Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 78

78

“Everyone, gather around! We’re doomed if we continue like this!”

The Great Hyenas’ captain gladiator, wearing the number 42, shouted hoarsely. If he didn’t rally his team gladiators, who were scattering like grains of sand, they would inevitably lose the first round. However, this was no easy task amidst the relentless attacks of the God Knights. Even when they managed to regroup, Oscar would immediately charge in, swinging his greatsword, shattering their formation without fail.

The gladiator with the number 42 gritted his teeth and reached out towards Oscar.

“This won’t do! Get rid of that kid first!”

In response, gladiators number 15 and 31 rushed towards her. However, the God Knights, with their numerical advantage, wouldn’t just stand by and watch. Matilda and Remy quickly joined in, pressing the attack even harder.

Clang. Clang. Clang!

“Aaaagh!!”

The Great Hyenas gladiators fell one by one, succumbing to the flashing sword strikes from all directions.

Frankly, this first round was effectively over when they lost their aces, Loria and Jermia, and when gladiators 38 and 46 had to leave the formation to stop Beomseok. No matter how skilled, it was difficult to fight against two or three opponents who were constantly attacking in a coordinated manner.

The same was true for Beomseok. He was having a hard time against gladiators 38 and 46, who were Wide League-level fighters. Their relentless, coordinated attacks were quite overwhelming.

‘Tch. This is driving me crazy. I guess I have to give up the free role.’

He could endure if he just had to hold out, but at this rate, he would suffer extreme stamina loss. It would be better to join his teammates and fight together. Fortunately, the Great Hyenas’ main camp was completely destroyed and beyond recovery. Even if gladiators 38 and 46 joined in now, the situation wouldn’t change.

Having made up his mind, Beomseok immediately retreated and ran towards his teammates, who were busy finishing off the remaining opponents.

“Remy! Mirley! Help me!”

Remy and Mirley, seeing him being chased, quickly broke away from their formation and rushed towards gladiators 38 and 46. Only three or four members remained in the Great Hyenas’ main camp. It wouldn’t be a big problem to leave it to the other teammates.

“Master. You’ve worked hard.”

Beomseok turned around and smiled at Remy. However, he couldn’t even say a word before having to parry the attacks of gladiators 38 and 46, who were charging at him.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The situation changed completely with the addition of two teammates. Although Remy and Mirley were less skilled than their opponents, they were able to hold their own to some extent. Moreover, Beomseok, who had retreated to the rear, was launching sharp attacks, more than making up for the difference.

Frankly, Beomseok could easily defeat them if he wanted to in the current situation. However, he wasn’t launching an all-out offensive for a simple reason: he needed to conserve his stamina for future matches, where he would continue to play the free role, and the first round was about to end anyway.

– The first round is over! Against all expectations, the God Knights have easily won.

Beomseok put down his sword and turned around at the announcer’s broadcast. Seeing that no one was standing except for his teammates led by Erphina, it was clear that they had captured the Great Hyenas’ captain gladiator.

He smiled at gladiators 38 and 46, who were still panting in front of him, and walked towards the dugout.

“Wow! God Knights are the best! Keep it up!”

“Boo! It was just luck. There won’t be such good fortune in the next round, so don’t get too excited!”

Amidst the boisterous cheers of the fans, Beomseok returned to the dugout. Only about 10 minutes had passed, but he was already exhausted. He had faced four opponent gladiators in turn while playing the free role, so it couldn’t be helped. Moreover, he hadn’t used the ‘Great Will’ [an ability or technique] in this round, so his fatigue was even greater than usual.

He plopped down on his bench and took deep breaths to calm his heavy breathing.

‘One win down. Now it’s time for the second win.’

Beomseok intended to add another win in the second round. Although the enemy’s morale would be somewhat dampened by the defeat in the first round, it was necessary to push them even harder. If the Great Hyenas team suffered two losses in the early stages, they would fall into a state of panic beyond mere anxiety. If they then suffered only one loss or two draws in the next three rounds, the game would be over immediately.

He turned his gaze and called Andrea. If Jermia was the goddess of fortune in the first round, then she was the one in the second round.

