Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 95

Above the God Knights training camp, a sleek, small flying car rotated in the air, preparing to land in the parking lot. Inside were seated a lime-haired elf and a man in his 30s wearing a suit.

The flying car, now positioned above the parking lot, began its slow descent.

“Alright, Violet, we’re here. This is the God Knights training camp.”

Violet’s complexion was pale. Preoccupied, she didn’t respond to the man’s words, her body trembling slightly, betraying her nervousness. Today’s test was crucial for her future.

The God Knights’ offer.

When the trade manager first mentioned it, she scoffed. Although she was on the under-8 team, her pride wouldn’t allow her to transfer to a newly formed team in the God Area League. She immediately refused and returned to her dorm. But as she lay in bed, a nagging feeling persisted. She had heard the name ‘God Knights’ somewhere before. It was strange because she shouldn’t have known the name of such a new team, yet the name vaguely lingered. So, she asked an elf sister in the next room if she had ever heard of it.

‘Oh, it was on TV. One of the top 5 promising fighters in the combat world is said to be active on that team.’

Violet pondered this before her eyes widened in shock. She remembered watching that WBS [World Battle Sports] broadcast.

At the time, she had been very dissatisfied. She was receiving praise for her growth potential, and she firmly believed that she should have appeared on that show to gain fame. In the end, she grumbled throughout the broadcast that she had suffered a loss because everyone was demoted to the Wide League, earning glares from other elf gladiators watching TV with her.

Then, a modified human man appeared and was interviewed. At first, she watched with a dumbfounded expression, thinking he was just a fighter from a newly promoted team in the God Area League. However, she was left speechless after seeing him defeat two World League candidates and a reserve fighter simultaneously. No matter how arrogant she was, she didn’t think she could pull off such a feat. But the most surprising thing was what followed. The God Knights team never kept elves without owners on their team.

In response, she, as well as all the ownerless elf gladiators present, watched the broadcast again and again in silence until it ended. That’s how much they wanted to join the God Knights team.

Yet, she had rejected the offer from that team out of pride. From Violet’s perspective, it was an unforgettable mistake. She rushed to the office, nearly falling down the stairs, and desperately pleaded to go. Fortunately, the trade manager hadn’t sent a rejection notice, so she was able to come here today.

‘However, the problem is my ankle.’

Violet lowered her eyes to her left ankle. She had injured herself when she hurried down the stairs. At first, she thought it was just a bruise, but it became increasingly swollen. She secretly consulted a friend in the medical room and learned that her ankle muscles were slightly damaged. They said it would heal completely with two weeks of treatment and rest, but if she failed today’s medical test because of this, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Professional teams usually avoided recruiting injured players. They couldn’t be used in games right away, and there was a risk of hindering their growth due to aftereffects.

So, she asked for injections of painkillers for a few days and managed to come to this place.

“Violet, what are you doing? We need to get out!”

At the man’s shout, she startled and raised her head.

“Ah, okay.”

“Hurry up. The God Knights officials are waiting for you.”

“Ah, yes.”

Violet, noticing the situation, stepped out through the open car door. Her injured left leg touched the asphalt, but she moved without any sign of discomfort. She felt almost no pain due to the anesthesia, so walking wasn’t a problem.

‘Amazing! It doesn’t feel like a team that just came up to the God Area League at all.’

Looking around, she wore a deeply impressed expression. She liked the natural scenery of the blue greenery, but she was very pleased with the appearance of the training camp, which was under construction. Once completed, it would be as good as the training facilities of her current team, Beautiful Harpy, and it seemed there would be no problem for her to grow.

It was truly a fantastic team for an elf gladiator like her.

Wee-ing. Clunk.

Soon, an unmanned electric car stopped in front of them. A black-haired man and a green-haired elf in a suit got out and stood before them.

“Are you the one from the Beautiful Harpy team?”

Violet, seeing him, smiled brightly and bent her waist 90 degrees. He was the one who might become her owner from today.

