Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 293

295

“Hahaha. Thanks. I would have been in big trouble if it weren’t for you.”

Julien, who had entered the Colosseum’s staff entrance, laughed heartily and patted Beomseok on the back. He had almost been utterly humiliated, but thanks to Beomseok, he had avoided it.

Beomseok frowned and looked at him with a pathetic gaze.

“But did you really try to scalp tickets?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it scalping. If there’s no intent, it’s not a crime, right?”

“No intent?”

“Actually, my father and some high-ranking executives were supposed to come to watch today, but it was canceled due to unavoidable circumstances. So, since the tickets were just going to waste, I thought I’d sell them.”

“Even so, how could you sell tickets in front of the stadium? If you’re mistaken for a scalper and arrested, how would you handle that humiliation?”

“I had no choice. I needed a lot of money.”

“What do you need money for? The leader of our team receives the lowest salary in the industry, but it’s still over 800,000 krang per year. That’s enough to live comfortably.”

“Hehe. Sorry, but my salary is 12,000 krang per month. 3,500 krang of that goes to rent for my studio apartment. Add food, electricity, heating, and other taxes, and it’s hard to avoid being in the red.”

Beomseok looked at Julien with a puzzled expression. That meant he was only earning about 150,000 krang per year. He couldn’t understand how the leader of a Central League team could be paid so little.

“Could it be that the Dark Hyenas team is experiencing a financial crisis?”

“It’s not that. I may be the leader, but my probation period hasn’t ended yet…”

Julien suddenly stopped talking. He had been too relaxed after escaping the crisis and had revealed too much about his situation.

He awkwardly laughed and tried to brush off what he had just said.

“Hahaha. Anyway, there’s that. Hahaha.”

Beomseok shook his head and glanced to the side. There was the employee cafeteria, and Dalma was dragging a bag of food waste from next to the back door.

“Hey. Don’t tell me you’re even touching food waste?”

Julien frowned. No matter how down on his luck he was, he didn’t eat food waste that others had thrown away.

“What are you talking about! Of course not!”

Beomseok pointed to Dalma, who was tearing open the bag of food waste at Julien’s feet.

“Then what’s that?”

“That’s for Dalma to eat. He never eats anything unless he hunts it himself. He grew up in the wilderness of the city.”

“Seriously? Bringing food waste and tearing open the bag is hunting?”

“It may seem that way to us, but that’s how he sees it.”

Well, you couldn’t adjust a dog’s perspective to human thinking. If Dalma thought so, he had to accept it.

“Hehe. At least you don’t have to pay for dog food.”

“That’s great. Thanks to him, I’m about to get kicked out of my apartment. Keeping a dog is prohibited in my studio apartment, and he’s destroying all the food waste in the neighborhood…”

“Really? Then what are you going to do? You can’t sleep outside.”

Julien shook his electronic notepad and chuckled.

“It’s okay. Today, I’ve secured enough funds to buy an apartment where I can keep a dog. Including the tickets I sold today, I’ve earned a whopping 3.3 million krang [currency in this world]. Hahaha.”

3.3 million krang was more than enough to buy an ordinary apartment. Living with a dog wouldn’t be a problem, but that didn’t mean all the problems were solved.

“What about the food waste? Do you think the residents there will be understanding?”

“Hehe. I guess we’ll see.”

“Sigh. You really live a tough life.”

“Well, it’s my fate. Hehe.”

Just then, Beomseok, who had entered the spectator passage, put on his sunglasses and hat again and looked at Julien. It was time to say goodbye. The match would start soon, so he had to go to the stands.

“Anyway, take care. I have to go up to the stands, so let’s part ways here.”

Julien nodded. He had to go up to the team’s designated seating area. He could order food at the team’s expense there, which would save him money on dinner.

“Alright. See you next time.”

After parting ways with him, Beomseok entered the stands with Gelsomina. The seat locations were B2-01 and 02, right above the Dark Hyenas’ entrance tunnel. That meant he could check Zakid’s information window when he entered. He couldn’t help but feel grateful to Julien for getting him these tickets.

