Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 486

The sun was nearing the western horizon. Bumseok, who had been waiting in the car in front of the Nielsen residence, opened the car door when he saw a figure flying in from a low altitude. It was hard to see clearly from the distance, but judging from the circumstances, it seemed certain to be someone impersonating Gade.

‘Alright. Shall we begin the hunt?’

Just as the figure was about to reach the vicinity of the mansion, Bumseok activated his propulsion device and soared into the air. His intention was to block the figure’s path and stop them. If he succeeded, it would be as good as catching them, even if he missed them now.

Soon, the halted figure, dressed in a white suit, glanced at him for a moment, then surveyed the surroundings. They were checking for a trap. But he was alone.

“Who are you to block my way?”

It was a woman’s voice. It could be a disguise, but he couldn’t help but be hopeful.

Bumseok slowly advanced, approaching her.

“Heh heh. Someone you know very well.”

“I know well? I don’t think I know you.”

“Well, maybe it’s you. You call yourself Gade, but I am Gade.”

At that moment, her body trembled slightly. Whether it was from surprise or a mistake in manipulation, it was a definite opportunity. He immediately moved forward quickly, approaching to a suitable distance—the distance from which he could open the information window [a game-like interface displaying character stats].

With a triumphant expression, Bumseok immediately opened the information window.

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Name: Licola.

Classification: Elf (22 years).

Affiliation: Super Heroes GC.

Fame: 332.

Notoriety: 5639.

H Status: None.

Stamina: 6512/6600.

Social Skills: 96, Strength: 97-30, Constitution: 96-30.

Agility: 100-30, Balance: 93-30, Intelligence: 100-30.

Mental Strength: 96-30. Judgment: 100-30, Skill: 92-30.

Luck: 98-30.

Current Skill/Potential: 963/963.

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Trait: Reclusive Hero.

Special Notes: She is active as a candidate gladiator for the Super Heroes [a powerful organization], and she secretly steals to help the people in the slums, feeling sorry for them. After seeing the LHN Financial Group incident in the past, she thought it was a good method and began to actively follow it. Currently, she is handling the vanguard position, and her specialties are spear techniques and nets.

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‘What? She was an Elf?’

Bumseok was very surprised that she was an Elf. Elves were originally kind-hearted and didn’t commit crimes easily. Even if she felt sorry for the less fortunate, it was hard to understand why she would do something like this.

‘Still, she’s quite unique in many ways. Her abilities seem lacking, but when you look closely, she’s quite impressive.’

Licola’s abilities were truly perplexing. She should have developed all 963 of her growth potential and possess considerable abilities, but all her stats were -30, so she only showed the ability of an Area-class gladiator [a mid-tier fighter].

This was all due to the effect of her trait, ‘Reclusive Hero,’ which included an option to reduce all abilities normally. But it wasn’t too bad. ‘Reclusive Hero’ could be activated once every three days, and at that time, not only would all the negative stats be restored, but it also included the bizarre option of increasing all stats by +15 for 4 hours.

Even if she seemed weak usually, she would fly around during matches, so recruiting her wouldn’t be a big problem.

She looked at Bumseok and said.

“Are you really Mr. Gade?”

“Yes. I came because you were impersonating my name.”

Licola stepped back slightly, as if she was nervous. Thanks to this, the information window closed automatically, but he didn’t care at all. He had already memorized her name and affiliation. Now she was as good as caught in Bumseok’s hands.

“So, are you going to catch me?”

“Well? What should I do? Catch you or not? Heh heh. I’ll just catch you.”

Licola snorted at his playful answer. She thought he was a great player after watching the LHN incident video, but she judged that she wouldn’t be easily defeated. His technical aspects were excellent, but his physical abilities were not very good. She thought she could handle him if she activated her trait.

“Hmph. Is that really going to be easy? You seem to be a great player, but your physical abilities are terrible.”

Bumseok chuckled in disbelief. He judged that she was seriously mistaken. His physical abilities were now almost perfect, unlike in the past. He could subdue Licola and slam her to the ground in a few moves.

“Hehe. Aren’t you being too arrogant? You’ll be really embarrassed if you get beaten.”

