I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 2

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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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Fighting Prodigy, Unaware—Bullied Daily 002
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
“Hah! Come on, hit harder!”
Crack! Thud!
In the darkness, the rhythmic friction of gloves and shouts of effort mixed together.
He forced his heavy eyelids open with effort.
“Mm…….”
The sharp sting of sweat in his nostrils.
An unfamiliar ceiling and mats surrounding him on all sides.
Seo Jun, who had been knocked unconscious, gazed blankly at his surroundings.
‘The Gym?’
Why was he here? The question hung in his mind.
“Oh? You’re awake? You okay, kid?”
A large man wearing Boxing Gloves approached and spoke to him.
Seo Jun instinctively flinched, then became aware of his condition.
Bandages covered his split lip and the gash at the corner of his eye.
Someone had carefully applied ointment and given him first aid.
“Ah…… Yes. I’m fine.”

* * *
“What’s this? You’re up?”
Noticing the commotion, Do Yoon, who had been hitting the Sandbag, walked over.
The moment Seo Jun saw Do Yoon drenched in sweat, his eyes widened.
It was definitely the man who had saved him in the Alley.
“If you’re conscious now, get going. Doesn’t look like anything’s broken.”
Do Yoon spoke indifferently, wiping sweat from his body with a towel.
Seo Jun stood up unsteadily.
Then he bowed deeply from the waist.
“Thank you. My name is Seo Jun. I really…… can’t thank you enough.”
A polite bow.
But there was no vitality in his voice.
Seo Jun shuffled toward the Gym door, his shoulders hunched.
Do Yoon’s brow furrowed.
“Hey, Seo Jun.”
“……Yes?”
“If you’re going to keep getting beaten like a Sandbag, you might as well throw a punch back.”
Seo Jun managed a bitter smile.
His eyes were hollow.
“If I do that…… they hit me even harder. It’s better to just take it.”
His gaze dimmed with defeat.
Looking at him like that, it seemed he’d already tried it.
And he’d gotten beaten down far worse for it.
Something irritated Do Yoon. It felt like looking at himself from long ago.
“Ugh, idiot. Come here.”

* * *
Do Yoon grabbed Seo Jun by the shoulders and turned him back around.
“Listen up—I’ll teach you just one thing. When your opponent throws a punch, just close your eyes tight and throw one back at the same time. Like this.”
Hook!
As he spoke, Do Yoon’s fist shot toward Seo Jun’s face.
The fist stopped inches from his nose.
Any ordinary person would instinctively squeeze their eyes shut, knowing the punch wouldn’t connect.
But.
‘Huh?’
Seo Jun hadn’t closed his eyes.
Without flinching at all, he kept his gaze fixed on Do Yoon’s fist stopped before his nose.
“You…… didn’t flinch just now?”
It could have been coincidence.
Do Yoon narrowed the distance and suddenly threw a Left Jab.
Whoosh!
Once again, Do Yoon’s fist stopped inches from Seo Jun’s face.
But Seo Jun’s eyes remained wide open, fixed unwaveringly on Do Yoon’s fist.
Not even his eyelashes trembled.
“Are you actually seeing my fist right now?”
Do Yoon asked, bewildered.
“Yes. I can see it.”

* * *
An ordinary person feels primal terror at a punch flying toward them.
No matter how sharp one’s Dynamic Visual Acuity, suppressing the reflex to close one’s eyes was something only trained professionals could manage.
Yet this scrawny high schooler was tracking the punch all the way through?
“Huh. So you can see it? Let’s test you then.”
Do Yoon dropped his stance.
All playfulness vanished—this was his fighting form, honed in real combat.
Swoosh!
Crack!
The air split with a sharp sound.
Do Yoon’s Right Hook cleaved through empty space.
A punch thrown with full power.
The heavy thud of the Boxing Glove striking air echoed through the Gym.
“Well? Could you see the trajectory?”
Seo Jun nodded, his expression unmoved.
“Yes. Your right shoulder dropped first, then your foot pivoted as you threw—I saw the whole punch coming.”
Do Yoon’s mouth twisted into a strange shape.
A complex emotion—delight or shock, impossible to tell.
This wasn’t a matter of simple Dynamic Visual Acuity.
It was the ability to read an opponent’s movement, combined with eyes utterly free of the primal fear that strikes inspire.
In Fighting, that was overwhelming talent.
‘If I train this kid properly, he could be something special.’
Do Yoon slowly peeled back the velcro of his Boxing Gloves.
Then he fixed Seo Jun with a direct gaze and spoke.
“Hey, Seo Jun.”
……
“Want to learn some Fighting from me?”