“Andrea. Come over here with Diana.”

“Yes, Beomseok. What’s the matter?”

Beomseok looked at her as she approached with Diana and said,

“Well, it’s nothing much, I just wanted to ask how we should approach the second round.”

“Well, I think it would be a good idea to send out the second string this time.”

“Why the second string?”

“Because the starters seem very tired after performing in the first round.”

He now looked at Diana.

“Diana. What do you think as the manager?”

“Yes. I also think it would be better to send out the second string. It would be great to get two wins by sending out the starters, but as you know, we are physically weaker than them. If we send out the main force and end up drawing, the future rounds will be difficult.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m pretty tired from fighting so hard. I think it’s better to rest this round. Then, Diana, form the second string by including the team members who didn’t participate in the first round, Humi, and some of the starters. Except for me.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Having made the decision, Beomseok sent everyone back and took a short break. Then, he smiled as he watched Diana diligently writing down the list of second-string players. He also saw Andrea watching her intently. The moment she passed that list to the Great Hyenas team, it would be their second win. Although they were a little tired, there was no way their main force couldn’t beat the enemy’s second string.

After a while, as the squad composition work was finished, Andrea quietly slipped away to the back and took out her electronic notepad. Seeing this, Beomseok whistled and got up, approaching the door of the locker room. There was a plug there that provided power to the terminal. He quickly unplugged the cord when the other team members weren’t looking and returned to his seat.

Then, with only 30 seconds left until the list submission time, Diana shouted in a voice mixed with screams.

“Master! I think the terminal is broken! No matter how I operate it, the screen won’t turn on.”

Beomseok leisurely got up and walked towards her.

“What are you talking about? Try touching it properly. There’s no way it could be broken. The computer system operator always comes before the match to check for malfunctions.”

“But it really won’t turn on.”

At this time, Venus, who was waiting at the locker room door, shouted.

“Master. The power cord is unplugged here!”

“Really? Connect it quickly! There’s no time!”

The terminal screen turned on again. Diana, who had been anxiously waiting during the booting process, soon lowered her head. It was a silent expression to inform everyone that the list submission time had already passed. Then, according to the rules, the starters had to participate in the second round again.

“Master. What should we do? The submission time has passed. I think the starters will have to go out this time.”

Although he had achieved the desired result, Beomseok shouted at his teammates. It was to emphasize that this incident was an accident. Andrea was too valuable to use just this once.

“Who did this! You have to be careful when you walk around! And if the cord is unplugged, you should plug it back in!”

“…….”

Seeing the team members lowering their heads without saying a word, Beomseok relaxed his expression. Even if it was acting, he couldn’t keep expressing his anger and scolding them. He was the one who unplugged the cord, and he couldn’t lower the morale that had risen sharply due to the victory in the first round by unnecessarily dampening the atmosphere.

Seeing the Great Hyenas’ second-string list displayed on the electronic scoreboard, Beomseok clapped his hands excitedly and encouraged them.

“Alright, everyone. We can’t do anything about the past, so let’s all forget about it. Fortunately, the opposing team sent out their second string. Let’s all do our best and win the second round as well. Then our chances of promotion will be even greater.”

“Yes!”

When he mentioned the possibility of promotion, the team members had excited faces as if nothing had happened. They were happy at the thought of becoming professionals and standing proudly before their master. If they won this second round, their dream of becoming professionals would be right in front of them.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Beomseok, raising his hand to boost morale, put on his helmet and went outside. Now, if they could just get through this round properly, the Great Hyenas team would be finished. If they suffered two losses in the early stages, the team atmosphere would be extremely bad. Moreover, most of them were elves without masters, so unlike them, they didn’t have the desperation to win at all costs.

“Yo. Who is this? Loria. We meet again.”

Beomseok, who had come to the center of the arena and was again taking on the free role, looked at Loria, who was approaching him, and smiled leisurely.

In contrast, she revealed an anxious expression and slightly lowered the tip of her sword. Her habit had been exposed, and she had come out to the second-string match, only to meet Beomseok again. Loria, not wanting to be defeated as absurdly as in the first round, barely mustered her courage and glared at him.

