After the tournament, Byeoto, Taehun, and Dowoon were walking down the street together. The atmosphere was strangely quiet. Only their footsteps and the distant noise of the city could be heard.
Byeoto broke the silence with a carefree smile.
"Man... who would've thought things would end up like this?"
Taehun glared at him.
"Is that all you have to say?"
Byeoto shrugged his shoulders.
"Come on, it's not my fault. From my point of view, it was a win-win. I finally got to use my move, and the fight was pretty evenly matched."
He glanced sideways at Taehun and added in a mocking tone:
"Besides, from the looks of it, if you had faced my opponent, do you really think you would've performed any better?"
Taehun pursed his lips. He honestly didn't know, but he answered with pure arrogance:
"Of course I would have. It's me, after all. But this puts me in a terrible mood. I thought I'd get to beat you in the finals."
Byeoto smirked.
"But there's also Dowoon. Don't you trust him?"
Both of them looked at Dowoon. He scratched his cheek, feeling self-conscious.
"I really didn't expect to make it this far... This whole tournament has been pretty wild."
Taehun placed a hand on his shoulder. Dowoon flinched, expecting some kind of insult, but Taehun's expression was surprisingly gentle. Dowoon's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"So now... since when do you fight using another style?" Taehun asked, his face instantly shifting back into something far more terrifying. "I thought you were trained in Taekwondo."
Dowoon raised his hands defensively.
"Wait, let me explain—"
Taehun cracked the bones in his neck.
"Looks like both of you are severely lacking in Taekwondo training."
Dowoon nodded, accepting his fate with total resignation. Byeoto said nothing.
It wasn't that he doubted Taekwondo, but learning—or at least understanding—more martial arts couldn't be a bad thing. In Dowoon's fight, thanks to his talent for copying, he had seamlessly mixed styles, and that was exactly what allowed him to win. If he polished that even further, he could become someone truly formidable.
On the other hand, Taehun was a Taekwondo genius. As for himself... his body was physically superior, but he wasn't a natural genius at learning techniques like they were. Still, he sighed and changed the subject:
"By the way, Taehun, do you really think Dowoon is the favorite for the final?"
Taehun raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Byeoto looked over at Dowoon.
"I think you guys should realize it by now, right? That girl isn't weak. She finished her previous matches instantly. No offense, Dowoon, but you've really improved a lot... however, that girl likely has way more experience. Not to mention the weight factor."
He continued calmly:
"That's your biggest disadvantage. You don't have much experience, but thanks to your talent, you managed to win. Now, can you really pull off the same thing against someone who vastly outmatches you physically?"
Dowoon sighed.
"I was already seeing that problem... In my fight, I was physically exhausted. I guess I'll have to train harder."
Byeoto laughed and slapped him on the back of the neck.
"Come on, I'm just stating what I think. But you can definitely pull off a surprise, just like you did today. Don't you think so, Taehun?"
Taehun clicked his tongue and said with an arrogant smirk:
"Just ignore him. After all, he didn't even make it to the semifinals."
Byeoto's mouth twitched. Dowoon burst out laughing.
Byeoto just shook his head.
...
A few hours earlier.
At the tournament, the announcer's voice boomed firmly over the speakers:
"After a long wait, the winner moving on to the next round has finally been decided; in the match between Byeoto Nam and Dogyu Na! Winner by medical decision... Dogyu Na!"
Byeoto had fought until the absolute end, but the dislocated shoulder and useless arm proved decisive.
Despite the victory, Dogyu approached the referee and spoke briefly. Minutes later, the announcer declared in total shock:
"Dogyu Na has decided to forfeit the tournament, stating that he doesn't feel he won fairly! Therefore, no one from this bracket will advance; meaning participant Taehun Seong advances directly to the final!"
From his seat, Taehun scowled in absolute fury.
...
Back on the street, Taehun grunted:
"That bastard Dogyu forfeiting... It makes me look like a wimp advancing to the final without doing a damn thing."
Byeoto and Dowoon burst into laughter. Taehun glared at them, annoyed, but ended up smirking too.
