Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 87

88

“No, that’s not it… I understand. Since Gloria is overseeing our evaluation team, I’ll be honest. We’ll give them high scores this time as well, as per custom.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course. We just didn’t want our evaluation process to be exposed to the outside world until now.”

Gloria nodded, looking convinced.

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Gordon frowned as he saw the cameraman approaching right in front of him. Now he was stuck having to give them at least 6 points. He was in a difficult situation, having to give them high scores both because of the medical room incident and now this.

With Brian, one of the evaluators, siding with Gods Knights, they had already lost over 22 points. Moreover, contrary to expectations, Gloria seemed to be showing favor towards their team, so it was clear that a considerable number of points would be added. If this happened again, they would have to be prepared for the uproar from the media and women’s groups to drop Gods Knights.

“Gloria, please don’t step in anymore.”

“Why?”

“Our evaluation details keep getting leaked to the press, don’t they? In principle, the score announcements are supposed to be kept confidential until the announcement date, which is a week from now.”

“Okay. I’ll cooperate.”

“Whew~ Yes, thank you.”

Gordon sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. Seeing that the hour and minute hands were at the very top, he knew it was almost lunchtime. To clear his heavy mood, he thought it would be better to stop the evaluation work and have a meal, so he spoke to everyone.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s stop the evaluation work for a while and go have lunch.”

“Yes, I understand. I was getting hungry anyway.”

Gordon led the way, followed by the evaluators. Then, Beomseok put on a welcoming smile and blocked their path.

“Come on, follow me. I’ll take you to a good place.”

Gordon stared at him and expressed his refusal. He wouldn’t mind accepting a meal, but he wanted to avoid being associated with the Gods Knights team as much as possible. They hadn’t come here today with good intentions.

“It’s okay. We’ll eat separately.”

“Hahaha. Why are you being so cold? Isn’t it okay to be treated to a meal?”

“However, regulations prohibit us from receiving any kind of treatment. So please don’t insist anymore.”

“Tsk. Is that so? Then Gordon, you buy me a meal. That should be okay, right?”

He looked at Beomseok with a dumbfounded expression. In all his life, he had never seen a professional team’s director ask the promotion evaluation team to treat him to a meal. He didn’t know if he was ignorant or thoughtless, but he seemed truly brazen. However, he felt that if he coldly refused like this, his own character would also decline. Gordon gestured for him to follow and hurried along the road.

The journey to the nearby downtown area was made in Aaron. The van flying car that the evaluation team had come in was cramped and uncomfortable, so Beomseok had insisted.

He turned Gloria and the front seat around and chatted non-stop throughout the ride. He was aiming to raise his favorability and win her over, as well as coveting the evaluation score. There was nothing better than conversation to build initial favorability.

“Alright. Let’s go in here.”

The evaluators and Beomseok went to a Chinese restaurant called Jangrimwon on Romeo Street. Beomseok had recommended it because it seemed 괜찮은 [gwaenchanheun – decent/okay] when he visited Lexter before. The prices were also reasonable, and he liked the interior atmosphere, and there was a separate room, making it perfect for conversation.

Beomseok, who was seated, ordered a lot of various dishes from the elf employee wearing a cheongsam [traditional Chinese dress]. Gordon, who was displeased with this, spoke with anger in his voice.

“Wait a minute. What are you doing? How can you order so many dishes!”

“Hehe. It’s okay. I ordered these dishes, so I’ll pay for them. Gordon, you only need to pay for the evaluators’ meals.”

Gordon gripped the tablecloth tightly. He wondered if he was following him with some strange trick. There was no way the other evaluators wouldn’t eat the lavish dishes on the same table, so it was naturally a treat.

He frowned and gave a look to the other evaluators. It was a silent threat not to touch any other dishes. Seeing this, Beomseok turned to Gloria without paying attention. For now, it was better to secure the possible score first, rather than trying to persuade the picky him.

“By the way, Gloria, you are really beautiful. When I first saw you, I thought a goddess had descended.”

It was a very blatant flattery, but Gloria smiled brightly as if it was sweet to hear. It was very difficult for a woman to hear such compliments about her appearance from a man.

“Hahaha. Oh, my. You’re such a joker.”

“No. It’s not a joke at all. I mean, I fell in love with you at first sight when I saw you earlier.”

Gloria frowned deeply below her forehead. She didn’t know once, but it was mistaken for teasing because it continued. Under social conditions, it was rare for a man to show such sexual intimacy to a woman.

“If you keep doing this, I’m going to get angry.”

“I can’t help it even if you get angry. I’m really serious. If you allow me, I want to ask you for a date right now.”

