Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 294

From the window of a building, the Meyren City Colosseum was visible in the distance. Inside, a man in his thirties with brown hair paced anxiously.

His name was Henry Meyer, the second-in-command of the Hyena Group. He had planned to watch the Dark Hyenas team’s game today, but news of an unexpected visitor forced him to wait in his office—the chairman’s office.

Henry saw a call on the intercom, went to his desk, and activated it.

“Chairman, the Honorary Chairman has arrived with a guest.”

Hearing his secretary’s message, Henry replied with a nervous look.

“Okay, send them in.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon, the door to the chairman’s office opened, and an old man with a hooked black cane entered. His bald head was covered in age spots, and his wrinkled skin spoke of his advanced years. This man was Meyer, Henry’s father and the founder of the Hyena Group.

The other man who entered was an unexpected figure that surprised Henry. It was none other than Lucas, a member of the Black Society [a rival organization].

Henry looked at Meyer with a bewildered expression.

“Father! What’s going on? Isn’t that Chairman Lucas?”

Meyer, who had been walking with his hands behind his back, sat down on the best seat on the reception sofa and glared at him with a displeased expression.

“You dare to get angry before even greeting your father!”

“N-No, that’s not it. That man is a member of the Black Society. He is an enemy of the economic organization we belong to. How can I not be taken aback when you’re accompanying him, Father?”

“Humph. There’s no need to be taken aback. I brought him here for a reason. Just listen to me and sit down without complaint.”

“Ugh. Yes, I understand.”

Henry frowned and reluctantly sat down. Meyer gestured to Lucas.

“Come and sit down, too.”

“Thank you. I will.”

Henry glared at Lucas as he sat next to his father. He didn’t like the fact that a member of the Black Society was in his office.

After a while, a secretary brought in refreshments, and Meyer began to speak while sipping tea.

“I heard that you recently appointed Julian as the leader of the Dark Hyenas. I clearly told you before, that guy is no good.”

Henry sighed deeply. He wondered when this would come up. The dismissed former leader of the Dark Hyenas team was like an extension of his father’s influence. So, firing him and appointing Julian was bound to cause dissatisfaction.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Julian caused significant damage to the company, but I thought he deserved another chance. And didn’t you once tell me that Julian was a potential successor to the Hyena Group? So, I just treated him accordingly.”

Of course, Meyer had said that. At the time, Julian had impressed him with his flawless work. But things changed when he faced Beomseok. How could someone who got beaten up so badly be a successor to the group? It didn’t make sense.

But since he had said it himself, he couldn’t easily refute Henry’s excuse.

“Well, let’s leave that aside. But why did you fire the former Dark Hyenas leader? He is someone I trust. Even if he made a mistake, shouldn’t you have given him another chance like Julian, considering your father’s feelings?”

“I didn’t fire him.”

“What do you mean? If removing him from the leadership position isn’t firing him, then what is it?”

Henry took a deep breath and replied.

“Actually, the former Dark Hyenas leader didn’t make any mistakes. If he kept the team in the World League with that level of power, he should have been praised. However…”

“However, what?”

“His dismissal was due to managerial reasons. Our Hyena Group plans to bring the Dark Hyenas team back to the World League, and the one who will play a big role in this is Jakid.”

“Ah? Are you talking about the gladiator who is compared to that Amelie in the media?”

“Yes, that’s right. But he clashed with the former leader because he insulted his teacher. So, I had to choose between the two, and I sided with Jakid. Anyway, we have to get the Dark Hyenas team back to the World League.”

Meyer, still looking displeased, said.

“Even so, where in the world does anyone fire a leader to recruit a gladiator!”

“Of course, but Jakid is a gladiator worth that much. We can replace the leader anytime, but Jakid is a gladiator that is hard to find even if you search the whole world. Who wouldn’t fire someone to bring such a person to our Dark Hyenas, a mere Central League team?”

