Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 385

387

After flying over the lush jungle for quite some time, a massive cityscape revealed its grandeur before the flying car. This was Papilan City, the heart of the Tavignon Metropolitan Government, a sprawling city with a population of 8.81 million.

The vehicle headed towards the bustling downtown area and slowly landed in the front yard of the Colosseum, which soared high into the sky.

“Erica, this is the Papilan City Colosseum, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Now, let’s go.”

Bum-seok, after examining the magnificent exterior of the Colosseum, followed Erica, who had already started walking.

“But you did get the entry passes, right?”

“Yes, I left them at the entrance management office. You can pick them up there.”

“Okay. Then let’s hurry.”

Bum-seok quickened his pace, overtaking Erica. Although there was still plenty of time, he couldn’t help but feel rushed. He only had a few hours to thoroughly examine the Papilan City Colosseum.

This was the home Colosseum of the Forest Elves, where the final battle would take place tomorrow. With the exception of the entrance tunnel, the entire stadium was forested, so he needed to examine it carefully. No matter how skilled Bum-seok was in jungle warfare, he would struggle if he didn’t know the terrain.

Moreover, the opposing team’s gladiators were intimately familiar with the geography, as they played their home games here every time.

‘Forest Elves. They’re a real headache of a team,’ he thought.

The Forest Elves were worrisome not only because of their advantageous home turf but also because of their formidable team composition. They had six W0-level gladiators, including the S3-level gladiator, Liefreese, as well as Tiela, Lorelai, Miraz, Karelia, Moia, and Jeris. They also had nine W1-level gladiators.

With such a powerful force, they were virtually invincible at home. The Forest Elves’ win rate at home last year was 100%. This meant that Chaplin Whisper, with Amelie, Dark Hyenas, with Zakid, and Ancient Warriors, with Prisika, had all been defeated here.

Bum-seok couldn’t help but be concerned.

Arriving at the entrance management office, he spoke to the elf manager who was doing paperwork inside.

“I’m here to pick up the entry passes…”

“Entry passes? Excuse me, where are you from?”

“God’s Knights. And I’m Gladiator Oh Bum-seok.”

The elf manager’s expression stiffened as she recognized his face. It wasn’t often that she encountered such a famous figure in the gladiatorial world up close. Although the Forest Elves gladiators often came by, she was in charge of entrance management, so she usually only glanced at them from afar. The gladiators’ entrance was separate, after all.

The elf manager took out a stack of entry passes from a drawer. There were dozens of them, judging by a rough estimate.

“Ah, Oh Bum-seok, the gladiator. But are there only two of you?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the others? I heard that all the God’s Knights gladiators were coming.”

That was the initial plan, of course. Because the terrain was so difficult, Diana had intended to have all the affiliated gladiators examine the stadium’s interior in advance. So she had Erica apply for enough entry passes for 30 people.

However, Bum-seok, upon learning this fact, canceled the schedule entirely. He thought it would be better to dedicate that day to the inadequate shield training.

“That was the plan, but it seemed pointless, so only I came.”

The elf manager wore a dumbfounded expression. The treacherous terrain of the Papilan City Colosseum was notorious worldwide. Yet, with the match taking place tomorrow, only one person had come to scout it out.

Whether they had resigned themselves to defeat or were displaying the height of arrogance, she couldn’t understand either. And God’s Knights were far behind the Forest Elves in terms of power, and they also faced the challenges of jet lag and climate.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“No. I’m serious. So just give us two entry passes and take the rest back to the management office.”

“Well, if you insist, I will. But I can’t understand it. Usually, other teams make a fuss to get even one more entry pass the day before. Are you perhaps giving up on tomorrow’s match?”

“Hmph. No. We’re definitely going to win. That’s why only I came.”

The reason Bum-seok didn’t bring the other team members today was to instill a sense of unfamiliar fear of the forest. If they scouted the terrain today and confidently entered the forest on the day of the match, it would be a total wipeout.

