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5. Changgong Lee VS Hwanseong Jung <2>
Changgong dropped to the floor, unable to stand the pain.
‘Ugh……!’
It felt like he couldn’t breathe. He had forgotten about kicks for a moment there.
There was nothing he could do if he got hit in the body. Not only was he hit during his inhale, he was also hit right on his upper abdomen.
Hwanseong looked impeccable as he took a side mount on Changgong, moving quickly into a full mount before beginning his pounding.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Changgong couldn’t regain his balance because of his abdominal pain and got beaten helplessly.
It seemed that the term genius wasn’t used haphazardly. Hwanseong was in no hurry and got clean hits in one by one.
‘Wow, fuck……!’
He couldn’t think straight.
He had thought Hwanseong was too easy.
MMA fighters train in boxing, too. Hitting was inevitable, and punches were the main source.
He did feel something was off when Hwanseong had given slight openings to Changgong’s punches, but he had continued because there would still be some damage. But Changgong realized that Hwanseong had been reading into his punching pattern.
If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to get such a nice timing to his knee kick.
Smack! Smack!
‘Wow. This bastard is seriously strong.”
His punches and kicks are strong. Everything’s strong. He couldn’t believe that Hwanseong was one weight class under him.
In the end, Changgong could only wrap his hands around his head as a guard. Hwanseong had no worry as he continued his pounding.
“Give up?”
“No!”
Hyukchan looked at Kiryong. He was going to end the match.
Kiryong nodded his head.
It was just when Hyukchan was about to stop the match.
Thump!
“……!”
Hwanseong flew off to the side.
Changgong had thrown Hwanseong off with a bounce of his hips from the lying position.
“Oh……!”
The coaches exclaimed.
That was a tremendous amount of stomach and back strength. He actually threw off a full grown man at about 75 kg with the bridge.
Changgong jumped up and ran at Hwanseong like a bull and clinched him. He pushed him into the cage and threw a punch.
Hwanseong, even with his back to the cage, threw a punch, too.
Smack, smack, smack! Smack, smack! Smack! Smack!
It was a slugfest.
The body hits from before still had an effect on Changgong, and he could not use his legs or upper body like he wanted to. Naturally, his punches had less power and he had a harder time dodging.
But he still punched. That was the best he could do. If he stopped, he would be finished.
Because Changgong was throwing punches randomly, Hwanseong couldn’t get in any kind of special move. He wasn’t going to stand their getting hit, so he could only hit back.
However, Hwanseong was faster and more accurate.
Bam!
Hwanseong’s left hook hit Changgong directly on his chin.
Changgong went weak at the knees and fell on his butt. Hwanseong threw his body at Changgong as he struggled to get up.
“Turn to your side! You can’t lie on your back!”
Dongsub yelled out in hysteria.
Changgong did as Dongsub said and turned to the side. It seemed as if he would be able to crawl up from the ground, but Hwanseong caught him by the ankle.
Changgong fell on his face. Hwanseong climbed onto Changgong’s back and performed a triangle choke, dragging them back to the ground. He then pounded on Changgong’s face.
‘This fucker……!’
Changgong could only curse as Hwanseong stuck to him like a leech.
Changgong stood with Hwanseong hanging off of him. He was planning on lying down backwards and crushing him.
“No! You can’t lie down! Bend forward!”
Dongsub yelled out in fear.
The octagon floor was pliant. He wouldn’t be able to break the triangle using the floor. He would have to bend forward to make Hwanseong fall off naturally.
But Changgong lied down.
Slam!
Hwanseong got crushed into the floor.
But as predicted, the flexible floor absorbed the impact. Hwanseong wrapped his arm around Changgong’s neck into a rear naked choke.
“Turn your head!”
Dongsub yelled.
He would have to protect at least one side of his carotid arteries. Considering Changgong’s strength, he would be able to break out of the choke if he just did that.
It was too late. Hwanseong accurately trapped Changgong’s arteries in between his bicep and forearm.
Changgong grimaced.
This was it. He was caught completely.
‘God, shit……!’
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
‘I still have energy.’
Squeeze.
Hwanseong’s arms tightend around Changgong’s neck. Changgong saw stars.
Finally, Changgong could take it no longer and tapped out.
“The match is over!”
Hyukchan pat Hwanseong on the back.
However, Hwanseong did not loosen his hold.
“Kid! It’s over! Let go!”
“……What’s wrong with him?”
Changgong’s head and arms fell. He had fainted.
A shocked Hyukchan tried to rip Hwanseong’s arms off. But Hwanseong still held his choke.
“Break your hold!!”
Kiryong shouted.
Finally, Hwanseong let go of his hold in surprise.
……
A heavy silence fell upon the gym.
Slap!
The sound of a slap rang out throughout the gym.
Slap!
It rang again.
Slap!
Kiryong slapped Hwanseong three times in a row and glared at him as if he was going to destroy him.
“Do you know what you just did?”
“……”
“You choked the kiddo for 3 more seconds after he tapped out. Do you know what that means?”
“……”
“Answer!”
Slap!
Kiryong swung another thunderous slap.
Hwanseong’s face was already filled with bruises here and there.
It wasn’t because of Kiryong’s slaps. The spots Changgong had hit were slowly swelling up.
“Master, please stop. Hwanseong probably acted like that because he was over-excited.”
Dongsub spoke as he approached Kiryong.
“The regular members will be coming soon. Hwanseong should know what he did was wrong already, so please calm down.”
“……Pathetic fool.”
Kiryong turned swiftly and left. Hwanseong stood standing with his head down as if he was nailed into place.
“Are you okay?”
“……”
“Your actions would bring severe punishment. I won’t say much. Sincerely apologize to Changgong later.”
Hwanseong left the room without answering.
“That rude jerk, ignoring his elder.”
