Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 48

Beom-seok’s one-room apartment was bustling again today. It was too cramped for the six elves, including him, to live in. Yet, not a single elf complained. This was because it meant more opportunities to be close to their master.

“Alright, alright. Oscar. Erfina. Pack your bags quickly. You have a home game this afternoon, right?”

Already, the Dragon Knights team’s exclusive flying car, sent to pick up Oscar and Erfina, was waiting on the veranda in front of the one-room apartment. At Beom-seok’s urging, they quickly packed their bags and hurriedly boarded the flying car.

“Master! We’ll be back!”

“Okay. Do your best in today’s game.”

The Dragon Knights’ exclusive flying car soared high into the sky with a whirring sound and soon disappeared from sight. Beom-seok watched this with a proud look, lost in thought.

They were gladiators belonging to the Dragon Knights, and although they had only participated in league games twice so far, they were receiving a lot of attention from the local sports media due to their outstanding performance. Erfina’s seasoned game management shone, and she contributed to the team’s victory with stamina comparable to active gladiators. Oscar, with her unique strength, relentlessly demolished the opposing camp, even earning the bizarre nickname “Dark Mad Cow.” As a result, the media changed their commentary on the Dragon Knights team, which they had previously called a “hospital ward,” to say that their power had increased compared to the past, concluding that there was nothing wrong with their prospects for winning this year.

However, Beom-seok wasn’t entirely pleased. This was because transfer offers kept pouring in for him. Especially as their loan period neared its end, he was greatly troubled by teams wanting to loan them. If Erfina and Oscar were sent out on loan again at that time, they would have to face the promotion tournament early next year with a significant loss of power.

‘Well, there’s no helping it. No matter how much money they offer, it’s not as important as getting the team a professional title.’

Beom-seok soon boarded Aaron as Aaron stood on the veranda. Following him, the remaining elves, including Diana, followed. A few minutes later, Aaron, carrying them, arrived at Lima City Sports Park, today’s training location.

“Alright, everyone, let’s get off!”

At Beom-seok’s shout, Diana, the coach, led the way, followed by Laimi, Venus, and Erica, who got off Aaron in turn. Already, some team members were lightly warming up on the field, preparing for today’s training.

He gestured to the three elves standing awkwardly in the nearby shade of a tree.

“Andrea, Chiria, Mirli. Come over here.”

They were newly recruited gladiators from outside the team. After the transfer, Beom-seok posted a notice on the team site and the Gladiator Association site to recruit gladiators. All of them were highly skilled individuals with years of professional experience. In particular, Chiria was young but had high potential, and it was predicted that she would perform well in the Wide League if nurtured properly.

But why would such skilled individuals join the Gods Knights team? It was because they had gained fame for their great performance in the recent GA Cup [Gladiator Association Cup].

Every year after the league matches ended, many professional teams were relegated to lower leagues or amateur leagues. In such cases, the team might face financial pressure and be unable to pay the salaries of its gladiators.

However, if such a thing happened, the association would impose sanctions on the team, the most common method being a minus point system. Receiving this penalty would make it even more difficult to re-promote, and they could even be relegated to a lower league one step below. Therefore, most professional teams, when signing contracts with gladiators whose salaries were involved, made sure to include clauses for dismissal or salary reduction if the team was relegated.

But the biggest problem was when an Area team was relegated to the amateur league. There were no league matches, and they could only expect meager prize money from the three tournaments they could participate in, making it extremely difficult to secure funds. Moreover, the penalties imposed by the Amateur Association were enormous and absolutely unacceptable to the team. Since there were no league matches, they couldn’t deduct points. Instead, they would deprive them of the right to participate in the semi-professional tournament held in the fall and the promotion tournament held in the spring. In the end, the team had to reluctantly release as many team members as possible who required salaries, except for the gladiators listed on their asset list.