“It won’t be like before this time.”

“Heh heh. Will it be that easy? Your weakness has already been exposed to me. The moment that habit comes out, it’s over.”

She gritted her teeth. She hated Beomseok for making fun of her weakness.

“What habit do I even have!”

“Well, what could it be? Well, I can’t fix it right away, so I guess I can give you a hint. Your habit is subtly revealed when you concentrate. However, the problem is that you can’t find it unless you analyze each video frame one by one. Thanks to that, I’m the only one on our team who is skilled enough to notice your habit during a duel. So, you can rest assured when you meet opponents other than me.”

Loria frowned. She couldn’t figure out what her habit was with such vague information.

However, Beomseok couldn’t say more than this. What could he explain about a non-existent habit? The reason he was talking like this was simply to instill anxiety in Loria and lead the duel to his advantage. If she didn’t concentrate as advised and suspected every move she made, he could defeat her very easily. Beomseok was not an easy opponent to beat in a distracted state.

Whether she knew it or not, Loria raised her sword to the top and entered battle preparation. It was an attempt to eliminate her habit by taking a different sword stance than usual.

“Good. It will probably be different this time. I’ll fight you in a different way than before.”

“Well. It doesn’t matter. But your habit is a weakness that stems from instinct. It won’t be easy to fix.”

“That’s. Something we’ll see.”

Beomseok glanced at the scene counting down to the start of the match and set his sword in the middle.

“Well. You’re right. There’s no point in talking about what we’ll know during the match now. I won’t stop your crossing this time either, so come over as much as you want.”

Loria smiled. She was out with the second string now. The goal of the second round was a draw. There was no reason for her to cross over on purpose.

“Are you kidding me? Why would I go over there?”

BEEP!

At the signal to start the match, Beomseok ran to the left with all his might. Loria, who was running after him across the stream, widened her eyes. She hadn’t realized it until now, but his speed was no joke. Even she, who was active as a candidate for the World League, couldn’t catch up. This didn’t make sense.

Soon after, Beomseok, who had almost reached the left outer wall of the arena, jumped with all his might and crossed over. However, she, who couldn’t keep up, couldn’t take any special attacks. Loria wore a very regretful expression at the fact that she had futilely missed a good opportunity to get rid of him.

“H-How can he be so fast?”

“He’s always been fast.”

Beomseok’s sword cut through the space with fierce momentum. It was a sudden attack, but Loria, who was already prepared, lightly struck down her sword, deflecting the direction of the attack. However, as if he already knew it would be blocked, his sword twisted strangely and flew towards her lower abdomen. Because it was an attack based on softness and speed rather than power, Loria had no choice but to retreat. If she had countered with force, she could have been caught off guard by an unexpected change. The posture she was taking now was the upper stance. It was a posture focused on attack rather than defense, so it was better to avoid it than to block it.

Whoosh.

“Take this!”

As Beomseok’s sword brushed past her face, Loria kicked off and swung her sword. It was an almost reflexive attack, so it was very fast and powerful, but Beomseok could easily block it by facing his sword against it. Because it had flown from a distance, he had enough time to respond.

‘Hmph. She’s quite good after all. But she’s being too careful.’

She was confronting Beomseok with an upper stance. It was a posture focused on attack, so it should contain the momentum to tear the opponent apart at any time, but she was only checking him from a few steps away. In short, it was like baring her teeth and growling, but hiding her tail under her legs. This awkwardness was likely to reduce her inherent skills or cause mistakes. If he aimed for that gap, he could definitely get rid of her.

Before he knew it, Beomseok, who had become relaxed, looked towards the main camp where a battle was taking place. The God Knights’ gladiators had already crossed over and were pushing back the Great Hyenas’ second-string gladiators. He thought he could subdue them well enough without having to go, but in order to win quickly, he needed to go and shake up the rear of the opponent’s main camp. In any case, the starters had to fight one more time, so it was necessary to reduce the game time and minimize stamina consumption.

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

Oh. Lotte is doing well these days. Today 12:4. Against Kia, too. Wow. On the other hand, LG is ㅠㅠ. I guess LG doesn’t have much of a connection with the playoffs.

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