I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 51

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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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An Undefeated Fighting Prodigy, Unaware—Episode 051
Kuroda charged forward.
Do Yun’s body was driven toward the Steel Cage.
His right eye was soaked with blood.
Kuroda fixed his gaze there.
A thin hiss.
Along with a smile.
Whoosh!
His right hand swept in a broad arc.
Do Yun tried to slip his head away.
Too late.
Thwack!
The impact detonated across his Guard.
Then the left hand.
Thwack!
This time near the eye.
Do Yun pressed his arms tighter.
Kuroda didn’t relent.
He battered like a beast.
Fists.
Elbows.
Shoulders.
And sharp headbutts.
Thud.
Kuroda’s forehead grazed near Do Yun’s eye socket.
On the blind side of the Referee.
The angle was exquisitely subtle.
Do Yun’s face twisted.
More blood spilled.
Kuroda muttered something in Japanese.
Though Do Yun didn’t know the words, he saw the sneer.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Punches cascaded down.
Do Yun didn’t counterattack.
He pressed both arms across his face.
His elbows locked against his chin.
His forehead lowered.
His body coiled tight and round.
The Turtle Guard.
Inside the Guard was darkness.
Outside, fists kept falling.
Thwack!
His forearms.
Thwack!
Beside his temples.
Thwack!
The wound itself.
Do Yun’s body trembled.
But it didn’t break.
From beyond the Steel Cage, Tae Soo shouted.
“Coach! You have to get out of there!”
A Yeon’s voice overlapped with his.
“Do Yun! Protect your eyes!”
Baek Seojun said nothing.
He was watching the scene unfold.
This wasn’t the Do Yun he knew.
The one who always pushed forward, driving through opponents.
The one who always broke his rivals apart.
That man was cowering now.
Do Yun clenched his teeth inside the Guard.
Kuroda’s fist struck his arm.
Then again.
Between those impacts, another memory surfaced.
Baek Seojun.
A face smeared with blood.
Eyes split at the lids.
Against Hwang Dae Gun.
His own voice.
‘Stay sharp! If the bleeding doesn’t stop, the Referee will halt it!’
Back then, he’d shouted.
To endure.
To push through.
To devour your own past.
Do Yun’s mouth twisted.
‘Hah.’
Kuroda’s fist fell again.
Thud!
The wound trembled.
‘I asked him to do.’
This time to the body.
Thud!
His breath came in sharp, ragged gasps.
‘Something impossibly difficult.’
Baek Seojun had endured it.
Bled while watching.
Never quit even under the barrage.
And he won.
Do Yun’s jaw clenched.
Crack.
‘My student managed it.’
Kuroda’s hook landed over the Guard.
Bang!
Do Yun’s body struck the Steel Cage.
‘If the master crumbles here.’
His feet dug deep into the Mat.
‘I’d be disgraced.’
Kuroda drove his head forward again.
Butting.
Do Yun raised his elbow this time.
Kuroda’s forehead caught the crook of his arm.
“Tsk.”
Kuroda’s face contorted.
Do Yun didn’t counterattack in that opening.
He couldn’t see it.
The distance had collapsed.
If he threw anything now, he’d get hit harder.
So he endured.
With sheer will.
His arms went numb.
His shoulders burned.
Blood ran to the corner of his mouth.
Still he didn’t lower his arms.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Kuroda pressed harder.
Do Yun held firm.
He didn’t retreat an inch.
Ding!
The bell rang to end the first Round.
The Referee moved in immediately.
“Break! Corner!”
Kuroda retreated backward.
He raised his hands to provoke the crowd.
A roar erupted from the Japanese spectators.
Uooooh—!
Do Yun slowly lowered his guard.
His face was covered in blood.
Blood trickled from the corner of his right eye.
His lip was split open.
His forearms were swollen and flushed.
He passed by Kuroda.
His gait was heavy.
But he didn’t fall.
Team Jugjak corner.
A Yeon gripped a towel and pressed herself against the steel cage.
“Do Yun! Come here, quick!”

* * *
Do Yun walked to the corner.
Blood continued to flow from his right eye.
Down his jaw.
Dripping onto his chest.
Then he heard laughter behind him.
