I Thought I Was Bullying a Nobody, But He's a Martial Arts Genius - Chapter 70

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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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The Fighting Prodigy Nobody Knew 070
“Fight!”
Baek Seojun stepped into the center first.
Tap.
One step.
Then another.
The moment he moved to close the distance.
Snap!
Kang Tae Jin’s jab flicked at his face.
As Baek Seojun slipped his head, the opening below became exposed.
Crack!
Low Kick.
His thigh recoiled.
Baek Seojun pressed forward again.
Kang Tae Jin retreated half a step.
Just beyond the reach of Baek Seojun’s fist.
Snap!
Another jab.
Crack!
And again, a Low Kick.
Chase forward and he’d retreat.
Stop and he’d strike.
Baek Seojun rolled his left shoulder.
A jab Feint.
He twisted his hips as if throwing a right, committing his full weight.
Kang Tae Jin didn’t move.
Didn’t even blink.
‘He’s not taking it.’
Baek Seojun planted his front foot deeper than before.
The moment it landed.
Snap!
Kang Tae Jin’s jab pierced the tip of his nose.
He’d caught the instant Baek Seojun’s weight shifted forward.
Baek Seojun threw a right-hand Counter.
Whoosh!
Kang Tae Jin was already out of range.
Crack!
Retreating, he fired a Low Kick.
Another red mark bloomed across Baek Seojun’s left thigh.
[Kang Tae Jin is perfectly maintaining his distance!]
[Baek Seojun still hasn’t landed a clean Effective Strike!]
Baek Seojun exhaled sharply.
Another Feint.
No response.
One more.
Still nothing.
Kang Tae Jin wasn’t watching Baek Seojun’s hands.
The feet.
The knees.
The hips.
He tracked only the shift of weight.
And then.
Snap!
Thud!
Crack!
He struck only as much as necessary.
Baek Seojun’s left cheek flushed red.
His thigh already burned with heat.
Unable to bear the frustration, Baek Seojun rushed forward with everything.
Jab.
Right hand.
Thwack!
The first jab caught his guard.
The right hook met empty air.
Kang Tae Jin slipped back half a step, evading it.
Baek Seojun followed with a left hook.
Snap!
His forearm blocked that too.
Kang Tae Jin’s counter.
Thud!
A jab.
Baek Seojun’s head snapped back.
Immediately a front kick.
Crack!
His abdomen gave way.
Baek Seojun retreated two steps.
Kang Tae Jin didn’t follow.
Back to center.
The same stance as before.
The same expression as before.
Outside the Steel Cage.
Do Yun gritted his teeth.
“Damn it.”
He slammed the cage with his fist.
“He’s not giving an inch!”
Ryu Tae Hwan’s eyes narrowed sharply as well.
“Seojun! Don’t chase him! Cut him off with your footwork!”
Baek Seojun changed direction again.
But Kang Tae Jin’s front hand moved first.
Tap!
The Glove grazed inches from Seojun’s face.
Do Yun clicked his tongue.
“Is that bastard even human, or just a machine?”
Time remaining.
20 seconds.
Baek Seojun closed the distance again.
Kang Tae Jin slipped out.
Jab.
Low Kick.
Distance again.
It was the same.
Until the end.
Beeeep!
Round 1 over.
Baek Seojun walked back to his corner with his mouth shut tight.
His face flushed.
His left thigh burning with heat.
On the opposite side, Kang Tae Jin walked quietly to his corner, his breathing barely disturbed.
* * *
Beeeep!
Baek Seojun returned to his corner.
The moment he sat down, A Yeon pressed an Ice Pack to his left thigh.
“He’s more precise than we thought.”
A Yeon’s voice quickened.
“Kang Tae Jin’s mechanical responses are way sharper than the footage we saw. He’s constantly recalculating his distance based on your attack angles.”
The cold ice touched his overheated thigh.
Baek Seojun let out a short breath.
“Hhh…”
“He’s eliminated Counter timing entirely.”
Do Yun glared at Kang Tae Jin beyond the cage.
The opposite corner.
Kang Tae Jin sat still after taking a sip of water.
His breathing was barely disrupted.
“We need to adjust for the second Round.”
Do Yun said.
“Delay when we apply pressure, and check the Low Kick first—”
“No.”
Ryu Tae Hwan cut him off.
“If we wait, it’ll be his pace again.”
His expression had hardened as well.
“We need to cut angles wider from the opening move.”
“But then the Takedown exposure—”
That was when it happened.
“Heh.”
Do Yun’s words stopped.
