The Boxer
The living legend of Korean boxing. The living legend of living legends. Boxer Im Jeonghwan.
At forty-two years old, he was alive, sure — but that was about all you could say for him. Just alive.
Age being what it was, he'd retired from the league a long time ago. Ten years now since he'd last stepped into the ring as a fighter.
He didn't particularly miss it. He'd already claimed multiple championships, cemented himself as a legend of Korean boxing, and socked away more than enough for a comfortable retirement.
A peaceful life. With only a slight exaggeration, you could call it a world apart from his pro days — those years soaked in blood and slaughter, every single day spent grinding his teeth and clawing for victory.
Stable, yes. But static. Orderly. Routine.
The one bright spot in Jeonghwan's quiet existence was the gym he woke up every morning to run. And the handful of students he was raising there on the side. These days there weren't any prospects that truly caught his eye, but for a man retired from the front lines, nurturing the next generation offered a different kind of satisfaction than his prime years ever had.
Then, about a year ago, one thing changed.
He'd started a Vtube channel. The subject matter was his gym, countless boxing techniques, and sparring footage of his students.
It had been his nephew's idea, and it turned out to be a surprising amount of fun. At first he'd wondered what the hell he was even doing — but by now, he was fully, hopelessly addicted.
The name recognition of a Korean boxing legend meant subscribers had piled on from day one. And reading the comments people left on every video was its own little pleasure. The income was decent, watching the subscriber count climb was genuinely interesting, and best of all — even in retirement — he was connecting with people, building a warm, approachable image.
Back in his fighting days, that fierce face and the reputation of a razor-sharp boxer had made people quietly afraid of him. He'd had fans, sure, but they were almost entirely rough-looking men. Kids and women would avert their eyes the moment they saw him coming.
And now? This was an era where OTT services, Vtube, and TikTok mattered far more than anything on cable TV. With a subscriber count sitting at a cool five hundred thousand, people no longer looked at Jeonghwan with fear. If anything, despite having crossed into his forties, the younger generation called him things like "Jeonghwan hyung" and "Jeonghwan-ham."
From Jeonghwan's perspective, it was practically a second life. A second golden age, arriving right when his days had started to feel strangely dull.
"Let's see… any mail come in…"
Jeonghwan slipped on the glasses he only wore at the computer and opened his work inbox.
He hadn't even had a work inbox originally — it had sprung up naturally as he started putting content together. At this point he was closer to a professional Vtuber than a boxer or a gym owner.
His current series was called Follow Me to the Gym!
The concept: invite various famous Vtubers to his gym, test their boxing ability, and teach them a range of techniques. Same idea as those fitness Vtubers who bring celebrities into the weight room to measure their big three lifts — Jeonghwan just swapped the gym for a boxing ring. The subject had changed from lifting to boxing, but the overall structure was identical. No reason not to run a format people already loved and that pulled solid views.
The real problem was booking guests. Finding someone with enough name recognition that the audience would actually get excited — that was the heart of the whole series. Nail the booking and the content was halfway to success already.
"They should've replied by now."
He'd already sent emails to every viable candidate on his list. Jeonghwan checked his inbox the way a fisherman checks his traps.
"Hm…?"
And then his eyes went wide at the unexpected big catch thrashing in the net.
On the way to the gym, I pulled up the channel I'd be appearing on and started going through the videos again.
Sorted by popularity. Highest views first. I hit play and worked my way down.
"Here, you use your hips like this and throw the straight — bam!"
"Ohh…"
"Hitting like this is way more powerful. You've got to put your whole core into it—"
A fist slammed into the hanging heavy bag hard enough to make that deep, satisfying thud. Champion-level power, no question.
I watched a few more videos after that, nodding along. Yeah. This was going to be fun.
The sponsorship I'd picked was an appearance on former boxing champion Im Jeonghwan's channel — promoting both his channel and his gym. In terms of recommending another Vtuber's channel, it was closer to a collab than a standard ad, but whatever.
Of all the offers that had come in, the reason I'd specifically taken Im Jeonghwan's was simple.
It looked like the most fun.
Not the pay. Not some calculated move for my channel's growth. Just pure, honest interest. Learning boxing sounded entertaining, and more than anything, it was a chance to get an indirect read on Camilla's physical specs — something I'd been curious about for a while.
It was only a game setting, sure, but Camilla was one of those heroes tough enough to dance across a battlefield slaughtering enemies. I'd inherited that body, and while I hadn't exactly felt some superhuman power awaken inside me, I could tell the body itself was incomparably healthier than before. Just the other day I'd hung from the monkey bars at a playground and knocked out pull-ups like it was nothing.
