Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 56

Round 2 took place in the afternoon. Amidst the roaring enthusiasm of the crowd, Venus was unfortunately eliminated. In truth, it came down more to skill than luck. It was absurd to think that someone who had only held a shield for a few months could defeat professional gladiators. Frankly, in the first match, the opponent was bewildered by the unfamiliar stance of a Dual Shielder and suffered an unexpected blow, leading to their defeat. However, against a professional gladiator in the second match who had gathered data, there was no chance.

However, Bum-suk’s situation was different. He ended the matches quickly, not giving his opponents a chance to gather proper data, and his skill was far superior. He easily won the 2nd round, as well as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds held the following days, advancing to the semi-finals.

‘Damn it. I have to go through this even on vacation…’

Arriving at the Elheim Arena’s player waiting room, Bum-suk plopped down in his seat with a frustrated expression. After the 3rd, 4th, and 5th round matches, he had received countless offers from numerous professional teams. Having defeated multiple professional gladiators with just a few sword strikes, it was natural for professional team officials to be interested.

The problem was that their constant calls were nerve-wracking. For the professional team scouts, it was just one or two calls, but Bum-suk had to reject them dozens of times, which was bound to be annoying.

Just then, a woman approached him and spoke.

“Hello. Long time no see. You remember me, right?”

Bum-suk stared at her and sighed deeply. It was Rebecca, the biggest competitor in this tournament. He might try to flirt with an ordinary woman, but she was different. She was the biggest obstacle to obtaining Matilda, who was essential for his team, and he didn’t like the fact that she had entered this tournament through back channels, using her family’s power.

He put his discomfort into his voice and said,

“Oh, yeah. I remember. But what’s up?”

“It’s nothing much. I just thought we should do well in the matches together.”

“Do well together? Only one of us will get Matilda. One of us has to fail for the other to achieve their goal.”

Despite his blunt response, Rebecca spoke in a friendly tone.

“Hahaha. Is it really necessary to be like that? If our interests align, we can both achieve our objectives.”

“Both of us achieve our objectives? Are you kidding me?”

“I’m serious, not joking. You’re participating in this tournament to get Matilda, right?”

Since it was obvious, Bum-suk nodded.

“That’s right. But you’re trying to get Matilda too, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but to be precise, I need Matilda’s abilities.”

“So, are you saying you’ll give up Matilda to me? Or not?”

“Yes. I can’t go easy on you in the matches, but if you meet my conditions, I’ll give up Matilda.”

Bum-suk’s furrowed brow relaxed. To be honest, Rebecca, who used an unfamiliar form of swordsmanship, was a bit difficult to deal with. He thought he might lose like Hillis, who had faced her in the first match. In this situation, her offering to give up Matilda was tempting.

“Hmm. Conditions, huh? What are they?”

“It’s very simple. Actually, I’m planning to create a new gladiator team at my grandfather’s request. He wants to have a famous gladiator team belonging to the family. So, we’re planning to participate in the promotion tournament next spring and make it a professional team.”

At that, Bum-suk tilted his head. The Chaplin family could easily buy a professional team, so he couldn’t understand why they were starting from the amateur level.

“You could just buy a professional team. Why bother starting from amateur?”

“It’s very simple. To create a perfect family team. We own several large and small professional gladiator teams, but my grandfather doesn’t like any of them.”

“What does that mean? Then you can just rebuild the team to make it perfect.”

“That’s not what I mean. My grandfather wants to include the three letters ‘Chaplin’ in the team name. But we couldn’t change the name of the professional team we bought before because of the fans’ enthusiasm. So, we’re starting from scratch.”

That made sense. The team name was the pride of the fans who always supported it. If the owner arbitrarily tried to put their name in it, a big conflict would be inevitable. It was certainly easier for the Chaplin family to have a gladiator team by creating a new team from the beginning. If the name was already established from the start, the fans wouldn’t have anything to say.

“Okay. But what does that have to do with the condition you’re offering?”

