Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 245

247

“So, what I’m saying is, let’s not resort to petty tricks. In the end, the Black Society will be the ones to suffer.”

– Is that so? Why?

“Turns out, the Black Society has been up to a lot of dirty deeds. And with that inflated ego of yours, you’ve made plenty of enemies on all sides. Especially the prosecution; I hear they’re being pushed around by the business groups. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the information I have on the Black Society were to fall into the hands of your enemies.”

Lucas subtly rolled his eyes, glancing at Bum-suk to gauge his reaction. He wanted to see if what he was saying was true. He didn’t know what this ‘information’ was, but if it was real, the Black Society was in a bit of a bind. When running a business, there were times when you had to handle dirty money, whether you liked it or not.

Lucas soon realized from Bum-suk’s expression that he was being sincere. Bum-suk was using Margaret’s hacker group to gather a massive amount of data on the Black Society.

– Are you daring to threaten me?

“It’s a negotiation. There’s no point in wasting our energy on pointless things, is there?”

– Pointless things, you say… Why do you think so?

“As you experienced today, I’m not stupid enough to fall for the Black Society’s tricks. No matter what you try, it won’t work on me. And I’ve looked at the information I’ve obtained on the Black Society, and you’ve been careful to make sure the top dogs can slip away. If I push it, I might be able to get some Black Society members in handcuffs, but it looks like only the small fry will get caught. In other words, since our tricks don’t work on each other, let’s not do anything unnecessary.”

Lucas stared at him with admiration. To know even that, he had no choice but to admit that he had the information. The Black Society had loyal puppets in place to take the fall if their illegal financial operations were discovered.

– Hahaha. To have figured out the situation to this extent, you’re really something.

“It’s nothing. So, what will you do?”

– Well, it seems like your suggestion is reasonable, so I suppose I should follow it. It wouldn’t be good for us if unnecessary problems were to arise. But you better be prepared. Frankly, today was just an attempt to intimidate you; I had no intention of really hitting you. If we were to formally step in, you’d be shitting your pants.

“We’ll have to wait and see who ends up suffering.”

– Heh heh. Alright, I’ll look forward to it. Well then, I’ll hang up now. Thanks to you, it looks like I’ll have a lot to do.”

Bum-suk didn’t back down and immediately retorted.

“I’ll look forward to it too. I was curious to see how capable the Black Society really is.”

Lucas, still with a smile on his face, immediately ended the call. Bum-suk then opened the documents on the Rainbow Group M&A [Mergers and Acquisitions] and carefully examined them. The only way for the Black Society to deal a fatal blow to him without resorting to tricks was to target the Rainbow Group. The attack would begin soon, so he needed to carefully refine his defense strategy one last time.

‘Good, perfect. Now all that’s left is to inflict a crushing defeat on the Black Society.’

Bum-suk immediately contacted Aula. She was currently helping Ilsimhoe by secretly buying up Rainbow Group shares. Now, Aula would lead the Black Society to face an unexpected challenge.

– Honey, what’s up?

Bum-suk said with a warm smile on his face.

“Um, I was calling to check on the Rainbow Group stock purchases. Aula, how much have you acquired so far?”

– Hmm, 16.9 million shares, so you could say we’ve gathered about 14%.

That was more than the number of shares held by Gloria, the group’s chairman. But it wasn’t enough, and Bum-suk urged her on.

“Can’t you gather more? We have enough funds, right?”

– Yeah, I’m still buying. But it’s going to take some time. I have to buy while minimizing the price increase.

“That won’t do! The Black Society will be moving soon. We need to gather the target number of shares as quickly as possible.”

– Well, it’s possible, but the stock price will go up a lot, you know? It’s already risen sharply to 250 krons [currency].

“It doesn’t matter. If the Black Society steps in, the stock price will skyrocket anyway. They’ll buy up shares regardless of the price.”

– I guess that’s true. Alright, I’ll try to buy them up even if it’s a stretch.

Bum-suk looked at her with a relaxed expression.

“Okay, thank you. By the way, what about the loan for the Rimasta Hotel that I asked you about before?”

– Oh, I took care of it the way you wanted.

“So, the Rimasta Hotel is definitely Gloria’s personal property now, right?”