If simply grasping the terrain meant they had the ability to perform jungle warfare, Bum-seok wouldn’t be so worried. For everyone except himself, it was better to stick to defending near the entrance tunnel, where there were no trees, to increase their chances of winning.

The elf manager, unaware of this, shook her head as if she still couldn’t understand. But God’s Knights were a rival team to the local Forest Elves. There was no need to keep worrying and advising them. She, too, lived in Papilan City.

“Well, I’ll give you two if you want. But if I hand the rest over to the office, you won’t be able to get any more entry passes. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter.”

“Then here you go.”

“Thanks. See you later, then.”

Bum-seok, having received the two entry passes, entered the Colosseum with Erica.

The elf manager, who had returned to her work, suddenly remembered something and leaned her head out the window, but she gave up on calling out to him as he had already completely entered the building. There was no need to inform him that a Forest Elves gladiator had come to train.

Bum-seok had entered with permission, while the Forest Elves gladiator had entered with a personal request. She was supposed to leave as soon as the God’s Knights gladiators arrived, so there was no reason for her to intervene.

“Hmm. This is denser than I thought.”

Bum-seok, who had entered the stadium through the away team entrance tunnel, propped his chin and surveyed the surroundings. There were more trees than he had anticipated. This meant that it would be difficult to learn the terrain, so he would probably have to wander around here until his eyes fell out today.

‘But that’s not a bad thing for me. Hehehe,’ he thought.

Bum-seok wore a triumphant expression. The more trees there were, the harder it was to distinguish other objects, which was very helpful for stealth.

He looked at Erica, who had followed him.

“Erica, I’m going into the forest, so wait here.”

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll be in the dugout.”

“Yeah. That would be better.”

Bum-seok walked into the forest. At the entrance, he bent down and stroked the ground where the bushes grew.

‘Hmm. It’s moist with moisture,’ he observed.

Today was not a match day, so this moisture must be water that is regularly sprayed every day. Trees and grass have difficulty growing without moisture.

Bum-seok looked at his watch. Seeing that it was about 10 a.m., he could guess that the ground would be roughly dry by 3 p.m., when the match started. Although Papilan City was in the southern hemisphere and it was winter, it was near the equator, so the weather was warm.

Getting up again, he looked around the entrance and slyly raised one corner of his mouth. He saw a natural path that stretched long to the center of the stadium. The most important thing for activity in the forest was a singularity [a unique or easily identifiable feature] that could identify direction and location. Such a definite singularity would be of great help in grasping the approximate location and direction.

‘I’ve already found one singularity. It seems to have been created when the gladiators entered. I was very lucky,’ he mused.

According to the gladiator regulations, both teams’ gladiators were always located in the center when the match started. And the distance between them was 15 meters, and only the three free-rollers and the three markers could deviate from that position. In other words, this road was naturally formed from the gladiator’s point of view, so it was not wrong to recognize it as a sign dividing the center of the stadium.

He walked along the path towards the center of the forest, examining the trees that grew. The roots were deeply embedded, and the branches that stretched out were strong, making them perfect for climbing over.

‘Tsk. No wonder the visiting teams all fall apart. They’re ambushed with arrows from the trees, so there’s no way to withstand it,’ he thought.

There was one thing in common in the weapon composition of the Forest Elves. They were good at handling swords and bows, and no one used shields and spears.

Spears and shields were a hindrance to moving through the forest, so they were completely excluded, and the reason for using bows was for ambushes after ambushes. So the Forest Elves’ rearguard and leaders also uniquely wielded swords and bows to fight.

Arriving in the center, Bum-seok discovered a giant tree that had grown high into the sky and measured its circumference. It was about two arm spans long, so he knew that it was the largest tree he had ever seen here.

‘Then we can say that this is the very center. You can’t place such a big tree on the outskirts of the stadium,’ he reasoned.

