Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 91

92

“Hmm. This is the place.”

In front of the Rainbow Hotel’s plaza, the glass exterior of the building glowed red in the evening sunlight. Behind the yellow barricade tape encircling the central fountain, the area bustled with onlookers, cameramen, and reporters. Next to them, an elf advocacy group held up signs, their eyes peeled to monitor any potential excessive force from the police.

Pushing through the crowd, Beom-seok gestured impatiently to the elves following him.

“Hurry up. We don’t have much time.”

At his call, the elves, led by Erfina, quickened their pace.

“Yes, we’re coming.”

After a while, they spotted an elf police officer. She was blocking the crowd right in front of the barricade, and she immediately called out when she saw Beom-seok.

“Please step back. This area is restricted to authorized personnel only.”

“I’m here to see Inspector Lexter on an urgent summons. Get him here quickly. We don’t have much time.”

The elf officer stared at him intently.

“Who are you, looking for the Inspector?”

“You don’t need to know. Just get the Inspector here now.”

Looking suspicious, she cast a doubtful glance but, just in case, contacted the temporary control center via radio. After exchanging a few words, she was startled and grabbed Beom-seok’s wrist.

“Th-There. Please follow me. I’ll guide you to Inspector Lexter now.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

The elf officer led them to a secluded alleyway quite a distance from the hotel plaza. There, a flying bus with the police emblem was parked, completely sealed except for the front.

Soon, the elf officer knocked on the back door, and Inspector Lexter emerged with a wide smile.

“Beom-seok! Get inside quickly!”

Looking inside through the open door, Beom-seok saw various riot batons and suits displayed. He entered with the elves, looking puzzled, and the door closed behind them.

“Inspector, what’s the situation?”

“Same as always. That guy is still holding hostages, and we’re standing by doing nothing. Anyway, can you handle this?”

“It’s not a matter of handling it or not. It’s just catching one elf. The problem is how to find Daphne in this vast hotel.”

“Don’t worry about that. The hotel’s CCTV system is connected to our control center. We can let you know where she is in real-time.”

He thought it would make the operation much easier. Honestly, he had been very worried about how to find Daphne in the dozens-of-stories-high hotel.

“That’s a relief. Then we can take care of it quickly.”

“Okay. I’ll be outside, so put on the riot squad suits and helmets here. They’re simpler than the suits you wear in the gladiatorial arena, so they shouldn’t be hard to put on.”

Beom-seok nodded. He couldn’t reveal his identity while secretly working for the police. Besides, he had been on worldwide broadcast before, and his face was quite well-known.

“Yes, I understand.”

As Lexter left, Beom-seok and his elves quickly changed clothes and chose weapons that suited them.

Beom-seok equipped himself with two medium-sized riot batons, attaching them to his waist, and Venus picked up two transparent reinforced acrylic shields. Oscar grabbed three man-sized riot batons, but at Beom-seok’s insistence, he replaced two of them with medium-sized ones. A fight in a confined space would make long batons extremely cumbersome.

Erica armed herself the same way as Beom-seok, and Erfina took one riot baton and a shield.

“Master, we’re ready.”

“Okay? Let’s go then.”

Beom-seok, fully covered in riot gear and a helmet, stepped out of the flying bus. He patted Lexter, who was pacing anxiously in front, on the shoulder.

“Why are you so worried? Everything will be fine now that I’m here.”

Lexter sighed deeply, looking at Beom-seok with an uneasy expression.

“You really have to do well. If anything goes wrong, our chief and I will be dishonorably discharged. That means we’ll be kicked out without severance pay.”

“Huhu. Why are you worrying about that when you have so much money?”

“I wouldn’t have worried if it were a few days ago. But things are different now.”

“What’s different? Did you lose all that money?”

Lexter had sold his Microengineering stock at 641 krang [currency] per share. That meant he had nearly 90 million krang in his hands. No matter how extravagant he was, he couldn’t have spent all that money in just a few days.

“Of course not! But my dream will disappear.”

“Your dream, Inspector? Isn’t your dream to buy elves and live a life of leisure?”

“That’s… what I thought when I didn’t have anything. I have a real dream now.”

“Really? What is it?”