In an instant, the eyes in the room were on him. It was too much to be considered a formality. Some were even sending hateful glances.

Gloria, embarrassed by this, quickly changed the subject.

“Hmm. By the way, why does Gods Knights have so many female employees? I was quite surprised to see it today. Other workplaces are hiring them because they have no choice due to government policies, but everyone here is female. I really want to recommend them to the Ministry of Women and give them an award.”

“Hahaha. Thank you. But it’s not enough to receive an award. I picked them all because of my greed.”

“Greed? What greed?”

“Well. They’re good at what they do, so I liked them, and they’re not bad looking either. Honestly, isn’t it better to have beautiful women next to you than dull men? Hahaha.”

At this point, Gloria didn’t take his words as a joke. Even though the relationship between women and men had widened, there were often people with 이상성애자 [isangseongaesa – people with abnormal sexual preferences] like Beomseok because the world was wide.

“S, surely? Are you an 이상성애자 [isangseongaesa – people with abnormal sexual preferences] who is interested in women?”

“이상성애자 [isangseongaesa – people with abnormal sexual preferences]? Why do you put the word ‘이상 [isang – abnormal]’ on a man’s interest in a woman? That’s a natural phenomenon. The reason why humans have continued history since ancient times is all because of the affection between men and women. If this act is really strange, then we are all descendants of perverts.”

Gloria couldn’t refute his answer. That was exactly what all women were arguing to men who were deeply 빠진 [ppajin – immersed/obsessed] in elves.

She began to actively agree as if there was no reason to look at the people around her.

“That’s right. It’s natural for men to be interested in women.”

“Hahaha. You understand now.”

Then Gordon, who had been holding back until now, shouted. It was a sight to behold to hear him say that. He didn’t feel Beomseok’s words were sincere because he was trapped in the concepts of this world. He thought it was clear that it was a trick to get a promotion score.

“Aren’t you going too far in the future at the dinner table? Stop it now! If you keep doing this, I’ll sue the association.”

Beomseok suddenly stared at him and shot back.

“What are you talking about? What’s wrong with a man expressing interest in a beautiful woman?”

It certainly wasn’t wrong. Legally, men were strongly encouraged to express interest in women.

“Hmm. If it’s sincere, there’s no problem, but that’s not it! How can a man be interested in a woman? I think I know it’s a trick to get a high promotion score?”

Gordon, who bit his lip, cast a sharp gaze at him. He was furious at the sight of that 능구렁이 [neung-gureongi – sly/crafty person].

“Then show me some proof! Whether he’s really interested in women!”

Beomseok, who smiled slyly at this, turned to Gloria.

“Since Gordon is so 성화 [seonghwa – insistent], I don’t think it’ll work. Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah, no. What…”

She couldn’t finish her words and opened her eyes wide. This is because Beomseok kissed her right away and poured out a deep kiss. It was possible to accuse him of molestation right away, but his tongue, which penetrated beyond the barrier and stirred in her mouth, was so sweet that she couldn’t even think of it.

No, she even felt sorry when he took his mouth off. It was not easy for a woman to receive such an active affection offensive from a man. She lowered her face, which was flushed with redness, and didn’t know what to do.

“Well. How is it? Do you believe it now?”

Gordon, who had a blank expression, sat down in his seat. It was a sight to behold to witness such a disgusting scene in front of his face. He couldn’t pursue it any further and silently closed his mouth. If he continued to raise issues here, he didn’t know what kind of 못 볼 꼴 [mot bol kkol – unpleasant sight] he would see.

Then, a moment of silence flowed. This was soon broken by an employee carrying food. Soon after, the table in the room was filled with various Chinese dishes.

“Then enjoy your meal.”

Beomseok, who cast his eyes on the elf employee who bowed politely and left, picked up his chopsticks. The 팔보채 [palbochae – stir-fried seafood and vegetables in a savory sauce] that exhaled white steam couldn’t look more delicious. He picked up a large shrimp, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and said to everyone.

“Come on, everyone, let’s eat.”

The evaluators were watching Gordon’s every move. At that time, one person other than them confidently picked up chopsticks and picked up the food in front of him. It was Melvin. Gordon glared at him with sharp eyes because it was so unexpected.

“Melvin. What are you doing?”

He looked at Gordon as if it didn’t matter.

“Isn’t it okay? Regulations prohibit excessive hospitality, but there is an exception for less than 500 크랑 [keurang – currency unit] per person. Looking at it, I don’t think it will exceed that amount.”

“You. Don’t you think my words sound like words! Who said to follow the regulations!”

Melvin confidently retorted without being intimidated by his shout. Since he had promised to be Beomseok’s 협조자 [hyeopjoja – collaborator], he needed to show his will for sure. He had already made up his mind after secretly talking to Lucas on the way.