– That’s right. Even if the Rainbow Group is taken over by the Black Society, Gloria will continue to manage the Rimasta Hotel.

“Good, you did well. I can breathe a little easier now.”

Aula suddenly opened her mouth as if she had remembered something.

– Oh, and you asked me to let you know if any good hotel properties came up for sale, right?

“Yeah, I did. Why? Did a property worth buying come up?”

– Yeah, there’s a 21 billion kron hotel for sale in our Serie City. It’s quite large, but the income rate is high, so it would be good to buy.

“Really? What kind of hotel is it?”

– It’s called the Blue Sky Hotel, and its annual sales are about 14 billion krons, with a net income of 1.6 billion krons. How about it? Is it worth it?

Bum-suk nodded, intrigued.

“Not bad. I think Gloria would like it quite a bit.”

– But honey, do we really need to increase the size of the company at this time? You’ll be busy with the M&A in many ways.

“That’s true, but I want to make Gloria the world’s best real estate queen. To achieve this, we need to steadily grow from now on.”

Aula glared at him with narrowed eyes. Bum-suk’s tone was full of affection for Gloria.

“Honey, I’m just curious, but are you doing this because you and Gloria are… you know? You two seem suspicious.”

Bum-suk waved his hands frantically. It was okay to have maximized Gloria’s favorability, but Aula wasn’t deeply enough in love with him to overcome her jealousy. If he told her the truth, he wouldn’t be able to handle what would happen next.

“Absolutely not. Why do you have to think such unnecessary things and make me feel awkward! Do you think I’m a shameless person who has two relationships at once?”

– Well, it just seems that way. If not, why do you have to make Gloria the world’s best real estate queen?

“Oh, that’s because she’s a member of our Ilsimhoe. Ilsimhoe has to grow to crush the Black Society and the business groups, right?”

Aula nodded as if she understood. To be honest, Bum-suk had too many enemies. If Ilsimhoe didn’t grow and provide a solid foundation, there might come a day when he would be seriously hurt.

– I guess so? Alright, I’ll trust you for now.

“What do you mean ‘for now’! I’m telling you I’m right.”

– Alright, I’ll say you’re right. Happy now?

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Bum-suk cautiously glanced at Aula. She was the highest-ranking information officer at LHN Financial Group, so she might try to use her staff to find out about his relationship with Gloria. If he got caught, it would be a huge headache, so he needed to be careful in everything he did from now on.

“Okay, then Aula, I’m counting on your help in the future.”

– Don’t worry. It’s for you, what can’t I do? Just wait comfortably, and I’ll show you how I can complete this task wonderfully.

“Alright, then as a token of my appreciation for this, I’ll come see you soon, so wait for me.”

At those words, Aula refused as if she was having a seizure. She knew that something would happen if she saw Bum-suk. She wouldn’t mind at other times, but she shouldn’t see him for the time being.

– No! You’re going to try to hold me again.

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

– It’s not that I don’t like it, but we need to be careful for the sake of our baby. So, I hope you don’t come for a while.

Bum-suk smiled brightly and jumped up from his seat. He couldn’t help but be happy that a second child was about to be born after Jenny. Of course, it could be the third or fourth, but he felt good anyway.

“Are you pregnant?”

Aula, her face flushed red, nodded.

– Yeah. I think it happened when you came to see me a while ago. I went to the hospital and found out I’m three weeks along.

“Hehehe. Really? Then take good care of yourself. And be sure to let me know when the due date is. I’ll bring a ton of gifts.”

– Alright. Of course I’ll let you know, you’re the father.

“Okay, then get some rest, and I’ll see you later.”

– Yeah, you take care too.

As Aula hung up, Bum-suk got up from his seat. He left the chairman’s office and went to the locker room outside the training arena. Now that the tax officials had no reason to come, he had to focus on training. As much as he was worried about Gloria, he couldn’t drop everything and focus solely on that. The practice match season was coming up soon, so he needed to prepare for it.

Waggle waggle. Waggle waggle.

Before he knew it, time had passed, and the Gods Knights were about to start a new season. And in the opening match, they happened to meet the Bluebird team, which was chaired by Lexter. The Gods Knights were far ahead in terms of power, but because the Bluebird team was made up of mostly veteran gladiators, they were not easy to deal with. Moreover, the pressure was even greater because it was a local derby match. If they were to lose, the fans’ complaints would be endless.