He sat down in the seat closest to the edge and waited for the match to begin. Both teams’ gladiators were already waiting in front of the entrance tunnel.

“Gelsomina. How good is your senior disciple’s swordsmanship?”

Gelsomina tilted her head and replied awkwardly.

“Well, I don’t know exactly.”

“What do you mean? He’s your senior disciple, and you don’t know his swordsmanship skills?”

“Well, my senior disciple never used his full strength against me. There was also the difference between a modified human and a non-modified human, but there was also a significant difference in swordsmanship. He just sparred with me lightly, so I don’t know his skills in detail.”

Gelsomina was recruited into the Gods Knights immediately after receiving the modification surgery. Until then, she was an ordinary human, so she certainly wouldn’t have had a proper sparring match with Zakid.

“But you’ve been together for a long time, so you must have a rough idea of his skills, right?”

“I think he’s much stronger than me. My master said that my senior disciple surpasses him in both physical ability and swordsmanship. Considering this, it’s certain that he’s the strongest when it comes to swordsmanship. If only he didn’t have that clumsiness…”

Beomseok’s eyes widened sharply at those words. Although he didn’t entirely believe it, according to Director Vincent, Gelsomina’s master, Remnant, was the strongest swordsman in the world. However, he couldn’t perform well in the World League due to his poor physical condition, but he said that his swordsmanship alone was better than his own.

For such a person to admit that Zakid was better than him, Zakid seemed great again.

“Re, really? But why did he only enter the gladiator world now? Even someone like you could have been very successful in the gladiator world.”

“That’s because my master stopped him.”

“Why would he stop him?”

“In a word, it’s pride. As a master, he wouldn’t feel good if his cherished disciple, whom he had raised with great care, was defeated by other gladiators.”

“Still, your senior disciple seemed to want to enter society. He could have just ignored him and entered the gladiator world.”

Gelsomina shook her head and hands at the same time.

“My senior disciple can never ignore my master’s words. He was raised by my master from a young age, and my master spent all the money he earned from his past activities in the World League to give him the body modification surgery. And after that, he poured a lot of money into helping him grow up in perfect training facilities. It’s unthinkable to betray such a father-like figure.”

“I, I guess so.”

After saying that, Beomseok got up from his seat. There were still many questions he wanted to ask, but he had to gather more important information now. Judging by the busy referee’s stand in the distance, the match seemed about to begin.

He leaned his head over the railing and waited for Zakid to come out.

– Both teams’ gladiators! Please enter.

In line with the broadcast, gladiators wearing black suits lined up and came out. Everyone was wearing suits, so it was difficult to see their faces properly, but Beomseok could easily find Zakid. He was the only tall person whose height barely reached the chest of the tall elves.

‘Shall we take a look?’

Just as Zakid passed by, Beomseok quickly opened the information window.

————————————————-

Name: Zakid Grow.

Classification: Modified Human (17 years).

Affiliation: Dark Hyenas GC.

Fame: 37.

Infamy: 0.

Favorability: ??.

Stamina: 11000/11000.

Sociability: 100, Strength: 100+10, Constitution: 100+10.

Agility: 100+10, Balance: 100+10, Intelligence: 100.

Mental Strength: 100. Judgment: 100, Skill: 98.

Luck: 99.

Current Skill/Potential: 997/1000.

————————————————

Trait: Heavenly Divine Overlord.

Special Notes: Remnant, the owner of the Moonlight Sword School, is the best disciple. He was recognized by his master as the strongest and entered society to become the strongest gladiator. He became a modified human in his mid-40s after receiving body modification surgery. He is an excellent swordsman who is not inferior in anything, but his clumsiness is a weakness. His position is specialized in free roll [a gladiator who isn’t tied to a specific position or strategy] due to lack of experience, and he mainly uses a sword as a weapon.

————————————————

‘What! This is a scam!’

Beomseok barely managed to hold back the curse that was about to come out. He was angry at Zakid’s absurd abilities. The potential of nearly 1,000 and the current skill that was almost fully developed. In addition, the unique-grade trait called ‘Heavenly Divine Overlord’ was enough to make him sick.

