Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 246

Grumbling, Beom-seok opened the door to the VIP room on the north side after walking down the long hallway. Lexter had followed him, and despite their collaborative planning, Lexter’s remarks in front of the reporters earlier had been excessive.

“Chief, weren’t you a bit too harsh just now?”

“I couldn’t help it. It’s necessary to hype up the *bunwigi* [atmosphere] for the derby.”

“Still, you know how extreme our Lima City sports fans can be. Was it really necessary to escalate your remarks to that extent?”

Lexter approached the partitioned window and, with both hands on the railing, surveyed the stands. The press conference had been broadcast on the hologram screen without any filtering, so the fans’ mood wasn’t just rough but ominous. It felt like the entire *gwanjungseok* [stands] would erupt if someone lost their temper and caused a disturbance.

“Well, I don’t think it matters much. Lima City fans are extreme and considered a risk group, but they haven’t caused any major incidents so far. At most, there was the riot at the game where the Great Hyenas were relegated, and you were the main culprit. With the *wiheom bunja* [dangerous element] here in the VIP room, no *sago* [accident] will happen. Heh heh heh.”

Remembering what happened on the first day of the game, Beom-seok’s face turned red.

“Ah, that was because that Supporters Club chairman bumped into me and caused it, wasn’t it?”

“No, but what kind of person does a flying side kick because of that? A simple accident that most people would just glare at. Thanks to you, a minor confrontation almost turned into a large-scale violent incident.”

Beom-seok pouted and sat down in the *gwanramseok* [stands].

“Geez. You don’t know how annoying that guy was.”

Lexter sat next to him and chuckled.

“What don’t I know? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that I was the officer who wrote the report back then?”

“But you didn’t see it directly, did you? Sigh~ Never mind. Let’s drop it.”

Lexter chuckled and leaned back comfortably in his chair, speaking quietly.

“By the way, Beom-seok? You know that Rainbow Group’s stock price has been rising significantly lately, right?”

Beom-seok nodded. It was 220 *crang* in late May, but it had risen to 318 *crang* since they started buying it up. And after they stopped buying, it dropped slightly, but recently it had skyrocketed, and yesterday’s closing price was a whopping 513 *crang*. Unless some crazy person was playing games, it was clear that the Black Society was making a serious move.

“Yes, I know. It seems the Black Society is getting involved.”

“Besides, according to Gloria, bonds from Unique Bank and some other banks are also being dumped?”

“Well, I guess they want to withdraw our funds.”

Lexter chuckled at Beom-seok’s relaxed reply. He was just as at ease because, according to the strategy he had set, they wouldn’t lose to the Black Society even in the worst-case scenario. The Ilsimhoe of today was not a powerless organization swayed by business groups like in the past. It was all thanks to Natalie’s LKS Broadcasting.

‘Heh heh. Thanks to LKS Broadcasting, our wallets have gotten thicker.’

The original total shares of LKS Broadcasting were only 300,000 shares. But if they went public as is, the trading volume would be extremely low, which would significantly disadvantage the stock price. So, they inflated it to 60 million shares through a free stock offering and listed it on the Avand Stock Market at 100 *crang* per share.

At this time, the number of shares released to the market was about half, 30 million shares. Most of them went to the lead manager, Wilkins Investment Securities, and other institutions, but in any case, the Ilsimhoe members were able to make a lot of money. Natalie, the manager, earned an income of 1.53 billion *crang*, and Beom-seok, Gloria, and Lexter earned 480 million *crang* each. And finally, Karen, who had 1% of the shares, pocketed 30 million *crang*.

A significant portion of this money went into purchasing Rainbow stock. Because they bought it at an average price of 284 *crang* per share, they only managed to acquire about 9% of the total shares, but if you add Gloria’s 12%, LHN’s 20%, and the remaining 7% of friendly shares, it totaled 48%. Although they needed to gather more than 50% for perfect management control, this was considered safe enough. No matter how much the Black Society persuaded the institutions and swept up the shares on the market, it was almost impossible to hold 48% of the shares.

“But how are we going to handle the bonds? Most of our funds are tied up in stocks.”

“Well, we can borrow from Wilkins Bank to cover it.”

