Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 303

It was late August, and the heat hadn’t yet subsided. Clouds occasionally drifted by, but they couldn’t block the scorching sun.

God’s Knights training camp. Although it wasn’t a match day, the affiliated gladiators were engrossed in training, dripping with sweat. However, in one corner, a man was leisurely lying in the shade of a tree, wallowing in misery. It was Beomseok. He couldn’t concentrate on training because of his loss to Jakid in the third league match a few days ago.

He plucked a foxtail grass growing nearby, put it in his mouth, and stared blankly at the sky.

‘What exactly is my weakness? I’m perfect in every way.’

He didn’t doubt his skills yet, but Jakid’s advice kept bothering him. He had been pushed back a lot at first, but he had become a worthy opponent in his own right. However, right after Jakid said he had a weakness, he lost so absurdly. Seeing this, he couldn’t deny there was something wrong with his swordsmanship. The problem was, what was it?

‘I can’t bring myself to ask Jakid, it would be too humiliating.’

Jakid was a rival he had to defeat. Asking him about his weaknesses would be a great shame. He was already mortified for asking the reason for his defeat in the heat of the moment right after the match, so he couldn’t possibly go back and ask again.

“Damn it! What the hell is it!”

A woman reacted to his frustrated shout.

“I… I’m sorry. I was just worried.”

Beomseok turned his head slightly in the direction of the sound. Jelsomina was there, fidgeting with an embarrassed expression. Thinking that she had come because she was worried about him, he sighed deeply and spoke in a calm tone.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Here, come and sit down.”

“Yes, Senior.”

Beomseok said, watching her subtly approach and sit down.

“So, what’s going on?”

“Well, everyone is worried because you haven’t been participating in training and keep doing this.”

Beomseok glared at his subordinate elves who were glancing at him from afar. He was angry that they were trying to interfere even though he had declared a ban on approaching him.

The elves were absolutely obedient to their master’s orders, but they had intellectual capabilities no different from humans, so this kind of thing often happened. It seemed clear that they knew he hadn’t said anything to Jelsomina and had asked her to assess the situation.

However, he was too lazy to run all the way to the training ground to express his anger. And it would upset Jelsomina, which would negatively affect her affection for him.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that I don’t want to train. I’m trying to figure out why I lost to Jakid.”

“Ah? So you’re not discouraged?”

Beomseok scoffed. If he were to be discouraged by one defeat, he wouldn’t even play the game in the first place. He had experienced countless defeats while playing the game for many years.

“What are you talking about! I’m not so sensitive that I would be disheartened by something like this!”

“Ah? Is that so? That’s a relief then.”

“So, stop talking nonsense and go focus on training.”

Jelsomina was about to get up but sat back down. In fact, there was one more thing she wanted to tell him. She had been looking for an opportunity because he had seemed uncomfortable, but now that he said he was okay, it seemed like it would be alright.

“Um, can I say one more thing?”

“What is it?”

“The reason why you lost to Great Master Jakid.”

Beomseok looked at Jelsomina with a puzzled expression.

“Oh. You figured that out?”

“Yes. I heard it from Great Master a while ago.”

He immediately frowned. If he was going to find out this way, he would rather go directly to Jakid and ask him honestly.

“Forget it. Stop. I’d rather not hear it.”

“Why? Aren’t you curious?”

“I am curious. But Jakid is my rival. I’m too proud to hear it secondhand. And if I were going to find out what he said, I would have gone to Jakid myself. Why would I be moping around here?”

“But this isn’t the time to worry about pride.”

“I do worry about it. Besides, the reason I lost to Jakid isn’t just because of a weakness. I was being pushed back from the start. Unless I solve the overall problem, it will be difficult to beat him.”

Well, Beomseok’s pride was quite something. Jelsomina, who had known him for several years, was well aware of this fact.

“Sigh~ Are you going to keep doing this? The team atmosphere isn’t good because you’re always here alone.”

“Well, I should be returning to training soon… but it’s a bit…”

“Then how about this?”

“How?”

