Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 324

326

‘It’s real! And the price is unbelievably low!’

Bum-suk, who had quickly examined Shyla’s release details, widened his eyes. The price she was listed for was 150 million Krang. Even considering that her Gladiator ranking had fallen outside the top 400, and that Elves, who often received annual salaries, were valued about three times less than other races, it was an incredibly low price.

Shyla had been an outstanding Gladiator, formerly ranked 60th overall, with a value of around 600 million Krang.

“At this rate, it would be better to release her as a free agent Gladiator next year.”

If released as a free agent Gladiator, the Gladiator would first negotiate with their original team. If that failed, they could sign with any team they wanted. However, if things proceeded this way, the original team would essentially lose the Gladiator’s value, which was extremely unfair. Therefore, the Gladiator regulations included a clause to compensate the original team’s losses from free agency.

The team acquiring the Gladiator would provide a certain amount to the original team, according to this formula:

Let A be the Gladiator’s previous annual salary, B be the next annual salary offered by the original Gladiator team, and C be the annual salary offered by the transferring Gladiator team. The compensation the acquiring team provides to the original team for a free agent Gladiator is [(A+B+C)/3] x 3] x the age coefficient. The age coefficient is 8 for ages 1-10, 6 for ages 11-15, 4 for ages 16-20, 3 for ages 21-25, 2 for ages 26-30, and 0 for ages 31 and older.

Given that Shyla’s current annual salary was 130 million Krang, the maximum compensation the Horror Veres team could obtain through free agency would be 520 million Krang. Of course, Shyla had recently fallen into a slump, so the next annual salary offered by her original team and the salary offered by the transferring team would likely be much lower, but it would still exceed her current value.

‘Looking at it, Shyla seems to be in a serious slump. How else would they offer only 150 million Krang for her, considering how much her salary will drop in the next negotiation?’

The reason Horror Veres set Shyla’s value at 150 million Krang meant they intended to set her next salary at a minimum of 40 million Krang or less. Only then would the compensation from free agency and her current value roughly match the loss from this year’s 130 million Krang salary.

“Of course, I have to do it, right?”

Bum-suk knew the cause of Shyla’s slump in detail: her unique skill, ‘Lewd Goddess’ [a skill that increases stats based on intimacy], the death of Rubin she experienced the year before last, and the betrayal of her lover, Jiliam.

‘Lewd Goddess’ was a bizarre rare skill that increased stats by about 5-15 depending on satisfaction through intimacy with a man. If she didn’t have a lover, there was no reason for it to activate at all. Considering this, if Bum-suk became her lover, everything could be resolved.

He immediately contacted the Horror Veres team to inquire about acquiring Shyla. He expected to have some funds left over from Seyia’s negotiation today, so he could definitely proceed with acquiring Shyla.

A few days later, Bum-suk and Esther drove to Damers City, where the Horror Veres team was based.

“It’s a bit chilly here.”

Bum-suk, visiting the Horror Veres team training camp, shivered at the cold air. Valtman Central Government, where Damers City was located, was in the southern hemisphere, so it was currently winter. Fortunately, Damers City wasn’t too far from the equator; otherwise, they might have had to wear thick coats and walk through snowy streets.

“Chairman, there’s a tram coming.”

A four-seater driverless tram came rattling from the direction Esther pointed. Assuming it was sent by Horror Veres’ trade manager, he and Esther boarded the tram when it arrived.

The driverless tram quickly sped towards the office building. Esther, smoothing her hair ruffled by the cold wind, said worriedly.

“But Chairman, is it really okay to bring Shyla onto the team?”

Bum-suk smiled and patted her shoulder. He knew Esther’s concerns.

Although Shyla was a Gladiator who had shown outstanding skills, she was now in a slump and had become a problem within the team. Moreover, she had a bad reputation due to her past extravagant lifestyle and troubles with fans.

Even though her value had dropped significantly to 150 million Krang, it was understandable to worry about wasting money.

