Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 265

Thick clouds began to gather in the sky, which had been clear until recently. The air was heavy with humidity, as if a downpour was imminent. Beom-seok, walking through the dimly lit Renew City, felt a drop of rain on his nose and glanced at Angela, the black-haired woman walking beside him.

“Angela, it looks like it’s going to pour soon.”

Angela held out her palm to feel the raindrops and nodded.

“It seems so. We should find shelter quickly.”

“Shall I call my car? I parked it in a nearby lot.”

“Yes, please do. We can’t get caught in a rainstorm like this.”

“Then, one moment.”

Beom-seok immediately retrieved his electronic notepad and pressed the call button. He watched the sky, anticipating the arrival of his flying car, as he waited.

Angela’s eyes, fixed on him, were filled with admiration. Although he was only a Wide League player, Beom-seok was a gladiator with skills rivaling those of famous World Leaguers. Few men were worthy enough to stand by her side like this.

Soon, a white flying car descended, landing gently on the ground. He and Angela quickly boarded as the rain intensified. She watched Beom-seok, observing the raindrops streaking across the car window.

“By the way, what brings you to Renew City, Beom-seok?”

He, piloting the flying car, replied casually.

“Ah, I came to scout the Desert Scorpions team, to see if there are any gladiators suitable for recruitment.”

The Desert Scorpions were Angela’s World League team. They consistently maintained a mid-to-upper rank in the league each year and enjoyed high global recognition. Naturally, their gladiators possessed exceptional skills, and their salaries were substantial. They didn’t have any gladiators with salaries that a mere Wide League team could easily afford.

“Oh, you’re trying to poach gladiators from my team?”

“Yes. Nikita, whom I recently recruited, is performing exceptionally well, so I’ve become ambitious for a World League gladiator.”

“But you’re running a Wide League team, aren’t you? That would be a significant financial burden.”

“Of course, it’s true, but if they are promising players or relatively less-skilled World Leaguers, I can make it work. Our team, by its nature, can invest most of its income in recruiting gladiators.”

Well, even if it was a Wide League team, if they dedicated all their income to recruiting gladiators, they would inevitably be able to recruit World Leaguers.

“But is that even feasible?”

Beom-seok, having levitated the flying car into the air, leaned back comfortably in his seat and said.

“Yes, of course. Our team has a lean organization, so our operating costs are low. We don’t need a manager or other support staff. And we don’t have to distribute dividends to shareholders, and few of our gladiators have outside owners, so we don’t spend much on annual salaries. Thanks to that, we have ample funds to recruit new gladiators. Hahaha.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Beom-seok glanced at Angela. He said this, but his real purpose was to observe Theresa’s actions.

At first, he couldn’t discern the hidden story and suspected the Economic Organizations were behind the incident. All the evidence seemed to point to them. But after deeper reflection and observation, Rubin seemed unexpectedly suspicious. He was feigning kindness and expressing pure love, but his actions suggested otherwise.

‘Rubin, you bastard! You’re trying to stab me in the back!’

The reason Beom-seok began to suspect Rubin was the prediction that the Economic Organizations would absorb the Louis faction through Jil-lyeom and create a new, dominant faction. On the surface, it was a plausible explanation, but there was a significant flaw. No matter how much you combine the pro-gladiator team of the Hyena Group and the Angela faction, you can’t surpass the power of the Louis faction.

Since Jil-lyeom is also human, he would be ambitious and wouldn’t want to be controlled by a weaker force. This would inevitably lead to conflict in the future, ruining the plan to form a giant faction, which was the real objective. In this situation, there was no reason for the Economic Organizations to betray the Ibrahim faction, with whom they were currently strengthening ties, and risk antagonizing the Louis faction, one of the major powers.

But at the time, he dismissed it. That’s because they had a fatal weakness that made Jil-lyeom unable to move, or they could make the unreasonable move of making him, a pawn, join the Economic Organizations. Then the plan would be complete, so Rubin’s words were not entirely wrong.