The reason Bum-seok thought so was because of the unique characteristics of the Papilan City Colosseum. This stadium was covered with bushes, so the audience could not directly watch the battle scenes from the stands. So a hologram screen was floated in the air of the stadium to broadcast live, and if these tall trees grew haphazardly in all directions instead of in the center, the video screen would also be obscured.

Of course, they would never have left such a tree to grow unless it was in the center, which didn’t block the view much. And even if it was in the center, there was no reason to plant this giant tree. It slightly blocked the screen.

It was clear that it had been planted out of necessity.

“Hehe. I’m sure. This tree must be a singularity that the Forest Elves gladiators have placed to know the direction.”

Bum-seok started to go back the way he came, intending to find the spectator seats where he could easily see the shape of the tree. The shape of a tree cannot be the same in all directions. If he clearly recognized the direction and size of the branches, he could grasp his exact location.

Creak.

At that moment, he paused for a moment and pretended not to notice. He heard a strange noise coming from a nearby tree. It was clearly not the sound of branches colliding due to the wind, so it was definitely a stray cat or another human. But it wasn’t the former either. It was the sound of a branch bending under a heavy weight, so it couldn’t be a stray cat.

‘Is it a manager?’ he wondered.

If it was a manager, they shouldn’t be approaching him secretly like this. Moreover, there was no way they would be climbing trees, stepping on branches while suppressing their voices. He loosened his body lightly and started walking again. Because he had been threatened with assassination once, he couldn’t help but be sensitive to such situations. First, he needed to catch them and find out who they were.

Bum-seok, hearing the strange sound once again, picked up a few pebbles that had fallen on the ground, hid himself in a nearby tree, and jumped high.

‘Now. Shall we see who it is?’ he thought.

He flicked his finger and threw a stone to the right in the direction he had just heard the sound. Right after the sound of a tree trunk being hit, he discovered a figure slowly moving in that direction. It was hard to see because of the lush leaves, but it looked like a woman wearing a Forest Elves suit.

Thanks to this, he was somewhat relieved, but he did not forget his caution. Bum-seok calmly sat on a branch and took some time to wait.

If masters of jungle warfare fought each other, the one who made the first move would lose.

“Oh, where did Bum-seok go?”

The green-haired elf who was climbing the tree looked around. She had confirmed Bum-seok’s appearance during forest adaptation training and secretly chased after him out of competitiveness, but he had disappeared without a trace. Well, it was possible to miss him because it was so densely covered with bushes, but this was her front yard. The opponent could miss her, but she couldn’t miss him.

‘Could it be that he saw me and hid himself?’ she wondered.

At that moment, the green-haired elf shook her head wildly. She had followed him as carefully as possible, so she couldn’t imagine that he had noticed. But you never knew. She slowly moved her position and began to search for Bum-seok.

Just as she was about to cross two trees, she heard a sound nearby again. Knowing that there was only Bum-seok and herself, the green-haired elf started climbing the tree, thinking she was right.

“He’s not here either. Where is he?”

But there was no one in the area where the sound had just been heard. Just as she was about to turn around to move her position, something suddenly began to choke her neck.

At first, she thought it was caught on a branch, but she quickly realized it wasn’t because of the warm body temperature and rough skin she felt between her neck. She was not wearing a helmet right now, so she could distinguish between a branch and a person’s arm.

“You. Who are you?”

At the cold male voice, she realized that the other person was Bum-seok. He was the only one who could make a fool of her like this in her home Colosseum. Even her teammate, the S3-level gladiator Liefreese, had to give way to her here.

“B-Bum-seok. I, I’m Tiela.”

Tiela was the elf he had met as an enemy in the fight at Chaplin’s mansion before. At the time, he had paid attention to her because she showed a strong presence in the forest terrain, but when he actually faced her, she was nothing special, so he had ignored her until now. However, he had recently met her in the World League, so he remembered her name and face.

“What. It’s Tiela. I thought it was someone else.”

When Bum-seok released his arm, Tiela slyly looked at him.