“We won’t know until we try.”

Licola pulled out a long stick she was wearing on her waist and held it in her hand. It was a weapon she didn’t usually use because she was afraid her identity would be revealed, but today was different. The opponent was Gade.

Bumseok’s reaction to this was utter bewilderment. The club looked quite sturdy, but since they were both wearing suits, it was impossible to take any damage. It would be much more efficient to use martial arts to knock down the opponent. He shook his head in disbelief and said.

“Are you kidding me? What are you going to do with that? Spank me?”

“Heh heh. Come down to the ground if you want to see. But I warn you, you’ll get hurt badly if you ignore me.”

With that, Licola manipulated her suit and descended to the ground. Bumseok also obediently followed her to the ground. He was determined to teach her a lesson.

Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, he gestured to Licola and said.

“Come on, let me see how great your skills are. I won’t attack and just watch for now.”

“Well, I won’t refuse.”

In an instant, she quickly moved her feet and approached Bumseok. And just as she seemed to bend her upper body, she swung her staff greatly, aiming for his ankles. The end of the staff collided with the ground, creating a rough tearing sound. Bumseok continued to step back, unconcerned about the fragments of the exploded pavement.

He could attack and knock her down right away, but he had promised to stick to defense for now.

Soon, she rotated her body greatly and swung the stick back and forth, attacking Bumseok.

‘This is quite sharp; unlike ordinary spear users, she’s full of technique.’

After receiving a few moves, he realized that Licola was quite useful. She was somewhat different from ordinary spear users who only made simple movements of stabbing and swinging. She knew how to add technique, had excellent control of pace, and the process of cornering her opponent was meticulous. He thought that she could show a high level of attack even in the World League [a prestigious fighting competition].

But he hadn’t looked at all aspects. He didn’t know what her defense level was yet.

To find out her true worth, it was only possible after he attacked.

He dodged the end of the staff flying towards his head by bending his upper body, stepped back, and drew the sword from his waist.

It was a store-bought gladiator weapon, but it wouldn’t be a big problem to subdue her.

“Alright. Here I come!”

Licola wore a bewildered expression as Bumseok rushed in and swung his sword. As far as she knew, Gade was a martial artist and relied almost entirely on martial arts. She never dreamed that he would display such high-level swordsmanship.

She blocked the sword tips flying back and forth with her staff one by one and tried to attack again. It didn’t make sense that she, a gladiator, was being pushed back in a weapon fight against a martial artist. But since she didn’t know that Bumseok was a gladiator, there was no way she could launch a proper counterattack. She immediately took a big hit to the head and fell backward.

“H, how could I…?”

“Don’t say it was a mistake because you were careless; get up and grab the staff again.”

She got up, grabbed the staff, and glared at Bumseok.

“No, what was I careless about?”

“It’s too much of a hassle to explain in detail. Just attack.”

“Hmph. Isn’t it because you have nothing to say? You just landed a hit by luck, but you’re too proud to admit it, aren’t you?”

He shook his head and let out a long sigh.

“Hoo~ Alright. Then I’ll just add a simple explanation. In fact, there are only a handful of people in the world who can attack me. And you certainly don’t belong there.”

Licola, wearing an absurd expression, gripped her staff tightly. She was hiding her true skills because she didn’t want to transfer to another team, but she was confident that she could reach a high level even in the World League if she used her trait. But she had been hit once by bad luck, and now she had to hear such arrogant words; it was absurd.

“I guess I definitely made a mistake. I gave you, a show-off, a chance to be smug. But I’ve figured out your information to some extent, so it’ll be different from now on. I’m a professional.”

“Oh, really? That’s good. Then come and attack quickly. I don’t have time.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

Licola rotated her body and stretched the staff towards his face. But that was it. Bumseok’s sword tip, which had bounced off her staff, was once again striking the center of her forehead.

Fortunately, she was prepared this time, so she avoided falling, but this was a great misfortune. Bumseok’s continuous attacks were hitting Licola’s body here and there.

She hurriedly pulled her body back and shook her head.

“N, no way.”