“To run a professional soccer team.”

At those words, Beom-seok burst out laughing. Lexter was so passionate about soccer that it was entirely plausible. His desire to buy elves and live a life of leisure was also to watch soccer games in peace, so it was no surprise.

However, he couldn’t see how this incident was related to running a soccer team. Beom-seok started walking towards the hotel, asking.

“Huhu. How is today’s work related to running a soccer team?”

“It’s very simple. If we resolve this incident well, our chief will be promoted to Senior Superintendent and go to the Public Relations and Policy Division of the National Police Agency. And I’ll go with him.”

“Oh, really? Going to a central department is something to celebrate. How did things work out so well?”

Lexter smiled slyly.

“The report I submitted went to the central government through the chief, and the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency was pleased and entrusted us with the project.”

“What project?”

“Running a professional sports team for the National Police Agency’s public relations.”

Beom-seok immediately tilted his head. Many public institutions run professional teams for public relations, but the police agency has always been strictly excluded from that.

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible if we follow the report I submitted.”

“How?”

“We only hire elves who have owners. Then we don’t have to operate in a roundabout way.”

Beom-seok squinted at Lexter. He felt like Lexter had copied his team management method.

“Isn’t this copyright infringement? Copyright infringement is illegal too.”

“No, I just took it as a motif [recurring subject or theme]. If you look closely, it’s completely different.”

“How is it different?”

“You recruit elf gladiators and monopolize the profits, but if we follow my report, all police officers who own talented elves will receive huge salaries. And with that money, we can recruit more elf players and strengthen the team.”

He said ‘all,’ but it was essentially the same as Lexter monopolizing it. Lexter was practically the only police officer who could afford to recruit high-priced elf players.

“Tch. It’s the same thing.”

“What do you mean it’s the same thing? The entity earning the income is different.”

“Hmph~ I understand. Well, I haven’t patented it, so anyone can use it. By the way, what’s this about *you* running a soccer team, Inspector?”

“I told you earlier. I’m going to the Public Relations and Policy Division with the chief. The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency will be the chairman, the chief will be the head of the Public Relations and Policy Division, and I’ll be the team manager. Huhu.”

Lexter had completely erased his worried expression and was now dreaming only of a rosy future. Beom-seok wondered why Lexter was still clinging to the police job he had threatened to quit. No matter how overwhelming it was, he couldn’t easily resign with his dream right in front of him.

Shaking his head, Beom-seok stood in front of the Rainbow Hotel’s main entrance, receiving the flashing lights of reporters from afar.

“Okay. We’ve arrived. What should we do now?”

Lexter, who had just woken up from his dream, immediately said.

“I’ll go to the control room now and send a signal. Then go inside and carry out the operation.”

“Ah. Yes, I understand.”

Lexter, about to head to the control room, turned back as if he had something left to say.

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention, today’s work is strictly confidential. If it leaks to the outside, we will deny it thoroughly, so keep that in mind.”

“Huhu. Don’t worry. I will definitely keep it confidential.”

“Good. Then I’m counting on you.”

Beom-seok gestured to reassure him and, after a while, entered the hotel lobby with the elves as soon as the signal was given.

The reporters watching from behind focused their cameras on the new police riot squad entering, and the chattering anchors rushed to the chief, asking questions about the operation.

Once inside, Beom-seok carefully examined the surroundings.

‘Hmm…’

The lobby’s ceiling was incredibly high, as one side of the five floors was open. True to the name Rainbow Hotel, the lighting emanating from all directions was subtle, and cool streams of water spurted from the large fountain in the center of the plaza.

Amidst this splendor, Beom-seok felt a sense of desolation that went beyond bleakness. There were no people passing by anywhere.

Then, Lexter’s voice mixed with electronic sounds reached his ear.

– Beom-seok, Daphne is in the 56th-floor observation lounge. It’s faster to take the upper-level elevator in the center of the lobby to get there.

Beom-seok spoke into the microphone attached to his helmet.

“What about the emergency stairs?”

– The emergency stairs are located right next to the central elevator and at the left and right ends of the building. Why would you go up to the 56th floor by stairs?

“Are you crazy? Walk up to the 56th floor?”