“It has a lot to do with it. My grandfather wants the team to be promoted to the Area League next year. And he wants it to continue to develop and eventually advance to the World League. So, we need a lot of talented gladiators. Like you, Bum-suk.”

Bum-suk’s expression crumpled. It was just another recruitment offer. He had been annoyed for the past few days, so he couldn’t help but feel displeased.

“Heh heh. So, you’re saying you’ll give up Matilda if I join your team.”

“Yes. And Matilda too. Of course, we’ll give you and her a reasonable salary. Feel free to tell us if you have a desired amount.”

He managed to smile and said,

“But what to do? That condition is flawed from the start. I have no intention of joining your team. Neither does Matilda, of course.”

“No. Why?”

“Because I’m going to create my own team and participate in the promotion tournament next year. So, I can’t possibly join your team.”

Rebecca looked very disappointed. She had absolutely put Bum-suk on her recruitment list.

In fact, when she first saw him play, she only thought he was a decent gladiator. She was amazed by how easily he defeated professional gladiators, but she thought she could do that much herself. But when she received a call from her father, who had watched the match on TV, things changed.

Her father was currently the president of Chaplin Sports, but he had been deeply involved in gladiatorial combat in the past under the influence of his grandfather, even playing as a starter for a famous World League professional team. And this father advised her to be extremely careful, saying that although he was a bit lacking in physical aspects, his swordsmanship had reached a perfect level.

Even so, she could have just brushed it off. Even her father, as a human, could make mistakes. But when Amelia, her father’s elven lover, joined in and highly praised him, she couldn’t ignore it. She was a former World League teammate of her father and a legendary elven gladiator who remained a legend in the world of gladiatorial combat.

In the end, Rebecca had investigated Bum-suk through all the gladiator professional team officials under the Chaplin Group for the past few days and found out that her father and Amelia were absolutely right.

Of course, she couldn’t give up on Bum-suk. A person who could become a competitive World League-level gladiator if he only improved his physical abilities was lying on the ground, and she couldn’t just not pick him up. And humans would do anything for money. She believed she could persuade him enough.

“So. How much will it take?”

“I told you, I’m thinking of turning my team professional. I have no intention of joining your team.”

“Okay. Then I’ll make an offer. A 4-year contract for 120 million Krang [currency in this world]. I’ll give you 40 million Krang as a signing bonus. With this salary, you can recruit excellent gladiators and make your team professional.”

A signing bonus of 40 million Krang was enough to buy 6-7 Raymi-level gladiators. The 4-year salary of 120 million Krang was equivalent to the remaining amount needed when the God Knights went professional. It was a salary level for a Central League core-level gladiator, and it was by no means money to give to Bum-suk, who was only wandering around in the amateur league.

However, one thing was certain: the moment he accepted this offer, the team’s professional advancement would be much easier. He could recruit good gladiators, and he could borrow money from the bank by mortgaging this salary to make the team professional.

But Bum-suk had no intention of accepting it at all. What good was a harem team without him? He would rather remain an amateur team forever. He couldn’t do such a thing.

Besides, he didn’t like Rebecca, who tried to solve everything with money. He thought it would be very tiring to live as a professional gladiator under such a woman.

“That’s enough. Stop it. I’m never going to your team.”

“No, why? Do you look down on our team because it’s an amateur team? Don’t worry about that. With a huge amount of money, excellent gladiators will continue to be recruited, so you’ll be able to move up to a satisfactory league in a few years.”

“Then that’s good. Play with them. Don’t bother me.”

Rebecca looked at Bum-suk with bewildered eyes. He didn’t want money, he didn’t want fame. She couldn’t figure out what he wanted.

“Then what do you want?”

“To play for my team, the God Knights. There’s nothing else.”

“No, why? Are the training facilities good? Or do you have good coaches?”

“There’s nothing like that. Right now, our team is training in the city sports park. There are no specially designated coaches.”

Rebecca stared at him blankly for a long time. Even though it was his team, he was a gladiator aiming to go professional, so she didn’t know why he was trying to stay in such a place.

