Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 94

The hostage incident at the Rainbow Hotel caused a great stir within the Avand region. Gloria, a member of a radical women’s group, was taken hostage, and an elf committed a violent crime in front of elf enthusiasts and was killed, so it was impossible for things to remain quiet. However, this issue did not last as long as expected. The elf enthusiasts quietly withdrew because, under current law, elves who commit violent crimes are subject to euthanasia [mercy killing], and the police injured nearly 20 people trying to capture her. With the elf they were supposed to protect dead and gone in this serious situation, the elf enthusiasts, lacking justification, had no reason to escalate the issue further. Also, the fact that the elf caused the hostage incident spread widely among the public, which did not help matters at all.

Thanks to this, Lexter was able to easily forge the documents and hand Daphne over to Beomseok.

“Daph, no, Rapine. Hello.”

At Beomseok’s voice, a red-haired elf with bandages wrapped around her face jumped up from the medical room bed.

“Master! You’ve come.”

Beomseok approached Rapine, who was fluttering her ears and giving him a desperate look, and patted her back.

“How is it? Is the medical room comfortable?”

“Yes. It’s comfortable. Susan is also very kind to me.”

He sat on the bed and smiled brightly.

“Oh, really? Is there anything you need or want to eat?”

She shook her head. She didn’t need anything more as long as Beomseok was by her side.

“No. I just need to be with Master.”

“Hehe. You should be honest at times like this. That way, I can feel good and give you presents. Tell me quickly.”

Rapine fidgeted and slowly opened her mouth.

“Then, I want a pair of swords. About half a hand’s breadth thick, with a blade length of about 1.5 meters [approximately 5 feet]. They are common products on the market, so you should be able to buy them easily.”

“Why? Are you going to train or something?”

“Yes. I want to wield swords for Master as soon as possible.”

Just then, Susan’s clear voice came from behind.

“No! If you move carelessly now, your face could be scarred. Training is forbidden for the time being.”

Seeing her approaching from behind, Beomseok shrugged his shoulders, palms up. Since Team Doctor had this opinion, the chairman, Beomseok, couldn’t help it.

“Hehe. I can buy you swords, but training is impossible right now.”

“But, but…”

Susan brought a round chair next to the bed and sighed deeply.

“Huu~ Rapine. Human men like pretty women. But what if something happens to your face while you’re training? Your master, Beomseok, will hate you right away. So, just do as I say.”

Rapine nodded her head vigorously. As an elf, the desire to be loved by her master was an instinct derived from creation.

“Yes. I understand. I’ll do as Susan says.”

Susan, with a satisfied smile, now looked at him.

“Beomseok, please understand this as well. You must never push Rapine too hard. Understood?”

“Yes. I understand.”

She looked at the black pattern slightly revealed through Rapine’s patient gown and spoke again.

“By the way, Beomseok, where did you get Rapine from? Why does she have such a tattoo on her upper body?”

Beomseok flinched. Rapine’s true identity was Daphne, who had recently taken Gloria hostage at the Rainbow Hotel and confronted the police. Therefore, her identity should not be revealed to the outside world, and she had her appearance changed through plastic surgery. However, not even this was reassuring, so despite a significant drop in fame, he even changed her name to Rapine.

Being so cautious, it was difficult to honestly tell Susan, who was not yet his woman, about her past. In the end, he had no choice but to recite the story Lexter had made up.

“I just bought her from the elf market. She wasn’t sold even as she got older, so I felt sorry for her and bought her.”

“Are you saying that an elf bought from the elf market had such a tattoo on her body?”

“Yes. A previous buyer bought her, made her like that, and returned her. So, she wasn’t sold even at the age of nine.”

Indeed, an elf with such a tattoo would not be sold.

“Ah. I see. But which elf market did you buy her from?”

“Well, I bought her from an elf market that was closing down because business wasn’t good. I didn’t pay attention, so I don’t remember the name well. Why? Should I find out for you?”

Susan immediately waved her hand. She couldn’t cause him such trouble with a question that started out of mere curiosity.