But it was different when he brought up the story that he liked Shaila. The problem was that the conversation flowed too smoothly. Rubin initially mentioned his parents in response to his question about whether she was a modified human, and eventually revealed that he was heterosexual. In this era, heterosexuals were often stigmatized, so they usually hid their preferences. Even though Beom-seok was also heterosexual, it wasn’t something he would readily disclose. In addition, when he later hinted that he liked Shaila, Beom-seok felt a chill down his spine. He suspected that revealing his heterosexuality might be a calculated move to justify his affection for her.

‘And he subtly revealed his hand. You stupid bastard.’

Beom-seok pretended to play along, eagerly expressing his willingness to connect him with Shaila. It was to confirm his suspicion. But then, Rubin, in his excitement, made a critical mistake. When Beom-seok rashly vowed to end this situation quickly, he requested restraint, saying that things could go wrong. It was advice that was easy enough to agree with, but it was a word that should never have come from Rubin’s mouth, a man supposedly in love with Shaila. No man would ask for restraint when the woman he loved was being exploited by some street thug. It might be possible if Rubin was a saint, but Beom-seok couldn’t fathom it.

So, a few days later, he gathered all the people involved and conducted a test. He put Shaila and Jil-lyeom in a compromising situation and introduced his old flame, Dinah, into the mix.

Naturally, she was overwhelmed by the difficult situation and had to leave the Colosseum without even raising her head. But at this time, Rubin’s behavior was telling. Instead of looking sadly at the fact that the woman he loved was in trouble, he was only disappointed that the plan to unmask Jil-lyeom had failed. Moreover, he didn’t even realize that he had to comfort Shaila until Beom-seok nudged him. If such a person had truly been in love with her for a long time, Beom-seok would bet his life on it.

In the end, Beom-seok added Rubin to the list of suspects and began to view the situation from a new perspective.

‘There is a high possibility that the Black Society [a clandestine organization composed of geniuses] is involved in this incident.’

The reason Beom-seok suspected the Black Society as the mastermind was simple. It was because Rubin was trying to pin all the blame on the Economic Organizations. The Black Society was hostile to the Economic Organizations and was planning to create its own faction in the gladiator world, so there was no need to absorb the Louis faction. All they wanted was a collaborator to jointly defend against attacks from the Ibrahim and Cooper factions.

Of course, for this hypothesis to hold, one challenge had to be addressed: the identity of the elf who acted as Jil-lyeom’s guard. She was a gladiator belonging to the Angela Group’s gladiator team, making her a member of the Economic Organizations. But tracing Julian’s advice became a hint to find the connection beyond the connection. It was because Theresa, Angela’s daughter, was the daughter of one of the few geniuses of this era. The Black Society was composed only of geniuses who were in the top 100 graduates worldwide each year.

‘I suspect that Theresa is the mastermind. The next problem is…’

Beom-seok, pleased to have identified the potential mastermind, faced a significant obstacle. No matter how meticulously he searched, he couldn’t find any related links, even after mobilizing all of Margaret’s information resources. If the medical information about Theresa’s father hadn’t disappeared, he might have dismissed his suspicion. Even though children grow up with single parents, usually at least the minimum blood relationship remains in government records.

Beom-seok looked at Angela and said.

“Oh, by the way, what brought you to that hotel, Angela?”

“I came to have dinner with my daughter.”

“Oh, is that so? Then I apologize. Since you are such a prominent figure, Angela, I wanted to talk to you and brought you out, but it seems like I’m interrupting a family’s cozy time. I’m truly sorry.”

At the polite apology, she was startled and waved her hand.

“No, it’s okay. Dinner had just ended. You can tell by the fact that my daughter wasn’t there.”

Beom-seok slyly smirked. He had been looking for an opportunity to talk to Angela, and he could tell that Theresa had stepped out to take a call.

But there was no need to push her.

“Oh, then that’s a relief. I was worried that I had made a mistake.”

