of the Hyena Group know about. I can find out even this high-level information, so why wouldn’t I know about the poorly handled incident at that time? Anyway, you’re dead.”

Aulla slumped down powerlessly. The Hyena Group’s secret ledger was high-level information that she had been trying so hard to find out, but she still hadn’t gotten her hands on it. There was no way that someone who had the ability to obtain this ledger wouldn’t be able to grasp the reality of the Rainbow incident. At that time, she had openly used her henchmen to pressure the creditor banks.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

1. I played PK [Player Killing] with my nephews and had my wallet stolen.

2. I was hit by the relatives’ marriage coercion, and I was stunned for a day.

3. I lost consciousness for half a day due to the daytime drinking penalty.

The above three lines are my daily routine today. Maybe the readers’ circumstances are not different. Then everyone have a happy New Year. I’ll see you again next time.