Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 251

The sky was dark with heavy clouds, even though it was midday. A heavy downpour was soaking the city streets. Julien, looking like a drowned rat, wandered along the busy roadside, glancing around for shelter. He was already soaked to the bone, but the pitying looks he received made him want to move on.

Julien turned into a narrow, quiet alleyway. He wasn’t sure if he could escape the rain, but at least he could avoid the stares. As he walked down the dingy alley, he spotted an eave and headed towards it.

But he wasn’t alone. A stray Dalmatian, its black spots indistinguishable against its wet white fur, was already there. The dog stared at him with wide eyes, then subtly shifted to make room.

‘What’s this mutt?’ Julien thought, but as the rain intensified, he was grateful for the small shelter. He stood beside the dog, shaking the water from his clothes. The Dalmatian shot him a sharp look, as if annoyed that the water had splashed on it. Julien was dumbfounded but ignored it, pulling out his empty wallet.

“Damn it. How am I going to get home?”

Giving all his remaining money to Theresa was a good deed, but now he was penniless. He had a bank account, but it was empty. Unless he could sneak onto a bus, getting home seemed impossible. Of course, he could walk, but Meyren City was practically halfway around the world.

He glanced at the Dalmatian beside him. It looked like a purebred, even if it was a stray. He could probably sell it for bus fare. But when the dog bared its teeth and growled, he gave up the idea. Being bitten would probably hurt quite a bit.

‘And I can’t exactly borrow money from my friends.’

Julien’s friends were just the members of the Young Entrepreneurs Association he’d left earlier. He had run away from them, and now he was going to call them to ask for money? That would be a complete blow to his pride. He’d rather bow his head to his arch-enemy, Beomseok, than ask them for help. They would probably mock him about it for the rest of his life.

He reached his hand out from under the eave and sighed. He had hoped the rain would stop, but now it was hailing.

“Damn it. Why is everything going wrong today?”

He felt a warmth on his calf. Julien was freezing from the late autumn rain, so he couldn’t have been happier. But when he realized what was causing the warmth, his expression soured. The damn dog was lifting its leg and peeing on him. Just when he needed to retaliate, he heard mocking laughter nearby.

“These beggars are playing together. Like dog, like owner, tsk tsk.”

His anger turned towards the passersby. He didn’t know if it was because they called him a beggar, or because they equated him with the dog, but he couldn’t contain the rage bubbling up inside him.

Julien glared at the blonde young man walking past with two elves. He was the one who had mocked him.

“Hey, you! What did you say? Did you call me a beggar?”

The man replied with a sneer.

“You’ve got good ears for a beggar. So what if I did?”

“You little punk!”

“Why? Want some money?”

A 5-krang coin [currency unit] flew from the man’s hand in a gentle arc and hit the Dalmatian on the head. The dog whimpered and stood up, slowly walking towards the man. How dare he disturb a sleeping stray dog? It couldn’t stand it, even with the two elves threatening it, and lunged at the man.

Thwack. Crack. Yelp.

The Dalmatian was brutally kicked by the blue-haired elf and slammed to the ground. The sound of breaking bones suggested something was broken. No matter how fierce, a dog couldn’t defeat an elf with a strong physique. But it struggled to its feet, still trying to attack the man. The Dalmatian knew the law of the jungle all too well. The moment it gave up, it would lose its territory and starve. This area was full of restaurants, so there was plenty of food waste to fill its belly. Of course, the blonde man wasn’t after the garbage, but that’s how the Dalmatian saw it. The fact that he had attacked it with a coin was proof enough.

The dog continued to attack the man, even as it was beaten and bones were broken. Its desperation was enough to scare the blonde man.

“Hey! What are you doing! Kill that mutt!”

“Yes, Master!”

One of the red-haired elves broke a mop handle that was leaning against a nearby trash can. It was clear she intended to end its life. Julien’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t learned swordsmanship, but he had been the leader of the Hyena Group’s gladiator team for a long time. He knew that the elf was a skilled swordswoman. She was probably a professional gladiator sold at the Walker Auction Market. A stray dog like that would be killed in one blow.

‘You stupid mutt. Why did you attack him?’

Julien, who had been looking at the battered Dalmatian with pity, suddenly snapped out of it. Even a lowly mutt was fighting so desperately, but what was he doing? He was the one who had been mocked, he was the one who should be fighting.

He grabbed the wrist of the red-haired elf who was wielding the mop handle.

