I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 4

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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 Prodigy, Unknown — Bullied Anyway | Episode 004
The next day.
The moment Seo Jun stepped through the classroom door, a peculiar current rippled through the air.
Murmuring.
Every eye in the room fixed on him at once.
Yesterday’s incident in the Alley had already spread across the entire School.
Yet no one dared approach him.
Even the School Bullies he passed in the hallway flinched, their gazes sliding away.
‘Thank goodness.’
A daily life without violence.
Seo Jun’s steps felt lighter as he made his way to the Gym after school.

* * *
Ding—
“Welcome!”
Her voice noticeably brighter.
Ah Yeon, stationed at the counter, opened her eyes wide.
Do Yoon, who’d been working the Heavy Bag, grinned and ambled over.
“Judging by that look, you landed a solid one yesterday?”
“Yes!”
Ah Yeon approached Seo Jun as he nodded vigorously.
She pulled an envelope from the counter and waved it.
“Seo Jun, Do Yoon’s got a match in a month. Want to come watch? I’ll give you a Ticket.”
“A match?”
“Yeah. Looks can be deceiving—this guy’s actually a Professional Athlete. If he wins this one, a Title Match is in reach.”
Seo Jun’s eyes widened.
“Looks can be deceiving?”
“Well, the way he usually acts, you’d think he’s just some neighborhood layabout.”
Ah Yeon and Do Yoon bickered back and forth.
But Seo Jun’s gaze followed Do Yoon’s sweat-soaked, broad back with something close to reverence.
A Professional Athlete.
The weight of it suddenly felt different.

* * *
After that day.
The Gym became an indispensable part of Seo Jun’s life.
The School Bullies no longer tormented him.
Faint muscle beginning to define his frame.
Each glance in the mirror brought a peculiar satisfaction.
Training was grueling, but watching his own body transform day by day was exhilarating.
Yet beyond that thrill, Seo Jun was witnessing the true world of the Professional.
“Hook! Hook!”
Smack! Smack!!
“Your speed’s dropping! Faster!”
At Ah Yeon’s shout, Do Yoon’s fists accelerated once more.
Each time his knuckles struck the Pads, a tremendous crack echoed through the Gym.
Simultaneously, sweat beading his forehead scattered across the floor.
‘Do you really have to push yourself that hard?’
Do Yoon’s training, with the match looming, bordered on obsession.
Hellish rounds of Sparring and Pad Work, lungs burning yet refusing to stop.
Sweat poured like rain, yet he kept his fluid intake to a minimum.
“Gasp……gasp……!”
He looked ready to collapse any second.
But still, he did not rest.
Pound-pound-pound—!!
Watching him run on the treadmill, Seo Jun felt almost weary just from observation.
‘So this is the Professional’s world……’
The Professional world, seen for the first time, was merciless.
Yet precisely because of that, it was magnificent.
To be able to devote oneself so completely to something.
‘Can I become like that someday?’
Seo Jun, who had never devoted himself to anything in all his years, found himself drawn to Do Yoon without quite realizing it.

