I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 35

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

Unaware of Being a Combat Genius, Bullied — Episode 035
Not even an hour had passed since the match ended.
The fighting press unleashed articles like a madstorm.
<Bullying Victim Crushes His Tormentor Perfectly on the Cage!>
<Baek Seojun Scores Walkoff Knockout Against Hwang Daegun! Ending Their Bitter History>
<Bleeding, the Boy Walks Forward and Finally Brings Down His Abuser>
<KCR Featherweight’s Biggest Draw Settles With a Single Strike From Baek Seojun>
The footage was even faster.
Hwang Daegun pointing at the floor with his finger.
Seojun’s wound rupturing.
His blood-smeared face walking in.
And then the final moment.
A Straight planted into the jaw as he steps out of the octagon.
Thud!
The instant Hwang Daegun falls.
That scene looped endlessly.
The comment section exploded.
-Even a movie would get roasted for writing it like this.
-That’s real justice.
-I screamed when Hwang Daegun went down.
-Bullying victim KOs his tormentor in the cage. That’s a story.
-Baek Seojun’s got the whole country’s attention now.
There was almost no sympathy for Hwang Daegun.
Public opinion, which had been split right up until the weigh-ins, swung sharply to one side.
Even those who’d insisted the past was the past fell silent.
The mockery during the fight.
The elbows aimed at his wound.
The taunting gesture pointing at the floor.
The camera caught it all.
The public drew its conclusion.
Hwang Daegun deserved every punch.
Baek Seojun was the one who refused to stay down.
Virtue rewarded, vice punished.
That phrase appeared beneath every article.

* * *
But the Waiting Room was quiet.
The roar from outside was distant, separated by a single wall.
Seojun sat in a chair.
He hadn’t gone out for interviews.
The official winner’s statement had been postponed.
White Gauze was pressed against his left eye.
The Gauze darkened with blood almost immediately.
Ah Yeon handed him fresh Gauze.
“Press harder on this.”
Seojun took it without a word.
Blood seeped between his fingers.
Do Yoon stood in front of him.
A blood-stained Towel hung in his hand.
His expression was dark.
Not the face of a victor.
Tae Soo said nothing either.
Normally he would have been shouting.
“That was insane.”
“Did you see that Walkoff Knockout?”
“He’s made it nationwide.”
He would have said things like that.
But now he kept his mouth shut.
The injuries were too severe.
The wound they’d hastily patched had torn completely open.
It was deeper than the cut from his fight with Oh Geon Woo before.
This wasn’t merely skin splitting open again.
The wound had gape all the way through.
Ah Yeon spoke quietly.
“We need to get to the hospital right now.”
Do Yoon didn’t answer.
He stared down at the towel.
It was red.
Far too red.
Baek Seojun asked softly.
“The interview…….”
“Don’t even think about it.”
Do Yoon cut him off.
“We go to the hospital first.”
Baek Seojun fell silent.
A brief quiet settled over the room.
Outside, the roar of the crowd still echoed through the corridors.
Baek Seojun.
Baek Seojun.
That name pressed down the hallway toward them.
The louder they chanted his name, the heavier the air in the waiting room became.
Do Yoon finally spoke.
“You’re forfeiting the semi-final.”
Baek Seojun’s hands froze.
Ah Yeon closed her eyes.
Tae Soo lowered his head.
They’d anticipated this.
But hearing it aloud made it heavier.
Baek Seojun looked up immediately.
“Coach.”
“You’re forfeiting.”
“We haven’t even had the medical examination yet.”
“Don’t need an examination to see what I’m seeing.”
Do Yoon’s voice was ice.
“The wound is too deep.”
Baek Seojun spoke, still pressing the gauze against his eye.
“We can treat it.”
“Full recovery before the next fight is physically impossible.”
“But—”
“That’s enough.”
Do Yoon’s words pressed down on the waiting room.
Baek Seojun held his breath.
He had just won.
He had laid his past to rest.
The whole nation was chanting his name.
But Do Yoon saw none of it.
Only the wound near his eye.
The next fight.
The life beyond that.
His career as a fighter.
Do Yoon clenched the blood-stained towel in his fist.
“Today, you won.”
Baek Seojun said nothing.
“But if that tear opens up even once more, then you didn’t win.”
Do Yoon’s gaze grew colder still.
“You destroy your body.”
Baek Seojun’s fingers dug into the gauze.
Outside, the cheers erupted again.
Within that roar.
Only Do Yoon’s voice remained, sharp and unforgiving.
“Baek Seojun, this tournament ends here for you.”