“Hahaha. There’s no need to feel sorry at all, so don’t worry about it.”

“By the way, where did your daughter go?”

“Oh, she probably went to the team. She’s the team leader of our team.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s a shame. I missed the opportunity to see a beautiful woman.”

Angela’s eyes narrowed for a moment. She felt a pang of jealousy that the man in front of her was discussing the beauty of another woman while she was present.

“My daughter is a beauty? Have you seen her in person?”

“No, I haven’t. But since you are so beautiful, Angela, I just assumed that your daughter would be a beauty too.”

Only then did she relax her expression and cover her mouth with her hand, bursting into a soft laugh. No matter how naive she was, she couldn’t misunderstand Beom-seok’s intentions.

“Hahaha. You’re too much, Beom-seok. If you say such things, I’ll be embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed? I was just telling the truth. The reason I approached you was because I was captivated by your beauty, not because you were Angela. In fact, I didn’t even know you were the famous Angela until I got closer to see you.”

“Really?”

It was a lie, but there was also truth. One of them was about Angela’s appearance. Thanks to being a modified human, she was still maintaining her youthful appearance in her early 20s, and her skin was so well-maintained that it was smooth and radiant. In addition, her beautifully shaped legs, slender waistline, and exquisite face made her a truly captivating woman.

“Of course. Do you know how disappointed I was when I found out that the woman I was fascinated by was Angela? I felt like Romeo, loving the daughter of an enemy. I don’t know if you know, but I don’t have a good relationship with the Economic Organizations.”

At those words, Angela looked disappointed. The incident in which Beom-seok cooperated with the Black Society was well-known within the organization. The animosity had lessened due to the incident where he betrayed the Black Society, but the Economic Organizations still viewed him with suspicion.

In fact, if it became known within the organization that she was with Beom-seok, she would also be in trouble.

“Oh, is that so? By the way, why did you cooperate with the Black Society? It seems like a big mistake.”

“Sigh~ It’s all because I was young and naive. How could I have known the truth of the situation without any social experience? I was completely fooled by the sweet talk of that damn Black Society. Of course, I regretted being backstabbed by them later, but the damage was already done.”

“Oh dear. You must have been very angry.”

“I’m angry, but what can I do? It’s all my fault. I’m just quietly reflecting.”

Angela immediately showed a gesture of understanding.

“Well, my daughter also gave me a lot of trouble when she was your age, Beom-seok. I can understand it all. Everyone makes such mistakes in their youth. I don’t resent you for the past, so don’t feel too burdened.”

Beom-seok grabbed her wrist tightly with a touched expression.

“You are truly as generous in heart as you are in appearance, Angela. If everyone in the world was like you, Angela, life would be truly worth living.”

Angela’s heart fluttered for a moment. It was because she felt a thrill from Beom-seok’s firm grip.

The men she had been with so far were all ordinary people with limited physical abilities. At first, she was excited by the fact that she was being held by a man, but as time went by, she gradually became tired of it and had spent the last few years alone. She couldn’t feel desire for a man who would be incapacitated by her slightest touch. But Beom-seok, a modified human, was exhibiting a strength that made her unable to resist. Moreover, unlike other men, he approached her purely because he was captivated by her appearance, not for her wealth or status. It was Angela’s secret desire to spend a passionate night with such a man at least once.

But she didn’t want to give herself away too easily and be seen as an easy woman.

“N-no, you’re welcome. Hahaha. But please let go of my hand. If you keep doing this, I’ll be embarrassed.”

Beom-seok, pretending to be startled, immediately released her hand. Judging from the atmosphere, she seemed receptive, but there was no need to take unnecessary risks. Angela was the key to resolving the Shaila situation. He needed to uncover information about Theresa’s background through her. If he could confirm that she was the daughter of a Black Society member, he could inform Vice Chairman Louis of his suspicions and at least keep Rubin in check.

============================ Author’s words ============================

It’s raining in the spring. I hope the weather gets a little warmer.

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