Baek Seojun laughed.
Very briefly.
He removed his Mouthpiece and placed it in his palm.
“There’s no need to worry.”
A Yeon’s hand froze.
“What?”
Baek Seojun steadied his breathing twice, then looked toward the opposite corner.
“Everything in the first Round was within the parameters we simulated.”
His eyes were clear.
More than that—sharper than before the match began.
“All of it.”
Do Yun furrowed his brow.
“Hey. Do you even know how many Effective Strikes you took that entire Round?”
“I do.”
“And?”
Baek Seojun tapped his own left thigh.
“The distance the jab comes in at.”
Then he raised his right hand.
“The rhythm it connects to the Low Kick with.”
He set his foot tip lightly on the Mat and made a small movement.
“The angle he disappears from when I lunge forward.”
A Yeon’s eyes widened.
Baek Seojun continued.
“He doesn’t react to Feints.”
“He only strikes when my center actually shifts.”
Do Yun’s expression began to change slowly.
“No way.”
Baek Seojun nodded.
The first Round.
He kept watching, even as the blows landed.
Kang Tae Jin’s lead hand.
The height he recovered the jab from.
The stance he returned to after the Low Kick.
The angle he vanished into each time Baek Seojun pressed deep.
And the movement that always produced the same answer under the same conditions.
He’d learned it all with his body.
“The video didn’t show the subtle timing.”
Baek Seojun said.
“So I tested it directly.”
A Yeon looked at him while holding the Ice Pack.
“You used the entire first Round to… download data?”
Instead of answering, Baek Seojun put the Mouthpiece back in.
Click.
He stood up from his seat.
Ten seconds left.
The referee walked toward the center.
Do Yun gripped Baek Seojun’s shoulder.
“You read it?”
Baek Seojun glanced at Kang Tae Jin across from him.
Cold. Unwavering.
The champion rose, assuming the identical stance.
Baek Seojun’s lips curved upward, just barely.
“Data collection is complete.”
Five seconds.
Baek Seojun raised his guard.
“From this round on.”
He glanced once at Do Yun beyond the steel cage.
“I’m going to dismantle that machine’s rhythm.”
* * *
Beeeep!
Round 2 started.
Baek Seojun exploded forward.
Nothing like the first round.
He didn’t wait.
Tap.
Tap.
His lead foot consumed the center space with precision.
Footwork drilled ten thousand times against Ryu Tae Hwan.
Not following his opponent’s movements.
But cutting off their escape routes first.
Kang Tae Jin’s left hand moved.
Whack.
A jab.
The same distance control that had contained Baek Seojun all through the first round.
But not this time.
Slip.
Baek Seojun withdrew only his head.
The fist grazed past his cheek.
In the same instant, his left foot drove in at an angle.
Tap!
The direction Kang Tae Jin was about to retreat into.
Baek Seojun seized it first.
“…….”
Kang Tae Jin’s pupils trembled.
Barely perceptible.
Baek Seojun saw it.
‘There.’
Kang Tae Jin pivoted the other way.
Baek Seojun didn’t follow the spin.
He cut off the opposite exit immediately.
Tap!
Kang Tae Jin stopped dead.
Another jab.
Thud!
Baek Seojun slipped under it.
This wasn’t a counter.
He stepped straight into the pocket.
Thump!
Left body shot.
Kang Tae Jin’s elbow dropped.
Baek Seojun’s right hook answered.
Crack!
The guard shook violently.
[Baek Seojun is applying pressure!]
[He’s become a completely different fighter!]
Kang Tae Jin stepped back to create distance.
One step.
Baek Seojun cut off his path.
Right side.
Blocked.
Left side.
Baek Seojun’s foot moved in first again.
Clang!
Kang Tae Jin’s back touched the Steel Cage.
Kang Tae Jin’s eyes moved rapidly for the first time.
Distance for a jab.
None.
Distance for a Low Kick.
None.
Takedown angle.
Baek Seojun’s foot already controlled the outside.
Baek Seojun twisted his shoulder.
Thud!
Left hook.
Kang Tae Jin’s arms shielded his face.
Immediately below.
Crack!
Body Shot.
Kang Tae Jin’s abdomen folded inward.
Baek Seojun rose again.
Thud!
Right hook.
Guard shattered backward.
Kang Tae Jin’s feet tangled.
Tap.
Not the clean retreat he usually managed.
His breathing changed.
“Huff.”
Baek Seojun’s eyes flared wide.
It was the first time.
The moment Kang Tae Jin’s breathing broke.
Outside the Steel Cage.