As a result, professional gladiators who were kicked out of the team would look for other professional teams, and when that didn’t work out, they would join semi-professional teams with a high chance of promotion, even with lower salaries. That is, gladiator teams like Gods Knights that aspired to become professional. According to current media evaluations, the Gods Knights team was ranked as the number one team for promotion in the promotion tournament to the Avon Area League to be held early next year.

“Hello. Chairman.”

Beom-seok led Diana and Laimi to meet them.

“Guys. These elves are Diana and Laimi, and they are our team’s coach and assistant coach.”

The newly joined team members, including Andrea, greeted Diana and Laimi.

“Hello. My name is Andrea.”

“My name is Chiria.”

“I’m Mirli. I look forward to working with you.”

Since he had mentioned it in advance, Diana and Laimi greeted them warmly. Erica and Venus were the same. Despite being strangers, they started building friendships by having friendly conversations.

Soon, this phenomenon spread throughout the team, and Beom-seok raised the atmosphere by postponing the training time by an hour. Training was very important, but camaraderie among team members also greatly helped improve their strength.

“Alright. Training starts at exactly 10 o’clock.”

At that moment, Emma approached him stealthily with her hands behind her back.

“Um, excuse me. Beom-seok. This is for you.”

In her shy appearance, she held a neatly wrapped envelope in her hand. Beom-seok, expecting a love letter, quickly snatched the envelope with a suggestive look.

“Oh. What’s this? Could it be a confession letter?”

Contrary to his expectations, Emma shook her head repeatedly.

“Hehehe. No. It’s a gift from us.”

“From you? A gift?”

“Yes. The Black Society seniors prepared this gift for you to thank you for accepting me.”

Beom-seok tore open the envelope with a mixture of disappointment and excitement. It was a pity that it wasn’t a love letter, but he was looking forward to the gift from the great Black Society.

He had spent 1.05 million krang [currency] on annual salaries for the new team members this time, leaving him almost penniless. So now he was barely making a living on the appearance fees and victory allowances that Oscar and Erfina earned. But at this time, the Black Society sent him a gift for accepting Emma. Considering that they had taken back the 15 million krang in the past, it was expected that they would show more sincerity.

And the moment he checked the contents, Beom-seok’s expression greatly distorted.

‘What, what is this? A 2-night, 3-day stay at the Ridge Hotel?’

The Ridge Hotel was the name of an accommodation facility in Osaha, a famous resort.

Osaha. A natural tourist city with emerald-colored seas and wide sandy beaches, known worldwide for being the most beautiful, and it was greatly popular with vacationers due to its various recreational and gambling facilities. Beom-seok knew it well because he had seen a program introducing the city on TV and had thought about visiting it at least once. The problem was that the Black Society presented a hotel voucher in this area as a thank-you gift for accepting Emma. They should have just not given anything at all. This was like a joke…

Beom-seok was tempted to crumple it up and throw it away right away, but he barely held back in front of Emma.

“What is this?”

“It’s a 2-night, 3-day stay at the Ridge Hotel.”

Beom-seok checked the voucher again, smiled, and looked at Emma.

“So, you’re telling me to go on vacation to a resort in the middle of this busy time?”

“It’s not just about going on vacation. Please accept this too.”

She rummaged through her pocket, and Beom-seok unfolded his distorted expression. That’s right, there was no way the Black Society would wash their hands clean with just a piece of paper like this. He calmly calmed his mind and accepted the round, flat object she gave him.

It looked like a chip used in a casino, with a golden border and the words “100 Krang” clearly printed on both sides.

“What’s this again?”

“It’s the same as money used throughout the city of Osaha. You can gamble, buy food, and even ride amusement park rides.”

Beom-seok blinked and looked at her. A substitute for money? Good, that’s it. But he couldn’t understand what he was supposed to do with 100 krang. Of course, it was quite a large amount for a donation, but Beom-seok wasn’t a beggar.

“So, what’s the purpose of the Black Society giving this to me?”

Emma looked around, then came closer and whispered in his ear.