* * *
An unexpected proposal.
Seo Jun stared at Do Yoon blankly.
“Learn from me, and those punks can be taken down in two months.”
Taken down?
The School Bullies who ran the school?
It was a thought that had never crossed his mind before.
“Really? Can I actually escape this hellish life?”
It was the first time.
The first time Seo Jun’s voice had come alive like that.
His eyes changed too.
They gleamed like the eyes of someone who had found hope in the depths of despair.
“Yeah. But you have to follow my lead. Can you do that?”
“Yes! I can—! Oh, but won’t this cost money? I don’t have much……”
“Why? You can ask your parents for it, can’t you? Your son’s getting out of being bullied—they won’t refuse to pay for training.”
Seo Jun couldn’t answer.
Seeing his struggle, Do Yoon was about to speak again when—
Smack!
“Ow!”
A sharp sound followed by Do Yoon’s yelp of pain.
“Who is that?!”
When he turned his head, his face flushed with anger.
A tall woman—over 170 centimeters—with long hair tied in a ponytail reaching her waist, dressed in a green athletic uniform, came into view.
“Oh…… Manager.”
“You punk! I told you to call me Manager, didn’t I?!”
“Damn it! What the hell are you doing now?!”
“Fine! Today one of us dies!”
The woman they called the manager grabbed a mop, and Do Yoon’s face went ashen as he scrambled backward.
“Aaahhh! She’s insane!”
“You bastard!!”
The manager, still chasing Do Yoon as he fled scratching at the ground, let out a long sigh.
Then she looked at Seo Jun, who stood frozen in place.
‘Why can’t he see that a normal family would’ve stepped in before it came to this?’
Do Yoon was excellent as a fighter, but as a human being he fell somewhat short—and sighing at this, she turned to Seo Jun.
“What’s your name again?”
“Ba… Baek Seo Jun, ma’am!”
“Alright, Seo Jun. Come on out and train at ease. As for payment—before you start working part-time elsewhere, you can settle it by coming here and helping with cleaning and chores. How’s that sound?”
“Really… is that truly alright?”
“Yeah. Let’s go with that. Deal?”
At the manager’s words, Seo Jun bowed deeply.
“Th… thank you so much!!”
Watching his trembling back as he remained bowed, the manager spoke.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Gang Ah Yeon—I run this gym, Team Jujak. Do Yoon and I are siblings.”
And so began Seo Jun’s bond with Do Yoon and Ah Yeon.

* * *
The next day.
Seo Jun’s eyes, seated in the back row of the classroom, fixed on an empty desk.
‘Absent.’
The seats of the school bullies sat vacant.
Whatever beating Do Yoon had given them, they couldn’t even show up at school.
‘Thank goodness.’
Today he wouldn’t be struck.
From that fact alone, Seo Jun felt a deep wave of relief wash over him.

* * *
The moment school ended, Seo Jun headed straight for the gym.
Ding—
“Oh? Our youngest is here?”
“You made it, Sandbag.”
Ah Yeon at the counter greeted him with a bright smile, while Do Yoon up on the ring acknowledged him with a tilt of his chin.
A warmth of welcome he’d never known before in his life.
Seo Jun nodded awkwardly in return.
“Hello.”
“Go change into your workout clothes. We’ll do cleaning later—let’s start with training first.”
Do Yoon said this as he descended from the ring.
Once Seo Jun had changed and returned, Do Yoon pointed to the Whiteboard.
“Five kilometers Running, one thousand Jump Ropes. Then one hundred Push-Ups, one hundred Squats, and one hundred Burpees each.”
“…….”
“That’s your baseline conditioning.”
The numbers were daunting.
His body had never known anything resembling exercise in his entire life.
“Do it every day. Without stamina, technique means nothing—you’ll just keep being the Sandbag. That’s all.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Seo Jun immediately picked up the Jump Rope.
He wanted to change.
If he could escape this hellish routine, he’d do anything.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
“Haaah… huh…….”
But will and flesh were two different things.
He didn’t even make it halfway through.
Seo Jun, mid-Burpee, collapsed to the floor.
His vision spun, and his lungs felt like they were tearing apart.
“Puhahahaha!”
Watching this, Do Yoon clutched his belly and roared with laughter.
“Hey, seriously? You were trying to do all that on your first day? You’ll actually kill yourself.”
“Hah—huff…”
“That’s not a beginner’s volume. Take it slow, build it up gradually…”
Do Yoon hadn’t even finished speaking.
Seo Jun pushed himself up from the floor with trembling arms.
‘No. If I collapse like this… I can’t beat those bastards.’
Determination.
Do Yoon saw it blazing in Seo Jun’s eyes.

* * *
5 A.M. the next morning.
“Huff, ha—!”
At the edge of the neighborhood, still shrouded in darkness.
Seo Jun was Running, his breathing rough and labored.
He was trying to make up for the training he hadn’t finished at the Gym.
‘My legs might shatter, but I have to keep going.’
After finishing his Running, he moved to the Open Ground to do Jump Rope, then continued with bodyweight exercises.
His muscles screamed in protest and nausea clawed at him, but he didn’t stop.
After training alone like that, he went to School.
And without fail, after classes he headed straight for the Gym.
“Hello!”
He greeted them and took up the Broom, sweeping the floor.
Once cleaning was done, he immediately started the training again—the same routine that had defeated him the day before.
One day, two days, and a full week.
Seo Jun’s routine repeated itself with brutal simplicity.
Early morning Running, School, Gym cleaning, and training.
What was remarkable was Seo Jun’s recovery and his obsession.
“…Is that bastard insane?”
One day, Do Yoon clicked his tongue as he was organizing the Boxing Gloves.
“What?”
When Gang Ah Yeon asked from beside him, Do Yoon jutted his chin toward Seo Jun.
“The program I drew up for him? On the first day he couldn’t even finish half of it before collapsing. But look at him now.”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seo Jun was performing Jump Rope with light, nimble footwork.
His breathing was steady, and his eyes gleamed with fierce brightness.
“He’s doing three times the volume I told him to. And he’s not even taking breaks.”
“Three times? You said he’s never exercised before?”
“Yeah. But his determination is no joke.”
The survival instinct that had once driven him to struggle just to avoid being beaten to death.
It had transformed entirely into a feverish obsession with training.
A deep smile spread across Do Yoon’s face.
‘A monster is being forged.’

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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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