* * *
Ah Yeon sat down across from Seojun.
Her face wasn’t bright either.
But her voice was gentle.
“Seojun.”
Seojun didn’t lift his head.
His hand pressing the gauze only tightened.
Ah Yeon spoke quietly.
“Do Yoon is right.”
The Waiting Room fell even quieter.
“You can’t risk your career as an athlete. This won’t be your only chance.”
That was true.
So true he couldn’t argue against it.
Seojun pressed his lips together.
The taste of blood still lingered.
He’d put Hwang Daegun down.
He’d closed the past.
The whole nation was calling his name.
But it ended here.
No next match.
Withdrawal from the tournament mid-run.
Those words pressed against the inside of his chest.
Seojun’s fist slowly unclenched.
Tendons rose across the back of his hand.
“…I understand.”
His voice was small.
Without strength.
Do Yoon watched him in silence.
He’d spoken coldly, but he knew.
How badly Seojun wanted to fight.
How desperately he wanted to hold onto this stage.
That’s when it happened.
Knock, knock.
The Waiting Room door opened carefully.
An Axis staff member poked his head in.
A middle-aged man in formal dress.
He lowered his voice immediately upon sensing the heavy atmosphere.
“Director Ah Yeon, do you have a moment?”
Ah Yeon looked up.
“What is it?”
The staff member glanced inside once more.
“I’ll brief you outside for a moment.”
Ah Yeon looked at Do Yoon.
Do Yoon gave a short nod.
“Go ahead.”
Ah Yeon rose from her seat.
The door closed.
Silence settled over the Waiting Room again.
Seojun still kept his head down.
Tae Soo fiddled nervously with a water bottle.
Do Yoon tossed the blood-stained towel into the trash.
Thud.
That sound alone seemed loud.
A moment later.
Ah Yeon’s voice rose from outside the door.
“What?”
Everyone looked up.
“The Semi-finals opponent can’t compete?”
Tae Soo’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Do Yoon straightened up as well.
Low voices carried from beyond the door.
The words weren’t quite clear.
But Ah Yeon’s voice kept changing.
Surprise.
Confirmation.
And a touch of excitement.
Soon the door opened.
Ah Yeon stepped in.
Her face was flushed.
Do Yoon asked immediately.
“What is it?”
Ah Yeon took a breath before speaking.
“Seojun’s semi-finals opponent.”
Seojun’s head rose slowly.
Ah Yeon continued.
“Serious injury. Tore a knee ligament in this match—he’s out for at least six months.”
Tae Soo’s mouth fell open.
“So?”
Do Yoon’s eyes narrowed.
“We’re injured too. They’re postponing?”
Ah Yeon shook her head.
“No.”
The air in the Waiting Room shifted.
Ah Yeon’s gaze turned toward Seojun.
“If Seojun can recover by the finals in three months.”
All eyes fixed on her lips.
“He goes straight to the finals with a Walkover Victory.”
Seojun’s eyes went wide.
Light flooded back into a face that had been sunken just moments before.
The hand pressing the gauze stilled.
Tae Soo shot to his feet.
“The finals? The actual finals?”
Ah Yeon nodded.
“Official confirmation comes after the hospital report and tournament headquarters verification. But his semi-finals opponent is definitely ruled out.”
Tae Soo clenched both fists.
“Wow. Unbelievable. Heaven’s on our side!”
Do Yoon let out a hollow laugh.
“Strange things happen.”
But his expression remained resolute.
He looked squarely at Seojun.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”
Seojun swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
“First, a detailed hospital examination.”
Do Yoon’s voice turned cold again.
“Without the doctor’s approval, there’s nothing.”
Seojun didn’t answer right away this time.
He looked at his own hands.
Gauze stained with blood.
Fingers that weren’t trembling.
A path he thought had ended.
A door that had opened again.
Something hot rose from deep in his chest.
Ah Yeon smiled softly.
“At least there’s a possibility now.”
Tae Soo gave Seojun’s shoulder a gentle tap.
“Hey. The finals. The finals.”
Seojun lifted his head slowly.
Life returned to his eyes.
The despair from moments before had vanished.
Instead, the stage came back into view.
Three months later.
Finals.
A bigger Cage.
A stronger opponent.
Seojun looked at Do Yoon.
Do Yoon still stood with a grim expression.
“Answer.”
Seojun’s voice rang through the Waiting Room.
“Yes!!”
A short, forceful reply.
Do Yoon smirked.
“Good.”
He pointed toward the door.
“Then let’s head to the Hospital first, hero.”
Tae Soo burst into laughter.
Ah Yeon exhaled as well.
The heavy air that had settled over the Waiting Room shifted in an instant.
The tournament they thought had ended.
It wasn’t over yet.