This sponsorship was a decent testing ground. I'd pick up some boxing technique, maybe a few self-defense moves useful in daily life, and get a much clearer picture of what this body could actually do.
Both of my editors had gone along with the choice without a single complaint. If anything, they'd added that this side of me would make for a fresh charm point. Kayak's boxing moment, they'd called it — the image of Camilla pulling on boxing gloves and stepping into the ring.
"Boss, have you ever done boxing before?"
That was Kim Jaejun from the driver's seat, currently ferrying me to the gym.
Boxing, huh. I'd actually signed up at a gym once.
"I did jump rope for a month and quit."
"Haha, same as me."
Apparently he'd bailed before ever touching a heavy bag because the basic conditioning was too boring.
From the passenger seat, Yu Sia looked up from fiddling with a camera.
"What about other sports, then? Have you tried anything else?"
Other sports.
Nothing came to mind there either. Just whatever they'd made us do in PE class, probably. I'd never signed up for an academy or gone to a community center to train anything seriously.
"Ballet? Dance? Rhythmic gymnastics, maybe?"
"Not really…"
"Yoga? Pilates?"
"Nope."
What kind of image of me was floating around inside Yu Sia's head, exactly? Sure, with a face like Camilla's I'd probably look decent dancing, but still.
We kept chatting lightly about boxing and sports, and before I knew it we'd arrived at the gym.
"Aigoo, welcome! Our Kayak-nim and the editors!"
"Hello."
Former pro boxer, current gym owner and Vtuber Im Jeonghwan greeted us with genuine enthusiasm. Even with age on him, that solid build and those sharp eyes — smiling, but keen underneath — made it clear this was a man who'd reached the absolute peak of his field. He had a presence. An aura, you could call it.
The three of us followed his lead inside.
"Whoa, this place is huge."
"Just finished the expansion a little while ago. Put a ring on that side and that side, added a few more heavy bags too."
After a quick tour of the gym, we got down to talking through the content.
"We're shooting this for Vtube, so there'll be editing — no need to stress about it. You've done live streams, so I doubt you'll get nervous anyway."
"Right."
"We'll start with the heavy bag, teach you jabs and hooks, then work in some self-defense moves you could actually use in an emergency. That's the general direction."
No formal script, but clearly there was a routine from all the previous guests. Jeonghwan kept explaining while Yu Sia and Kim Jaejun got the cameras ready for footage we'd use on my channel too.
"Kayak-nim, would you say you're in good shape? Any sports you've stuck with over the years?"
Same question I'd gotten in the car. When I told him there was nothing, Jeonghwan nodded and kept going.
"I was a little worried since you're a gamer, but your neck and back don't look hunched compared to the others."
Apparently the Vtuber from two episodes ago also mainly streamed Abyss, and his standing posture alone had been so slumped that just fixing that had been a whole ordeal.
As he said it, Jeonghwan pulled on a pair of red gloves and slowly settled into stance. He locked eyes with me once, then moved his body with deliberate slowness — watch carefully.
A smooth shift. A light tap.
From a perfectly upright stance, he extended his arm in a straight line and set his fist against the bag. A few more practice motions, maybe for my benefit — and then:
WHAM!
In a single instant he drove his fist clean through the bag. The same massive sound from the videos. Yu Sia flinched hard beside me.
"Aigoo, did I startle you? Should've given you a heads-up."
"N-no, I'm fine."
"That's one complete motion. Think you can give it a try?"
He stepped aside like it was my turn.
"No need to be perfect right out of the gate. Just watch your wrist so you don't tweak it. If the form's off, we'll fix it — so just relax and go for it."
The cameras were already rolling. Jeonghwan delivered the precautions the way a coach talks to a student, and I nodded along, taking every word in.
At the same time, I replayed the sequence I'd just watched in my head. One piece at a time. The stance he'd held. How far apart his feet had been. Which foot stepped forward and by how much. The exact way he'd extended his fist into the bag…
Now.
"Oh, nice stance. Best I've seen out of anyo—"
Mid-sentence, I exploded forward and executed the motion burned into my mind exactly as I'd seen it.
THUD!
A heavy, dull impact. My fist felt like it had been sucked into the bag. Was that right?
My wrist — the thing he'd warned me about most — was completely fine. Still half-uncertain, I rolled my fist around and turned to look behind me.
"Ohh…"
There was Jeonghwan, staring at me with a stunned expression, one thumb raised high.