It was Kuroda.
The man leaned against the steel cage, watching Do Yun’s back.
He muttered something in Japanese, his voice low.
The words came fast.
Do Yun didn’t catch it all.
But one thing registered.
Short.
Sticky.
A word that burrowed into his ear.
Do Yun’s steps faltered for just a moment.
His shoulders tensed.
Kuroda kept laughing.
His mouth twisted upward as though it might split.
The referee stepped between them.
“Corner! Corner!”
Do Yun turned without a word.
He moved into the Team Jugjak corner.
“Sit!”
A Yeon pulled the stool forward.
Do Yun dropped into it heavily.
A towel was pressed to his face at once.
Tae Soo raised a water bottle.
“Rinse your mouth!”
Do Yun took the water in.
He spat it out mixed with blood.
Baek Seojun handed him an ice pack.
A Yeon examined his eye socket.
“Don’t move.”
The hemostatic agent touched the wound.
Do Yun’s brow furrowed.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s fine.”
“Fine? There’s nothing fine about this.”
A Yeon’s hands moved faster.
Wiping blood with the towel.
Pressing ice against the cut.
Applying the hemostatic again.
Tae Soo kept watching the clock.
“Forty seconds left!”
Baek Seojun held Do Yun’s shoulders.
“Can you see, Coach?”
Do Yun looked at Baek Seojun with his left eye.
“One side.”
“What about depth perception?”
Do Yun didn’t answer.
A Yeon spoke instead.
“This isn’t the time to assess. Keep your head fixed forward as much as possible. Don’t throw big hooks. Keep them short and crisp.”
Tae Soo handed him water again.
“Twenty seconds!”
It was even more chaotic than the waiting room.
Towel.
Ice.
Hemostatic agent.
Water.
Mouthpiece.
Every hand was on Do Yun.
Do Yun sat motionless.
Only his breathing came shallow and low.
His gaze was fixed on the opposite corner.
Kuroda was still smiling.
As if there had been no foul at all.
As if everything was unfolding according to his plan.
“Second out!”
An attendant gestured.
A Yeon pressed near Do Yun’s eye one last time.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Do Yun only nodded.
A Yeon started to say more, then closed her mouth.
She stepped back out of the Cage.
Baek Seojun gathered the ice pack and towel.
He looked at Do Yun once more.
“Coach.”
Do Yun answered briefly.
“Go.”
Baek Seojun clenched his teeth and left.
Tae Soo picked up the mouthpiece last.
“Here’s your mouthpiece.”
As Tae Soo handed it over, Do Yun took it in his mouth.
Tae Soo was about to gather the water bottle and leave.
Then.
Do Yun’s hand seized Tae Soo’s wrist.
Tight.
Tae Soo froze.
“Yes?”
Do Yun didn’t lift his head.
He asked quietly.
“You speak some Japanese, don’t you?”
Tae Soo’s face hardened.
His feet, which had been about to leave the Cage, stopped.
“A little.”
“What does this mean?”
Do Yun repeated the word he’d heard from Kuroda.
A short Japanese word.
Clumsy pronunciation.
Tae Soo’s pupils trembled.
“…Why are you asking?”
Do Yun’s grip tightened.
“Tell me.”
Tae Soo instinctively glanced around.
A Yeon was already watching the doctor and the Referee from outside the Cage.
Baek Seojun was glaring at Kuroda from beyond the Steel Cage.
Neither of them had heard.
Tae Soo spoke quietly.
“We’re in the middle of a match right now. This isn’t the time to worry about…….”
“Speak.”
Do Yun’s voice had gone flat.
Tae Soo’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Coach.”
“Tell me.”
Do Yun slowly raised his head.
One eye was wet with blood.
The other eye had gone cold as ice.
Tae Soo swallowed hard.
“It’s…….”
“Hurry.”
Tae Soo clenched his teeth.
“It’s a derogatory term. Sexual degradation of women.”
Do Yun’s hands went still.
Tae Soo added, barely audible.
“Extremely vulgar slang.”
A brief silence.
The roar from outside the Cage seemed to fade.
Do Yun slowly turned his head.
Toward the opposite Corner.
He looked at Kuroda.
Blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth dripped below his chin.
Plop.
All expression drained from Do Yun’s face.
It wasn’t calm.
It was cold.
So cold it made breathing difficult.
Tae Soo instinctively stepped back.
Then an announcer shouted louder.
“Second Out!”
Tae Soo hurriedly pulled his wrist free from Do Yun’s grip.
“Coach.”
Do Yun didn’t answer.
He slowly got to his feet.
His face caked with blood.
One eye flushed red.
But his body didn’t waver.
Tae Soo scrambled out of the Cage.
Clang.
The door shut.
Do Yun slowly picked up his Mouthpiece.
Blood was smeared on his fingertips.
He didn’t care.
He shoved the Mouthpiece into his mouth.
Click.
His jaw locked into place.
Across the way.
Kuroda was still smiling.
A sneer leaked from between his split lips.
Do Yun’s eyes narrowed to slits.
‘How dare you.’
Blood trickled down past his right eye.
‘You called my sister——’
By that name.
Kuroda.
That bastard.
A low breath escaped from Do Yun’s throat.
The thread of reason snapped quietly.

* * *
Outside the Cage.
A Yeon grabbed Tae Soo at once.
“What was that?”
Tae Soo’s words froze.
A Yeon’s eyes had turned cold.
“What did Do Yun just ask you?”
Tae Soo clenched his teeth.
“He asked what the Japanese word meant.”
“What does it mean?”
Tae Soo glanced at Kuroda briefly.
Then he spoke quietly.
“It’s a word for sexually degrading a woman.”
The expression drained from A Yeon’s face.
Tae Soo added even more softly.
“It looked like Kuroda… probably said it while looking in your direction.”
A Yeon didn’t answer.
She only stared into the Octagon.
Kuroda.
And Do Yun.
The towel in her hand crumpled slowly.
Baek Seojun had heard it too.
His fists hardened.
“That son of a bitch….”
Then Do Yun’s stance shifted.
Baek Seojun’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Do Yun lowered his Guard.
His arms, which had been closed like a textbook, dropped.
He didn’t fully hide his chin.
His weight shifted forward.
His feet spread wide.
His back curved low.
Like a beast about to tear into its prey.
Tae Soo gasped.
“Why are you dropping your Guard? Coach, you can’t even see out of one eye right now!”
A Yeon shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was low.
“That’s actually Do Yun’s real original style.”
Baek Seojun looked at A Yeon.
A Yeon didn’t take her eyes off Do Yun.
“The textbook Boxing he learned came later.”
Do Yun’s feet scraped against the Mat.
“This is how Do Yun used to fight.”
Forward.
Ever forward.
A style that tears through even when hit.
Before breaking an opponent with technique.
A fight that destroys first with pressure.
A Yeon’s eyes froze like ice.
“Kuroda crossed a line he shouldn’t have.”
The Referee checked both fighters.
Kuroda twisted his mouth into a smirk.
He saw Do Yun’s stance and his grin widened.
A madman without a guard.
An opponent with an injured eye.
It should have looked easy.
Ding!
The bell for Round 2 sounded.
Kuroda walked out slowly.
Guard raised.
Shoulders rolling.
And just as his mouth opened again—
Do Yun disappeared from across the ring.
No—he launched.
Bang!
His foot struck the mat like it would shatter it.
Do Yun’s body stayed low.
Blood leaked from one eye.
But his speed hadn’t diminished.
If anything, it had quickened.
Bestial.
Kuroda’s eyes widened.
He rushed his guard up.
Too late.
Do Yun’s right shoulder opened wide.
No precision.
No calculation.
A Full Swing.
A Right Hook thrown with his whole body.
The air tore open.
Whoosh!
Kuroda stumbled backward.
His guard braced.
Do Yun’s fist fell upon it.
Crack!!
Like a cannonball detonating.
Kuroda’s arms collapsed backward, his hands driven into his face.
His body lurched violently to the side.
The Steel Cage caught his back.
Thud!
The Spectator Seating’s jeers cut off in an instant.
Do Yun didn’t stop.
With tears of blood streaming down his face.
Like a savage beast baring its fangs.
He was already drawing back his next punch.

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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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