I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Combat Genius, Yet Nobody Knows — Chapter 017
Team Jujak Office.
A single manila envelope lay atop the weathered wooden table.
Seo Jun sat before it.
Across from him was Kang Do Yoon.
Beside him stood Kang Ah Yeon, arms folded.
“So.”
Do Yoon gestured toward the envelope with his chin.
“This woman gave you this?”
“Yes.”
“Seo Ha Yoon. Director at Blackleaf Fight Management.”
Ah Yeon picked up the business card.
Her lip twisted slightly.
“I’ve heard the name. They’re the ones scooping up all the promising rookies from Axis these days.”
Do Yoon opened the envelope.
A thick Contract Proposal slid out.
The cover was clean.
A black logo.

Do Yoon turned the first page.
Silence settled over the office.
Only the sound of turning pages filled the air.
Flip.
Flip.
Do Yoon’s eyebrows climbed steadily higher.
Ah Yeon leaned in from beside him, peering down.
“Ha.”
Ah Yeon let out a short laugh.
It wasn’t really a laugh.
“These people are insane.”
Seo Jun lifted his head.
“Are the terms quite favorable?”
Do Yoon spread the documents across the table.
“Favorable doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
His finger pressed down on the first item.
“Contract term: three years.”
The next line.
“Signing bonus: one hundred million won.”
Seo Jun’s hands stilled.
The number didn’t quite register at first.
There were too many zeros.
Do Yoon continued reading.
“Fifty million upon signing. The remaining fifty million upon Professional License issuance with Axis.”
Ah Yeon’s jaw tightened slightly.
“They’re throwing one hundred million at a high school Rookies Champion?”
Do Yoon didn’t answer.
He moved to the next item.
“Monthly training support: three million won. Diet, supplements, and equipment costs separate. Maximum twenty million annually.”
Seo Jun’s throat moved.
With that money, his mother could rest for months.
Do Yoon’s voice continued.
“Overseas training camps twice annually, fully funded. Six-week Thai Striking Camp and eight-week Wrestling Camp in the United States. Airfare, accommodation, and local coaching fees included.”
Ah Yeon snatched the documents and flipped forward.
“What about Fight Money?”
Do Yoon opened another page.
“Professional Debut Fight guaranteed minimum of ten million won. Victory Bonus of five million. After that, minimum twenty-percent increase per bout.”
“And the split?”
“Seventy-five percent to the athlete, fifteen to Blackleaf, ten to the affiliated center.”
Ah Yeon huffed out a laugh.
“They’ve set it up with real finesse.”
Do Yoon didn’t close the documents.
Instead, he turned to another page deeper in the stack.
“Sponsorship revenue: sixty percent to the athlete, forty to Blackleaf. Same split for appearance fees, advertising, and merchandise.”
“They take quite a lot.”
Seo Jun spoke for the first time.
Do Yoon nodded.
“That’s right. But the opportunities they bring to the table are bigger.”
“Opportunities?”
“You still think about nothing but getting in the ring and fighting, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Being a pro doesn’t work that way.”
Do Yoon folded down his fingers one by one.
“Someone who books your fights.”
One.
“Someone who secures sponsorships.”
Two.
“Someone who handles your injury treatment.”
Three.
“Someone who manages your interviews.”
Four.
“Someone who keeps you from getting screwed over in contracts.”
Do Yoon unfolded his hand again.
“That’s what management does. All of it.”
Seo Jun watched him in silence.
Do Yoon’s explanation wasn’t long.
But it hit hard.
“If you go pro alone, you don’t just get hit inside the ring. You get hit a lot harder outside it.”
Do Yoon tapped the documents.
“Your fight money gets cut. You get matched against impossible opponents. You hide injuries and keep fighting. You get locked into weird advertising contracts. A company like this stops all of that.”
“So is Blackleaf a good choice for him?”
Ah Yeon’s gaze fixed on Do Yoon.
Do Yoon didn’t answer right away.
He looked down at the documents for a moment.
“It could be a good choice.”
“Hey, Do Yoon.”
Ah Yeon’s voice dropped.
Do Yoon didn’t look at her.
“From the athlete’s perspective, yes.”
Ah Yeon tapped the table with her finger.
“Do you understand what you’re saying right now?”
“I do.”
“We brought him here. We treated him when he was mangled. We fed him, cleaned him. You trained him from the beginning. And now you’re here saying the conditions are good, so we should let him go?”
“Ah Yeon.”
Do Yoon lifted his head.
“Just because we raised him doesn’t mean we can make his future ours.”
The office fell silent.
Seo Jun’s hands stiffened slightly on his knees.
Ah Yeon closed her mouth.
Her eyes remained sharp.
Do Yoon looked at Seo Jun.