“Don’t worry. There’s a reason why Shyla is like that. If we take good care of her on our team, she can regain her past skills. And she’ll cause fewer incidents.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Have I ever made a losing acquisition?”

“W-Well, no… but still…”

“Don’t worry. Shyla will be able to make a successful comeback.”

Esther shook her head.

“But if she can’t make a comeback, it will be a big problem. Shyla has such a bad reputation that if she doesn’t contribute to the team, the fans will be relentless.”

“But if she contributes to the team, the fans will become her protectors. Look at me, for example? My personal life isn’t great, but my skills cover everything.”

Indeed, few people had as messy a personal life as Bum-suk. He had slept with countless female fans, including Esther herself, Susan, Natalie, Emma, Gloria, Aula, and Liza, but there hadn’t been any particular problems.

The fans defended him by claiming he was following the state’s recommendations [referring to policies encouraging relationships for population growth]. However, dating human women was considered disgusting from the perspective of ordinary men. If he didn’t contribute to the team, the fans would never side with him.

Considering this, if Shyla contributed to the team to some extent, her bad reputation wouldn’t be much of a problem.

“Still…”

“Just trust me. Everything will be fine.”

Eventually, Esther nodded. As he had said, he had never made a failed acquisition so far.

Besides, the amount they would lose from this trade was only 150 million Krang. It was an amount that would have made his hands tremble in the past, but it wasn’t a big deal for God’s Knights now.

Currently, God’s Knights’ total revenue exceeded at least 600 million Krang.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll trust you, Chairman.”

As they arrived at the main gate of the office building, a red-haired man in his forties came out to greet them. It was Bilke, whom they had scheduled to meet today to negotiate the trade.

“Welcome, God’s Knights team officials.”

Bum-suk got out of the driverless tram and shook hands with him. Bilke had called him a few days ago, but he knew Bum-suk very well because he had visited the training camp several times to recruit him in the past.

“Mr. Bilke, it’s been a while.”

“Hahaha, yes. I really wanted to have you on our team, but it looks like we’re meeting like this. It’s a shame. Hahaha.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. There’s no way I can leave God’s Knights.”

Bilke politely pointed inside the building and began to guide them.

“By the way, I heard you’re taking Shyla?”

“Yes, that’s right. Our team is short on vanguard resources, so we really need her.”

“Oh, really? I thought God’s Knights needed rearguard more urgently.”

Bum-suk gave an awkward smile. Currently, God’s Knights had only five reliable rearguards. Considering that four rearguards were mobilized in one game, it was certainly reasonable to think they were short on resources. But Seyia might be joining soon. She was a veteran who was also skilled as a rearguard, so she could definitely play as a rearguard.

“That’s true, but one of our vanguards will be temporarily loaned to another team next season.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Nikita.”

Just as they entered the lobby, Bilke struck his palm with a lightly clenched fist.

“Ah! So that rumor is true.”

Bum-suk said with wide eyes.

“What rumor?”

“Last night, I heard a strange rumor about the Grow Lancer team. It said that Nikita might be loaned out and Seyia might go to God’s Knights.”

Bum-suk looked at him in embarrassment. It was very sensitive information that shouldn’t be leaked outside.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Hehe. This industry is very small. Trade managers interact a lot with each other. Especially since there are only 20 World League teams, rumors spread quickly unlike the lower leagues. Hahaha.”

Bum-suk was dumbfounded. Since he hadn’t spread the rumor, the source was definitely the Grow Lancers team.

“Still, the deal with God’s Knights is very sensitive, and if it’s leaked to the outside, the Grow Lancers team will be in trouble, won’t they? So why are they spreading such rumors?”

“Well, isn’t it because they really liked God’s Knights’ offer? So they’re trying to make sure the deal goes through by informing the media and making it impossible to back out. In fact, I think the conditions Mr. Bum-suk offered are the best. After all, a non-rival team is much less burdensome than a rival team. Moreover, Seyia is the Grow Lancers team’s ace.

