I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 39

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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 Fighting Genius, Bullied Without Knowing It – Episode 39
Inside the Octagon.
Baek Seojun and Lee Woosung stood in their respective corners.
The lights descended above them both.
The spectator seating was dark, while only the cage floor glowed white.
Seojun rolled his weight lightly onto the balls of his feet.
His body was loose.
His breathing steady.
Across the way.
Lee Woosung barely moved at all.
Hands sheathed in black gloves hung at his sides, he stood in perfect stillness.
It was pressure itself.
[And here we are—the KCR Featherweight Tournament Finals begins!]
The commentator’s voice trembled.
[One fighter: every bout since debut ended in Round 1 Knockout. The rising prodigy of instant victory, Baek Seojun!]
[The other: twenty fights, eighteen wins, two losses—and those two losses came only against the current champion, Lee Sungjun. Essentially undefeated, a force to be reckoned with—Lee Woosung!]
The scoreboard flashed each fighter’s record in turn.
Baek Seojun.
Every KCR bout: Round 1 Knockout.
Walkoff Knockout.
No-touch victory.
Lee Woosung.
Twenty fights, eighteen wins, two losses.
Two championship bouts contested.
Undefeated path to the KCR Finals.
[Official YouTube concurrent viewership is exploding as we speak! We’re looking at the highest numbers in Featherweight Tournament history!]
The chat scrolled frantically upward.
—Can’t believe Baek Seojun made it to finals ㄷㄷ
—Isn’t Lee Woosung basically cleaned house against everyone except the champ?
—The Prodigy of Instant Death vs the Undefeated King my heart is soaring
—If Seojun can’t finish early this gets dangerous
—Lee Woosung is a real wall a real wall
—Whoever wins tonight faces the champ insane
The stadium ceiling lights cut out all at once.
Then a single spotlight descended over the cage.
The ring announcer stepped forward with microphone in hand.
Black suit.
Gleaming shoes.
His voice split the arena.
“Ladies and gentlemen!”
The crowd erupted.
“Tonight, the final bout of the Axis Korea KCR Featherweight Tournament!”
Roaring cheers.
“The victor earns the right to challenge the current Axis Korea Featherweight Champion!”
The roar swelled louder.
Seojun’s heart beat quietly against his ribs.
Challenger.
Champion.
Belt.
Those words were no longer far away.
The ring announcer pointed to Lee Woosung first.
“The Blue corner!”
The spotlight locked onto Lee Woosung.
“Twenty fights, eighteen victories, two defeats! The man who has conquered every opponent save the champion! The hungry challenger!”
Lee Woosung didn’t so much as blink.
“Lee! Woo! Sung!”
A section of the crowd cheered roughly.
“Lee Woosung!”
“Lee Woosung!”
The ring announcer turned toward the opposite side.
“Red corner!”
Now the spotlight flooded onto Seojun.
“Every match since debut ended in a Round 1 Knockout! The boy who was bullied, now risen to become Featherweight’s brightest prodigy!”
The crowd erupted.
“The prodigy of swift endings!”
Seojun exhaled slowly.
“Baek! Seo! Jun!”
The stadium trembled.
“Baek Seojun!”
“Baek Seojun!”
Seojun glanced briefly toward the VIP seating.
His mother stood watching, both hands clenched tight.
He turned his gaze forward again.
Lee Woosung was already watching him.
The referee walked to the center.
“Fighters, center.”
Both men stepped forward simultaneously.
The distance closed.
They stood face to face.
Lee Woosung’s eyes were heavy and deep.
There was no mockery in them.
No provocation.
That’s what felt strange.
The referee looked between them alternately.
“Follow the rules. Follow my instructions. No strikes to the back of the head, no low blows, no grabbing the cage. After a knockdown, stop immediately when I give the signal.”
Seojun nodded.
“Yes.”
Lee Woosung moved his jaw slightly in acknowledgment.
The referee lowered his hand.
“Touch gloves.”
Seojun hesitated for a moment.
The opening scene against Hwang Daegun flashed through his mind.
The offered glove.
The wrist yanked back.
The ambush that came at his face.
But Seojun extended his fist first.