“That’s enough.”

The red-haired elf stepped back in surprise. Even though she was experiencing the effects of aging and her strength had declined, the fact that he had blocked her attack meant he was a modified human [genetically enhanced individual]. Of course, she was confident she wouldn’t lose in a fight, but it was best to avoid modified humans if possible. Most of them were incredibly wealthy.

She walked over to her master, the blonde man, and whispered.

“Master, he’s a modified human.”

But her agitated master couldn’t understand. He just pointed and shouted.

“What does that matter! Beat him half to death! And kill that dog!”

“Yes, I understand!”

At the same time, the red-haired elf and her companion charged at Julien. Their master’s orders were their top priority.

Julien had started out strong, but he couldn’t defeat two elves, one of whom was a retired professional gladiator. He dodged with movements he had learned by watching, but he was constantly being hit and his body was slowly bruising. Still, he didn’t seem to care and didn’t loosen the strength in his clenched fists. Even a lowly creature like a dog was fighting to the death, so he, a modified human, couldn’t back down. Julien swung his fists wildly, fighting back against the elves.

“You bitches!”

His clothes were torn and blood was pouring from his lips. Julien’s body was covered in wounds, and the only parts of him that were still intact were his hands. He hadn’t managed to hit the elves even once. He was completely clueless when it came to fighting.

Then, a strong blow to his solar plexus caused Julien to double over. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and all the strength was draining from his body. The blue-haired elf slammed the back of his neck with her forearm, and he immediately fell to his knees. Then came the kicks. Julien curled up to protect himself, but it was no use. He was curled up like a soccer ball, so it was easy to kick him.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

After being beaten for a while, Julien felt a dark shadow fall over him. At first, he thought the rain clouds were getting darker, but the rain was easing up, so he didn’t think so.

Then, he heard a heavy voice behind the elves.

“That’s enough.”

The red-haired elf glanced back and was shocked. Behind her was a burly man with a torn martial arts uniform, his arms ripped off, and her master was hanging from one of his arms, gagged.

The red-haired elf tilted her head back as far as she could and let out a sharp cry. The top of her head barely reached his chest.

“I can’t let you go, Master!”

The burly man, seeing Julien’s battered state, shook his finger and head.

“That won’t do. You made a person like this, so you have to pay the price.”

The red-haired elf jumped into the air and kicked him in the face. She had to save her master. And she believed that no matter how big he was, he couldn’t beat an elf. But even though she hit him squarely in the jaw, the giant didn’t even flinch. He grabbed her by the collar and slammed her into the wall.

“Who are you!”

The blue-haired elf, seeing her companion fall, punched him with all her might. But her punch was blocked by the giant’s hand. She was sent flying and crashed into the wall next to her. At that moment, the red-haired elf quickly got up and swung the stick at him. She was a former professional gladiator, so her attacks were sharp, but the giant easily dodged them and stabbed her in the neck with a hand blade.

He glanced down at the red-haired elf, who was clutching her neck and falling to the ground.

“You’re quite skilled. But it won’t work on me. I am the strongest swordsman in the world.”

The giant, after uttering those arrogant words, punched the blonde man in the stomach. He was tired of carrying him around. He dropped the man to the ground and walked over to Julien, who was lying on the ground.

“Yo. You okay?”

Julien, who was still conscious, raised himself up and looked at him.

“Who. Are you again?”

He had lost all fear. But the giant didn’t seem angry and smiled.

“You’re talking, so you must be okay.”

“Of course. I, Julien, wouldn’t fall from something like this.”

The giant walked over to the Dalmatian. It had run out of energy and was just whimpering, unable to move.

“But this dog doesn’t seem to be. Is it your dog?”

“No. It’s just a stray.”

“Oh? So you fought to the point of being beaten to save a stray dog? You’re a pretty good guy. I like you a lot.”

Julien walked over to the injured Dalmatian and checked on it. He had grown fond of it because they had fought together.

“Does it look okay?”

“I don’t know. It might die if you don’t take it to the hospital soon. I’m not sure.”

Julien fiddled with his wallet, looking worried.

“That’s a problem. I don’t have any money right now. Do you have any money? If you lend it to me, I’ll pay you back several times over.”

“I don’t have any money either.”

“You’re a modified human. There’s no way you don’t have money!”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t think you’re the one to say that?”

Julien couldn’t blame him. He didn’t have any money either.

