Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 8

Swish, swish.

Standing outside the sports center, Beom-seok paced anxiously on the entrance terrace. The weather, which had been only slightly cloudy when he arrived, had turned torrential, with rain pouring down relentlessly. He could have made a run for it, but the downpour was heavy enough to soak him to the bone.

‘What should I do? I can’t just grab someone and ask to share an umbrella.’

As he hesitated, the doors of the sports center opened, and a woman walked out. She was an elf in a pristine white dress, carrying a square package wrapped in cloth under one arm and holding an umbrella in her right hand. Spotting Beom-seok, she greeted him with a light smile.

“Oh, hello. You’re still here.”

Beom-seok, recognizing her, returned a bright smile. It was Raymi, the elf he had met earlier, probably heading out for lunch.

“Ah, yes. As you can see, it’s raining cats and dogs.”

Raymi glanced at him and replied,

“Looks like you didn’t bring an umbrella?”

“No. It wasn’t raining when I arrived.”

Raymi opened her umbrella and said,

“You’re not going far, are you?”

“No. Just to the restaurant street over there, so it’s not too far.”

“Then let’s go together. I’ll walk you there.”

Beom-seok, without a moment’s hesitation, immediately stood next to Raymi. He wasn’t one to back down when a potentially dateable woman offered to share an umbrella.

“Hahaha. I feel bad. Anyway, thank you.”

“It’s nothing. It’s not far. Let’s go then.”

With those words, Raymi moved closer, their shoulders almost touching, and started walking forward. Beom-seok chattered away, trying his best to build rapport.

The city streets of ‘Perfect World’ were truly unique. There were no roads for cars; the spaces between buildings were entirely pedestrian walkways. Occasionally, there were empty spaces where large flying cars could ascend and descend, like parking lots, but they weren’t common. Bus stops were all located on the rooftops of tall buildings. And above the shopping streets, commercial 3D laser images flickered, enticing customers.

After admiring the scenery for a while, Beom-seok stopped in front of a seafood pasta restaurant. It wasn’t particularly his favorite food, but he had heard that women liked it, so he chose it.

“Raymi, let me treat you. Let’s go to that restaurant.”

At his words, Raymi pointed to the package wrapped in cloth under her arm and said,

“Ah, no. I brought a packed lunch. I can just eat at the convenience store over there.”

“Come on. I’ll feel bad if you just go. Let me treat you.”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about me.”

As she continued to decline, Beom-seok quietly said, as if lamenting,

“You have the umbrella. If you go somewhere else, I’ll get soaked on the way back later.”

“Ah, that’s right. Then I’ll leave the umbrella here.”

“Hey. Then I’ll feel even worse. Do you not like pasta? If that’s the case, we can go somewhere else.”

Raymi, who wasn’t picky about food, shook her head, denying it.

“Ah, no. It’s not that. It’s just that you have to take the test later, and… I’m the supervisor.”

Beom-seok stared at her blankly. Even though it was a specialized course, he couldn’t understand why the sports center exam was so strict. Frankly, he really didn’t like the stubbornness of the elves.

“Sigh~ Then there’s nothing we can do. Let’s just go to the convenience store and grab something to eat. That should be okay, right?”

After hesitating for a moment, Raymi nodded. Beom-seok sighed deeply and headed back towards the nearby convenience store, walking through the drizzling rain.

Ding-dong.

“Welcome.”

As he opened the convenience store door, the clear sound of a bell rang, and a male employee bowed and greeted him. Ignoring it, Beom-seok walked towards the refrigerated display.

Various snacks were lined up, and he grabbed a triangular kimbap [Korean rice ball wrapped in seaweed], a hamburger, and a cola. Then, he took a cup ramen from the snack corner, filled it with hot water, and went to the small table.

Following him, Raymi carefully carried a small, transparent plastic container filled with what looked like warm oden [Japanese fishcake] broth and stood right next to him. Beom-seok, who was just waiting for the ramen to cook, examined her lunchbox out of curiosity.

As the lid slowly opened, Beom-seok’s eyes widened in shock.

‘What kind of situation is that?’

There were two kinds of food in the lunchbox: one side was boiled black beans, and the other was raw broccoli. The fact that she was eating this with oden broth, which had a price tag of only 7 crons [in-game currency], for lunch was beyond Beom-seok’s comprehension.