* * *
Inside a dark room.
Only the glow of a monitor lit the space.
Baek Seojun moved within the screen.
A blood-smeared face.
Crimson-stained eyes.
Hwang Daegun’s angular footwork fading.
And a Straight driving forward in a straight line.
Crack!
Hwang Daegun’s jaw buckled.
Thud.
His body crumpled to the mat.
The footage looped back to the beginning.
Blood-stained Seojun.
Footwork.
Straight.
Knockout.
Again.
And again.
A man sat before the monitor.
Broad shoulders.
Hair cut short and close.
A face hardened roughly by time.
Deep shadows hung beneath his eyes.
His hands were large.
Thick fingers rolled slowly against his knees.
Crack.
His knuckles crackled.
He paused the screen.
Seojun’s fist an instant before contact with Hwang Daegun’s jaw.
On that frame.
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“Short.”
His voice was low.
It sank into the darkness of the room.
“No wasted motion.”
He hit replay.
Seojun’s foot slipped outside.
Half a step.
His torso vanished.
The fist shot forward in a straight line.
The man’s eyes followed its trajectory.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
His breathing grew rough.
It wasn’t fear.
It wasn’t excitement.
It was hunger.
The eyes of a starved beast catching sight of prey.
The man’s name was Lee Woo Sung.
The Finals finalist from the opposite bracket in the KCR Featherweight Tournament.
A man who had already secured his path to the Finals.
He was different from the opponents Seojun had faced.
He didn’t smile arrogantly.
He didn’t talk cheaply.
He didn’t perform for the camera.
He was quiet.
But the atmosphere filling the room was heavy.
The aura of someone standing at the edge of a cliff.
The scent of a cornered beast.
On his desk lay a worn photograph from a match.
Lee Woo Sung in the photo was drenched in blood.
His eyes were swollen.
His lips were torn.
Standing before him was a man.
The Axis Korea Featherweight Champion.
Lee Seong Jun.
Cold eyes.
A belt around his waist.
That photo was his first defeat.
Beside it lay another photograph.
His second defeat.
This one was far more brutal.
Lee Woo Sung was on his knees on the Cage floor.
The Champion had his back turned.
As though it was already over.
Lee Woo Sung’s gaze lowered to the photographs.
Tendons stood taut across the back of his hand.
He had lost twice.
He lost in technique.
He lost in pressure.
In the end, he even lost in spirit.
The first was a Judges’ Decision Loss.
The second was a Third Round Technical Knockout.
People said it.
Lee Woo Sung is strong.
But he can’t reach the Champion.
No matter how far he climbs.
He can’t cross that wall.
Those words had embedded themselves in his body.
Like bone.
Like a scar.
The winner of this tournament challenges the Champion.
His final title defense before Lee Seong Jun relinquishes his belt.
And his last fight before retirement.
The moment it was announced.
Lee Woo Sung put everything on the line.
Not money.
Not his name.
Not popularity.
There was only one thing he needed.
A third chance.
Revenge.
The Belt.
Before the champion’s retirement.
His last moment to seize what hung around that neck.
The image on the monitor moved again.
Baek Seojun had knocked Hwang Daegun down.
The crowd erupted.
The commentator’s voice rang out.
[Walkoff Knockout! Baek Seojun advances to the Finals!]
Lee Woo Sung rose slowly at the sound of those words.
The chair scraped backward.
Creak.
His body was covered in wounds.
Tape wrapped his shoulder.
Bruises mottled his ribs.
Bandages wound around his knuckles.
But his eyes were alive.
He stepped closer to the monitor.
Baek Seojun’s face appeared on the screen.
A boy with blood on his face, never looking back.
Lee Woo Sung’s lips moved slightly.
“Good eyes.”
He raised his fist.
The monitor’s light caught the back of his hand.
Thick. Solid.
Hit countless times.
Struck countless times.
And still it rose again.
Lee Woo Sung’s breathing slowed.
Baek Seojun is a monster.
A new star.
One who clawed his way up through blood.
But it didn’t matter.
Lee Woo Sung didn’t need Baek Seojun’s story.
He didn’t need the crowd’s roar.
What he saw lay beyond the Finals.
The Belt that waited beyond.
And Champion Lee Seong Jun.
Lee Woo Sung’s gaze pierced the monitor.
“It doesn’t matter who comes up.”
His voice was low.
But it filled the room.
He stared at Baek Seojun on the screen.
Baek Seojun’s final Straight played again.
Crack!
Hwang Daegun fell.
Lee Woo Sung’s fist clenched tighter.
“I’m the one who’ll cut the champion’s leash.”
Another monster was waiting for Baek Seojun.

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