I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 29

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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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Unaware He’s a Combat Genius, Bullied Instead Episode 29
1:40 AM.
The lights in the Team Jujak Office were still on.
The gym was quiet.
The mat lay empty.
Only the Punching Bag swayed very slowly.
Inside the office.
Kang Ayeon sat in front of the monitor.
Her under-eyes were slightly dark.
Two cold cups of coffee sat on the desk.
On the laptop screen, footage of Hwang Daegun’s fight played on repeat.
Thack!
On screen, Hwang Daegun took his opponent’s jab straight to the face.
His head snapped back.
But he didn’t retreat.
Instead, he grinned.
Then.
Crack!
His right hand swept down hard, grazing past his opponent’s temple.
The opponent staggered.
Ayeon paused the footage.
She rewound it again.
0.5x speed.
She stepped through it frame by frame.
Click.
Click.
The door opened.
Do Yoon entered.
He wore workout clothes.
His hair was wet.
“Not clocking out?”
Ayeon didn’t turn her head.
“I need to analyze the opponent.”
“It’s two in the morning.”
“I know.”
Do Yoon sighed and stepped inside.
“If anyone saw you, they’d think you were the one fighting.”
“My fighter is the one in the ring.”
Do Yoon said nothing more.
He moved behind Ayeon and watched the monitor.
On screen, Hwang Daegun was in the center of the Cage, engaged in a wild melee.
His form was a mess.
His chin was up, his shoulders hunched.
His footwork was inconsistent.
Yet somehow he kept landing hits.
When his opponent threw a textbook one-two, Hwang Daegun moved into it while slipping left.
His elbow tangled over the guard.
He pressed with his shoulder, drove forward like a headbutt, then threaded a short hook underneath.
Do Yoon’s brow furrowed.
“He’s not an easy one.”
Ayeon nodded.
Do Yoon crossed his arms.
“His movements aren’t textbook like the others.”
“Right.”
Ayeon played the footage again.
Hwang Daegun’s right hand came up at an odd angle.
It was neither an uppercut nor a hook.
The elbow came first, the back of the hand trailing late.
His opponent had his guard positioned wrong.
The chin took the shot.
Thwack!
“His trajectory is too erratic.”
Kang Ayeon spoke.
“It’s not clean striking. If you read it by boxing form, you’re too slow. His arms bend in from angles you can’t predict.”
Do Yoon kept watching the screen.
“Old street-fighting habits die hard.”
“Yeah. But that’s not purely a weakness.”
Kang Ayeon opened another video.
Hwang Daegun taking a right straight from his opponent.
It landed clean.
The crowd stirred.
But Hwang Daegun smiled.
He kept moving forward.
Before his opponent could retreat, Hwang Daegun’s left hook exploded from the inside.
His opponent was pinned against the Cage.
Kang Ayeon hit pause.
“Right here.”
Do Yoon’s eyes narrowed.
“He walks through the punch.”
“That’s the hardest part to deal with.”
Kang Ayeon’s finger pointed to Hwang Daegun’s face on the screen.
“He has enormous confidence in his chin. When he gets hit, he doesn’t stop—he thinks his opponent will let his guard down the moment the strike lands.”
“And he slips inside in that gap?”
“Exactly.”
Kang Ayeon unfolded her notebook.
It was already filled with neatly organized lines.
Irregular Trajectory
Advance While Taking Hits
Break Opponent’s Rhythm
Dirty Clinch
Mental Scratching
Do Yoon let out a soft laugh at the notebook.
“You’re doing the gym director job properly.”
Kang Ayeon shot him a look.
“I’ve always done it properly.”
“Fair point.”
Do Yoon turned his attention back to the screen.
Hwang Daegun was taking shots again.
Even as he took them, his eyes stayed alive.
He kept pressing forward until his opponent buckled.
Do Yoon’s expression hardened cold.
“He’s going to be annoying for Seojun.”
“Yeah.”
Kang Ayeon answered immediately.