“Hello. My name is Violet.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Bumsuk smiled and carefully examined her. She was quite tall, about 180 centimeters [approximately 5’11”], and her lime-colored hair hung down to her thighs, swaying gently. Her curvy figure, revealed under her tight jeans and blouse, unmistakably expressed the unique charm of an elf. The curves flowing between her lime-colored eyes and black eyes rose from the bridge of her nose, giving off a unique, haughty feeling, which perfectly matched her oval face.

‘Better than the pictures, not bad.’

As he was about to check the information window [a display showing a person’s stats and abilities], the man who came with Violet extended his hand and greeted him.

“Hello? My name is Gordon, and I was in charge of the trade.”

Bumsuk, with an awkward expression, lowered his gaze from the menu window and shook hands.

“Ah, yes. Hello. My name is Oh Bumsuk.”

“Yes. I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’re the chairman of God Knights and a promising gladiator. I saw you on TV, and your performance was amazing.”

“Hahaha. It’s nothing. I was just lucky.”

Although he was laughing, he didn’t feel very good inside. It was okay to hear the same story once or twice, but he was going crazy having to be humble to everyone he met. He was starting to regret appearing on TV.

“Do you have any intention of coming to our team? We can promise you a considerable salary if you’re at Bumsuk’s level…”

Bumsuk, barely suppressing his grimace, said,

“Huhu. I can’t do that. How can a chairman play for another team?”

“Hahaha. Is that so? That’s too bad.”

He pointed to the unmanned electric car.

“Well, let’s go do Violet’s test. Since we both agree, it’s better to finish the trade quickly, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. Let’s go.”

Gordon quickly got into the unmanned electric car. Although they were chatting leisurely now, the team’s situation was not so easy. A significant amount of promissory notes would be due in two days, and if they couldn’t prevent it, all the elves and assets in the team could be marked with red tags [a sign of financial distress]. They had to complete the deal today to secure the funds.

Soon after, Bumsuk and Remy followed, and the unmanned electric car quickly sped towards the training arena.

Squeak.

The car stopped at a bench next to the training arena, and everyone, including Bumsuk, got out. He pointed to the nearby temporary dressing room and looked at Violet.

“Violet, change into your suit there and come out. We’ll start sparring soon.”

Violet looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Aren’t we doing a physical test?”

Bumsuk immediately shook his head. He had already confirmed through the information window that her physical stats were exceptionally high, so there was no need to waste time measuring them. It was better to examine the completeness of her swordsmanship in detail, which could not be seen through the information window.

“We’ve decided to skip the physical test. I’ve roughly grasped it based on the collected data and game footage.”

Violet’s eyes showed great relief. With her ankle injured, the most burdensome test was the physical test. She would have to run around the track for a long time, which would put a strain on her damaged muscles.

With a triumphant expression, she shouldered the luggage she had brought and entered the dressing room. After a while, she came out again wearing a black checkered suit on a white background.

“I’m ready.”

Bumsuk nodded and looked at Remy next to him.

“Remy, prepare for the sparring.”

“Yes.”

She immediately put on the helmet that was on the bench and took out her sword. Then, she walked to the training arena and called out to Violet.

“Violet, come this way.”

Violet, standing in front of her, took a deep breath and bowed politely. It was a sign of asking for good favor in the upcoming evaluation. She soon took out her beloved two-handed sword and sent out a sharp gaze.

“Come on.”

Remy immediately stepped forward with quick movements and swung her sword. According to the information obtained from Erpina, Violet was the type to overcome her weak swordsmanship with her unique strength and stamina. If she gave up the rhythm, she, who had relatively lower physical abilities, could be defeated. It was necessary to put pressure on her by launching an offensive with skilled swordsmanship.

Cha. Whoosh. Chang. Chang.

‘This skill is not ordinary. I’m going to get hurt at this rate.’

Violet felt dizzy, trapped in the sword wind passing by her side. All the pouring attacks contained precise sword techniques, making it very difficult to block. Besides, she was in a state where her ankle was not right. The pain was greatly relieved with painkillers, but she couldn’t move freely. In the end, she had no choice but to keep dragging her feet back.