If he joined her team, he could grow up in a high-end training camp and under the guidance of talented coaches at the Central League team level. If he trained in this environment, Bum-suk was expected to become a gladiator who would make a name for himself around the world in the future.

“I don’t know what you want, but why are you wasting your talent? If you come to our team, you can grow quickly based on advanced training facilities and advice from experienced coaches. Then you can become an outstanding gladiator who is loved by many fans.”

Bum-suk chuckled. Of course, it was only natural to want to become a gladiator loved by many fans, as she said. But his purpose in playing this game was to be surrounded by beautiful women and play happily. He couldn’t give up his harem team for the sake of fans’ support and wield a sword in another team.

“Heh heh. The latest training facilities? Fans’ support? They’re all good. But to become an excellent gladiator, you don’t need any of that. All you need is a place to wield a sword happily. I’m happiest playing for my team.”

“Why is only your team good? Have you ever come to our team and said that? People call your behavior narrow-minded.”

“Narrow-minded, my foot. Then put all the elven gladiators on your team and all the elven gladiators you’re going to recruit in my bedroom. Then there will be something to compare, so I’ll think about it.”

Rebecca made an absurd expression. He was making proposals that were too excessive. If she accepted the conditions he mentioned, her team would suffer a great loss. That was because of the difference in value between elves without owners and elves with owners. Elves without owners don’t need to be paid a salary, so their value is naturally more expensive. The difference was about three times the ability, and if Bum-suk’s conditions were met, the value of all the elves owned by the team would drop to about one-third.

“A, are you kidding me? Do you think I’ll follow those conditions?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you setting such conditions?”

“That’s how our team is. I don’t know if you know, but the gladiators on the God Knights team are all elves with owners. All the gladiators we’ve traded in immediately become elves who serve me at night, and the rest are elves who serve other men as masters.”

Rebecca looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“A, are you kidding me? Who would buy such a loss? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ll take it. Because I’m happy to play on such a team. I’m advising you, the world isn’t all about money. Money is needed to get happiness, but selling happiness to get money is a really stupid thing to do.”

Rebecca shook her head, as if she had lost her words. He was saying it so firmly that she had nothing more to persuade him with. Giving up, she sighed deeply and said,

“Okay. Since you say so, I’ll withdraw the recruitment offer. But keep one thing in mind. You won’t be happy today. Because I’m going to take Matilda.”

Bum-suk smiled coldly and replied,

“Heh heh. That’s what you think. You never know until you fight.”

“I guess so. But you’d better be prepared. I’m not easy.”

“I know. Don’t worry.”

Rebecca turned around with a hollow expression. She was a gladiator she wanted, but she was sorry that she had to give up like this. But Matilda was still left. An elf gladiator with high potential that she happened to meet while on vacation. She had to win today and somehow bring her to her team. She sat down and reviewed the pre-planned strategy while looking at the information of her next opponent.

After a while, the door to the player waiting room opened and the game announcer came in and called out.

“Okay, everyone. The semi-finals are starting. Rebecca and Jeina, please come out.”

Rebecca glanced at Bum-suk and followed the announcer with her opponent, Jeina. He slyly took out his electronic notebook and turned on the TV screen. To be sure to beat Rebecca, he had to figure out the strange rhythm she had shown in the duel with Hillis before. Otherwise, a big struggle was expected in the finals.

But unfortunately, Jeina was no match for Rebecca at all. After only about 10 matches, she was hit in the back of the neck with a sword and fell forward. It was impossible to get proper information in this state. Bum-suk immediately turned the screen and reviewed the first match between her and Hillis that he had saved before.

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

Huh. These days, Perfect World isn’t writing well. The speed isn’t bad, but the content seems a bit strange. It seems that the writing atmosphere at the end of King Pan World is being added to Perfect World. It seems that simultaneous serialization is too much for me. Huh~ Then everyone, have a good day today. I’ll see you again on Monday.