“Seojun’s the type who reads and counters. But Hwang Daegun doesn’t break rhythm even when he eats shots. He won’t react like a normal opponent.”
“What if he walks through a counter?”
“Then Seojun has to prepare a second and third option. Thinking one shot will end it is dangerous.”
Do Yoon’s jaw tightened.
“Plus he’s probably got a filthy mouth too.”
“That’s a given.”
Kang Ayeon didn’t turn off the video.
Instead, she enlarged it on the bigger screen.
Hwang Daegun cornering his opponent against the Cage, whispering something in his ear.
His opponent’s face wavered.
Immediately after, Hwang Daegun’s knee strike landed.
Thwack!
“It’s not just technique that’s a problem.”
Kang Ayeon’s voice dropped.
“He’s good at shaking up his opponent’s emotions. Laughing while taking hits, cursing him out, deliberately roughing him up. Then when his opponent gets heated, he drags him into a brawl.”
Do Yoon nodded silently.
Hwang Daegun was not a clean fighter.
Dirty.
Rough.
Hard to read.
He doesn’t stop even when hit.
More troublesome than an opponent strong by the book.
Kang Ayeon froze Hwang Daegun’s face on the monitor.
A smile with an ugly edge to it.
“This guy doesn’t fight matches—he fights.”
Do Yoon’s eyes narrowed.
“Then Seojun…”
Kang Ayeon spoke first.
“He can’t get pulled into a brawl.”
Do Yoon nodded.
“We need to dismantle him precisely.”
Kang Ayeon hit play again.
Hwang Daegun in the screen walked forward once more.
Taking hits.
Smiling.
Driving his opponent into the Cage.
In the office before dawn.
The two of them watched in silence.

* * *
Days later.
Gangnam.
Black Leaf Seoul Headquarters.
An entire floor of the building was a training facility.
Seoul’s skyline spread out below the glass walls.
Lights ran in rows across the ceiling.
Two Cages.
Wrestling mats.
Weight training zone.
Physical measurement equipment.
Even a recovery room attached to the side.
Nothing like Team Jujak.
Even the smell was different.
Not the scent of worn mats, but the scent of money.
Seo Hayoon walked through the training facility in a black suit.
Two managers and a physical coach trailed behind her.
“Where is Hwang Daegun?”
“At the Cage, ma’am.”
Hayoon’s gaze turned toward the Cage.
Thud!
Hwang Daegun slammed his sparring partner into the Cage.
Irezumi tattoos wrapped around his neck and upper body glistened with sweat.
Three coaches shouted from outside the Cage.
“Keep the pressure!”
“Head tight!”
“Hook if he breaks!”
Hwang Daegun was smiling.
His breathing was rough, but his eyes were alive.
His opponent landed a jab.
Snap!
Hwang Daegun’s head turned.
But he didn’t retreat.
He stepped in further.
Crack!
A short hook wedged through the partner’s guard.
The partner staggered.
“Stop!”
The coach stepped in.
Hwang Daegun lowered his gloves.
Sweat dripped from his chin.
A sharp exhale.
He spat out the mouthpiece and walked toward the cage door.
Seo Hayoon stood in his path.
“Your training intensity today is higher than usual, isn’t it?”
Hwang Daegun wiped his neck with a towel.
“Is it?”
“You know your opponent this time is strong, don’t you?”
A slight provocation.
The coaching staff exchanged glances.
Hwang Daegun looked up.
And laughed with a bitter edge.
“Because my opponent is strong?”
He let out a scoff.
“Baek Seojun getting stronger doesn’t change anything.”
Seo Hayoon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Hwang Daegun sat down in a chair outside the cage.
He took a water bottle and drank from it.
“The reason I train like this is simple.”
He set the water bottle down on the floor with a thud.
“I don’t want to lose to some nobody who got a few headlines.”
The air in the gym held still for a moment.
Hwang Daegun laughed.
“That kid used to avoid my eyes, and now he thinks a few articles make him somebody.”