“Go ask my master.”

“Remnant?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t my master be able to know what Great Master Jakid has figured out?”

Looking at it, it made sense. He was recognized by Director Vincent and had pointed out Jakid, so he would know his weaknesses well. But he immediately waved his hand. He felt uncomfortable receiving help from someone who had a master-disciple relationship with Jakid.

“No. It would be a headache if I had to treat Jakid as my senior. It’s better to solve it myself, even if it takes time.”

“Still, you should go. Our master has a wide network and knows many swordsmen with outstanding skills. If you’re uncomfortable, you can ask them for help.”

That wasn’t bad. As long as they weren’t from Jakid’s side, there wouldn’t be much of a problem with receiving help. Beomseok was desperate to grasp at any straw.

He jumped up from his seat and grabbed Jelsomina’s wrist.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To get an introduction to Remnant’s acquaintance. You told me to go.”

Jelsomina blinked and nodded.

“Ah. Yes.”

They changed clothes briefly and headed straight to Sten City. It was a small city with a population of 380,000 belonging to the Laponi Central Government, where Remnant, the master of Jakid and Jelsomina, was running a swordsmanship dojo [a traditional Japanese martial arts training hall].

The flying car, passing through a quiet downtown area and entering a residential area, was slowly landing on the ground. There were clusters of detached houses around, and judging from the gardens and small pools in the front yards, it seemed like a neighborhood where quite a few wealthy people lived.

Beomseok, who got out of the car, said to Jelsomina, who was following behind.

“Hmm. Do the people who live here all rich?”

“Yes, they are. Sten City has good surrounding scenery, so many retired wealthy people move here to enjoy rural life.”

Beomseok looked around and nodded. The surroundings were open, and the entire city center was covered with lush mountains, creating a rural landscape.

“I see. It would be nice to come and live here in old age.”

“Yes. So I’m going to come and live here when I retire in the future. My master is here, and I have many friends I made at the dojo.”

“Hehe. It’s not bad, but shouldn’t you decide that together with me? You should hear my opinion, as your future spouse.”

Jelsomina stared intently at Beomseok, who smiled lightly.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know. Why are you asking? Hahaha. Ouch.”

Beomseok groaned at the pain coming from his thigh. Jelsomina, who had turned red, had pinched him.

“Stop talking nonsense and follow me quickly. We have to go to Master.”

Pshing, she took the lead, and Beomseok followed behind, grinning. He knew that she was angry on the outside but happy on the inside. Otherwise, her affection for him wouldn’t have increased with this incident. Thinking that the day to conquer her was not far off, Beomseok hummed as he walked.

‘Hmm. It’s more ordinary than I thought.’

The Remnant Dojo, which they arrived at after walking about a block, was very ordinary. The dojo was located on the 3rd floor of a 5-story commercial building. It was no different from any other dojo in the city center. Beomseok, who had expected a rather fancy tiled house with a large yard, was slightly disappointed.

He asked Jelsomina, who was standing next to him.

“Is this the right place?”

“Yes. It’s on the 3rd floor.”

What could he do when she said it was the right place? Beomseok immediately agreed.

“Okay. Let’s go in then.”

“Wait a minute. I haven’t been here in a while, so I can’t just go empty-handed. I think I should buy something to take with me.”

She slipped into the supermarket on the first floor. Beomseok stood there awkwardly, straightening his collar. It was a bit out of the blue, but he felt like he was meeting his future father-in-law in the countryside with his girlfriend to get permission for their marriage. In fact, Jelsomina regarded Remnant as a father figure.

‘Hmm. While I’m here, I should get permission to date Jelsomina. Hehehe.’

After a while, Jelsomina came out of the supermarket with a load of things.

“Okay. Let’s go up now.”

Beomseok took the gift drinks she was holding.

“Okay. Let’s go up quickly.”

Tense, Beomseok carefully stepped up the stairs to the 3rd floor.

Yaat. Yaat. Yaat.

