Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: High School Girl VS Verified Fighter (2)
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“O-yu-na contestant. Did you learn grappling from your father?”
“Yes. But lately, I’ve been learning from Eun-ha. She explains it so well….”
“People say your striking is your weakness. Have you been preparing well?”
“Eun-ha’s helping me. She’s a striking genius….”
“You’re seen as a top contender for the win. How do you feel?”
“The top contender is Eun-ha, not me….”
“Let’s leave Eun-ha aside and talk about O-yu-na herself.”
“I don’t have much to say about myself. It’d just be boring, depressing stuff. My hobbies? Arguing online at home….”
“Arguing online? What’s that?”
“Oh, no, I mean… c-can you edit that out…?”
O-yu-na talked about me the entire interview.
No matter what she said, it always circled back to Go Eun-ha like some kind of magic.
In the end, even the panelists had to throw up their hands.
“Why do you admire Eun-ha so much? I think O-yu-na would win if you two fought.”
“No way! I’m no match for her…!”
“How do you know?”
“We sparred… and I got crushed….”
“Hm?”
Jung Seung-hyun’s gaze turned toward me.
“This slender high school girl.”
He looked back at Park O-yu-na.
“You got crushed by her?”
“Yes….”
“Hahaha.”
Jung Seung-hyun let out a hearty laugh.
As if he’d just heard a hilarious joke.
“Come on, don’t lie. Did you two plan this? Is this some skit?”
“It’s true….”
The crowd wasn’t buying it.
There was good reason.
Yang A-ri. Tough as nails, gum-chewing vibe.
Park O-yu-na. Obviously built like a tank.
Me? Delicate as glass. One tap and I’d shatter. Romance novel face. Pure and fragile.
Nothing about me screamed fighter.
“I get that she kicks calf kicks well, but you said you’ve never even trained properly? How’d you beat O-yu-na?”
“Because Eun-ha’s a genius….”
“…….”
The mood chilled a bit.
O-yu-na’s fawning praise came off like mindless fanboying.
The panelists tuned her out.
They flipped through scripts or chatted with staff about the show flow.
Convinced it’d all get edited out.
“Alright, let’s kick off the verification sparring. Seung-ho. Ready? Stamina good?”
“Yup. No problem.”
And so the sparring began.
O-yu-na’s match went exactly as expected.
She showed solid wrestling against a guy.
Striking? Stand-down declared.
Still, she drained An Seung-ho’s stamina more than Yang A-ri had.
Meaning she was a handful.
She even succeeded in taking him down at the end.
A bull-like tackle.
“O! Nice tackle!”
“He’s down!”
“That’s what I meant! O-yu-na’s a genius!”
O-yu-na is a genius.
An Seung-ho wasn’t some amateur—he was a pro fighter.
Overcoming the gender gap for a takedown? Not easy.
Just that I’m broken.
“O-yu-na, you passed without needing the spar. Congrats.”
“Ah, thank you…!”
My turn at last.
A strange tension rippled through the set.
I was the most shrouded in mystery among the contestants.
Everyone dying to see my skills.
“Here’s the hottest high school girl right now. The SNS sensation ‘Calf Kick High School Girl’, Go Eun-ha!”
Panelists.
Staff.
Cameras.
Hundreds of students who’d come to watch.
And Jung Seung-hyun too.
All eyes on me.
No nerves.
I was used to the spotlight.
“Hello.”
Questions poured the second I finished greeting.
“Where’d you learn to fight?”
“Self-taught.”
“Too good for self-taught. Is it a gimmick?”
“No.”
“You don’t look like a fighter at all… You here to get famous on our show?”
“I’m already famous.”
Not flexing my 250k followers.
But facts are facts.
They scouted me for my fame, not my skills.
“Ah… true. More followers than me.”
“What high school girl has more followers than celebs?”
“Look at her face. Instant buy-in.”
“She’s seriously pretty. Ever thought about idols?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“I like fighting more.”
“O. Firm. That’s hot.”
I kept answers short on purpose.
No desire to ramble about looks.
“Can’t skip this one. There was that thing with our verifier, right? An Seung-ho! What’s the story? Spill!”
Face beet-red, An Seung-ho laughed it off awkwardly.
“She’s so good at striking, I was trying to get friendly… but I messed up.”
“You two look cute together though? Eun-ha, what’s the verdict? Seung-ho okay up close?”
I stared straight at An Seung-ho.
Parasite brother vibes.
Fake-innocent expression.
Likeable face sells his ‘Jiri Mountain moon bear win’ bullshit, and people eat it up.
But I know the truth.
He’s just a con man full of hot air.
‘Counter hook my ass. Probably only true up to going to Jiri Mountain.’
