Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 26

“Hehe. Let’s go quickly. You have a lot to do.”

Grasping Polia’s trembling wrist tightly, he exited the auction house along the central path of the stage. Now that all the business here was truly finished, there was no need to linger any longer. No, there was still one thing left: to receive someone’s earnest call.

“Over there! Mr. Oh Beom-seok! Please wait a moment!”

He had barely taken a few steps down the hallway when the awaited call came promptly. Judging by the voice, it was definitely James. Beom-seok and Polia, who had been eagerly waiting for him, turned their heads simultaneously.

“Mr. James!”

“Oh, my. Who do we have here? Isn’t it Mr. James?”

Unlike before when he had addressed him with ‘nim’ [a polite suffix in Korean], now he was calling him ‘ssi’ [a more casual suffix in Korean], a step down in formality. Before, he had been in the position of ‘eul’ [the subordinate in a business relationship], but now he was ‘gap’ [the superior in a business relationship]. In other words, he held the key to the deal.

As expected, James, now in the position of ‘eul,’ immediately began to state his business without minding the change in status.

“Um, Mr. Oh Beom-seok, I have something to discuss with you, so I was wondering if you could spare some time?”

Beom-seok, who had taken out his electronic notepad and was checking the time meaninglessly, immediately waved his hand without even thinking. It was to make James anxious and gain a favorable position in the negotiation.

“I have to leave now, so I don’t have time. Let’s meet next time if we have the chance.”

“Just a moment. It will only take a moment.”

When he grabbed his arm as if pleading, Beom-seok shook him off with a touch of annoyance.

“Mr. James! I clearly remember that our conversation ended earlier. In these times of poor economic conditions, I have no intention of buying Erphina again for that huge sum. So, cool your head.”

“No. I’m not asking you to buy Erphina. I’m talking about Polia, who is with you right now.”

Beom-seok raised the hand holding Polia’s arm and said,

“This elf? Why?”

“I was hoping you would sell her back to me.”

“Buy her back? How much are you willing to pay?”

“How about 1.7 million crang? It’s almost three times the amount you just paid, so wouldn’t that be a great profit for you, Mr. Beom-seok?”

At those words, Beom-seok chuckled. From what he had heard earlier, that was all the money he had. To use up most of his funds from the beginning of the deal, he was a fool like no other.

“Hehe. It only cost me 600,000 crang to buy her, but I value Polia much more than the amount Mr. James is offering. So, I can’t sell her at all. Well, then.”

As Beom-seok turned around, James quickly walked over and blocked his path.

“Th-then, how much do you want?”

Beom-seok immediately held up three fingers.

“3 million crang? Then please give me a few more days. I will definitely prepare the remaining 1.3 million crang, even if I have to borrow more money from the bank or sell my house.”

“Oh, dear. Why are you acting like an amateur? Do you really think I would sell Polia for 3 million crang?”

“Th-then?”

“Of course, it’s 30 million crang.”

James, with a horrified expression, shouted at the top of his lungs.

“No! How can Polia be worth 30 million crang! That’s absurd!”

“If you think so, you don’t have to buy her. Well, then, since our business is finished, I’ll be on my way.”

This time, Erphina blocked him, tapping James’s shoulder as she passed. Knowing the relationship between James and Polia, she couldn’t let Beom-seok go like this.

“Beom-seok. What are you going to do with Polia? You’re looking for a gladiator to compete in matches. She’s too old to be very active in professional matches.”

“Who said anything about sending her to matches?”

“Th-then, why are you buying her?”

“You know about scarecrow gladiators, right?”

To put it simply, scarecrow gladiators were similar to punching bags. They were usually older gladiators who had exhausted their strength or low-cost elves. They played the role of being unilaterally beaten to boost the morale of the affiliated gladiator before the match. It was a more terrible end for elderly elves than becoming coaches or club officials. It was such a cruel act that most gladiator teams did not adopt it. They couldn’t afford to alienate the elf enthusiasts who made up a large number of fans for a slight increase in the win rate. In fact, Erphina and Polia, who had been in the professional scene for a long time, had only heard about it occasionally and had never actually seen it.

“I know. But could it be….”

“That’s right. She will have to live as a scarecrow gladiator for the rest of her life to be worth 30 million crang. Of course, she won’t be able to serve her master until she dies. Hehe.”

Erphina shuddered at his cruel plan. She was furious that such a terrible person could exist. She wanted to overpower him right away, but if she, an elf, attacked a human without a valid reason, she would be subject to considerable legal action.

Erphina, barely suppressing her anger, glared at him as if to kill him and said,

“Don’t you know that doing such a thing will draw great resentment from the fans? Then your team will suffer unimaginable losses?”

“Fans? Our team doesn’t have any of that. We only have sponsors who desperately want victory.”

Well, that wasn’t wrong either. Since the team hadn’t even been founded yet, there was no way there would be any fans, and Beom-seok was providing the money, so sponsors did exist.

However, she had never heard of a professional gladiator team running the team in such a way.

“Don’t lie! I’ve never heard of a professional team running a team like that!”

“Who said our team is a professional team? Did I? Or did you?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Our gladiator team is aiming for professional status next year, but it’s not a professional team yet. We’re just in the process of spending a lot of money to recruit excellent gladiators in preparation for the GA Cup and the promotion tournament to the Area League next spring. So, there’s no way you could know….”

If that was the case, she might not know. If they were preparing for the promotion tournament to the Area League, they were definitely an amateur team. No matter how long Erphina had been a professional, there was no way she would know such details.