Do Yun’s fists clenched tight.
“That’s it.”
A Yeon half-rose from her seat.
“Plan A just fell apart.”
Kang Tae Jin forced himself to slip right.
Baek Seojun was already there.
Tap!
Escape route cut off again.
Confusion flickered across Kang Tae Jin’s face for the first time.
Barely perceptible.
But unmistakable.
Baek Seojun exhaled low.
“Huh.”
And pressed forward again.
Thwack!
Body.
Thud!
Guard.
Crack!
Ribs.
Kang Tae Jin’s mechanically precise Footwork faltered.
His distance crumbled.
His breathing shattered.
The Algorithm that had dominated Baek Seojun throughout the first Round.
Right through its core.
Baek Seojun had thrown himself in bare-handed and was tearing everything apart.
Now it wasn’t Kang Tae Jin calculating Baek Seojun anymore.
Kang Tae Jin.
had begun following Baek Seojun’s movements.
* * *
Twenty seconds before the end of Round 2.
Baek Seojun pressed in again.
Crack!
Left Body Shot.
Kang Tae Jin’s elbow dropped.
Baek Seojun’s right hand sliced across it.
Boom—!!
Straight to the face.
Kang Tae Jin’s head snapped to the side.
Baek Seojun didn’t stop.
Left hook.
Bang!
Right hand.
Boom!
This time his guard came up too late.
Kang Tae Jin’s knees buckled for an instant.
“Ooooh!”
The crowd surged to their feet.
[It landed! Baek Seojun’s right hand!]
Kang Tae Jin staggered backward.
Steel Cage.
Nowhere left to run.
Baek Seojun chambered his fist again.
In that moment.
Kang Tae Jin hurled himself forward.
Jaw clenched.
Both arms wrapped around Baek Seojun’s waist.
Clinch.
It wasn’t to throw him.
A desperate scramble to kill time.
Baek Seojun drove an Underhook and tried to separate.
Kang Tae Jin clung to him with stubborn ferocity.
“Let go.”
Baek Seojun’s shoulders heaved.
Kang Tae Jin’s breath came ragged against his ear.
“Huff… huff….”
And then.
Wheeee—!
Round 2 over.
The crowd erupted.
“Baek Seojun!”
“Baek Seojun!”
“Baek Seojun!”
Baek Seojun stepped away and walked to his corner.
On the opposite side, Kang Tae Jin peeled himself from the Steel Cage a beat too slow.
It had been completely Baek Seojun’s Round.
* * *
The moment Baek Seojun sat in his chair, Do Yun gripped both his shoulders hard.
“Hell yeah, that’s it!”
Do Yun grinned, baring his teeth.
“Perfect! His whole system just got smashed!”
A Yeon wasn’t caught up in the excitement.
She wiped Baek Seojun’s face with a Towel and spoke immediately.
“Focus.”
On the Tablet screen, Kang Tae Jin’s movements replayed in slow motion.
“You saw it at the end, right?”
Baek Seojun nodded.
“The Clinch.”
“Exactly.”
A Yeon paused the footage.
Kang Tae Jin’s upper body dropping low.
“Once the distance collapses, he shifts his answer toward the ground game.”
Ryu Tae Hwan handed him a water bottle.
“Third Round, he’ll commit harder.”
Baek Seojun took a sip and spit it out.
Ryu Tae Hwan’s voice continued.
“He’s panicked right now.”
“If he can’t get back to long-range fighting,”
He gestured downward.
“mix in Takedowns without fail.”
Do Yun tapped Baek Seojun’s chest.
“Don’t miss the moment his upper body drops.”
A Yeon added, “The instant the Takedown motion appears—Uppercut.”

Baek Seojun listened without speaking.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
Sweat dripped from his jaw.
Drip.
Drip.
But his eyes had gone colder still.
The Whistle sounded.
Shrill!
“Seconds out!”
A Yeon removed the Ice Pack.
Do Yun slipped out through the Steel Cage.
Baek Seojun bit down on his Mouthpiece.
Click.
He rose to his feet.
He took a step forward.
Then stopped.
And turned back.
Do Yun.
A Yeon.
Ryu Tae Hwan.
Baek Seojun raised both Gloves.
Bang!
They collided hard.
“That’s all the advice I need.”
Do Yun’s smile faded.
Baek Seojun fixed his gaze on the center of the Cage.
Across from him.
Kang Tae Jin was rising as well.
Baek Seojun’s eyes blazed with a savage intensity.
“This Round,”
One step.
Forward.
“I’ll finish it.”

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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
—————