“Sigh~ Fine. Let’s leave that aside. Why did you appoint that stupid Julian as the leader?”

“Well, Julian is the only one who can control Jakid. In fact, Julian was the one who brought him to our team. And Julian is a very smart kid, as you said before. He just had a bad encounter with the enemy. The Beomseok he faced was such a formidable enemy that even Chairman Lucas sitting next to you couldn’t handle. Have you ever heard of the Rainbow Group incident? At that time, the Black Society was not only defeated by him but also suffered a great disgrace.”

Meyer had heard about that story through rumors. The story that the Black Society tried to attack the Rainbow Group but ended up giving Beomseok a huge amount of money and failing to achieve their goal had already spread widely in the business world.

“Well, even Julian would have had a hard time facing such a guy alone.”

“Yes. So, don’t blame Julian too much. How could your judgment of people be wrong? If he is given a proper chance, he will grow into a successor that you will be satisfied with.”

Whether Meyer was swayed by Henry’s appeasement skills, he decided not to pursue Julian’s matter any further.

Meyer clasped his hands holding the cane and stared intently at his son. It was time to bring up the main point of his visit today.

“Henry, are you hiding anything from your father?”

“What are you talking about? I report everything that happens in the overall management to you from time to time.”

“There must be something.”

“Unless it’s a trivial matter, there’s absolutely nothing like that in important matters.”

Meyer twitched one eyebrow.

“You wouldn’t say you don’t know about Leperd, would you?”

At that moment, Henry’s body froze as if it had turned to ice. The situation regarding Leperd was something his father should never know. For some reason, Meyer would lose his mind and become irrational when it came to anything about him.

He glared sharply at Lucas sitting next to him. He was sure that he had confessed about Leperd.

“Um, yes. I heard about it briefly, but I didn’t think it was a matter of much concern, so I didn’t report it.”

Meyer slammed the floor hard with the end of his cane.

“You! There are things you can hide and things you can’t! You didn’t report to me about him!”

Henry, nervous, stammered out an excuse.

“But Leperd is currently running an agency with one granddaughter and a few aspiring entertainers. It doesn’t make sense for our Hyena Group to pay attention to such a person.”

Meyer’s words were not wrong. Leperd’s granddaughter, Karen, had become a world-renowned popular singer, and about a hundred entertainers belonging to Leperd Entertainment were gaining recognition by appearing on broadcasting stations around the world.

But if he honestly admitted that he knew this, he would be in big trouble. Henry had no choice but to play dumb.

“Ah, is that so? I wasn’t aware of that.”

“You! There are things you shouldn’t ignore! You’re not paying attention to Leperd!”

“Father, Leperd is an incompetent person. He will never become an enemy that threatens us.”

Meyer’s face turned red as he shouted.

“How dare you say that in front of me! Leperd is not an easy opponent!”

“Father, have you already forgotten? You were the one who said that Leperd was incompetent. What did you say when you kicked him out of management? You said that the company’s growth was sluggish because of the incompetent Leperd, didn’t you? Many shareholders with good intentions agreed with that, and eventually, you became the president. And immediately after that, the company grew rapidly, and the current Hyena Group came to be.

The results are obvious, so I don’t understand why we should be wary of Leperd.”
Meyer gritted his teeth as if he had nothing to say. As his son said, he had said that when he kicked Leperd out in the past. But that was just an excuse to take over the management rights. He was not incompetent at all. No, the entertainers that Leperd recruited and raised were a great help in the growth of the Hyena Group.

“But Leperd holds a grudge against us. He is someone we must eliminate to prevent future troubles.”

“But there are many others besides Leperd who view our Hyena Group in a negative light. How many competitors have fallen to us? And even now, some competitors are fighting fiercely to bring us down.

In this situation, you want me to pour all the power of the entire group into destroying Leperd? That’s definitely not a worthwhile gamble.”

“Who said to use the power of the entire group! Why are you making such a big deal out of taking down one small agency!”