He tapped his chest with his gloved fist.
Thump.
“I need to remind him.”
“Of what?”
Seo Hayoon asked.
Hwang Daegun’s mouth curved upward.
“That people don’t change.”
He stood up again.
“Baek Seojun is Baek Seojun.”
He cracked his neck sharply.
Crack.
“A kid who’s always taken hits ends up getting hit.”
Seo Hayoon said nothing.
Hwang Daegun stepped back into the cage.
“One more round.”
The coach called in a new partner.
Hwang Daegun put the mouthpiece back in.
His eyes darkened.
“Come on.”
The new partner entered cautiously.
As soon as the bell rang, Hwang Daegun rushed forward.
Bang!
The cage shook.
Seo Hayoon watched the scene unfold.
A faint smile played at her lips.
‘That stubborn pride is what makes him strong.’
Hwang Daegun was not a good man.
Nor was he an easy fighter to manage.
But he had marketability.
A violent appearance.
The controversy of his juvenile detention record.
An image of street fighting.
And genuine skill.
Controversy became views.
Views became tickets.
Tickets became money.
Black Leaf didn’t miss that current.
Seo Hayoon gestured to the manager beside her.
“Pull up the Matchup data.”
The wall monitor flickered to life.

Two fighters’ faces appeared side by side on screen.
One showed Baek Seojun, blood smeared across his face, fist raised.
The other showed Hwang Daegun, tattoos on display, grinning.
Seo Hayoon’s eyes turned cold.
Baek Seojun.
A fighter who’d once made Black Leaf extend their hand first.
A signing bonus of one hundred million won.
Overseas training camp.
Dedicated management.
A rookie who turned down every offer and chose Team Jujak instead.
Seo Hayoon hadn’t forgotten that choice.
‘How dare he reject us at Black Leaf and go to Team Jujak?’
Her fingertips pressed lightly against the edge of the Tablet.
Seojun’s face on screen magnified.
The corner of Seo Hayoon’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
‘He’ll learn just how foolish that decision was.’
Inside the Cage, Hwang Daegun’s hook exploded again.
Crack!
The sparring partner crumpled.
Hwang Daegun laughed.
Seo Hayoon watched and murmured softly.
“This time, he’ll feel it in his bones.”
The Matchup caption on the monitor glowed red.

* * *
Two weeks before the fight.
Team Jujak Gym.
Crack!
The Mitt burst.
Seojun’s right hand drove into Do Yoon’s Mitt.
Do Yoon didn’t give.
“Again.”
Crack!
“Shorter range.”
Thud!
“Drop the power. Against someone like Hwang Daegun, throw a big punch and he’ll slip it.”
Seojun swallowed hard and reset his stance.
Do Yoon lowered the Mitt.
“Hwang Daegun’s the type who trusts his Chin and comes forward.”
He tapped his own jaw lightly.
“He doesn’t fear the hit. He uses the moment of impact to slip in and strike.”
Seojun nodded.
“Yeah.”
“A guy like that won’t go down easily, even if you catch him straight on.”
Do Yoon’s eyes sharpened.
“You can’t break his will with something he sees coming.”
The gym fell silent.
Jin Hyuk, who’d been working the Punching Bag, stopped.
Do Yoon held the Mitt to the side.
“To drop him, you have to hit him from outside his Field of Vision.”
Baek Seojun’s eyes narrowed.
“Outside the field of vision.”
“Right.”
Do Yoon asked again.
“What did you notice watching Hwang Daegun’s match?”
Baek Seojun didn’t answer right away.
He paused, thinking.
The footage of Hwang Daegun’s fight.
His face smiling even as he took hits.
His body pushing forward relentlessly, even as it wavered.
His eyes tracking the opponent’s fist all the way through.
“Hwang Daegun doesn’t close his eyes when strikes come in.”
Do Yoon’s lips curved up slightly.
“Go on.”