Daeseung, the light heavyweight who had been watching the exchange, muttered in disapproval.
“Leave it. He’s probably in shock.”
“Who cares if he’s in shock. He dug his own grave. Did he just start or something? Why continue choking after a tap?”
Daeseung complained, but said no more.
Hwanseong’s feelings must be in chaos.
The fighter called genius by people everywhere just had a lousy fight against a beginner who hadn’t even debuted yet. He even got so excited that he continued choking his tapped out opponent. He must be feeling great shame.
Plus, he had been slapped three times by his father. It was as if he was being punished for trying to help Changgong spar.
“How’s Changgong?”
Dongsub spoke.
“……He doesn’t look too good.”
Doyoon spoke.
“Not good?”
“You should see for yourself.”
***
Changgong was lying askance in the resting room.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck……!’
He lost.
After acting like he was all that, he had gotten pummelled and even fainted. He couldn’t have been more of a disgrace.
He felt ashamed.
He couldn’t even last the first round. Even if his opponent was a pro, he was a rookie who only had 4 matches. And he was one weight class lower and not even in his best condition.
Changgong, however, had built up his body.
‘Champion my ass…… So embarrassing.’
He felt like he would wake up kicking his blankets in embarrassment. This would last for half a year.
Click. Dongsub opened the door and came in then.
Changgong flinched.
“Are you okay?”
“……Did you come to make fun of me?”
“Why would I make fun of you, kid?”
“Because I lost.”
“You thought you were going to win?”
“I didn’t just lose. I got hit and even fainted.”
Dongsub scoffed loudly.
“Kid, Hwanseong is a X-1 ranker. You did amazingly against a kid like that.”
“But he’s in a lower weight class than I am. And he’s in normal condition.”
“Hwanseong’s a guy who started training ever since he was seven years old. They may call him genius, but you sure put up a good fight considering you only started roughly three months ago.”
“……”
That did make sense.
Changgong had trained a little bit and knew how the cogs spun in this world. Even if someone was called a genius, there was no one who could cause a stir right from the beginning.
But a loss was still a loss, and frustration was still frustration.
“Frustrated?”
“Of course I’m frustrated. I should have crushed that prick’s face.”
Changgong smacked the bed.
“Don’t forget that feeling and move forward. You have half a month now. Let’s think about getting good results in the grand prix first.”
“……Yes.”
“Go home early and rest for today. Rest a little longer here if you’re dizzy.”
Dongsub closed the door as he left.
Changgong stuffed his face into the pillow.
“Sigh……”
Jeez, I actually lost.
***
Time passed quickly and it was the day before the Golden Glove Grand Prix.
Changgong was not training at all. He stretched to make sure his body stayed loose and kept his senses alert by lightly hitting the sandbags.
“How do you feel?”
The youngest coach/athlete Doyoon asked as he held the sandbag for Changgong.
“About what?”
“Your debut match is tomorrow.”
“I don’t feel anything. It’s not like it’s going to get broadcast on TV.”
“And your condition?”
“My condition is good.”
Doyoon gave a content smile at Changgong’s confidence.
“Dongsub and I are going to be your seconds tomorrow. We’ll probably tell you again when it’s time, but always keep your ears open when you’re in the octagon.”
“Yes.”
“Is Changgong here?”
Dongsub suddenly came out of the office and spoke.
“I’m here.”
“Come in for a second.”
Changgong ran to the office.
“You matched your weight, right?”
“Yes, exactly 77 kg.”
“Good job. Okay, sit down here for a bit.”
Dongsub sat Changgong down next to him and played a video on the laptop.
“What is it? Porn?”
“……”
“……It was a joke.”
It was a match clip of his first opponent, Kisub Kim.
“I should have gotten this earlier, but I was so busy that I only just got it now. This clip shows Kisub’s characteristics the most.”
Changgong’s eyes sparkled.
He had already heard all about Kisub’s tactics and style from Dongsub, but seeing them was completely different.
The clip didn’t show anything special. Just as he was told, Kisub leaned towards a grappler, with a base in jiu jitsu or sambo, but his hitting wasn’t too bad either. Putting it nicely, he was an all-rounder, or, putting it badly, he was just whatever in both striking and on the ground.
“How is it?”
“What?”
“Don’t you feel anything?”
“It just feels like he does a little of everything.”
“You’ll lose for sure if you go to the ground. You’ll have to beat him at hitting, but his standing is pretty good, so it won’t be easy.”
“……”
“Let’s watch it again.”
Watching the match again, it really was just as Dongsub said. He wasn’t especially good at anything, but he wasn’t bad either. He was sturdy, and his hitting senses weren’t too bad either.
You could say that this guy’s upgraded version was Hwanseung Jung. Changgong got angry just from thinking about him.
“He’s textbook, this guy. The annoying part about guys like this is that they can adjust to whoever they’re against.”
“He certainly is the type to make his matches boring.”
“Give him a fukashi.”
“Fukashi?”
“Yeah, a bluff. You’re a true noob.”
“Thank you very berry much for confirming that.”
“Focus a little.”
“Okay, anyways?”
“You basically fake it. Pretend you’re going to tackle. Pretend you’re going to grapple.”
Changgong gave a sideways glance.
“Don’t look at me like that, kid. You’re supposed to use everything you can to win.”
“No, no, it sounds good.”
“……Really?”
“Act like I’m going to tackle and then smack him right in the chin! Not bad.”
“……”
“Actually, that’s not it. Isn’t there a way to cheat without getting caught? Do you think it would be obvious if I pinched his nipples during a clinch?”
“……”
“Hey, don’t be like that. Teach me a few tricks. We have to win, right?”
Changgong elbowed Dongsub’s side.
Dongsub seriously worried that he had gone too easy on Changgong from the start.