She looked at James and Polia, who were in despair, and bit her lip as if she had made a decision.

“O-okay. Let’s say that’s true, why did you try to buy me earlier?”

“I told you. I’m looking for an excellent gladiator.”

“But I’ve already outlived my usefulness to the team and have come to this Walker Auction Market. I’m definitely not the excellent gladiator you think I am.”

“Hehe. At first, I thought so too. But as soon as you were sold to James, I saw you acting full of energy, and I realized it. That’s when I remembered that elves will do anything to get a master. I was so stupid. I came to this place today to see if there were any elves like that, but I missed it right in front of my eyes, so I felt pathetic.”

“Th-that’s ridiculous. Elves regain their energy when they meet their master. How can you know that I’m an excellent gladiator just by looking at that?”

“Of course, I can’t know just by looking at that. However, you were limping slightly on stage as if you were injured, but as soon as you met Mr. James, you were walking perfectly fine. Unless it’s acting, there’s no way that could happen.”

It was an accurate point. Unless a miracle happened, an injured body could not heal in an instant. Erphina, regretting her mistake, closed her mouth tightly as if she had nothing to say. However, since he was evaluating her so highly, it wouldn’t be bad for what she wanted to do in the future.

“O-okay. I’ll admit it. But I’ll ask you just one thing. Did you buy Polia because you knew about us?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you followed me to get me and heard our conversation in the waiting room earlier and are doing this.”

Beom-seok looked momentarily embarrassed when she hit the nail on the head.

“Wh-why would you think that?”

“You just said that the reason you came to this Walker Auction Market was to find an excellent gladiator. There’s no way someone like that would buy a gladiator like Polia who wouldn’t help the team. Especially since you’re demanding a huge sum of 30 million crang as her price and refusing to sell her back. Frankly speaking, with the amount that Mr. James initially offered, you could buy several more gladiators who are better than her at the auction house right now.”

Beom-seok had nothing to say. He could try to deny it, but since the conversation had come this far, it would only become pathetic. He decided to reveal all the facts honestly.

“Hmm. Well, it’ll be faster to talk if you know. That’s right, I was trying to get you to join our team. Of course, I didn’t follow you, but it’s also true that I happened to hear that conversation.”

Whether those words were the trigger or not, James rushed in and grabbed Beom-seok by the collar. There was no one in the world who wouldn’t be angry in this situation.

“You bastard! How dare you pull such a trick! Are you even human!”

“Mr. James. Stop it. Judging by his nature, if you use violence, he will use it as an excuse to make even more unreasonable demands.”

Beom-seok looked at Erphina, who was dissuading James, with a troubled expression. It seemed like he had been firmly targeted. Of course, if they went through the master-slave ritual, she would transform into his loyal woman, but he didn’t want her to recognize him as a bad master.

“Hey. That’s not true. I really hate being hit by someone because of my personality. So, I’ll never get hit, and I’ll never threaten you with it.”

“You bastard! Are you going to keep taunting me like that!”

James, thinking that he was being mocked, couldn’t contain his anger and threw a punch. As if to prove what he had just said, Beom-seok immediately grabbed his fist. Then, he grabbed the hand that was holding his collar and twisted them to the sides. Erphina, who was watching this, immediately realized that he was a modified human because of his immense strength.

“Mr. James, step back, it’s dangerous. He’s a modified human.”

“A modified human?”

James stepped back in an instant. There was no way he, a normal human, could overpower a modified human with strength.

Erphina stood in front of James, who had a flustered expression, and took a defensive stance. It was because she thought that Beom-seok might harm him. However, when the situation didn’t escalate to the point of concern, she released the tension in her body.

“Okay. Then I’ll ask you one more thing. Do you have any intention of exchanging me and Polia?”

James’s eyes widened at her sudden expression of will. Erphina must have the instinct to find a master, but it was hard to believe that she was sacrificing herself for them like this. He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t give up on his beloved Polia, so he silently watched Beom-seok’s answer.

“Of course. That was the original purpose.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Erphina looked at James this time.

“Mr. James, I don’t think there’s anything we can do now. Fortunately, he seems to be willing to trade, so please make a decision.”

“A-are you okay with this?”

Erphina forced a smile. She was going back to the cycle of pain that she had barely escaped, so she couldn’t have been happy about it. But she couldn’t leave James and Polia separated like this.

“I-it’s okay. So, don’t worry about me.”

“E-Erphina, I’m sorry. I can never give up on Polia.”

“Yes. I understand everything. It’s all my fault for being unlucky. Then, please talk to each other.”

James, barely nodding his head with a sorry expression, faced Beom-seok with a hardened expression.

“You see? Erphina is such a kind elf. If you make her unhappy, I will never forgive you.”

“Of course. I promise that will never happen. In fact, the elf gladiators on our team live under happier conditions than any other team.”

It was just words, but James received some comfort.

“O-okay. Then let’s exchange Erphina and Polia.”

He took Beom-seok to a nearby auction office without even looking at Erphina, feeling sorry. Then, he signed the electronic transfer agreement to exchange their elves and finished all the transactions.

Beom-seok, who went to Kidd with Erphina triumphantly, had to receive tremendous attention from the people around him. Feeling something strange about the people looking at him and chuckling, Beom-seok went to the backyard where Aron was and became furious when he found out the reason. Aron’s exterior was painted with a large picture of his face in the center of a landscape full of flowers with electronic paint. In addition, there was even a cheesy comment written below: ‘Welcome our dear new master.’

He immediately went inside and ordered Aron to erase it, and then quickly left the Ellington Civic Center.

—–

See you next time.