– Then why are you asking?

“I’m going to move to the 55th floor first and then go up to the 56th floor via the emergency stairs. If we’re ambushed the moment the elevator doors open, things could get complicated.”

– Hmm. I see.

Lexter readily agreed with his opinion. The elevator, with no guaranteed escape route, was indeed dangerous. Besides, the interior was cramped, leaving little room to swing weapons. On the other hand, the emergency stairs had plenty of space and a guaranteed escape route, making it easier to deal with a possible ambush.

“Then I’ll try to enter soon. Let me know if there are any changes.”

– Understood.

Beom-seok led his elves to the central elevator. There were a total of 10 elevators, 5 of which went to the upper floors. The problem was that all those elevators were stuck on the 56th floor. The time it would take to come down and go back up would give Daphne plenty of time to prepare.

‘She’s quite clever. She’s even adding these kinds of tricks.’

It was very difficult for all five elevators to be stuck on the 56th floor by chance; it smelled strongly of contrivance. Given this, it was highly likely that Daphne was thoroughly prepared for other intrusion routes as well.

‘In that case, I can’t be at ease with the emergency stairs either. I’ll have to be careful.’

Beom-seok immediately pressed all the elevator buttons. His intention was to confuse her by having them all arrive on the 56th floor at the same time.

Ding. Swish.

As all the elevators landed on the first floor, he opened the doors and had his elves press the 56th-floor buttons. Then, he got into the elevator on the far right and pressed both the 55th and 56th-floor buttons simultaneously.

“Everyone, come this way.”

As the elves entered, the sounds of the other elevators’ doors closing were heard in succession from outside. Timing it perfectly, he immediately took his hand off the close button. The LED floor number display slowly began to change. Soon, it sped up, counting up to the 50s in an instant.

Ding. Clunk.

The doors opened, revealing the dark 55th-floor hallway. He quickly closed the doors without looking around and moved quickly to the right. If Daphne noticed and blocked the emergency stairs, it would be difficult to enter. He needed to get to the 56th floor as quickly as possible and secure a favorable position.

“Hurry up. We’re entering now!”

Arriving at the entrance to the 56th floor via the emergency stairs, Beom-seok threw open the door and stepped into the hallway. He stared intently at the hallway that came into view, trying to confirm Daphne’s location. However, he couldn’t find even a rat anywhere.

Beom-seok decided to head to the 56th-floor observation lounge where Daphne was said to be.

“I’ll take the lead. Oscar and Venus will secure the rear, and Erfina and Matilda will follow me. And Erica, make sure the front and rear don’t get too far apart.”

The elves, having received their orders, moved to their respective positions and formed a formation. Beom-seok slowly moved forward, heading towards the observation lounge.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As he approached the entrance to the observation lounge, Beom-seok was greeted by a strong wind that made his ears ring. There shouldn’t be any wind inside the sealed hotel building, so he frowned and quickly entered the lounge.

“Damn it! I missed her!”

A gaping hole in one window, an empty interior space, and a small piece of cloth fluttering in the breeze above the sharp shards of glass protruding from the window frame. Beom-seok, thinking she had moved to the upper floor by climbing the outer wall, quickly called Lexter.

“Inspector, the window in the observation lounge is broken. Did any glass shards fall below?”

– Yeah. They fell a little while ago. But why?

“Did anyone go out the window?”

– No, I’m checking with the lights, but there was no one.

“That can’t be. There’s something like a torn piece of cloth hanging next to the window here.”

Lexter immediately asked.

– Blood?

Beom-seok leaned out to check and immediately denied it.

“There isn’t any.”

– Then it’s not her. If the cloth tore that much, she would have been injured. And the cloth would have been torn straight off by the sharp edges, not have a whole piece of fabric fall off. Even if it did fall off, it would have fallen to the floor, not hung on the window.”

At that moment, he heard a rustling sound from above. Beom-seok quickly gestured to his elves to be quiet and looked up at the ceiling. The luxurious blue texture was in a grid pattern, and some parts were dirty with dark dust. There was no way the hoteliers working in a luxury hotel would allow such an unsightly sight, so he felt something was suspicious.

He gripped his riot baton tightly and surrounded the area with the elves.