The Heavenly Divine Overlord had a passive function that increased all physical abilities by +10 in normal times, but it also included an active option that increased all abilities by +10 for 150 minutes when activated. In other words, Zakid would have all physical abilities +20 and all other mental stats +10 for 150 minutes.

It could be said that the word ‘scam’ accurately described the trait.

‘That’s too much. How am I supposed to fight someone like that who is also good at swordsmanship!’

Beomseok made a grimace. He thought he had mastered the invincible trait by learning ‘Doppelganger’s Emperor,’ but an even worse guy had appeared. It was truly a disheartening thing.

At that time, Gelsomina, who had come to his side, waved her hand at Zakid and shouted.

“Senior Disciple Zakid! You have to do well today!”

Zakid, who was walking calmly, stared at the spectator seat where she was located and smiled brightly.

“Yo. Who is this! Isn’t it Gelsomina! How did you get here without a ticket!”

“The senior here got it for me!”

He looked at Beomseok, who was standing next to Gelsomina.

“Oh, isn’t this Gladiator Beomseok? We’ve seen each other once before, right? It’s really nice to meet you like this.”

“Ah, ah. Yes. It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the match with you, so watch the game well today. We’ll be fighting soon, so you need to know who I am. Hehehe.”

Beomseok nodded with a stiff expression. Ironically, the Gods Knights would be bringing the Dark Hyenas home for the league’s third match. That meant their showdown would take place in two weeks.

“I know. I’m also looking forward to it very much. You’ll probably have to be prepared.”

“Hehe. I like that spirit. Good. Today, I’ll defeat Amelie and head to you. In other words, if you beat me, you’ll be the strongest gladiator. How about it? Doesn’t it sound exciting just thinking about it?”

Of course, it wasn’t. Amelie was the prey that Beomseok had marked. He had drawn with her in their one-on-one fight, but it was practically a defeat in terms of content. If Amelie was defeated by him before he could, he would feel very uncomfortable.

“Can you really beat Amelie so easily?”

Zakid lightly tapped the sword he was wearing on his waist and said.

“As long as this guy is here, there is no gladiator in the world who can beat me. That goes for Amelie too.”

“Well, will it be that easy? The person you have to face today is not just Amelie. Gladiator is not a game played alone.”

“Hehe. Don’t worry. The power is the same anyway, 12 to 12.”

“But the brains are different. If you have a bad head, your hands and feet will suffer.”

Zakid glanced at the dugout.

“Our coach would be very upset if he heard that.”

“I can’t help it. He’s a good coach, but he can’t compare to Director Vincent.”

“Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind. See you later.”

Beomseok gave a faint smile to Zakid, who was leaving. It was never easy to grasp the coach’s tendencies and abilities. He would probably suffer somewhat from Director Vincent’s strategy today.

– Peeep!

As soon as Beomseok sat down, the whistle sounded, signaling the start of the match. Both teams’ gladiators circled the center of the arena in a tight formation, as if to check each other’s organization before the full-scale battle.

At this time, Zakid, who was standing at the rear, broke away from the formation and gestured to Amelie, who was in the middle, as if provoking her to come out. He seemed to be trying to defeat Amelie through a 1v1 duel.

‘But will Director Vincent really fall for it? He knows very well that if Amelie falls, it’s an immediate defeat.’

As expected, Amelie was stuck in the middle of the formation and didn’t move. If you knew Zakid’s information, it was a strategy that anyone would naturally take. Leaving the free roll alone was close to an adventure, but the opponent was a novice gladiator. If the free roll didn’t show organic movement with the main camp, it was better not to have it.

At that time, a fan sitting behind Beomseok shouted loudly at the arena.

“Amelie. What are you doing! Are you scared!”

At the same time as those words, the Dark Hyenas fans, who were rising like a swarm of bees, booed Amelie at the same time. Unlike Beomseok, they wanted to see the showdown between Zakid and her with their own eyes. There was a good reason why they bought tickets at a high price.

But it didn’t matter to Chaplin Whisper at all. All the admission revenue generated by them would be taken by the Dark Hyenas. They continued to maintain their formation and ignored Zakid, who was playing free roll.

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

Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.