Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 364

366

Beomseok’s scheme was thwarted by the unexpected retreat of the Black Society operatives. In a highly unforeseen turn, he resented the severely injured Lucas.

Clearly, if the chairman hadn’t omitted the detailed explanation of today’s events to the supporting operatives, this situation wouldn’t have occurred. It was all too obvious what would happen to the Black Society if they let him slip away now.

In the end, he had to retreat with Margaret, and as soon as they arrived at a nearby residence, he contacted Inspector Lexter to inform him of the day’s events.

That night, the police raided and occupied the building where Beomseok had been held, to secure evidence.

Initially, he worried that they had destroyed all the evidence, but aside from the exterior, the building’s interior remained intact. The pumping equipment, Makin’s corpse, and Beomseok and Margaret’s personal belongings were all still there. Evidence that would support Beomseok’s testimony was handed over to the police.

It was unbelievable that this had happened with seven people remaining besides Lucas, but it was good news for Beomseok. This meant the Black Society was in dire straits.

The fact that a world-class gladiator was kidnapped and nearly killed during a promotion tournament that garnered global attention was an incident that would make top news in sports media, as well as major news outlets worldwide. No matter how powerful the Black Society was with its authority and wealth, it had no ability to suppress this issue.

At least Lucas, who spearheaded this incident, would certainly pay the price, that is, if he was still alive.

‘Tch. He’s alive… That guy’s got a long lifeline.’

Coincidentally, Beomseok and Lucas were hospitalized in the same Rima General Hospital. As a result, the hospital was filled with reporters trying to get a story, and he was stuck in bed in his hospital room.

An elf nurse injected a needle into the IV line connected to Beomseok’s arm, saying:

“Mr. Beomseok, it’s not a major injury, but you need to rest for a while. If you move too much, the stitches might burst.”

“I know. But what happened to Chairman Lucas? Is he dead or alive?”

“He urgently underwent body modification surgery yesterday and is now resting. He probably won’t be able to move his body for a while.”

Beomseok frowned deeply. Hearing that Lucas was alive made him furious.

He suffered enormous losses from the incident that happened the day before yesterday. Aside from the fact that his life was in danger, he wasted 3 billion Krang [currency unit in the game] by using ‘Origin’s Response,’ which he had been saving, and the God’s Knights lost to the Fayon Rangers in the third round of the promotion tournament yesterday.

Of course, the hope for advancing to the World League was still alive since the 3rd and 4th place match remained, but he couldn’t guarantee it if he stayed in this hospital.

“Sigh~ Can’t they send that guy to another hospital? If I pass him in the hospital, I feel like punching him right in the face.”

“Actually, we’re planning to move him soon. They must feel uncomfortable too because they sent a hospital transfer request to our administration department. The police have also approved it.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Beomseok stopped talking and looked out the window. The elf nurse checked the vital signs monitor one last time and left the hospital room.

In the quiet hospital room, Beomseok frowned and clenched his fists, lost in unnecessary thoughts.

‘Why do I always have bad luck during the promotion tournament? Something always happens at this time!’

Beomseok had experienced a total of four promotion tournaments since he started the game. The first was the promotion tournament to the Area League, where he barely entered the professional scene after suffering hardships due to a conflict with Julian.

The second was the promotion tournament to the Wide League, where he was injured after infiltrating the LHN headquarters building due to the Rainbow Group’s bond crisis. And the third was when he advanced to the Central League, where he barely managed to get promoted due to injuries to himself and other major gladiators. In this fourth promotion tournament to the World League, he was injured in the back due to Chairman Lucas’s assassination attempt.

For Beomseok, the promotion tournament was something to be avoided at all costs.

‘But if I get promoted this time, I’ll be done with the promotion tournament forever. Then I won’t have to go through this hardship again.’

Beomseok was determined to participate in this losers’ match. The hospital was trying to stop him, but he had no choice. If he didn’t win this time, he wouldn’t be able to advance to the World League, and he would suffer a huge financial loss again. The World League’s entrance fee was about twice as expensive as the Central League, and the income from TV broadcasts was also significant.

He secretly took out his electronic notebook from his pocket and checked the information on the next team he would face.