“It’s happening, so let’s start again quickly. But this time, just defend. If you launch an attack carelessly, you’ll get countered like this time.”

She secretly shouted her trait again. This was because if the trait wasn’t activated, the situation could have happened. But no matter how hard she tried, there was no further increase in ability. This meant that the trait was being activated at the moment she was being hit by him.

‘H, he’s not ordinary. That arrogance wasn’t just a bluff. He’s definitely someone.’

Licola grabbed the center of the staff with both hands, spread shoulder-width apart. She had been hit twice, so she had no room to be careless. It was better to focus on defense as he said. She circled around Bumseok, waiting for him to attack.

“Alright. I’m ready, so come on now.”

“Heh heh. Of course, I should. Good.”

Bumseok stepped in a zigzag pattern and immediately stretched his sword towards her face. He smiled when he saw the sword tip, which was changing course with a thud. He judged that she wasn’t stupid enough to be hit by the same sword path three times in a row.

He immediately retrieved the sword, placed it in the middle, and swung both arms to the left and right with all his might.

Thud. Thud.

Licola carved a lot of tension into her eyes as if she couldn’t believe the vibrations echoing from the staff. She realized that the shock of her arms being paralyzed was not from an ordinary opponent.

No matter how much centrifugal force was added to the attack, it didn’t make sense that such an impact was being transmitted. Moreover, the sword speed was so fast that it was difficult to respond properly.

‘I, is that really Mr. Gade? I didn’t think he had this kind of power when I saw him in the video? Could it be someone else?’

The reason why Licola thought he was someone else was that Gade was an old, retired martial artist. So, of course, there could be no physical growth, so there was no way there could be such an increase in strength and agility. Of course, he might have been hiding his true skills at the time, but it was difficult to afford such leisure in that crisis situation.

“Y, you who are you?”

Bumseok, who was swinging his sword back and forth and pressuring her, said.

“I said I was Gade earlier.”

Licola, who jumped far back to avoid the sword flying towards her lower body, said.

“That’s impossible! You’re definitely not Mr. Gade!”

“Really? Why are you so sure?”

“There’s no way an old, retired martial artist could show this kind of power. Isn’t that right?”

Bumseok nodded. Certainly, he couldn’t say that his current strength was something that a retired athlete could produce.

“Hahaha. I have nothing to say. That’s right, I’m not Gade. But if you ask if I’m the one who infiltrated the LHN headquarters building, then yes.”

“R, really? Then what about Mr. Gade?”

“In a word, you can say he’s a fool who’s fallen into self-admiration. As my work became world-famous and he was mentioned as a likely suspect, he confessed to being the culprit out of vanity.”

“I, is that so. Now I know roughly.”

She pointed the end of her staff at Bumseok after saying that. She was trying to get out because the situation wasn’t very good.

Now Licola could roughly guess. There was only one person in the world who could push her so indiscriminately while using her trait, and who showed amazing skills in swordsmanship and martial arts.

That was the strongest man in the world. She didn’t know why he infiltrated the LHN headquarters building, but if he was the culprit, she understood the fact that Chairman Balbar was defeated.

As a result of her investigation, Gade’s skills were not very good even during his active career.

Bumseok glared at Licola with narrowed eyes. She was taking an attacking stance again.

“You. I’m sure I told you. It’s absolutely impossible for me.”

“Yes. That’s right. That’s why I’m doing this. Now I’m going to use the best move I have.”

“Oh. Really? I’m looking forward to this.”

Bumseok, wearing an expectant expression, gripped his sword tightly and ran forward. The best move, he wanted to see it once. When he reached the spot where Licola was standing, he swung his sword with all his might.

At that moment, the sound of an engine being activated hit Bumseok’s ears. He was horrified to see the net flying right in front of his eyes. It was definitely not a distance he could avoid. In the end, Bumseok rolled on the floor covered in the net, and she immediately turned tail and started running away.

“Damn it! Such mechanical devices are against the rules in sword fighting!”

But it was just an excuse. This was not the Colosseum, but the middle of a residential area.

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

The drinking party ended a bit late. Hahaha. It’s the weekend… Everyone didn’t think about leaving……..

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