My boiling emotions iced over.
I questioned him in a frigid tone.
“How’d the jaw feel when it landed?”
“……Pardon?”
Every sound on set cut out.
My question was random as hell.
Or maybe the thick killing intent settling like fog.
An Seung-ho stammered, flustered.
“What feeling do you mean?”
“You knocked out a bear with a counter hook. Must’ve felt off, right? Bear bones aren’t human bones.”
I clenched and unclenched my right fist over and over.
The ache etched into my finger bones.
Past-life memory. Lingering throb.
“Like punching a bowling ball. Felt the metacarpal hairline fracture in real time. You too?”
Asiatic Black Bear.
The agony when my clean shot hit that insane beast.
Not just ineffective.
My hand shattered.
The moment I realized a fist was worthless.
A typhoon of despair raged in my chest.
An Seung-ho dropped the smile and shot back.
“You too? You fought a bear too?”
“Answer the damn question.”
“Well, my bones are sturdy. Never happened to me.”
“Yeah, right. How about this?”
Step.
I closed in on him.
Snatched his retreating hand.
Twisted it palm-up.
“What the hell….”
“Bear fur’s way thicker and tougher than it looks. A real KO punch on that big wild animal would shred your skin on the bristles. Like dragging bare flesh across sandpaper.”
I glanced down with dead eyes.
His fist was pristine.
“No scars.”
That instant, An Seung-ho yanked his hand free.
“It healed. Been two years.”
“Or a lie two years old.”
“You’re rude as hell.”
“Pull a scam and cry manners?”
Our faces inches apart now.
Hostility flickered in his once-vague eyes.
“Enough! No clue why you’re fighting, but put on gloves first!”
Jung Seung-hyun finally stepped in.
I turned and prepped for sparring.
Panelists buzzed.
“Do they teach provocation class here? Everyone’s a little unhinged.”
“Why’s Eun-ha hate Seung-ho that much? What’s with the bear talk….”
“Some secret between them we don’t know.”
I steadied my breath and focused.
Surrounding chatter dulled to a thrum.
Like sinking underwater.
‘Calm.’
The boiling in my mind settled.
Not stopped dead.
The opposite.
On the verge of bursting.
The hush before explosion.
‘Been a while.’
Nothing else in my sight.
Just me.
And across: Jiri Mountain con man An Seung-ho.
‘Body feels light.’
Match-level focus kicked in.
The moon bear insult.
It honed me sharp.
Spar rules explained quick and dirty.
“Fight!”
Sparring underway.
Paat-!
I surged into punch range in one step.
Stunned An Seung-ho threw a check jab—too late.
Pabat!
Light double jab.
Shattered distance, slipped his guard’s gap.
Saw shock flood his eyes.
“Ugh…!”
Weight class, reach, power—all his edges.
But raw bio advantages meant squat against peak distance control and timing.
Just the beginning.
Head shake slipped his counter,
slid inside, hammered body.
Peok!
“Hup!”
Dull thud, his breath exploded out.
He didn’t sit idle.
‘Tuk-tuk’ jabs ramped to ‘peok-peok’ power.
Guard-piercing damage now.
“Seung-ho! Dial it back! Too hard now!”
Jung Seung-hyun’s yell. I flashed my palm: all good.
I’d been waiting for this.
‘Still not enough.’
Sway. Ducking. Weave.
Razor slips past his fists.
“Tch.”
An Seung-ho looked pissed.
Missing by a hair’s breadth.
And it’d only get worse from here.
I whispered, voice for his ears only.
“Knocked out a bear with these turtle punches?”
Perfectly timed jab tags.
Provocation doubled.
“What, baby bear? Lullaby too?”
“Shut it…!”
Reason snapped—his committed rear hand whistled in.
Pabababat-!
Solid guard up.
Combo rains down.
Bomber-level power. Fair call.
Damage drilled bone-deep through my guard.
But I’m smiling.
‘Here it comes.’
Victory certainty in his eyes.
Flicker of carelessness.
His moves mapped in my head.
From endless footage rewatches.
‘Follows with one-two.’
Papang…!
Spot on.
Cool one-two thrown.
Too cool. Overthought it.
‘Feet freeze.’
That instant.
Gym noise fades far.
Time drags like molasses.
Perfect window opens.
I seize it.
‘Now.’
Ankle twists. Hip snaps.
Explosive torque.
Like a bowstring at limit snapping free.
──────!!
PAAAAANG
Full weight counter rear hand.
Tags An Seung-ho’s naked jaw.
Glove smashes jawbone—sharp crack echoes.
“Keheuk……?”
Mouthpiece pops with spit.
Everyone on set gasped in shock.