Seeing this, Remy shouted. The current sparring was part of a test to find out her swordsmanship skills. If she backed away because she was at a disadvantage, the meaning would be lost.

“Violet! What are you doing! Can’t you do it properly! What are you going to do if you run away during the test!”

Violet swallowed hard and forced her feet to move, launching an attack. However, she couldn’t put proper strength into her sword strike because her lower body wasn’t supporting her.

Chang.

Remy, who easily blocked it, stepped back and glared at her. It was completely different from the information she had heard from Erpina. She didn’t see any of her unique strength, and the movement of her sword strike was clumsy.

“Violet! Do you really want to do this! Don’t you want to come to our team?”

“Ah, no. I’m not warmed up, and I’m a little nervous. I’ll do better next time.”

Remy frowned and set her sword in the middle again. It was true that she didn’t have time to warm up because she started sparring in a hurry.

“Okay. I’ll just let it go this time. But if you do this again, I’ll have to evaluate you badly. Got it?”

“Yes. I understand. I’ll be careful.”

Violet shook her head vigorously and infused her body with fighting spirit. If she made a bad impression on Bumsuk here, her dream of gaining an owner would disappear for decades. Now was the time to draw out even the strength she didn’t have and take the test.

“Here I go!”

With Remy’s shout as a signal, Violet powerfully threw her body. She put a lot of strength into her knees, so this time, unlike before, she was able to inject strong force into her sword. She quickly approached her and swung her arm vigorously at Remy.

Chang!

The swords crossed, and red sparks flew everywhere. Remy, pushed back by the force, staggered for a moment but skillfully shifted her figure to the left side, deflecting the momentum.

However, Violet didn’t just stand still. She immediately laid her sword horizontally and vigorously stirred it towards her waist.

Chang. Chang. Chang.

A battle of strength and skill. Violet constantly unleashed powerful and fierce blows, and Remy skillfully evaded with nimble movements and launched sharp attacks. On the surface, the sparring between the two elves seemed to be flowing in a neck-and-neck manner.

Seeing this, Gordon smiled brightly and looked at Bumsuk.

“How is it? Isn’t our Violet amazing? It’s not common to see a gladiator showing such skills at the age of 5. She can be put into the Area League game right away, and if you raise her well, she will definitely grow into a great gladiator.”

However, he frowned and shook his head. It was completely different from the movement he had seen before.

The natural, continuous movements seen in the game were gone, and now he often saw movements that put strength into her shoulders and knees. Also, the sword form was cut off in the middle, disrupting the rhythm. They were evenly matched now, but if Remy noticed this fact, the situation would soon change.

“Well, if this is all her skill, I don’t think she can be very active in the league…”

Gordon’s eyes flashed. He thought he was trying to find fault and lower the price again. He was already dying to sell a promising player cheaply due to the team’s financial situation, but he couldn’t lower the price any further here.

“Don’t say ridiculous things. I don’t know who the opponent is, but if she came out as a test examiner, wouldn’t she be a gladiator with considerable skills? But she’s fighting so well in a neck-and-neck manner, so what’s the problem?”

“It’s like that now, but if Remy figures out her weakness, she can easily knock her down.”

“Weakness? What is it?”

“Violet has a very bad habit. She hardly uses her left ankle and only transfers power with her knees. With this, she can’t properly cope with a fast-moving opponent.”

Gordon immediately shook his hand. There was no way that the behavioral analyst and coaching staff, who had been watching her for a long time, wouldn’t know about such an obvious weakness.

“That’s a ridiculous claim. I don’t know if you’re ignoring me because I’m the trade manager, but our team was a strong team that stayed in the Central League until last year. There’s no way we wouldn’t have noticed such a habit.”

Bumsuk tilted his head for a moment at those words, then nodded. Certainly, as he said, there was no way that the team staff, who had been with her for a long time, wouldn’t have noticed such an obvious habit.

Just in case, he reached out to Remy and Violet, who were in the middle of sparring.