They reached a small street food stall and sat down. Dowoon stared at Byeoto's cast.
"Will your arm be okay?"
Taehun glanced over as well. Byeoto, calmly chewing his food, replied:
"Huh? Yeah, I think it'll be fine by tomorrow."
He wasn't lying. Back during his days on the street, injuries like this were common, and his body always recovered at an abnormally fast rate.
The three began eating in a more relaxed atmosphere, devouring their meals in relative silence.
With his mouth still full, Byeoto asked:
"By the way, when's the next match?"
Dowoon answered while chewing:
"In two days."
Taehun, meanwhile, was staring out at the street with indifference, leaning back with his arms crossed in a completely nonchalant pose. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow.
In the distance, a group of guys seemed to be chasing someone in a hurry.
Without fully turning around, Taehun asked Dowoon:
"What was your opponent's name again?"
Dowoon blinked, confused.
"Seungwoo. Why do you ask?"
It took Taehun a few seconds to respond.
"...Nothing. Forget it."
Byeoto and Dowoon exchanged weirded-out looks, but they shrugged and kept eating. Taehun took another bite, then suddenly stood up.
"I'll be right back."
Without offering any further explanation, he walked down the street until he vanished into the crowd.
Byeoto stared at the spot where he had gone.
"That was really weird... even for him."
Dowoon nodded, his brow furrowed.
"Maybe he still feels bad because you got eliminated."
Byeoto placed a hand on his chin and shook his head.
"I don't know... you think so? I don't see it that way. He's going to have good opponents anyway."
Dowoon scratched his cheek.
"I mean, maybe he wanted you to fight him. I mean... it's been a while since you two fought for real, right? He's probably looking for better results this time."
Byeoto paused mid-bite, lost in thought.
"From that perspective... it might be true. Considering how proud Taehun is, he probably wants to beat me."
He sighed and looked in the direction his friend had vanished.
"Well, that makes sense. Either way... where the hell did he go?"
Dowoon looked in the same direction, his frown deepening.
"I don't have the slightest idea..."
...
Meanwhile, Taehun had arrived at a dark alleyway. Voices and the sound of heavy blows echoed off the walls.
He peeked carefully around the corner and took in the scene. Just as he suspected, it was Dowoon's opponent.
Seungwoo Lee. Except his appearance was vastly different from how he looked in the tournament. Sure, he had fought a tough match, but he hadn't looked like this when he left the ring. Right now, he was visibly battered, bleeding heavily from several spots.
He was surrounded by a group of thugs. Standing at the front was an adult man, calmly smoking a cigarette while watching everything with a cold smirk.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." The man clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, he continued in a raspy voice: "Seungwoo Lee... you little shit. You said it, didn't you? That you were gonna win the fucking tournament. Those were your exact fucking words. And what did you do? You lost."
He threw the cigarette onto the ground and crushed it beneath his sole. He took a step forward.
"Move."
The thugs parted, clearing a path until he stood face-to-face with Seungwoo. The man waved his hand dismissively.
"Do you know how much we bet on you?" He sighed, his tone a mix of rage and disappointment. "Well... of course you know. After all, you're not my 'son' for nothing. I raised you, and this is how you pay me back? You don't even have that money. We lost far more than expected... all because we trusted your word."
Suddenly, his arm whipped forward in an unnatural motion, snaking through the air at incredible speed. The trajectory was so fluid it appeared completely boneless—a blur stretching and whipping forward before slamming straight into Seungwoo's cheek.
The strike made him spit blood and stumble backward, the violence of the blow echoing in the silence left by the group.
Watching it all unfold from the shadows, Taehun muttered to himself:
"What the hell is going on here...?"
He hadn't planned on getting involved. He had only followed out of curiosity. After seeing how much Byeoto and Dowoon had grown in such a short time, he felt like he needed more.
He wanted an opponent who would push him to his absolute limit, someone who would force him to level up. They were practically acting like generic shonen protagonists. That was why he had gone out looking for a challenge.
But this scene was something he hadn't expected at all.