“Hmm. What if they don’t lend it to us?”

“Why wouldn’t they? Rainbow Group is still a decent company, and if the Black Society takes over management, it will become an even more stable company, so it would be a pretty profitable bond deal.”

“But the Black Society could persuade them, right?”

“Then we can sell the Rainbow Hotel shares that Rainbow Group owns. We can sell at least 5%, so we can last for two months. Then, after that, we can cover it with the income from LKS Broadcasting.”

Lexter nodded in agreement. Currently, Rainbow Hotel’s stock price had risen to 442 *crang*, riding the wave of Rainbow Group’s stock surge. And with a current stake of 55%, they could sell the surplus of 1.75 million shares on the market. That would generate a total of 770 million *crang*, so there wouldn’t be any problems for the time being, and the *bujokhan geumaek* [missing amount] could be covered by the income from LKS Broadcasting.

“Heh heh. I guess so. It’s safe to say that Rainbow Group’s safety is guaranteed now.”

“Yes, that’s right. Unless some of the Ilsimhoe members side with the Black Society, the situation will change.”

Lexter glanced at Beom-seok’s meaningful remark.

“Well, if that happens, things will definitely be different.”

Beom-seok stood up and looked at the *gyeonggyeong* [scene] of the stadium through the window. Judging by the fact that the gladiators from both teams were entering, the match seemed about to begin.

Peeeeeep!

The whistle echoed through the stadium, and the clash between the two teams began. The advantage was with the God’s Knights for now. The vanguard, Rapine, Oscar, and Imori, were pounding on Blue Bird’s formation, creating cracks. As expected, no one in the Deloy Wide League could match the God’s Knights in terms of strength.

Beom-seok smiled broadly and stared at Lexter.

“It looks like we’ll take the first round.”

“Well, it won’t be that easy.”

At the same moment, the center of the Blue Bird team was blown open. It was so easily split that it seemed suspicious, but the gladiators of the God’s Knights team rushed at the Blue Bird gladiators gathered on the right, wildly swinging their swords.

“Those idiots! It’s obviously a diversion!”

Beom-seok shouted in anger, but it was useless. The glass partition blocked the sound, so there was no way it could reach the stadium. And even if this shout escaped the VIP room, it would be buried in the cheers of the crowd.

While the God’s Knights’ attack was focused on a few, the remaining Blue Bird gladiators formed a small formation and rushed forward quickly. Judging by the direction of their noses, their target was the leader, Agelia. It seemed that Blue Bird had pulled out the leader assassination card as their strategy for this first round.

Just as their assassination squad was about to reach Agelia, Lexter clenched both fists as if excited and shouted.

“Good! Go! Finish them off!”

But his bright expression didn’t last long. Two spear tips flew simultaneously towards the number 8 gladiator, who had reached Agelia and was extending his sword. Both were hidden in Agelia’s dual shield and flew out in a surprise attack, so no one could stop them.

Soon, the number 8 gladiator was hit in the head and chest and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

“Good! They fell for our trick. Wipe them all out!”

Under Erpina’s command, Remei, Emma, Iphis, and Herse rushed towards the assassination squad. The experienced Erpina had grasped the opposing team’s true intentions and prepared in advance. They pressured the Blue Bird team, who were flustered by the failure of their operation, and pushed in relentlessly.

Beom-seok raised his nose high and said.

“Hahaha. You forgot that we have Erpina on our team. You may not know this, but she was such an outstanding gladiator in her former team, Captain Bears, that she remains a legend. You shouldn’t think of her as being on par with other Wide League-level gladiators.”

Lexter pouted as he watched the Blue Bird team completely collapse.

“Tch. Are you that happy that you beat our team?”

“Of course, I am. The joy of victory is even greater when you win in a derby match. Hahaha.”

“Yeah, you’re so great. Hmph.”

Lexter didn’t say anything for a while, as if he was sulking. Feeling sorry, Beom-seok tried to appease him with petty banter, but it didn’t work. No, the God’s Knights won not only the first round but also the second and third rounds in a row, so his complexion could only get worse.

“Wow! God’s Knights are the best! They made sparrow skewers out of those guys today!”

“Hahaha. Which team would lose to that fake gladiator team!”

