I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 41

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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 41
Lee Woo Sung pressed down hard.
It wasn’t mere weight settling atop him.
The moment Seo Jun’s right arm tried to move, Lee Woo Sung deadened his wrist.
When his left knee pushed inward, Lee Woo Sung barricaded it with his hip.
The instant Seo Jun attempted to buck his hips free, Lee Woo Sung drove his head down, tucking it beneath his chin.
He’d even erased the space to breathe.
“Ugh.”
Seo Jun twisted his body.
Just as he’d drilled.
Frame from one side.
Hip Escape.
Knee insertion.
But Lee Woo Sung had already anticipated the move, sealing off that avenue first.
Different from Oh Geon Woo.
Different from Choi Tae San.
This wasn’t the relentless one-directional pressure of a pure Wrestler.
This was Ground Control honed through years grinding in Mixed Martial Arts.
Every path where the opponent might rise.
Every angle to counterattack.
Every opening to recover breath.
Each one methodically sealed.
Thunk!
A short burst of Pounding drove into the space beside Seo Jun’s ear.
It wasn’t heavy.
But it was precise.
Thunk!
This time his cheekbone.
Seo Jun’s head turned slightly from the impact.
Lee Woo Sung hadn’t wound up large.
He hadn’t opened his guard.
He hadn’t compromised his position.
Short strikes.
Then press down again.
Strike.
Lock it back down.
[Lee Woo Sung shows tremendous composure! Rather than forcing a finish, he’s methodically cutting off Seo Jun’s escape routes first!]
[That’s the Ground Control of an elite All-rounder. Each Pounding lands only where his position remains uncompromised!]
Seo Jun drove his elbows inward.
In that instant, Lee Woo Sung’s knee blocked his thigh.
He tried to stand.
Lee Woo Sung’s hips descended, anchoring him.
He rolled toward the Iron Fence.
Lee Woo Sung’s hand pressed down on his shoulder.
Like quicksand.
Each movement only pulled him deeper.
Do Yoon’s voice exploded from Team Jugjak’s corner.
“Frame! Get your neck clear first!”
Seo Jun pushed against Lee Woo Sung’s neck with his right arm.
Lee Woo Sung’s head lifted momentarily.
In that sliver of opportunity, Seo Jun drove his hips up to escape.
But Lee Woo Sung’s left hand snagged his wrist instantly.
Bang!
He slammed him back down onto the Mat.
“Underhook break! Inside! Start from the inside!”
Seo Jun pried his arm free.
Lee Woo Sung’s shoulder dropped first.
His arm went dead.
“To the Cage! Get your feet in! Your feet first!”
Seo Jun’s toes found the Iron Fence.
Before it could land, Lee Woo Sung shifted his angle.
Seo Jun’s back was driven toward the center again.
Do Yoon’s face twisted in fury.
“Damn it…….”
The instructions hadn’t been wrong.
Seo Jun had heard them clearly.
The escape technique was sound.
But Lee Woo Sung was one beat faster every time.
No—he was intercepting each move before it could even begin.
Thwack!
Another short punch landed and withdrew.
Seo Jun’s lip split open.
He tasted blood.
He didn’t close his eyes.
Lee Woo Sung’s shoulders.
His wrists.
His knees.
His hips.
He tried to track them all.
But the pressure bearing down from above looked different.
No distance.
Angles too tight.
His breath came short.
Time stretched thin.
Seo Jun’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Lee Woo Sung wasn’t rushing.
The occasional sharp jab.
Then pressing down again.
The crowd’s cheers had shifted into anxious murmurs.
“Get up!”
“Seo Jun!”
“He’s been pinned too long!”
Do Yoon shouted again.
“Seo Jun! Don’t give up your hips! Keep moving!”
Seo Jun gritted his teeth.
He moved.
But Lee Woo Sung pressed down again.
Like a heavy door closing from above.
Ding!
The bell for the end of Round 1 sounded.
The Referee immediately stepped in.
“Break! Corner!”
Lee Woo Sung rose slowly to his feet.
Seo Jun lay on the Mat, drawing in deep, gasping breaths.
His lungs opened reluctantly.
Fire burned through his chest.
The scoreboard lit up with the statistics.
<Round 1 Ground Control Time>
<Lee Woo Sung: 3 minutes 30 seconds>
The crowd stirred with tension.
[Seo Jun’s first-round knockout streak has been broken!]
[For the first time since his debut, he advances to Round 2!]
