Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 514

Bum-seok and Esther arrived on the 6th floor and, guided by Jade, took their seats directly below the stage. At the next table, Ibrahim, Vice Chairman Lewis, Vice Chairman Cooper, and Chairman Chaplin were deep in conversation. They greeted Bum-seok warmly upon his arrival, acknowledging the year’s champions.

After exchanging polite greetings, Bum-seok sat down, a troubled expression on his face. He felt overwhelmed by the presence of such prominent figures. Fortunately, Director Vincent was also at his table, which made the situation somewhat more bearable.

Normally, the director wouldn’t be in such esteemed company, but thanks to Chairman Chaplin’s influence, he was present today.

“Bum-seok, why do you look so uneasy?”

“Sigh~ I think I’m in the wrong place. Everyone here is so important; I feel out of my depth.”

Director Vincent chuckled. In truth, despite his young age, Bum-seok was a significant figure himself. After all, the recent upheaval in the Gladiator world had started because of him.

“Hmph. Your modesty is excessive. As far as I know, there aren’t many people like you in this Gladiator world.”

“No, what do you mean?”

“Heh heh. The one who brought down the formidable Black Society – did you expect to be treated like anyone else? Of course not. Many of these people are probably watching you closely.”

“Come on. No way.”

“No way? Why would the majority, who run teams as corporations in this Gladiator world, simply comply with the current situation? Is it just because Chairman Ibrahim intends to turn his team into a personal company? Absolutely not. This Gladiator world doesn’t move solely on the chairman’s decisions. It’s because you have support they can’t ignore.”

“No, I still don’t understand.”

“What I mean is, you have Vice Chairman Lewis and Lady Angela backing you. And remember, the Cooper faction, one of the three major powers in the Gladiator world, attacked you and suffered considerable losses. Of course, they have to be cautious.”

Now that he thought about it, it was true. Chairman Ibrahim’s moves, the cooperation of the Lewis faction, and the downfall of the Cooper faction… the three major powers in the Gladiator world were indeed struggling to respond to the current changes.

With Lady Angela on his side, the other factions had little choice but to accept the situation. Of course, they could escalate things and risk splitting the Gladiator world, but that would be a mutually destructive outcome.

Bum-seok smiled subtly and said,

“By the way, this year is shaping up to be quite eventful.”

“That’s right. Our team will be handed over to the Chaplin family, so it doesn’t matter to us, but other teams will have a hard time.”

“I suppose so. They won’t be able to sell off all their Elf Gladiators [genetically engineered humanoids bred for combat] from every team at once.”

“That’s right. But I think the timeline might be extended somewhat. Vice Chairman Lewis came up with a pretty good plan today.”

“What plan is it?”

“It’s to lift the ban on selling them to the general public.”

Bum-seok stared at the director. Some lower-tier World League teams were already violating the unspoken agreement and doing just that.

“Isn’t that already happening with some teams?”

“Yes, but Vice Chairman Lewis added a little twist.”

“How so?”

“It’s very simple. Lower the price to a certain extent, and then promise the Elf Gladiators that if a regular person wants to buy them at that price, the team gets the right of first refusal. What do you think the Elves will do then?”

It was obvious. The Elf Gladiators would have to work hard to make regular people want to buy them. It was good for the teams because they would suffer fewer losses, and it was good for the Elves because they would have a chance to find an owner sooner.

“I see. That’s a great idea. But will the shareholders approve?”

“What if they don’t? All the ownerless Elves currently active in the Gladiator world are preparing a coordinated boycott. If they don’t approve in this situation, it’s like committing suicide. And as you know, there’s a relegation system in this industry. Every time you drop a level, the stock price is halved, or even more. Especially for championship-contending teams like Vice Chairman Lewis’s Real Heroes, it’s no joke. As soon as they’re relegated, about 15 billion Krang [fictional currency] of annual income vanishes, not even counting the stock price impact. Shareholders who don’t understand this shouldn’t be in the stock market.”

“Hmm. That makes sense.”

While they were talking, the year-end ceremony proceeded. The host was a famous comedian, but he seemed to be the only one laughing and enjoying himself. Most of the attendees were more concerned with resolving the current situation than with the ceremony itself.