“Look at one more thing here.”
Do Yoon turned to the final page.
“If he signs with Blackleaf, his training location transfers to Blackleaf Performance Center. Team Jujak can provide technical oversight as an external cooperation coach twice monthly.”
Seo Jun’s eyes wavered for the first time.
“Transfer?”
“Yes.”
Ah Yeon spoke up immediately.
“In plain terms, it means leaving our gym.”
That statement landed harder.
Seo Jun looked down at the documents.
Until now, he’d seen only numbers.
Now other words came into focus.
Training facility relocation.
Twice monthly.
Team Jujak.
External Cooperation Coach.
Something heavy settled in his chest.
Do Yoon continued.
“Blackleaf came in because they saw your market value. Nothing strange about it. They’re running a business too.”
“A business…….”
“Your fight footage views. The finals buzz. Rookies Champion. And your character on top of it all.”
Do Yoon’s eyes narrowed.
“A kid who got bullied, thrown into fighting, and won the Rookies title in six months? Just secured his professional entry ticket? That’s a story that sells.”
Ah Yeon’s face hardened.
Seo Jun said nothing.
The words didn’t sit wrong with him.
They weren’t false.
Everything had shifted since the Axis tournament ended.
School.
The internet.
The streets.
And now this document.
Everything was looking at him differently.
Do Yoon pushed the paperwork back with the back of his hand.
“You’ve got two choices.”
Seo Jun lifted his head.
“You go to Blackleaf, you get money, systems, overseas training camps, sponsorships. You could grow faster.”
“…….”
“You stay at Team Jujak, I can’t match that money. Overseas camps? I can’t front full funding right now. Three hundred monthly for training? Our gym doesn’t have that kind of budget.”
Ah Yeon bit her lip.
But she didn’t deny it.
It was the truth.
Do Yoon went on.
“What I have is your body.”
Seo Jun’s gaze locked onto Do Yoon.
“Why you watch your punch all the way through. How you dissipate impact when you take a hit. Where your joints hold their limit. How you breathe when you’re scared.”
Do Yoon exhaled sharply.
“I know that better than anyone.”
The office fell silent again.
Ah Yeon’s fingers stilled above her crossed arms.
Seo Jun couldn’t answer immediately after hearing that.
Blackleaf’s terms were substantial.
Too substantial.
One hundred million won signing bonus.
With that money, maybe his mother wouldn’t have to work late into the night anymore.
Three hundred monthly.
Overseas camps.
One thousand for his professional debut fight.
Numbers he’d never held in his hands before.
But it meant leaving Team Jujak.
Do Yoon’s pads.
Ah Yeon’s nagging.
Tae Soo’s complaints.
Jin Hyeok’s gaze.
Distance from all of it.
Seo Jun clenched his fists.
“I…….”
The words wouldn’t come.
Ah Yeon caught the hesitation and swallowed hard.
“Seo Jun.”
Her voice had grown quiet.
“Honestly, I don’t like it. I know their terms are good for you as an athlete. But the way they look at you—like you’re just a product—that stench is too strong.”
“I understand.”
“Still, if you decide to go, I won’t stop you.”
Her words said one thing, but her face said another.
Kang Ah Yeon didn’t like it.
It showed plainly.
Kang Do Yoon pushed his chair back.
Scrape.
“Don’t decide today.”
Seo Jun lifted his head.
“Sir?”
“If you decide now, you’ll regret it.”
Kang Do Yoon slid the documents back into the envelope.
“Take it home. Talk it over with your mother.”
“Coach.”
“This is your life.”
Kang Do Yoon pushed the envelope toward Seo Jun.
“Don’t stay out of guilt toward us. There’s nothing shameful about chasing money. You earned the right to take it.”
Seo Jun’s hand moved over the envelope.
Kang Do Yoon’s voice dropped lower.
“Just think about one thing.”
……
“Where you can become strongest.”
It was a short sentence.
But it was the heaviest one yet.
Seo Jun lowered his head.
“I understand.”

* * *
On the walk home.
Seo Jun clutched the envelope to his chest.
The paper felt heavy.
Its actual weight was probably nothing much.
But his grip kept tightening.
At the crosswalk.
The red light stretched on.
Seo Jun looked across the street.
People drifted past on their way home from work.
Someone took a call.
Someone else sprinted forward with a coffee cup.
Someone stood at the bus stop with an exhausted face.
In that crowd, his mother’s face surfaced in his mind.
The restaurant kitchen.
The blistering heat.
The wet apron.
Her cracked fingertips.
With a signing bonus of one hundred million won.
All of that could change, at least a little.
‘I could let her rest.’
That thought came first.
It couldn’t be argued with.
Money was necessary.
There were too many things he’d endured because of its absence.