“Uhm, Raymi. Is that really what you’re having for lunch?”

Raymi nodded lightly in agreement.

“Yes.”

“It’s just boiled beans and raw broccoli.”

“Yes. But they are excellent foods that provide sufficient calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals.”

Beom-seok knew well enough that beans and broccoli were good for the body. But the tongue had senses. It was like she was a war refugee, and it was unbearable for him to watch her eat that for a meal.

“Hey. Do you always eat like this?”

“Yes. Since being dispatched to this sports center, I have been.”

“What about before that?”

At that time, she frequented the cafeteria of her affiliated team, so she ate a variety of foods with more texture than her current lunchbox.

“I used the cafeteria of my affiliated team and ate various foods. But why do you ask?”

“Then why is it like this now? Is your team working you so hard lately that you can’t even eat lunch properly?”

That wasn’t the case. Her affiliated team was based in a city called Herb City, not this city. Because of that, she had to be dispatched to this city alone and received 20,000 crons per month from the team as living expenses. It might seem like a small amount of money, but for her, who had never easily touched money because she was affiliated with the team, it was a very large sum.

But why was she eating such a diet for lunch? It all stemmed from the habits of the elves and the operating practices of professional sports clubs.

Currently, most professional clubs in this world were in the form of corporations. The problem was that the purpose of a corporation was to maximize shareholder profits. As a result, teams preferred to buy and raise talented elves born in production facilities rather than using modified humans who had to be paid high weekly wages or elves who had separate owners. But the problem didn’t end there; they bought and sold her among themselves. It was good for the team because they could make money by releasing unnecessary players and buy players who were essential to the team, but it wasn’t the same for her. Elves had to be ownerless in order to be bought and sold.

For elves who firmly believed that serving their master was the greatest happiness of their lives, their situation was a miserable life like slavery. This was the same for Raymi. For 29 years of living in the team, her one constant wish was to meet a good master and serve him with all her heart. However, she doubted whether a master who would buy her would appear because her value was too high.

Therefore, the 20,000 crons she gave to her affiliated team every month were so precious. She believed that if she collected this money to make a lump sum and gave it to the master who would buy her, if any, she could reduce the financial burden to some extent, which would increase the possibility of her being bought.

Having heard all this, Beom-seok looked at Raymi as if he was dumbfounded.

“You’re living like a miser to give it to a potential master?”

Raymi glanced at him and nodded slightly.

“Yes.”

“Tell me honestly. How much have you saved so far?”

After calculating for a moment, Raymi replied,

“It’s been 13 months since I came to this sports center, so it’s a little over 240,000 crons. I’ll know the details when I open the can where the money is, though.”

That meant she had been living on less than 1,500 crons a month. It was ridiculous, but it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible given her lunchbox.

“Geez, you’ve saved up so fiercely. Do you like masters that much? Someone you don’t even know and who may not even exist.”

“It’s a natural thing. Serving the master is the meaning of our elves’ existence.”

Beom-seok was so dumbfounded by her confident attitude that he even felt a sense of endearment. She was living so miserably, dreaming of someone she had never seen or met.

At this point, he became quite curious about Raymi’s value. Since he needed a few more elves to enjoy the nightlife anyway, it didn’t seem like a bad idea for him to become her master if the price was right.

“How much is your value anyway?”

“That… That’s… 25 million crons.”

After saying her value, Raymi glanced at Beom-seok. She was curious about his reaction.

Honestly, the reason why Raymi was telling him all these personal things, even though it was their first meeting, was because Beom-seok had a modified body. The fact that he had undergone that procedure, which required a large sum of money, meant that he was very rich. She thought he might buy her. However, Beom-seok’s total assets were about 5 million crons, excluding the officetel [a studio apartment that is also used as an office]. No, since Venus’s treatment would cost about 600,000 crons, it could be said to be 4.4 million crons.

Beom-seok, with his mouth wide open, blinked and said,

“What? Why is your value so high? 25 million crons is more money than someone like me could ever spend in a lifetime.”

“Why would someone like you say that? You’re rich, aren’t you?”

Beom-seok, making an absurd expression, pointed at himself with his index finger.

“Me, rich? No way. I’m just an ordinary citizen.”