Lee Woosung regarded it quietly.
Then he lightly tapped his glove against it.
Tap.
That was all.
Seojun’s eyes widened slightly.
Lee Woosung turned away without a word.
He walked to his corner.
Seojun turned around as well.
Strangely, something heavy had settled deeper in his chest.
This man doesn’t rattle easily.
He just comes straight at you.
Seojun made his way to his corner, rolling his fists.
Do Yoon watched him through the cage.
“You see it?”
Seojun nodded.
“Yes.”
Do Yoon’s mouth curved into a thin smile.
“Now the real fight begins.”

* * *
Do Yoon leaned his face close to the cage.
“Stay sharp from the opening.”
Seojun nodded.
“Yes.”
“Remember when we fought Hwang Daegun?”
“I do.”
Do Yoon’s voice dropped lower.
“The moment the bell rings, we’re fighting. Don’t go soft just because he’s playing nice.”
Baek Seojun clenched his fists.
“Understood.”
Do Yoon glanced sideways at Lee Woosung.
“He’s not some street thug like Hwang Daegun. But the stronger they are, the better they exploit the smallest opening.”
“Yes.”
“First thirty seconds. Eyes wide open.”
Baek Seojun drew a deep breath.
The referee stood at the center of the Octagon, checking both fighters.
Lee Woosung stood motionless.
His guard wasn’t even high.
Yet it didn’t look like a gap.
Just a body ready for what was to come.
The referee’s hand rose.
The arena fell silent for a moment.
All Baek Seojun could hear was his own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
The hand came down.
“Fight!”
Ding!
The Round 1 bell rang.
The Finals had begun.
Baek Seojun moved straight to center ring.
Chin tucked.
Guard raised high.
Knees bent low.
His body still carried the memory of that first exchange with Hwang Daegun.
The extended gloves.
The caught wrist.
The Straight punch driven into his face.
It wouldn’t happen again.
Baek Seojun’s eyes scanned Lee Woosung’s shoulders and wrists.
He was trying to read every movement.
Lee Woosung came forward as well.
With long strides.
The distance closed.
Baek Seojun prepared to react immediately.
Then Lee Woosung extended his hand.
Right glove.
Straight ahead.
A ceremonial touch of gloves at the start of Round 1.
Baek Seojun’s feet faltered for a moment.
His body remembered first.
‘Again?’
His eyes narrowed.
Baek Seojun’s left hand reflexively pulled back.
But Lee Woosung didn’t move.
He stood with his hand extended, frozen in place.
His eyes didn’t waver.
No provocation.
No smile.
No scent of ambush.
Just a hand asking for the courtesy before they fought.
Baek Seojun exhaled softly.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
Tap.
The Gloves clashed.
In that instant, Lee Woosung stepped back one pace.
Exactly one.
Distance created.
And his guard rose.
Chin tucked down.
Shoulders locked.
Both feet planted on the mat.
In that split second, the air changed.
This was not the quiet man from moments before.
His eyes had transformed.
Killing intent radiated from his entire body.
A beast.
Not the animal waiting beyond the fence.
But one already on the hunt.
Seojun’s skin prickled at once.
‘Heavy.’
Nothing like Hwang Daegun.
Hwang Daegun had clawed his way in dirty.
Scratching with his fists, shaking him right up to the edge of fouls, probing for every weakness.
Lee Woosung carried none of that.
Instead, he came straight on.
Nothing hidden.
Nothing to dodge.
Just the single fact of his own strength.
Bearing down to crush you dead.
The bearing of a true strong man.
And the pressure that came with it.
Seojun shuddered.
Not from fear.
His body recognizing what caliber of opponent stood across from him.
Lee Woosung’s lead foot shifted—the slightest movement.
A tap.
Seojun tightened his guard at once.
Lee Woosung’s eyes read Seojun’s center.
Seojun read his shoulders in turn.
The distance between them drew taut.
The roar of the crowd faded distant.
The commentators’ voices dimmed to static.
[Both fighters are being incredibly cautious from the opening!]
[Lee Woosung’s pressure is absolutely suffocating. Not a single punch yet, and he’s already devouring the space!]
Seojun pressed down through his toes into the mat.