If Seyia performs well during the season and the Grow Lancers team loses to the opposing team, they’ll be heavily criticized by the fans. No matter how much they sold her for about twice her original value, it’s not as important as the team staying in the World League. Fortunately, the God’s Knights team even has the justification of wanting Seyia’s happiness, so there won’t be any problems.”

At those words, Bum-suk looked somewhat regretful. If he had played his cards right, he could have bought her at a lower price, but he felt like he had rushed things. But it couldn’t be helped.

There were so many competitors that he could have lost Seyia, so his options were very limited at the time. She was a huge prospect who would later perform even better than the current Prishika.

It would be difficult to buy her again later, so he couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“I see.”

“Anyway, Seyia must be quite amazing. Following Mr. Bum-suk, Vincent, and many other strong teams jumped into the bloody recruitment battle. If I had known this would happen, we would have done it too.”

“Hahaha. Why? Just do it?”

“Well, we’re short on funds. Well, if Mr. Bum-suk takes care of Shyla’s value this time up to 600 million Krang, I’ll give it a try…”

“Hahaha. Then I’d rather wait for Shyla to become a free agent.”

“Ah. Is that how it is? Hahaha.”

Indeed, it was nearly impossible to sell the current Shyla for 600 million Krang. God’s Knights was the only team that showed interest, even with 150 million Krang being a burden. If they didn’t seize this opportunity, they would have no choice but to keep her this year as well.

Bilke opened the door to a reception room and gestured to him.

“Come this way.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Bum-suk entered and sat down in a chair in front of a round table for four. Esther sat next to him, and Bilke took a seat in front to facilitate the conversation.

Bilke erased his smile and put on a serious expression.

“First of all, let me be direct. Shyla is reluctant to go to God’s Knights. Mr. Bum-suk, you’ll probably have to persuade her rather than me to make this deal happen.”

As if he expected it, Bum-suk calmly nodded. Although he had done several things to prevent the Black Society’s schemes, he had unintentionally deceived her.

As a result, Shyla resented Bum-suk a lot. Honestly, she thought that if he had told her, Jiliam couldn’t be helped, but he might have prevented her childhood friend Rubin from dying.

Thanks to that, they hadn’t been in contact and had been estranged.

“Well, I’ll meet her later and resolve it. Let’s proceed with the transfer negotiations between the teams now.”

“Alright. Then let me tell you our offer. We absolutely won’t go below 150 million Krang. Considering Shyla’s past performance, this price is very cheap. If it weren’t for the 130 million Krang salary we have to provide her this year, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Bum-suk understood that. For Horror Veres, selling Shyla for 150 million Krang was a big loss in itself. She had been a key Gladiator for Horror Veres until the year before last. And even if this negotiation failed, they could receive this much compensation in next year’s free agency. In other words, they wouldn’t suffer a big loss even if they waited a year.

“Well, we don’t intend to cut it down any further either. If Shyla resolves her current mental issues, she’ll regain her past skills.”

“Excellent choice. If you wait patiently, God’s Knights will gain a talented vanguard.”

Bum-suk replied in a calm tone.

“Yes, I hope so too.”

“Since there are no objections, all that’s left is Shyla’s choice… Sigh~ We can’t help this. If she continues to refuse to go to God’s Knights, this deal can’t be made. The Gladiator’s personal opinion must also be in agreement for the transfer to happen.”

“That’s right. So, I’d like to meet Shyla now. How can you arrange a meeting?”

“Yes, it’s not difficult. Shyla happens to be in our team’s dorm. She doesn’t want to go home, so she keeps staying at the training camp.”

Bum-suk made a troubled face and smacked his lips. It seemed like she had been greatly shocked by what happened in the past.

“Then I’ll go to the dorm where she’s staying, and you can discuss the rest of the negotiations with our team leader here.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Bilke picked up the intercom, called an employee to guide Bum-suk to the dorm, and waited for Shyla’s choice while finalizing the negotiations with Esther.

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

I was a little late because I was having a drink with friends. ^^;; They were drinking without any plans because it was a holiday. Hahaha. My head is spinning now. I think I should go to bed soon.

I hope everyone has a safe Children’s Day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.