“Then what do we do?”

“Well, we could get compensation from that guy who’s lying there.”

Julien turned around and frowned. The blonde man was being carried away by the blue-haired elf. The red-haired elf was also being carried, so there was no way to get any money.

“Damn it. He got away! Why didn’t you stop him!”

The giant scratched his head sheepishly.

“I’m sorry about that. What should we do?”

Julien looked at the Dalmatian, who was looking at him with pitiful eyes, and took out his electronic notebook. He had no choice but to borrow money from someone. If he left it to die like this, he would remember it for the rest of his life. Today had been a bad day.

The first phone number he considered was his father’s. But if he asked him for money now, he would definitely be furious and say that he hadn’t come to his senses yet. He might even be kicked out of the house. Then there were his company employees, but they were all his father’s lackeys, so he gave up.

Julien skipped over his retired grandfather’s phone number. His ruthless grandfather had even threatened his father to kick him out of the family for being incompetent.

‘Damn it. Then there’s only the Young Entrepreneurs Association.’

But he couldn’t call them after what had happened. The moment he pressed the call button, he would have to live in humiliation for the rest of his life. He scrolled down to the phone number registered as 4444, a number with four repetitions of the number 4, which is associated with death in Korean culture, and hesitated. He really didn’t want to call that guy, but when he thought about his future, he really had no other choice. His pride was being crushed, but no one else would know that he had borrowed money from him.

Julien closed his eyes tightly and pressed the call button, hearing the Dalmatian’s rough breathing.

– Who is this? Isn’t this Julien? What do you want from me?

Julien turned his head away and bit his lip.

“Lend me some money.”

The black-haired man on the screen widened his eyes and scratched his ear.

– What? I must have misheard. You’re asking me for money?

“Yeah. Just send me 100,000 krangs.”

– Hahaha. Even 100,000 krangs? Are you sick? You’re not the kind of guy who would borrow 100,000 krangs. Especially not from me?

“That’s how it is! Are you going to lend it to me or not!”

The man thought for a moment and nodded. 100,000 krangs wasn’t a lot of money to him.

– It’s sudden and embarrassing, but well… Bad relationships are still relationships, so I’ll lend it to you. Tell me your account number and I’ll send it to you soon.

Julien, trembling, quickly told him his account number.

“Then send it quickly. It’s for treatment, so it’s urgent.”

– I will. Then goodbye.

As the screen went black, Julien picked up the injured Dalmatian. He was going to take it to a nearby animal hospital since he had the money. The giant man followed him and spoke to him.

“Wow! You’re amazing. You even have a friend who’s willing to lend you a huge sum of 100,000 krangs.”

“He’s not my friend!”

“He’s not your friend, but he’s lending you money? He must be pretty rich.”

“He wasn’t before, but he’s probably rich now.”

“Oh. Really? Are you rich too?”

“Not for a while, but for now…”

The giant man’s expression brightened and he stuck close to him.

“Hey. Then let me freeload for a while. I’m actually broke right now.”

“No way. I’m in trouble myself right now.”

“What are you talking about? You have 100,000 krangs. Don’t be like that and let me stay with you for a while. I might be useful. I’m the strongest swordsman in the world. You won’t have to get beaten up like that again.”

“Are you a gladiator?”

“I’m not a gladiator yet. But my master said I’m the strongest in the world. So I’m the strongest.”

Julien looked him up and down. He was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Then he remembered the scene where he had knocked out the red-haired elf and nodded. With that kind of skill, he could make a living in the professional gladiator world.

“Do whatever you want. But for now, you’ll have to do odd jobs at the restaurant.”

“Hehehe. That’s fine. It’s better to earn my keep than to just freeload.”

“Okay. Then follow me. Someday, when my father calls me, I’ll make you a gladiator.”

The giant man’s eyes widened. The reason his master had sent him down was to become a gladiator and prove that he was the strongest swordsman.

“Can you really make me a gladiator?”

“Yeah. Our Hyena Group has a World League team, although it’s a bit low-ranking. We can make you a gladiator.”

“Hahaha. Thank you. I look forward to working with you.”

Julien suddenly stopped and looked at the giant man.

“Oh, I almost forgot. What’s your name?”

“Jakid. A member of the Moonlight Sword Sect and a disciple of Remnant.”

Julien nodded and checked the animal hospital in the distance before hurrying on. He wanted to get the Dalmatian treated quickly.

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