“But you have a modified body. How much money would it take to get that procedure?”

Beom-seok, realizing that Raymi was seriously mistaken, shook his head. The reason he had a modified body was because he was a player, not because he was rich. But he couldn’t reveal this fact as it was. Honestly, she wouldn’t believe it, and even if she did, the story of the real world could cause great confusion in the game world.

He extracted an excuse provided within the game and blurted it out.

“It’s not because I’m rich. You know that humans go to school and receive education until they turn 20 and enter society, right?”

“Yes. I know.”

“Then do you know that students with good academic records are given free body modification procedures upon graduating from school? I’m one of those cases.”

“Oh, is that so……”

Raymi nodded repeatedly, believing Beom-seok’s lie. In modern society, humans were quite lazy. If they only bought elves and made them work to earn money, humans hardly needed to work. As a result, academic achievement naturally declined, so the federal government was giving free high-cost body modification procedures to some students with good grades in order to encourage students’ academic enthusiasm. She thought Beom-seok was one of them.

However, Raymi hung her head, unable to hide her disappointment. She thought a promising master candidate had appeared, but it turned out not to be the case.

Sensing her mood, Beom-seok felt a surge of defiance. Beom-seok, the man. He wasn’t one to give up on a woman he had set his sights on just because there were difficulties. Rather than living with this unpleasant feeling, he would just earn that money and buy her.

He puffed out his chest and said in a confident tone.

“Raymi. Don’t be disappointed. I’ll buy you.”

“Yes? Really? But you don’t have the money.”

“Don’t worry about that. Do you think I can’t get that money? Just wait a little.”

Raymi, grateful even for the words, smiled slightly. No one had ever said this to her before. For some reason, she even felt like trusting him from the bottom of her heart.

“Thank you. But don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Why would I need to push myself? To earn that measly 25 million crons. Hahaha.”

Beom-seok wasn’t just talking; he was confident in his own way. If he founded a team and entered the professional league by passing the promotion tournament held around this time next year, he expected a lot of income. Since he would need many skilled pro gladiators at that time anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to buy Raymi.

Beom-seok looked at her with a serious expression. He thought she would know a lot about the physiology of pro gladiators since she had been living as one for a long time.

“Raymi. Can you tell me roughly how much the value or annual salary of a pro gladiator is?”

“Well, it varies greatly depending on which league you’re active in and how important you are to the team.”

Beom-seok knew that point as well. What he wanted was a rough explanation.

“Just give me a rough explanation.”

“For example, the elf who receives the highest annual salary on our team is 11 million crons. And they said it cost 55 million crons to recruit a new starting-level gladiator this time.”

Beom-seok suddenly glared at Raymi, wondering if there was something wrong with her words. If it cost 55 million to buy a starting-level gladiator in the league, he didn’t understand why Raymi was asking for 25 million.

Of course, there was a big difference of 30 million crons between the two, but it wasn’t as much as the difference between a gladiator who would be the core of the team and someone who was classified as outside the power and only dispatched as a sports center instructor.

“I don’t mean to disrespect you, but if the value of a starting-level gladiator in the team is 55 million, why are you 25 million?”

Raymi looked embarrassed.

“That, that’s what I’m wondering too. That amount is the value of a top-tier gladiator in the Wide League, where our team is affiliated. And with that level of experience, ability, and age, it’s usually around 5 million to 6 million crons. I don’t understand why the team put that amount on me.”

What could he do if she didn’t know either? Beom-seok recalled her trait of ‘thorough teaching’ and understood it, albeit forcibly. Since the training results were 1.5 times higher for 5 people, it was natural that using her as a coach would be very effective. He thought that the team, recognizing that trait, might have put that amount on her.

“Well. It’s not like you can’t have that amount on you at all……”

“……..”

Raymi didn’t say anything. Beom-seok also stopped asking questions and decided to start eating. If he continued the long conversation any longer, the cup ramen would probably turn into udon [a type of thick wheat flour noodle].

Before picking up the chopsticks, he went to the display and bought more snacks and spread them out on the table in front of Raymi. Even though they had agreed to eat separately, he couldn’t bear to see her lunchbox.

Raymi initially refused strongly, but she couldn’t help but eat it due to his continued insistence. First of all, Beom-seok was a promising master candidate for her.

——————

To be continued.