When they reached the dojo, they could hear the shouts of the trainees loudly. Looking through the glass door, there were about 60 people. He opened the door slightly and said to Jelsomina.

“There are quite a few trainees?”

“Yes. The number has increased a lot recently because Great Master and I have become famous gladiators. In fact, there were many more applicants, but the dojo is small, so they only accept 60 people at a time.”

“I see. Well, with fame, the number of trainees is bound to increase.”

Jelsomina, who had entered the dojo, looked at an old man who was giving orders in front of the group of trainees and smiled brightly. He was an old man with gray hair, and though he was not tall, he looked quite sturdy.

“Remnant Master!”

Remnant glanced over and walked out happily.

“Hehehe. Jelsomina. What brings you here?”

The trainees all looked at Jelsomina. They couldn’t possibly not recognize her, a famous gladiator from this dojo. But Jelsomina didn’t hold their attention for long. They saw Beomseok standing right next to her. Unofficially, he was recognized as one of the world’s top 3 gladiators.

“It’s Gladiator Oh Beomseok!”

While the trainees were rushing towards Beomseok, Jelsomina was able to spend some quality time with Remnant.

“Master, please accept this.”

She handed him a gift she had just bought at the supermarket, along with an envelope. It was not a bribe with money for favors, but just pocket money. Remnant was like a parent to Jelsomina, who was an orphan.

He shook his hand at this. In fact, Remnant felt sorry every time he saw her. He couldn’t give her proper help when his younger sibling had a big accident. It was all due to Jakid, and Remnant had given him several body modification surgeries to give him a perfect body, and he had lost most of the money he had earned while working in the World League in the past.

“Jelsomina. How many times have I told you? Don’t bring these things when you come, it’s burdensome.”

“It’s okay. It’s not burdensome at all. You know how much salary a gladiator playing in the Central League receives.”

That was true, but Remnant was still sorry. But it was a sign of sincerity, so he couldn’t refuse. He received the gift and the envelope and said awkwardly.

“I’ll accept it for now, but don’t do these useless things from now on.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Jelsomina nodded meaninglessly. There was no meaning in just saying it.

Remnant, who had been silently watching her for a while, turned his gaze to Beomseok, who was surrounded by trainees. He couldn’t possibly not recognize the face of the gladiator who was on the same team as Jelsomina. Moreover, he had a big fight with his disciple Jakid a few days ago.

“That child is Gladiator Oh Beomseok?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

At those words, Remnant gestured to Beomseok.

“You. Come here.”

Beomseok, who was troubled by the trainees, asked everyone for their understanding and quickly stood before Remnant.

“Hello? Remnant. My name is Oh Beomseok. It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

“I see. Anyway, nice to meet you. But what brings you here?”

Beomseok looked around and quietly whispered.

“It’s a bit difficult to talk about it here. It’s a very important matter.”

“Is that so?”

Remnant, who had a strange look in his eyes, soon had the trainees do individual training. And he pointed to a small office next to the dojo and said.

“Then let’s go inside.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Remnant, who had entered the office, sat on a shabby reception sofa and sat Beomseok and Jelsomina in front of him.

“Okay. So, what’s going on? Why did you come to me?”

Beomseok made a serious expression and grabbed Jelsomina’s hand tightly.

“Please allow our marriage……”

Thud!

Beomseok, who saw her fist flickering in front of his face, stroked his head where a bump had formed and said.

“Ahem. I heard that Remnant knows many excellent swordsmen.”

Remnant, who looked at him and Jelsomina suspiciously, nodded. He certainly knew many excellent swordsmen. Remnant had even served as the president of the World Kendo Association [a global organization for the Japanese martial art of kendo] in the past. It wasn’t a very lucrative position, but it was good for building connections.

“Hmm. That’s right.”

“So, I’m asking. Please introduce me to a veteran and skilled swordsman.”

“Why?”

“I want to receive some teachings.”

Remnant immediately snorted. No matter how wide his network was, it was almost impossible to find a swordsman more outstanding than Beomseok. Teachings? Of course, it didn’t make sense.

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

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