Too many things he’d put off.
Seo Jun gripped the envelope tighter.
The light turned green.
He stepped forward.

* * *
“You’re back?”
The moment he opened the door, his mother’s voice reached him.
A few side dishes sat on the table.
Kimchi.
Rolled egg.
Soybean soup.
A modest meal.
Seo Jun took off his shoes and stepped inside.
“Yes.”
His mother set down her chopsticks and looked at his hands.
“What’s that?”
Seo Jun hesitated for a moment.
Then he placed the envelope on the table.
“I received it today.”
“A contract?”
“Not yet. It’s a proposal.”
His mother dried her hands and sat down.
She opened the envelope.
She turned over the first page of the documents.
Her eyes moved slowly downward.
Sign-on bonus.
One hundred million won.
His mother’s hands stilled, just barely.
But she showed no great surprise.
She made no sound.
She simply turned to the next page.
His mother read all the way through.
Seo Jun waited quietly across from her.
His heart raced even faster than it had before the fight.
When his mother finished reading, she asked:
“So this company wants to take you on?”
“Yes.”
“Without Team Jujak?”
“Yes.”
“So you’d switch gyms too?”
Seo Jun couldn’t answer right away.
“It looks that way.”
His mother set the documents down.
“What do you think?”
Seo Jun pressed his lips together slightly.
“The terms are good.”
“Mm.”
“Really good.”
“Mm.”
“A sign-on bonus of one hundred million won. They cover training costs and send you to overseas camps. They even guarantee Fight Money for the Professional Debut Fight.”
Even as he spoke, it felt unreal.
Seo Jun looked down at his own hands.
Hands marked with calluses.
Hands that struck the Heavy Bag, pressed against the Mat, wore the Gloves.
“With that money, Mom could…….”
His words trailed off.
His mother didn’t interrupt.
Seo Jun drew a breath and continued.
“Things could get a little easier.”
His mother asked:
“Is that why you want to go?”
Seo Jun lifted his head.
His mother’s gaze was measured.
She didn’t push.
Seo Jun said nothing for a long time.
Then he shook his head.
“Not that.”
“Then what?”
“They have a system. Overseas training, sponsorships, contract management—they handle all of it. They said it’s hard to survive alone once you go pro.”
“Who said that?”
“Coach.”
His mother nodded slightly.
“And what did Team Jujak say?”
“They said they can’t match the money.”
Those words came easily.
But the next ones didn’t.
Seo Jun pressed his fingertip against the edge of the table.
“But instead…….”
“Instead?”
“Coach said he knows my body better than anyone.”
His mother listened quietly.
“Why I keep my eyes open on the punch. How I hold my ground when I’m hit. How far my joints bend. How I breathe when I’m afraid.”
Seo Jun’s voice dropped.
“He said he knows that better than anyone.”
“And do you think the same way?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
There was nothing to deliberate about.
Kang Do Yoon was the man who raised him from the beginning.
He’d seen Seo Jun getting beaten in that alley.
He’d seen him keep his eyes open.
He’d seen a body that couldn’t even touch the heavy bag, taught him his first punch, pushed him all the way to his first fight.
Seo Jun looked at the numbers on the papers.
He lowered his gaze again.
“So I don’t know.”
For the first time, honest words came out.
“If I go to Blackleaf, it helps you right away. My career as a fighter could get easier too.”
“I know.”
“But if I leave Team Jujak…….”
His voice trailed off.
Seo Jun hated this situation.
He hated the feeling of betraying someone, and he hated that money could shake him.
But the money was real.
The conditions were real.
He couldn’t pretend not to be shaken.
“I’m grateful to Team Jujak.”
His mother’s hand stopped.
“Kang Ah Yeon took me in without any money, Coach taught me from the start. Tae Soo helped me, and Jin Hyeok too…….”
Seo Jun paused at the name Jin Hyeok.
“Either way, they all helped.”
His mother’s lips curved just slightly.
“Even that friend?”
“Yes. Though he’s a bit strange.”
His mother turned back to the papers.
One page.
Two pages.
Numbers emerged again across the table.
She studied them for a long time.
Seo Jun watched her face.
He knew how hard she’d struggled.
He knew what these papers meant to her.
So he couldn’t say another word.
After a long moment.
His mother gathered up the papers.
Tap.
The edges of the papers aligned neatly.
Seo Jun lifted his head.
His mother’s expression was quiet.
But her eyes held the same look as before.
The same look from when she’d taken seven-year-old Seo Jun’s hand and walked out of the Family Court.
“Seo Jun.”
“Yes.”
His mother covered the documents.
“I need to visit these two places myself.”
Her expression hardened in a way he’d never quite seen before.
“I’m going to meet them in person.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————