“Alright, Bum-suk! Lexter! Smile brightly!”

Before the game started, reporters flocked to the porter line, competitively pressing their shutters. They were trying to photograph Bum-suk and Lexter, who were smiling so wide that their white teeth were visible as they shook hands. They were throwing out a barrage of questions, hyping up the atmosphere of today’s derby match.

“Director Lexter! How do you predict today’s game will go?”

Lexter, letting go of the hand he was shaking, politely answered the reporter’s question with a courteous posture.

“Of course our team will win, wouldn’t you think? As you know, the Blue Bird team has a considerable number of veteran gladiators who have accumulated decades of match experience. We are not a pathetic team that would lose to a team of strong but inexperienced chicks.”

Because it was such an arrogant statement, the reporters’ hands, writing down the article, were moving faster. He was now belittling the Gods Knights team as a team of chicks and provoking them. This was why derby matches were so exciting.

A reporter looked at Bum-suk and suddenly threw out a question.

“Gladiator Oh Bum-suk. No, Chairman here. The director of the Bluebird team is ignoring the Gods Knights and predicting their victory, what do you think?”

Bum-suk smiled and calmly replied.

“Bluebird wins? Hmph. It’s not even worth discussing. No matter how well it’s made, a fake is a fake. It can never catch up to the real thing.”

“What do you mean Bluebird is a fake?”

“You all know, don’t you? The fact that the Blue Bird team copied our Gods Knights team’s operating system. It’s a disgrace that they are infringing on intellectual property rights.”

It seemed that he was referring to the two teams’ operating methods of not hiring gladiators who did not have owners. Recently, professional teams operating in this way have been springing up all over the world, but the first team to cut the tape was definitely the Gods Knights.

Bum-suk was now subtly putting down the Blue Bird team by emphasizing this point.

“Ah. So, you’re saying the Gods Knights will win.”

“It’s too obvious to even discuss. I’ll be honest here, I’m annoyed that I have to fight such a weak team, so I’m not going to participate in today’s game. I don’t want to waste my energy.”

“So, Chairman Oh Bum-suk will not be participating in today’s game?”

Bum-suk nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course. The Gods Knights are strong even without me. If it’s the Bluebird team, they can easily crush them with one finger and take the victory.”

“Oh. That’s a lot of confidence.”

Lexter stepped forward, blocking Bum-suk and the reporters, and spoke.

“Hahaha. Reporters. You’re not going to write such ridiculous remarks in an article, are you? It’s absolutely impossible to put the nonsense of a young man full of arrogance and recklessness in a sacred journal. Well, I won’t stop you if you really want to write it, but it’s not too late to decide after watching the game. Maybe it will turn into a good joke. ‘Gods Knights. Got their ass kicked by the Bluebird team after showing off.’ Isn’t that a great title?”

At that moment, Bum-suk’s sharp gaze struck the back of Lexter’s head. Even though they had promised in advance to heighten the atmosphere of the derby match, it was a bit too much.

He soon responded to Lexter’s remarks to the reporters.

“Hehe. How about the title ‘Sparrow. Gets roasted after messing with the Gods Knights’? I think it will attract the attention of readers.”

At the same time, the reporters were excitedly writing articles as Bum-suk and Lexter glared at each other. If this level of vitriol was exchanged, there would be interesting articles no matter who won. Their level of remarks was that high.

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

First, I will list the simple developments. I will write the details separately later and post them in the notice.

Bum-suk (Seonjung) S3, Oscar (Seon) C3, Matilda (Seonjung) I2, Rafine (Seon) C1, Violet (Seonjung) I2, Erica (Jung) I1, Reimei (Jung) I3, Hestia (Jung) I1, Jeremia (Jung) C1, Lin (Seonjung) I3, Iphis (Seonjung) C0, Herse (Seonjung) C0, Erpina (Hujung) I0, Venus (Hu) I2, Agelia (Hu) A0,

Cash (Hujung) C1

Emma (Jung) I3, Gelsomina (Jung) C2, Chiria (Jung) I3, Siya (Hu) I2.

Then everyone have a nice day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.