[He was pinned to the ground for 3 minutes 30 seconds of the 5-minute Round. Extreme energy expenditure!]
[Seo Jun is in maximum danger!]
Seo Jun returned to his Corner with Do Yoon’s support.
His legs felt heavy.
His arms sluggish.
Lee Woo Sung sat quietly in the opposite Corner.
His breathing barely disrupted.
Seo Jun watched him.
And for the first time, he knew it for certain.
This fight.
Was nothing like what came before.

* * *
Seo Jun slumped into the corner chair.
The moment his back touched the seat, his chest heaved violently.
“Hah… hah….”
His breathing was ragged.
Only the first round had ended.
Yet his body already felt heavy, as if he’d been running for hours.
Sweat fell like rain from his jaw.
His shoulders.
His neck.
His back.
He was drenched everywhere.
Lee Woo Sung’s pressure still lingered on him—a weight that wouldn’t lift.
The crushing mass against his chest.
The head wedged beneath his chin.
The hands grinding his wrists.
The path closing shut each time he tried to rise.
Seo Jun worked his mouthpiece free slightly.
He drew in a deeper breath.
Still his lungs didn’t feel full.
Do Yoon sat down in front of him.
Snap.
A light tap across his cheek.
“Stay with me.”
Seo Jun’s eyes barely focused on Do Yoon.
“Yeah….”
“You got played.”
Do Yoon’s voice was quick and low.
“Lee Woo Sung never intended to strike with you straight up—not for a second.”
Seo Jun swallowed hard.
The words didn’t land immediately.
His head was hot and heavy.
Tae Su wiped his neck and shoulders with a towel from behind.
Ah Yeon held a water bottle.
“Rinse your mouth.”
Seo Jun took in water and spat it out.
Red water fell into the bucket.
Do Yoon didn’t pause.
“That Boxing Exchange at the start? That wasn’t a fight. It was bait. He was reading you.”
Seo Jun panted, his eyes fixed on Do Yoon.
“Bait….”
“Right.”
Do Yoon’s finger pointed toward Lee Woo Sung.
“Your opponent has no intention of stepping into the mud where you’re strongest.”
“Striking….”
“Exactly.”
Do Yoon’s gaze turned cold.
“You read your opponent’s rhythm in striking exchanges and destroy them with counters. Lee Woo Sung knows that. So he’s not going to drag this out in a straight striking war.”
Seo Jun’s eyes flickered toward Lee Woo Sung.
Lee Woo Sung sat in the opposite corner.
His second was applying ice and handing him water.
But his breathing was steady.
Far steadier than Seo Jun’s.
Do Yoon pulled Seo Jun’s focus back.
“Lee Woo Sung is squeezing your air out, drawing on every ounce of his experience—driven by nothing but the will to win, no matter what.”
The words reached him.
But it took time for the reality to sink in.
Seo Jun tried to nod.
His neck felt heavy.
His chest continued to heave as though being torn apart.
“Haa… haa….”
Tae Su reached for the towel and hesitated.
Seo Jun’s shoulders were rising and falling far too dramatically.
His hands moved slower than usual.
His eyes were still alive.
But his body was lagging.
On the verge of complete exhaustion.
Tae Su’s expression hardened.
“Coach.”
Do Yoon already knew.
“Don’t say it.”
Tae Su closed his mouth.
Saying anything now would only shake Seo Jun further.
Ah Yeon pressed an ice pack against the back of Seo Jun’s neck.
“Breathe deeply. In through your nose, out through your mouth.”
Seo Jun tried to follow her lead.
But his breathing kept breaking into short, jagged gasps.
Three minutes and thirty seconds pinned on the ground.
That time was not merely time.
It was time that had devoured the oxygen in his body.
Time that had filled his arms and legs with lead.
Tae Su brought a water bottle to Seo Jun’s lips.
“Just a little.”
Seo Jun swallowed the water.
His throat burned.
There was not much that could be done from the corner.
Hydration.
Ice.
A few short words.
And sending him back into the Cage.
Do Yoon looked straight into Seo Jun’s eyes.
“Listen to me.”
Seo Jun raised his head with effort.
“If the second Round goes the same way, you’ll be pinned again.”
The words struck cold and hard.
“Then it’s over. You don’t need a Knockout to lose. Your hands will be dead from the exhaustion.”
Seo Jun’s hands slowly dried against his knees.
Do Yoon leaned his face closer.
“So you have to cut off the initial entry.”