Lexter, with a dark look on his face at the jeering that filled the stands, *beoltteok* [abruptly] stood up. He couldn’t possibly be in a good mood since the team he led had put on a poor performance and ultimately lost. Moreover, today’s opponent was the derby team, God’s Knights. He had expected them to lose because the difference in power was so great, but he couldn’t bear the miserable score of 3 to 0.

Lexter *beoltteok* [abruptly] stood up from his seat and said in a *naengnaenghan* [cold] voice.

“Beom-seok, I’m leaving now.”

Beom-seok followed him, trying to flatter him.

“Come on. Isn’t it normal to lose sometimes and win sometimes when you’re playing a game? I’ll introduce you to some more promising gladiators later, so please calm down.”

“Hey! Who’s doing this to get promising gladiators? Just stop following me. I’m just going home to have a drink.”

Lexter brushed off his hand and walked down the hallway alone. As someone with a strong desire to win, he couldn’t help but feel so bitter about today’s defeat. Soon, Lexter, who had arrived at the flying car parked in the nearby parking lot, looked at the distant sky for a moment and put a cigarette in his mouth. It was to blow away the stress that had built up in the smoke.

Just as he was about to take a puff and exhale, a loud call came from the electronic notebook in his pocket.

Ring ring.

“Who is it?”

Lexter tilted his head at the unknown phone number on the *gan-i* [simple] screen. As a highly sociable person, he always entered the number into his address book when he met someone. But it could be a spam call, so a call might come in without a name appearing.

He stubbed out the cigarette on the ground, got into the flying car, and answered the phone.

“Hello. Who is this?”

– Hello? Team Leader Lexter. Nice to meet you. It’s my first time speaking with you.

The person on the screen was none other than a young man in a suit, someone Lucas vaguely recognized. It was Ijak, the team leader of the Growl Wolves team, who had competed in the league together until last year. They hadn’t interacted, but he had seen him fleetingly at a few events. And the important fact was that he was one of the Black Society members.

Lexter, with cold eyes, stared at him intently. The Ilsimhoe and the Black Society were at war now.

“Aren’t you Team Leader Ijak?”

– Hahaha. You remember me. I’m honored.

“Honored? We worked together in the same league, so of course, I have to know you. Ah, but what brings you here? I don’t think we’ve had much interaction…….”

Ijak in the screen said with a *neoseure* [banter].

– Hahaha. That’s why I contacted you like this, isn’t it? I contacted you to congratulate Lexter on Blue Bird’s promotion to the Wide League and to meet you today to share some friendship.

“Ah. Is that so? Anyway, thanks for the congratulations. But let’s postpone the meeting until next time. Actually, I’m not in a good mood today, so I’m going home to rest.”

– Don’t do that, and please take some time. If you’re not in a good mood, it’ll be solved by meeting a good person and having a pleasant conversation, right?

Lexter looked at him with *geseumcheurehan* [bleary] eyes. He strongly felt that he was trying to do something serious. The Black Society would know that he was a member of the Ilsimhoe, and Ijak’s sudden contact was too coincidental.

“What do you mean? A pleasant conversation?”

– It’s nothing special. I’m just suggesting that we create a place for socializing for a while. Actually, we’ve been too distant even though we’re in the same league, haven’t we?

“That’s true. But there’s no need to talk about it today, is there?”

– I’m in a bit of a hurry. Please take a little time.

Lexter, who tapped the control box of the flying car with his finger, had a *nancheohan* [difficult] look.

“What’s the matter that you’re doing this?”

– What else would gladiator team leaders talk about? I just want to have a conversation about recruiting gladiators.

“Ah. So you’re contacting me to make a trade offer?”

– It’s *gyeomsa gyeomsa* [both], but yes, that’s right.

Lexter, who sighed deeply, nodded with difficulty.

“Well, if that’s the case, let’s meet once. Okay. Then where should I go?”

– Ah. Thank you. Then come to the Master Coffee Shop in front of the Lima City Colosseum. I’m waiting here first.

“Yes. I understand. I’ll go now. Then I’ll hang up.”

Lexter closed the electronic notebook and floated the flying car in the air. He was going to meet Ijak.