‘Chaos Hills, huh…’

The Chaos Hills team was based in Olis City, which boasted a population of 9.8 million. They were the champions of the Irse Central League last season and possessed a strong force, ranked 5th in this promotion tournament by professional sports betting sites.

There were a total of 17 World League-level gladiators. Other team members were also composed of top-tier Central Leaguers, making them a formidable team. Of course, the God’s Knights’ strength, excluding Beomseok, was also excellent, so they could expect a 50% chance of winning, but that probability wasn’t enough.

‘Seriously. This team is quite troublesome too.’

Unlike other teams that advanced to the promotion tournament, Chaos Hills was a defense-specialized team. What was even more concerning was that many of them specialized in sword and shield and spear and shield, making their defensive formations and circular formations very powerful.

Taking a defensive approach in the Central League with this kind of power was something to be criticized, but Beomseok couldn’t help but be very worried. In any case, the defense side could play the game more favorably than the offense side.

‘But it doesn’t matter. If they stick to defense, we’ll go on defense too.’

The biggest advantage of the promotion tournament was that there were no draws. The winner and loser had to be determined to decide the exact promotion team.

For this reason, if the game ended in a draw, it would lead to a penalty shootout, which would greatly favor the God’s Knights. The number of World League-level gladiators was smaller on their side, but their top-tier strength was extremely excellent.

‘Well, if only me, Nikita, Cazella, Bertia, and Sheila go out, the game will be over. Hehehe.’

The problem was that they should never lead with an unfavorable score before that. Once they lost, Chaos Hills would stick to their defensive approach, which was quite troublesome.

With their current strength, the possibility of breaking through their defensive formation and winning was extremely low. That’s why Beomseok was trying to participate in the game even if it meant pushing himself. If he saw signs of defeat, he couldn’t reverse the situation without participating. Fortunately, the wound on his back wasn’t deep, so he didn’t have much difficulty moving.

After roughly deciding on the strategy for the next match, Beomseok got up from his seat to visit Margaret, who was hospitalized in the same ward. She wasn’t seriously injured, but she was in a state of mental shock because she had been on the verge of death. It was necessary to visit her to comfort her and manage her favorability.

“So, Chairman Lucas threatened to lure Mr. Beomseok by leading a group of people?”

“Yes. He threatened me with a gun, so I had no choice but to call Mr. Beomseok out.”

Margaret was in the middle of a conversation with a red-haired detective. The situation was serious, so the hospital seemed to be conducting an investigation as well. Since it had been featured prominently in the media and legally prohibited firearms had been used, the police had no choice but to react sensitively.

As Beomseok entered the hospital room, the detective turned his gaze. He also had questions to ask him.

“Oh, Mr. Beomseok, are you okay?”

Beomseok immediately limped, even though his leg wasn’t injured. If he showed that he was fine, Lucas’s sentence could be reduced significantly.

“Not really.”

“Ah. Is that so? Well, I need to urgently submit a report to the chief, so could you cooperate with the investigation for a moment?”

Beomseok sat on Margaret’s bed and answered weakly.

“Of course, I should help. Go ahead and ask.”

The red-haired detective turned the screen he had been showing Margaret to him.

“Do you happen to know these people?”

The screen he held out showed a list of several people’s photos. They were the people who tried to kill him along with Makin, so Beomseok recognized them immediately.

“Ah. These guys are the ones who kidnapped me and Margaret.”

“I see. Then this case is going to get quite big. It’s not just attempted murder, but an actual murder case. A planned murder, at that.”

“What? What do you mean? A murder case?”

“Actually, on the day Mr. Beomseok was threatened with murder, these people also died in an unknown flying car crash. It could be a coincidence, but my gut feeling is that Chairman Lucas tried to destroy the evidence.”

Beomseok nodded. No wonder there was no particular obstruction when he escaped. Since everyone except Makin had been eliminated, they couldn’t stop them from leaving the building.

“I think so too. There’s no reason for the guys who were trying to kill people to take a flying car and go outside as a group. And it’s ironic that they had an accident by chance. Flying car accidents don’t happen often, do they?”

“Yes, that’s right. Moreover, a guy named Makin seemed to have quite excellent hacking skills.”