Henry shook his head as if it were absurd.

“To take down Leperd, we have to take down the forces backing him. But the problem is that fighting them could potentially collapse our Hyena Group.”

“What are you talking about? There are forces backing Leperd?”

“Yes. It’s a group called Ilsimhoe [a powerful financial group]. Until recently, it wasn’t a very big force, but it has transformed into a huge force because of some stupid people. If they decide to take action, even our Hyena Group will not be safe.”

At that, Lucas coughed loudly. He couldn’t possibly not know that Beomseok had brought dozens of wealthy financiers into Ilsimhoe due to what they had done at the Federation Professional Gladiator Association banquet.

Meyer glared at Lucas slightly. He had never told him this fact.

Meyer shook his head and turned his gaze back to Henry.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. It’s an accurate fact.”

“But would such a force really help that small Leperd Entertainment?”

“They definitely will. When the Black Society attacked Rainbow Group, they had weak power, but they helped with all their might. And then the Black Society was defeated and suffered such a disgrace.”

Lucas interjected in the conversation.

“Chairman Meyer, the current Ilsimhoe is different from the previous Ilsimhoe in terms of organization. It has grown significantly, but its unity is weak due to the sudden expansion of power. If we exploit this point, we can definitely eliminate Leperd.”

Henry immediately stepped in to refute.

“The problem is that Beomseok is not an easy opponent. Even our economic organization is wary of him and trying to maintain a smooth relationship.

No, some are even suggesting that we join hands and attack our common enemy, the Black Society. In this situation, we have no choice but to move alone if we want to take down Leperd.

It will definitely be a fight that involves considerable risk.”

Lucas spoke again.

“No. Our Black Society will help. Then it will be a fight worth trying.”

Henry’s face turned red as he shouted.

“That’s ridiculous! If the fact that we joined hands with the Black Society to take down Beomseok is known to the economic organization, we may be expelled from the organization. There can be no connection with the Black Society.”
Meyer, who had listened to their conflicting advice, slowly raised his head.

“Still, we have to take down Leperd. We can’t leave him alone.”

“Father, please reconsider. It could be a matter of the Hyena Group’s fate.”

“There’s no need to reconsider. The connection with the Black Society will only be known if we keep our mouths shut, and I can persuade the members of the economic organization. And if we handle things well, there’s no reason for those Ilsimhoe guys to step in. We’re not trying to take down Ilsimhoe, but quietly wither away Leperd.”

Henry took a deep breath and said firmly.

“Anyway, as the group chairman, I can never agree to this.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t agree? Do you have more shares than me? Henry, just remember one thing. Just as I put you in the chairman’s position, I can kick you out at any time.”

His body trembled as he received Meyer’s sharp gaze. He was definitely just a puppet chairman. His father had more shares, and most of the major shareholders trusted him more than him. If Meyer decided to, he could be kicked out of this position at any time.

Although he was upset, Henry had no choice but to nod.

“Since the Hyena Group is yours anyway, do as you please. I will follow.”

“Hehe. Of course, that’s how my son should be. Then I’ll come back soon with a strategy to take down Leperd. See you then.”

Meyer, with a satisfied smile, stood up, and Lucas followed behind. Henry saw them off to the door and returned to the window, letting out a long sigh. He didn’t like the fact that he had to take down Leperd.

‘In the end, I have to take down Uncle Leperd with my own hands.’

He recalled a face that had been especially fond of him when he was young. It was Leperd’s appearance in his youth, and he remembered being very fond of him at the time. But ironically, his father, Meyer, took over the company’s management rights from Leperd, and their relationship was cut off because of that.

Of course, he had recently confirmed that Leperd had started an agency again and was making a comeback, but he pretended not to know for fear that his father, Meyer, would find out. But eventually, it became known, and he was in a situation where he had to bring him down again with his own hands. He couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.

============================ Review of the work ============================

It was very windy today. I thought a typhoon was coming. Hahaha.

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