Vice Chairman Lewis stood up and came over to where Bum-seok was sitting.

“Bum-seok, I need to talk to you. May I sit down?”

“Yes, of course. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

As he sat down next to him, Bum-seok asked what was going on.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s about something Chairman Chaplin just said.”

“What about Chairman Chaplin?”

“Well, while discussing his announcement about letting his Elves find owners during the 38th match, an interesting point came up.”

At those words, Director Vincent smiled wryly, and Bum-seok looked bewildered. He had a feeling this was coming.

“What is it?”

“All this time, the Gladiator world has strongly believed that you were helping Elf Gladiators find owners out of altruism, but Chairman Chaplin suggested that might not be the case. He thinks you might have been playing it cool all along to monopolize your system. What’s your take on that?”

Bum-seok waved his hands dismissively. If he admitted it here, his carefully constructed image would be shattered. He was currently portrayed as a moral person who cared about the rights of Elves.

“Come on, no way! How would a team with a personal company structure benefit from me saying such things? Absolutely not.”

Vincent stepped in, applying pressure to Bum-seok.

“That’s not true. I definitely sensed something fishy when I had an in-depth conversation with Chairman Chaplin during the last match. At that time, I briefly considered turning Chaplin Whisper into something like the Gods Knights [Bum-seok’s team], and there would have been no loss at all. In fact, it would have been a huge profit. That’s why Chairman Chaplin made such a declaration. Could it be that you don’t want our Gladiator world to change?”

“Come on, that’s a misunderstanding. If I keep Elf Gladiators under my command, their value drops to 1/3, doesn’t it? How can you say I’m profiting when I’m taking such a loss? Isn’t that right?”

Vincent slowly shook his head.

“But doesn’t the Gods Knights have fewer additional costs, like hiring managers for the Gladiators? Even if we only consider an active period of about 30 years, you’ve drastically reduced the cost by about 70 to 80 million Krang, so you could say it’s a profit.”

“What kind of profit is saving that much money over the long term? It’s just a drop in the bucket.”

Vincent readily conceded that point. Compared to the value of a World League Gladiator, which is hundreds of millions or even billions of Krang, several million Krang was a trivial amount.

“That’s true. But the Gladiators on your team grow very quickly due to their passion for their owners, don’t they? The average age at which a Gladiator’s prime begins is around 20 to 25 years old. But when we look at ordinary Elf Gladiators with owners, their prime starts around 15 to 18 years old. Wouldn’t the prime of the Gladiators on your team start even earlier?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Then, considering that Elves age on average until 35 years old, the prime period is roughly between 17 and 20 years. And if we apply this to the annual salary of a Prisika-class Gladiator [a top-tier Gladiator], it means you can earn an average of about 2.5 billion more, right?”

“Uh, yes, that’s right. But it’s not as profitable as the value dropping to 1/3. Prisika’s previous value was 7.4 billion. That means 4.8 billion is lost when I make her a Gladiator under my command.”

Vincent stared at him with narrowed eyes. He should be confessing by now, but he was still denying it. Bum-seok thought they were all fools who couldn’t do math.

“So, it’s still not enough. Is that it?”

“That’s right.”

“Good. Then, what if we add the increase in value due to the skill improvement from the Gladiator’s passion? Considering that the value of a World League Gladiator skyrockets even with a slight difference in skill, I think it would increase by at least 20%?”

20% would be 1.5 billion if we used Prisika’s previous value. Then, combined with the existing 2.5 billion, it would be 4 billion. It was almost close to recovering the loss.

Unable to acknowledge this, Bum-seok waved his hands wildly.

“Come on. Isn’t that meaningless? It’s absurd to calculate the value based on something that’s just speculation.”

Director Vincent smiled slyly. He had a decisive piece of evidence.

“Heh heh. Well, I suppose that’s true. But there’s still something strange.”

“What is it?”

“Before I answer, let me ask you a question. Do you know what happens when a Gladiator who should be worth 6 billion Krang gets an owner?”

“Their value will drop to 2 billion.”