“That’s right. He was able to manipulate our flying car and move it to the building near Lake Kuron.”

The detective, who was typing Beomseok’s words diligently, suddenly asked a question.

“But according to Ms. Margaret, the Black Society operatives used heavy weapons. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it’s correct. The reason why Chairman Lucas was so badly injured that he was on the verge of death was because he was hit by heavy weapons. Before that, he only had minor scratches and fractures.”

The red-haired detective looked very worried. Heavy weapons could only be used by the military, so civilians couldn’t possess them. But using such weapons to kill people meant the situation was serious. It was believed that the Black Society would pay a considerable price the moment all the circumstances were revealed to be true.

“This is a serious situation. It seems like this case won’t be easy to dismiss.”

“Really? What exactly do you think will happen?”

“This case will likely leave the hands of the Rima City Police Department. Since a private organization tried to kill people with heavy weapons, not just recreational guns, the public’s anxiety will increase.”

Beomseok had a faint smile on his face. The bigger the case, the greater the damage the Black Society would suffer, which meant greater benefits for the Economic Association and Ilsimhoe [likely names of organizations in the game].

Frankly, even now, the stock price of Lucas’s Windhouse Corporation was plummeting, and the Economic Association was engaging in a hostile M&A [mergers and acquisitions]. If this situation spread to the entire Black Society, the damage they would suffer would be considerable.

“I hope that’s the case. After experiencing this incident, I can’t forgive the Black Society.”

“Yes, of course. I fully understand how you feel.”

Beomseok looked at the detective and said.

“Do you have any more questions?”

The red-haired detective got up from his seat and answered.

“No, not for now. I’ve already heard most of the rest from Ms. Margaret here. But after preparing the statement, I’ll call you again for confirmation. Please come to the police station then.”

“That’s not difficult. Then goodbye.”

“Yes, thank you for your cooperation. Then I’ll be on my way…”

As soon as the detective left, Beomseok approached Margaret and had a light conversation. Margaret had been away for a while, so his efforts to win her over were very insufficient. He needed to increase her favorability for sure this time. Fortunately, her intimacy level was rising rapidly due to the fact that he had put her in danger and that he was her savior.

Three days later, Beomseok revisited the Rima City Colosseum with the God’s Knights team. Under the goal of advancing to the World League, all the affiliated gladiators were preparing for the game without the slightest disarray. They couldn’t possibly not know what today’s victory or defeat meant, so a sense of determination was bound to linger. If they won, everyone would become a World Leaguer.

Beomseok, who arrived at the dugout, shouted loudly at everyone. No matter how many times he emphasized the importance of today’s game, it wasn’t enough.

“Okay. Everyone, stay focused! We must win today.”

Then Diana, the manager, approached him. Since the owner, Beomseok, was enduring the injury and participating in the game, she couldn’t help but be worried.

“Master. Are you really okay?”

“I’m okay. I took painkillers, so there won’t be much of a problem performing the game. And there are no more games after today anyway. Of course, there is the World Cup final qualifying round, but they won’t call me, who is injured, as the representative gladiator.”

Diana nodded. Avand’s national team coach, Clark, never called Beomseok to the national team if he was injured.

Moreover, the draw for this World Cup final qualifying round was very good. The strong teams Merjan, Arkan, and Rendle League were all in Group B, while the God’s Knights joined Group A, which had relatively weak teams.

It was thought that they would be able to secure a spot in the World Cup finals even without Beomseok.

“I guess so. But you still have to be careful. If the stitches burst due to reckless movement, you’ll have to go to the hospital right away.”

That was also Beomseok’s concern. If the wound got worse because he was recklessly running around, he wouldn’t be able to participate anymore. But there was no need to worry too much.

The number of rounds he would participate in today’s game wouldn’t be that many. The strategy that the God’s Knights were aiming for was a draw.

If it went to a penalty shootout, the God’s Knights’ advancement to the World League was almost certain.

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

Ah. I drank too much today. So my stomach isn’t feeling well, and my head is spinning. When I see this, I’m a little envious of Islamic countries. Since they don’t drink alcohol socially, there’s no need to drink too much. Hahaha.

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