“Actually, the 15 million krang you had before almost caused a big problem. Fortunately, we collected it the next day, otherwise, you and we would have been in big trouble. The Young Entrepreneurs Association was trying to take advantage of the situation and launch an offensive.”

Beom-seok had roughly noticed that. Considering the hostile relationship between the Young Entrepreneurs Association and the Black Society, there was no way they would have silently turned a blind eye to such an unjust act. They were very likely to inform the Amateur League of this act and try to impose a large penalty on them.

“And?”

“So, we’re showing our sincerity in this way. If we give you a large sum of money directly like last time, they might inform the relevant authorities and try to nullify my professional career, saying that I made my professional debut with money.”

He fully sympathized, but Beom-seok couldn’t help but feel very disappointed. His current financial situation was that poor. Of course, he owned 270,000 shares of Microengineering, but the current stock price was 164 krang per share, slightly eating into the principal. It was inevitable that he was reluctant to sell due to human psychology.

‘Sigh. I guess I’ll have to participate in the Avon Semi-Professional Tournament to improve my financial situation a bit.’

Beom-seok clicked his tongue and barely smiled. What could he do when things were like this? He decided to console himself by taking a summer vacation to change his mood.

“Okay. But how many people can stay in this accommodation? And what’s the expiration date?”

“It’s for two people. It’s for three days starting the day after tomorrow.”

Beom-seok, with a sly smile, sent a deep look towards Emma.

“Shall we go together?”

“I don’t think I can. I still need to improve my skills, so I have to keep training. Every moment is precious, so where would I have time to go on vacation? You know that too, Beom-seok.”

Beom-seok clicked his tongue and nodded. As she said, her skills were very lacking. Although her skills had improved a bit recently, what could he expect when she had only been holding a sword for three months? In order to participate as a candidate in the promotion tournament to be held in early spring next year, she had to steadily improve her inherent skills through constant practice.

‘Then who should I take?’

Beom-seok, recalling his owned elves in turn, first excluded Oscar and Erfina. They were living on loan at Dragon Knights, so they couldn’t take a vacation for two nights and three days. And Diana and Laimi were also out of the question. If he was away and the coach and assistant coach were also gone, there was no way proper training could be carried out. Then the only elves left were Erica and Venus.

‘Venus would be better.’

Erica had only recently joined the team, so she needed time to adapt. On the other hand, Venus had been living with the team since its founding, so there wasn’t much of a problem, and because she was in charge of a special role called Dual Shield, proper training could not be carried out without him, who was like a coach. Moreover, she was currently showing the fastest growth rate in the team, so it wouldn’t be bad to go with her as a reward. Of course, she had to do grueling training with him on the beach in Osaha.

After finishing his thoughts, Beom-seok called Venus, who was diligently wielding her shield even during the break.

“Venus, come here!”

Venus, perked up her ears at the sound of her master calling, and quickly ran over as if her legs were invisible.

“Yes. Master.”

“Venus. You will be leaving for a special training camp in Osaha with me the day after tomorrow. Prepare yourself thoroughly, as you will be training hard on the sand.”

At those words, Venus’s expression blossomed. A training trip with just her master. No matter how hard it was, there was no happier news for her, an elf.

“Yes. I will definitely prepare.”

“Good. Then go back and prepare for training. We’ll start today’s training now.”

“Yes. Master.”

Venus, approaching the team members with excited steps, explained to Laimi and Diana, as if boasting, what she had heard from Beom-seok today and asked for their understanding. Since she had to miss training for a few days, she needed the permission of the coach and assistant coach.

Emma, who was watching this intently, casually threw a word at Beom-seok.

“Oh, and the chip from just now must be used in the slot machine. Definitely.”

He nodded without saying anything. It would be rude to come to Osaha, which was also widely known as a city of gambling, without even playing a game.

“Well, I will.”

Afterward. Beom-seok approached Diana and ordered her to start training and joined the team members’ ranks. Now that he had a coach, he only needed to focus on his work as a professional gladiator and chairman.