“That’s definitely right. But don’t they receive an annual salary? It varies greatly, so I can’t say the exact amount, but when I quickly calculated it during the 38th match, it came out to about 320 million Krang.”

Bum-seok wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead and said,

“Ah. Is that so? That’s quite a lot. I’ve never given my Elves an annual salary, and my relationship with human Gladiators is a bit complicated, so I give them a little less. I don’t really know what the appropriate annual salary is. Haha.”

“Is that so? Well, let’s say that. If you sell one of the Gladiators owned by Chaplin Whisper to another member of the Chaplin family for the appropriate value of 6 billion, what would happen?”

“Well? Chaplin Whisper would earn 6 billion, and the Chaplin family member’s funds of 6 billion would disappear, right?”

“That’s right. That’s the correct answer. But let’s say that Gladiator plays for Chaplin Whisper for 19 years. How much would that Chaplin family member earn?”

After taking some time to calculate, Bum-seok smiled awkwardly.

“Haha. They would earn about 6.1 billion.”

“Yes, 6.1 billion. That means that over time, the Chaplin family member would get back the money they gave to the Chaplin Whisper team. But where did the 4 billion Krang that should have disappeared go?”

Bum-seok jumped up and said,

“Aren’t you calculating the interest rate? How much is the interest for 19 years?”

“That’s true. But haven’t you forgotten something?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The fact that the annual salary accumulates and the interest on the 6 billion Krang is deducted. In other words, after one year, there’s only an interest difference on 5.68 billion Krang, and in the 19th year, there’s only an interest difference on 320 million Krang. If you include the annual salary increase due to inflation and the increase in value and interest for 1/3, wouldn’t both sides seem similar?”

Bum-seok also smiled awkwardly and said,

“Haha. It might be a little similar.”

“That’s right. If you include the annual salary and the value for 1/3 of the skill improvement due to getting an owner, wouldn’t things change a lot more?”

“Haha. Well. It might be something like that.”

“And that’s the amount excluding the salary during the promising years and after old age, so it will be different again.”

“Come on, you have to exclude that. Frankly, I spent 10 billion to buy Prisika the other day, even though I couldn’t use her during her growth period and a significant portion of her prime.”

“Well, that’s true. But that’s a problem that existing teams also face. It’s common to buy Gladiators at expensive prices to win championships or avoid relegation.”

Bum-seok moistened his dry lips with his tongue. He had nothing more to say at this point. Of course, he still had something to say about the last addition, but if he added more excuses here, it would become pathetic.

“Haha. So, my team had such benefits. I’ve realized it again. Thank you for the advice.”

“Is that really true? We believed it because you complained so much about the losses, but didn’t you create the Gods Knights system? I thought you would know enough?”

“Ah, no. The Gods Knights system was created by accident. I just wanted to create a Gladiator team, and I felt sorry for the Elves, so I just created it, and that’s how it turned out. In fact, I get sick of math and numbers, so I can never think of such complicated things. Haha. Isn’t that what athletes hate? Haha.”

With everyone’s attention focused on him, Bum-seok stood up abruptly. It was better to leave to avoid this crisis.

“Oops. Look at the time. I think I have to go now. I have something urgent to do.”

“What is it?”

“One of my lovers is in the hospital, about to give birth. My child will be born soon, so I have to go as a father. Wouldn’t you agree? Then, I’ll be going now. Good luck to everyone.”

Bum-seok immediately left the banquet hall to visit Theresa at the hospital where she was admitted. There was still some time left before her due date, but there was no reason not to visit often. And now it was vacation season. If he didn’t go too often, she might get upset.

Bum-seok, who had left the hotel, glanced back at the building and grumbled inwardly.

‘Ugh. That old geezer is never helpful. Tch.’

Afterward, Bum-seok hailed a taxi and disappeared into the blue sky.

(THE END)

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

That’s the end. It was quite long at 516 episodes. Haha. I’ll tell you the details in the afterword episode.

And I’ll start uploading the new work in 20 minutes, so please give it a lot of support. The title of the new work is ‘Bloodstains in the Sky.’

Then have a comfortable weekend night.