“No. Is there any need to do that? I was just asking out of curiosity.”

As she stammered, Beomseok immediately brought up another topic. There was no point in dragging out the story of Rapine for too long.

“By the way, is the medical test preparation for Violet going well? She should be arriving soon.”

Violet was a promising rookie recently recruited from Gods Knights. She had a considerable reputation, and the fans’ expectations were high, so her recruitment would be of considerable help to the team. She was quite useful in league matches and was expected to contribute a lot to the sales of team emblem products.

“Yes. We’re doing well on our end. No, there’s not much to prepare. Just have her lie down on the MRI whole-body scanner and scan her once. Then it will automatically tell you whether there are any physical abnormalities, excluding bacterial and viral diseases.”

It was a convenient world where the health status of a gladiator could be grasped with a short period of equipment operation. He really thought it was a good idea to have invested in expensive medical equipment last time. Thanks to this, he could easily check the health of the gladiators and secretly perform Rapine’s plastic surgery.

“I see. It’s a very convenient machine. Is there any more equipment needed in the medical room? I’ll buy it for you if the price is right.”

“Well, we have most of the equipment, so there’s nothing particularly needed. However, there is one suggestion I would like to make…”

“A suggestion? What is it?”

“Actually, the equipment is just sitting idle, which is a bit of a shame. It’s necessary, but it’s not used often. And it’s electronic equipment, so it breaks down easily if it’s not used too much. So, I was hoping it could be used for other purposes.”

Indeed, that was the case. The MRI whole-body scanner was hardly used except for the two hours after the match when all the gladiators were scanned, and the robotic arm surgery table remained idle except for Rapine’s plastic surgery.

“For what purpose?”

“Yes. As a service, we could provide free check-ups for the elves owned by fans.”

Beomseok shook his head, showing his disapproval of the absurd idea. The intention was commendable, but if he did that, there was a high possibility of facing a difficult situation.

“That won’t work. As Susan knows, the elf check-up fee at a general treatment center is expensive enough to be a burden on the household. If we offer free check-ups, everyone will claim to be a fan and come to the training camp. Then the medical room will soon be crowded, and our gladiators may not have time to receive treatment.”

“Yes. That’s right. But wouldn’t it be possible if we added one free check-up ticket to the season ticket? And give a few to our local amateur gladiator teams?”

He focused his attention on Susan as if he was interested. He thought this was quite a profitable business. The price of a one-year season ticket was 1800 krang [currency]. Considering that the check-up cost at a general treatment center was more than that, people would buy season tickets to get treatment even if they weren’t fans. Then they would come to watch the games, and the fan base would naturally grow.

However, the problem was that if the number of fans increased, the current facilities and manpower would not be able to cope, and if general fans came and went to the training camp, they would not be able to concentrate on training.

“It’s not a bad idea, but it’s a bit much. I don’t know about now, but if the number of fans increases, Susan and one elf nurse will not be enough. And frankly, the robotic arm surgery table won’t be used just for check-ups, will it?”

“That problem can be solved if Beomseok is willing to enter a new business.”

“A new business? What business?”

Then Susan immediately laid out what she had planned. It was about the field of sports medical business.

As professional sports using elves became 활성화 [active], the value of elves with excellent physical abilities increased exponentially. An example of this was the fact that the highest-paid gladiator in the World League was worth 7 billion krang. Therefore, professional teams did not hesitate to invest generously to protect these valuable assets, which led to the rise of specialized sports medical corporations worldwide. She wanted to expand the medical staff and create a professional medical corporation to fully engage in the sports medical business. If this business got on track, she could make a lot of money, and an environment would be created where the gladiators of the Gods Knights team could receive treatment with peace of mind.

However, Beomseok couldn’t understand it at all. He couldn’t believe how ambitious this woman was, creating a place to spend a lot of money whenever she talked about something. It sounded good to say medical corporation, but even someone who was ignorant of the medical field could easily know that building a large specialized treatment center and hiring medical personnel would not be a business that would cost just a penny or two.