“Most fighters close their eyes or turn their head just before impact. But Hwang Daegun keeps his eyes on the opponent’s fist even as he gets hit. That’s how he reads the next punch and counters with his own.”
“Correct.”
Do Yoon tapped the Mitt against his palm.
“You’re the kind of fighter who wins by understanding your opponent.”
Baek Seojun watched him without speaking.
Do Yoon peeled off the Mitt and dropped it to the floor.
Thud.
Then he walked forward with heavy steps.
Right into Baek Seojun’s personal space.
The distance vanished.
Close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Baek Seojun’s shoulders tensed imperceptibly.
This distance.
The distance Hwang Daegun used to close in with his face.
The distance from which he’d shoved Baek Seojun in the Middle School Restroom, demanding money.
Even in the footage just now, Hwang Daegun loved this range.
Closing in.
Sneering.
Pushing.
Striking.
Baek Seojun’s throat tightened.
A swallow.
Do Yoon caught that reaction.
But he didn’t step back.
“You have to fight at this distance.”
Baek Seojun exhaled sharply.
“Yes.”
“More precisely.”
Do Yoon’s eyes fixed directly on his from inches away.
“You have to escape the opponent’s field of vision at this distance.”
Baek Seojun’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“From here?”
The instant those words left his mouth.
Do Yoon vanished.
Whoosh.
He slipped out of Baek Seojun’s field of vision.
The face that had been right there was gone.
Baek Seojun’s eyes widened.
He instinctively stepped back.
That’s when.
Whirr—!
Wind cut across his left side.
Before Baek Seojun could even turn his head.
Tap!
A light impact struck his forehead.
A tap—barely there, but precise.
It wasn’t a hard hit.
But Baek Seojun froze, dazed.
Do Yoon had slipped into his left blind spot without him noticing.
Just a shoulder’s width away.
An entire body had vanished from his perception.
“Just now……”
Baek Seojun touched his forehead.
Do Yoon chuckled.
“You didn’t see it?”
“No.”
“Your eyes are good, but your field of vision isn’t infinite.”
Do Yoon walked back to face him squarely.
“The human eye looks forward. The closer you get, the narrower it becomes. If you slip just half a step to the side, your opponent loses you.”
He scraped the mat with his foot.
Tap.
“Don’t push with strength here.”
Another half-step.
“Don’t flee backward here either.”
Do Yoon twisted his body and disappeared to the left.
“Slip sideways.”
This time he tapped his shoulder lightly.
“And strike.”
Baek Seojun blinked.
The movement rewound in his mind.
Close distance.
Opponent’s field of vision.
Half a step.
Torso rotation.
Left blind spot.
‘He disappears at this range.’
Baek Seojun’s eyes lit up.
Do Yoon saw that shift.
“This is what you need against Hwang Daegun.”
“Because he’s someone who keeps coming even while taking hits.”
“Right. He can weather strikes from the front. From the side, he sees late. By the time he sees it, you’ve already landed it.”
Do Yoon pointed toward the Cage.
“When Hwang Daegun pushes into your face, that’s not danger—that’s opportunity.”
Baek Seojun nodded quietly.
Jin Hyuk, who’d been standing in front of the Punching Bag, threw another punch.
Thump.
Do Yoon turned his head.
“Jin Hyuk!”
Jin Hyuk’s fist stopped mid-swing.
“What?”
Do Yoon pointed at the Cage with one finger.
“Come over here and help us with some Sparring.”
Jin Hyuk looked at Baek Seojun with an annoyed expression.
“Why me?”
“Your footwork is the sloppiest.”
Tae Soo muttered from the side.
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
Jin Hyuk glanced at Baek Seojun for a moment, then tightened his Gloves.
“How many Rounds?”
Do Yoon smiled.
“Until Baek Seojun disappears from your field of vision.”
Baek Seojun stepped into the Cage.
Tap.
Now he saw the answer.
A monster who keeps coming even while taking hits.
And how to vanish before that monster’s eyes.
That training was beginning.

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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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