“Why. Are you doing that? Don’t you usually get this kind of treatment? Do you have any 억하심정 [eokhasimjeong – grudge] with the Gods Knights team? Or are you sorry because you’re going to give them disadvantages in this evaluation work?”

“You. If you go out like this, I can replace you from the evaluation team right away!”

“Why? Are you worried that I’ll give Gods Knights a high score? But what should I do? I’ve already finished all the evaluation work.”

Gordon’s expression froze to a pale color. According to the regulations, an evaluator who has completed the evaluation work could not be replaced. This was to prevent external pressure from being added to the evaluation.

“Hey, you. When did you finish the evaluation? We haven’t even started the preparation evaluation work yet.”

“I simply checked it on the way. It’s just a matter of checking the balance in the account, so what’s going to take time? Gordon, you can focus on other evaluation work.”

He realized that something was wrong with the challenging tone. Melvin was usually a docile employee who listened well, so he was the one who brought him. He was never a person who would 버럭 대들 [beoreok daedeul – suddenly oppose] like this.

“Melvin, you. Follow me. I have something to say now.”

“I have nothing to say. Even if I retire, I will not think differently about the current score. I will not succumb to injustice and will act according to my conscience.”

Gordon, realizing the seriousness of the situation, closed his eyes tightly. There was no way he didn’t know that Melvin’s heart had turned to Gods Knights. Then this work could end here.

Of course, Gods Knights had not yet obtained all the promotion scores. Since he had two 동조 [dongjo – sympathizers] on his side, the points they had obtained were only 30 points at most. Since they did not reach the 36 points to reach the promotion, they could be eliminated if they wanted to.

The problem was that in order to disqualify the Gods Knights team, their 계파 [gyepa – faction] had to endure enormous bleeding.

They had to give extremely bad scores of 2 points or less to the medical part and the coaching and other support personnel part, which had promised high scores to Gloria, which would soon bring extreme backlash from women’s groups. And would the group of lawyers led by Beomseok stay still? It seemed clear that they would file an all-round legal lawsuit with the film of WBS broadcasting station taken this time as evidence. In addition, all the journalists who attended today would treat the current situation with great importance like fish that met the time, and they would unilaterally 까댈 [kkadael – criticize/attack] the 계파 [gyepa – faction] who participated in this 모의 [moeui – conspiracy]. If other 계파 [gyepa – faction] promotion evaluation personnel who 동조 [dongjo – sympathize] here were afraid and betrayed, it would be the end.

“Cough. Cough.”

Perhaps because he was nervous, Gordon was continuously coughing up dry coughs. Beomseok, who was watching this closely, decided to 날리기로 [nalligiro – to deliver] the final 결정타 [gyeoljeongta – decisive blow] at this time.

“Oh, I heard from Brian earlier that a guy named Ross was taken to the police this morning.”

“That’s right. Why are you asking that?”

“Isn’t it amazing how coincidental it is? He was taken to the police station on a day like today. Thanks to that, he won’t have any responsibility for this evaluation work. He certainly seems to be a pretty smart person. On the other hand, everyone here is so 순진 [sunjin – naive].”

Gordon, whose head flashed at those words, finally got up from his seat. As he said, Ross and his 계파 [gyepa – faction] certainly had no reason to have any problems through this situation. In other words, the people who led this work were getting out of the responsibility. A common 일타쌍피 [iltassangpi – killing two birds with one stone] strategy. Ross’s 계파 [gyepa – faction] may have intended to inflict great damage on their 계파 [gyepa – faction] as well as Gods Knights by using some profit.

After asking for a moment’s understanding, he called Alfred and other 협조자 [hyeopjoja – collaborators] and 빠져나왔다 [ppajyeonawatda – slipped out] outside. This was because they had to inform each other’s superiors of the facts and stop the current work. It was better for everyone to 빼는 [ppaeneun – withdraw] than to 빼는 [ppaeneun – withdraw] alone.

============================ 작품 후기 ============================

Today, I will explain the relationship between the professional league and administrative agencies.

There are 1 World League, 8 Central Leagues, 64 Wide Leagues, and 512 Area Leagues in the professional league.

The government organization has 1 federal government, 8 central governments, 64 metropolitan governments, and 512 local governments.

As those who are quick to notice know, the corresponding professional league exists for each administrative division government organization. In other words, there is a World League in the federal government, and one Central League for each central government. And this is the same for Wide League and Area League.

Do you understand roughly now? Then tomorrow I will explain the league 외 [oe – outside/other] cup competition.

Then everyone have a happy weekend. I’ll see you again tomorrow.