“Wait a minute. Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself too much? To carry out this kind of business, you need a lot of specialized personnel as well as money. But we don’t have anything, do we? I can’t understand what you’re trusting in to 추진 [promote] this business.”

“So, I’m saying that we should start by building a small treatment center and targeting the elves of our fans and the amateur elf gladiators in the Avand area. They often get seriously injured while practicing in training grounds with old equipment and inadequate safety facilities. Moreover, because they don’t have medical expenses, they either receive ordinary treatment at general treatment centers or rely on natural healing power, which reduces their growth potential. Of course, they are not skilled, but wouldn’t they come to our treatment center, which has better treatment services and lower prices than general treatment centers? Then we will accumulate know-how and build recognition through word of mouth.”

Beomseok showed a slightly positive signal externally. Although it would cost a considerable amount, it would be very helpful for promotion if it was implemented as a fan service and as a contribution to the local gladiator community. In addition, it could dramatically increase the number of fans, and since treatment would be 병행 [concurrent], some income was expected. Of course, it could not be dismissed as entirely bad. And if recognition was built, a lot of money could be made from many sports clubs in the future.

“What about the equipment and manpower you need?”

“How many people do you expect per year?”

“Please assume about 40,000 people.”

“Then, for now, we need 6 doctors and about 12 elf nurses, including the current medical staff. And we also need 6 treatment rooms, 2 operating rooms, and 6 8-bed inpatient rooms. We also need two MRI diagnostic machines, a robotic arm surgery table, and additional diagnostic equipment.”

Beomseok 고민해봤다 [thought it over]. Since many people would come and go, it was better to build the treatment center outside the training camp. So, he had to purchase nearby land from the city hall and build a new three-story building. In addition to this, he had to purchase new medical equipment, so the initial cost was expected to be approximately 45 million krang. And the annual labor cost generated by the additional medical personnel was about 5 million krang. It was a huge business that would cost nearly 50 million krang this year alone, which was a big burden for Beomseok.

But what if 20,000 more season tickets were sold due to this medical fan service business? Then the Gods Knights team would generate an additional income of 36 million krang each year. In addition, the patients would have purchased season tickets, so they would come to the stadium to watch the games, and they would be swept away by the atmosphere and turn their attention to team emblem products.

‘If I do this well, I can recover the initial investment within a year. It’s not bad.’

It was not a business that would definitely lose money if it was promoted well. Even he would rather buy a season ticket and receive cheaper treatment at better facilities than go to an expensive general treatment center.

The problem was that extreme opposition from the local medical community was expected. They would not stand still as their rice bowls were reduced. But when he thought about it, it seemed that he could ignore it without much concern. The superficial justification for this business was to provide services to fans who purchased season tickets, and it was also an effort to contribute to local amateur sports teams. In other words, since they hardly received general patients, the local medical community had little justification to 반발 [rebel].

And frankly, the treatment costs at the elf treatment centers in this world were too expensive. Just paying thousands of krang to receive an MRI whole-body scan and listen to a few words from the doctor, it was impossible for ordinary people to use it easily. In this situation, there was no reason for him to hesitate in this good business in order to 살피기 [appease] the local medical community.

Beomseok, who had made a decision, said with a firm expression.

“Then I’ll 추진 [push] it once. Susan, please find out more about the general matters and report it.”

Susan nodded her head with a lively smile. It was like a dream that a plan that she had only kept in her heart was actually being put into practice.

“Yes. I understand. I will definitely investigate in detail and report it.”

Checking his watch, he got up from his seat. It was time for Violet to come, so he had to go out to the training ground.

“Then I have to go now. It’s almost time for Violet to come.”

“Ah. Is that so? Then go ahead. I’ll prepare to proceed with the medical test and wait.”

Beomseok nodded his head, waved his hand to Rapine, and left the medical room.

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

The Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving] season is approaching. After all, the full-scale invasion of my nephews is expected. ㅠㅠ. Pocket money is pocket money, but these guys kick me, their uncle, out of the room to play games. I can’t 패 [lose], so I think I need to make a stockpile for about a day.

Then everyone, have a good Chuseok; I’ll see you again tomorrow. ^^