* * *
A month later.
Seo Jun sat in the stands of the enormous Dome Stadium, his mouth dry.
AXIS.
The world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, a massive enterprise with a finely stratified league system.
Do Yoon belonged to AXIS Asia, the branch overseeing the Asian region.
The opponent’s name appeared on the display screen.
Zhang Hong. An undefeated fighter from China.
He stood five centimeters taller than Do Yoon, and more critically, his reach—the span of his outstretched arms—exceeded Do Yoon’s by a full twenty centimeters.
For a striker, a twenty-centimeter reach disadvantage was nothing short of catastrophic.
‘His arms are so much longer…….’
In the Waiting Room before the match.
When Seo Jun grew nervous at the reach disparity, Do Yoon calmly tightened the velcro on his Gloves and spoke.
“Watch closely. See what my fights are really about.”
He recalled Do Yoon’s broad back as he headed toward the Octagon.
Brilliant lights flooded the arena, and soaring music crashed against the ears.
Two fighters stepped into the Octagon.
Round 1. Fight!
The match began at the Referee’s signal.
Zhang Hong was in no hurry.
He deployed methodical Outfighting, exploiting his overwhelming reach and leg length.
Whoosh! Crack!
“Ugh……!”
Sharp jabs from Zhang Hong’s fist snapped against Do Yoon’s face as he pressed inward.
Do Yoon’s punches cut through empty air, again and again, because of the reach gap.
The distance held firm.
Crack! Smack!
A Front Kick from Zhang Hong drove deep into Do Yoon’s abdomen.
Followed by a Right Hook.
Do Yoon’s head snapped back violently, his body lurching sideways.
“No……!”
Seo Jun jumped to his feet without thinking.
Gasps erupted throughout the stands.
Blood glistened at the corner of Zhang Hong’s mouth as he smiled—a predator who’d caught the scent. He surged forward, closing the distance with lethal intent.
It was in that instant.
‘Wait—’
Seo Jun’s eyes flew wide open.
Do Yoon’s gaze, despite the reeling staggers, held a terrifying calm.
A trap.
He’d offered himself as bait, absorbing the blows intentionally to slip inside his opponent’s guard.
Bang—!
Do Yoon’s rear foot scraped the Octagon floor with explosive force.
Speed and power so immense they seemed to erase him from view.
In a single blink, Do Yoon drove into Zhang Hong’s embrace with bestial precision.
Zhang Hong’s eyes widened as he tried to drop his guard, but it was already too late.
Crack——!!
Do Yoon’s Left Hook drove straight through the space beneath Zhang Hong’s right ribs, burrowing into the liver with devastating accuracy.
“Gah……!”
The suffocating agony of stolen breath.
Zhang Hong’s torso folded forward involuntarily, his head guard falling wide open.
Do Yoon did not waste the opening.
The weight he drew from the ground spiraled through his hips, roaring up through his right shoulder in a devastating rotation.
Whissssh—!
Upward arc.
Do Yoon’s Right Uppercut crashed into Zhang Hong’s jaw with brutal finality.
Crack——!!
A sickening sound of impact that carried clearly all the way to the stands.
Zhang Hong’s unfocused body went rigid as a plank and toppled backward.
Thud!
The Referee rushed forward, throwing his body over Zhang Hong to stop the match.
Two strikes.
A flawless, devastating KO Victory—the impossible distance collapsed in a single breath.
Do Yoon spat out his blood-stained Mouthpiece and clenched his fist.
“Yeaaaaahhhhh!!”
A deafening roar and applause exploded from the crowd.
His heart felt like it would burst.
Seo Jun felt an overwhelming chill run through every fiber of his being.
A stage where one’s own strength could bridge an overwhelming gap and prove oneself.
The fierce world unfolding before his eyes shook Seo Jun’s soul with tremendous force.

* * *
That night.
Seo Jun’s mind churned with confusion as he returned home.
The image of Do Yoon shining atop the Octagon burned deep into his retina, refusing to fade.
‘I want to take fighting seriously.’
It wasn’t mere defense or revenge anymore.
He wanted to prove himself on that Octagon too. Choosing a career path meant exactly that.
But the wall of reality stood high.
An uncertain future, schoolwork, and a household slipping deeper into poverty.
Beep-beep-beep-beep—
The door lock chimed, and his exhausted mother stepped inside.
It was well past nine at night.
“Welcome home.”
“Yes. Has our son eaten?”
“I’ll set it out now. Go wash up.”
Seo Jun deftly warmed the stew and laid out the table.
This was the daily routine of a mother and son alone.
…….
As they sat facing each other eating, Seo Jun kept picking at his rice.
An expression unlike his usual self.
“Seo Jun, is something troubling you?”
His mother’s sharp question.
Seo Jun hesitated for a moment, then set down his spoon.
Because there were no secrets between them, he carefully opened his heart.
He left out the violent fight with the School Bully and instead reshaped the story, speaking of the emotions he’d felt while training at the Gym and how he’d watched the Coach’s Professional match today.
“Mom. About my Career Path……”
Deep anxiety threaded through Seo Jun’s voice.
The desire to do it, yet hesitation born of their circumstances.
His mother, who’d been listening quietly, broke into a warm smile.
“This fighting you speak of. Is it truly what you want?”
“My heart races. I want to keep going. But it costs so much, and you’re already struggling……”
“Why are you worrying about money?”
Her voice was firm.
His mother reached out her weathered hand and squeezed his tightly.
“You don’t need to force yourself down the path everyone else takes.”
“Mom……”
“School is fine, but I’d rather see my son pursue something that truly makes his heart race—without caring what others think. If it’s what you genuinely want, then throw yourself at it with everything you have.”
Something hot surged up from deep within his chest.
His mother had always been his greatest pillar of support.
‘I want to do this. No—I will do it.’
The murky fog lifted, and the path forward became clear.
All hesitation vanished completely.
Seo Jun nodded, fighting back tears as he drew strength from his mother’s words.
“Yes. I’m really going to give it everything I have.”
For the first time in his life, Seo Jun’s eyes burned with an intensity he’d never known, lit by a purpose he truly wanted to pursue.
Watching him, his mother smiled.
‘When did my boy grow up to be so fine?’
Watching her son grow into someone who no longer cowered and trembled in fear of his father’s violence filled her with a quiet pride.

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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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