Let the momentum carry you, and it’s over.
If the opponent is strong.
Then you have to read him colder still.
Go deeper still.
Seojun’s eyes shifted as well.
A quiet flame kindled and blazed inside him.
The tension knotted in his chest transformed into killer instinct.
Lee Woosung’s mouth twitched—barely perceptible.
He felt it too.
That Seojun would not yield.

* * *
Center of the cage.
Neither man moved easily.
Seojun watched Lee Woosung’s lead foot.
Lee Woosung watched Seojun’s shoulders.
One step.
Half a step.
The distance between them shifted, imperceptibly at first.
The roar from the stands began to fade.
Everyone was waiting for the first collision.
Lee Woosung moved first.
No heavy footwork.
His shoulders didn’t bob.
His elbows didn’t retract.
He simply—
His front hand vanished.
Snap.
A jab struck Seojun’s face.
Seojun’s head shifted back, barely perceptibly.
No major damage.
But his eyes went rigid.
‘That was deep.’
Far deeper than he’d anticipated.
It should have been out of range.
Beyond the safety margin he’d calculated.
Yet Lee Woosung’s jab had crossed that line.
Short. Fast. Deep.
‘No telegraphing.’
It wasn’t that the fist was invisible.
He’d seen it.
But there was no setup motion.
He’d been watching for the moment his shoulders rose—and that moment never came.
The fist was already at his face.
[Ah! Lee Woosung’s front-hand jab! A light probe, but it landed perfectly!]
[That’s what makes Lee Woosung so dangerous. No big movements. You see it—but it’s too late!]
Seojun stepped back.
Distance recalibration.
Chin tucked.
Guard tightened.
Lee Woosung didn’t follow.
He simply pressed again from where he stood.
The space narrowed without him moving forward.
Seojun’s feet scraped against the canvas.
‘Here it comes again.’
Lee Woosung’s front foot planted with microscopic precision.
His chest remained closed.
His shoulders stayed packed.
But his eyes—
His gaze locked onto Seojun’s center.
The next jab was coming.
Whip-crack.
This time, Seojun moved first.
His front hand flicked out sharply.
Clap.
He batted Lee Woosung’s jab outward.
Parrying.
Lee Woosung’s left hand streamed to the side.
In that instant—
The center opened.
Seojun’s eyes flashed.
His feet rooted.
His hips rotated.
His right arm extended in a straight line.
Fast.
Precise.
The Counter that had rocked Oh Gunwoo.
The timing that had dropped Ma Dohyun.
The straight punch that had finished Hwang Daegun.
This time too, it was flawless.
The crowd held its breath.
[Baek Seojun with the Parry! Counter coming right now!]
The fist drove straight toward Lee Woosung’s face.
It would land.
That was the distance.
That was the timing.
But.
Lee Woosung’s chin pulled back—barely a fraction.
His upper body slid backward.
A Sway.
Not excessive.
Not a retreat.
The width of a single sheet of paper.
He’d shifted that much and no more.
Seojun’s right fist grazed past Lee Woosung’s face.
Whoosh.
Air split in its wake.
He hadn’t made contact.
Seojun’s eyes turned cold and sharp.
‘He dodged it?’
Lee Woosung was already returning to his stance.
His feet hadn’t wavered.
His balance hadn’t shifted.
His gaze remained composed.
As though that Counter too had been factored into his calculations.
The space where Seojun’s fist had passed.
Lee Woosung’s eyes met his.
In that brief instant.
Their gazes crossed in the air between them.
Seojun’s eyes were cutting.
Lee Woosung’s eyes were heavy with weight.
Each recognized what the other was.
That exchange just now had been a greeting.
One jab.
One Parry.
One Counter.
One Sway.
In that brief interchange alone, the disparity between them was laid bare.
The crowd erupted a beat too late.
“Wooooow!”
[Incredible! Baek Seojun’s Counter nearly connected!]
[But Lee Woosung escapes by a hair’s breadth! This is the Finals! This is world-class boxing!]
Seojun drew his fists back.
Lee Woosung reset his guard.
The distance between them tightened once more.
The first sparks had been struck.
Now the entire cage began to ignite.

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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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