“The… initial entry.”
“That’s right. Before the Takedown comes, before you clinch, before your center drops.”
Do Yoon’s eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
“You read it first.”
A signal sounded to announce ten seconds remaining.
Tap-tap-tap!
Seo Jun was still breathing hard.
Tae Su rolled up the towel.
Ah Yeon handed him his Mouthpiece again.
“You can do this.”
Seo Jun bit down on the Mouthpiece.
Do Yoon gave his chest one final strike with his fist.
“Get your breath back first.”
Seo Jun rose slowly to his feet.
His legs felt heavy.
But his eyes turned back toward Lee Woo Sung.

* * *
One minute was far too short.
The corner time evaporated in an instant.
“Seconds out!”
The Referee’s voice echoed through the Octagon.
Do Yoon held Seo Jun’s gaze until the very end.
“Breathe deep.”
Seo Jun nodded.
“Yes.”
Ah Yeon gathered the Water Bottle and stepped back.
Tae Su clutched the Towel, reluctant to let go.
“Listen, Seo Jun.”
Seo Jun looked at him.
Tae Su opened his mouth to speak, then clenched his teeth.
“Hold on.”
Seo Jun answered curtly.
“Yes.”
The Cage door swung shut.
Click.
The sound seemed unnaturally loud.
The Team Jugjak crew had all filed out.
Only Seo Jun remained in the Octagon.
His breathing was still ragged.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
His throat burned, and his arms felt leaden.
Even his legs seemed weighted with lead.
Round One.
Three minutes and thirty seconds.
All that time spent pinned to the ground still clung to his body.
Seo Jun clenched his Mouthpiece between his teeth.
His jaw tightened.
Across from him.
Lee Woo Sung rose as well.
He was unhurried.
When his Second removed the Ice Pack from his shoulder, he stepped forward slowly, deliberately.
His breathing was controlled.
His eyes didn’t waver.
As if the first Round had been nothing at all.
Seo Jun watched him.
‘A monster.’
A different kind of monster than Hwang Dae Geon.
Not a monster that raged with burning intensity.
But a monster that slowly, methodically choked the life out of you.
Then Do Yoon’s voice erupted from beyond the Iron Fence.
“Seo Jun!”
Seo Jun’s head turned sharply.
Do Yoon’s face was desperate.
He gripped the Iron Fence and shouted.
“Don’t let yourself get dragged to the ground, no matter what!”
His voice cut through the roar of the crowd.
“Lee Woo Sung’s Ground Control isn’t something you’re ready for yet!!”
Those words hurt.
But they were true.
Seo Jun already knew it.
His body had learned it in the first Round.
Lee Woo Sung’s top position was a quicksand.
Once you sank in, you were trapped from ankles to waist.
The more you struggled, the deeper you went.
If he got pinned again now.
He might not have the strength to get back up.
Seo Jun bit down on his lip.
The taste of blood bloomed faintly.
He nodded toward Do Yoon.
“Yes.”
The word came quietly.
But it was clear.
Do Yoon clenched his teeth.
“Cut off the initial rush!”
Seo Jun faced forward again.
He dragged his heavy legs toward the center.
One step.
The Mat felt solid beneath him.
Another step.
His breathing began to lengthen.
He raised his guard.
Fighting Pose.
His shoulders still felt heavy.
But his eyes hadn’t dimmed.
Lee Woo Sung walked toward the center as well.
His stance was low.
Front foot planted deep, weight anchored.
Fists raised, yet his body coiled, ready to dive low at any instant.
Striking.
Clinch.
Takedown.
Every option was alive.
Seo Jun dug his toes into the Mat.
He wouldn’t run.
But he wouldn’t be caught either.
He had to find the space between.
[Round 2 is now beginning.]
The commentator’s voice dropped lower.
[Seo Jun is entering the second Round for the first time since his debut.]
[This is completely uncharted territory. Stamina, experience, mentality—everything is on the line.]
The crowd held its breath.
The roaring fervor from moments before had faded into a low, tense murmur.
Everyone knew.
This Round mattered.
Whether Seo Jun would rise.
Or sink back into the mire.
The Referee checked both fighters in turn.
Lee Woo Sung’s eyes were cold.
Seo Jun’s eyes were worn.
But he didn’t back down.
The Referee’s hand lifted.
That hand cut through the air.
“Fight!”
Round 2.
The unknown frontier of Seo Jun’s fighting career opened before him.

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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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