Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: High School Girl VS Undead (3)
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Pyo Hye-in never let go of her smartphone, not even for a second.
From the moment Go Eun-ha stepped into the gym,
to when she got into an argument with Kim Seol.
'Why is everything so intense...?'
Honestly, she was scared.
Kim Seol kept shooting her glances since she was filming so openly.
After the argument broke out, she even got threatened with having her phone smashed.
Frightened, she quickly lowered her smartphone.
But she didn't stop recording.
Thanks to that, she captured every single thing that happened in the gym, vivid and raw.
'If I post this, it's gonna stir up some controversy, right?'
She figured she'd need to discuss what to do with the video.
And now.
"President, come on up."
Go Eun-ha called Jung Seung-hyun into the cage.
"You wanna full-spar with the gym owner?"
"What the hell's wrong with kids these days? They've got some guts."
"Teens are no joke..."
Everyone was stunned.
Everyone except Pyo Hye-in.
"That beer-bellied old guy's supposed to be that great? Our Seung-ho oppa looks way stronger."
That's when O-yu-na popped up out of nowhere.
She adjusted her round glasses and unleashed a torrent of words.
"Jung Seung-hyun was one of the top contenders in the UFC featherweight division, nicknamed the Korean Undead because no matter how much he got hit, he'd just keep marching forward like a zombie, and he's the only proud Korean fighter to have challenged for the title twice..."
"Yu-na, breathe."
"Huff... That's how amazing he was!"
O-yu-na was suddenly super excited.
Pyo Hye-in, still clueless about fighting, remained skeptical.
"But he's old, and he's retired now, right? Still stronger than Seung-ho oppa?"
"Cold hard truth... He'd probably get wrecked."
"That much?"
"Yeah. The class difference between An Seung-ho and Jung Seung-hyun is at least four or five levels..."
Jung Seung-hyun had an overwhelmingly impressive career as a Korean fighter.
If he fought the current domestic champion right now?
Jung Seung-hyun would dominate.
"Then this is gonna be super fun."
Pyo Hye-in smelled drama.
She zoomed in on Jung Seung-hyun's face.
He looked a bit embarrassed.
"Come on, what's the point of fighting some guy pushing 40?"
"Your belly's sticking out a bit."
"Hmm... I've put on some weight, but does it show?"
Jung Seung-hyun scratched his head.
He still didn't seem keen on putting on the gloves.
But Go Eun-ha had no intention of backing down.
"Didn't you say you were sorry earlier?"
"I did."
"Sorry with words isn't enough."
"Sigh. Fine. But let's wear headgear."
Go Eun-ha put on headgear.
Jung Seung-hyun entered the cage without any.
"What? You're really doing this?"
Before long, the gym members crowded around the cage.
"Go Eun-ha, fighting!"
"Noona, you're too pretty!"
"You idiot, she's like ten years younger than you."
The male gym members cheered enthusiastically for Go Eun-ha.
But when Jung Seung-hyun stepped into the cage,
"Booo~"
Jeers rained down.
"Who was booing? I remember all of you."
"Hahaha."
Of course, it was all in jest.
The atmosphere made it clear everyone saw this as fun entertainment.
Everyone except one.
Go Eun-ha.
'Gonna take him down.'
Her goal was crystal clear.
"Feels wrong using both hands against a girl. I'll just use my lead hand."
Jung Seung-hyun imposed a handicap on himself.
No one thought it was bravado.
"Then hit me with full power. You too, President—don't hold back."
"You sure you're okay with that?"
"Yeah. That's why I came here."
"Can't talk you out of it, huh."
Their gloves touched,
"Five minutes, one round. Begin!"
And the sparring started.
The air grew tense in an instant.
Jung Seung-hyun didn't press aggressively.
His opponent was a high school girl.
'Gotta take it easy on her.'
The difference in weight class and gender was massive.
Going full throttle could cause injury.
Slap-
Tap tap.
Leg kicks and jabs to gauge distance.
Light movement to match Go Eun-ha's pace.
That moment.
Whoosh!
"...!"
A counter slipping in right on the jab's timing.
'She already read my timing?'
It was like she'd prepared for this exact day.
Pang!
A crisp impact echoed.
Fortunately, the punch was blocked by his guard.
But an uppercut followed immediately.
Thwack!
"?!"
His head snapped back from the shock.
It landed clean.
Luckily, her power was light.
If she weren't a high school girl, it could've been a disaster.
No time to relax.
'What's flying at me now?'
A hook was coming straight at him.
Pow pow pow!
A machine-gun barrage of combinations.
From the receiving end, it felt like multiple fists flying at once.
'Power's whatever, but this accuracy...?'
These weren't wild haymakers.
They pierced gaps with AI-like precision.
Even at Jung Seung-hyun's level, it was impressive.
He couldn't just take it.
Jung Seung-hyun planted his feet and swung.
Before Go Eun-ha's punch could land,
Pang──────!
His right hook beat it to her headgear.
By a split second.
Step back...
Go Eun-ha retreated.
She had to readjust her headgear—it had spun around from the hit.
Her expression finally showed.
She was grinning.
"Guess you can't avoid the rear hand, huh?"
"...Yeah."
That was his rear hand.
He'd unconsciously used the one he'd sworn off.
"I'll go for real now."
Jung Seung-hyun steeled himself.
Time to get serious.
My goal from the start was to spar with Jung Seung-hyun.
He's retired, sure, but I wanted to test myself against him.
'No one like him in my past life.'
It's not just him.
The fighters in male Go Eun-ha's world and high school girl Go Eun-ha's world were completely different.
Something must've twisted fate.
Anyway.
The strategy was clear.
'He plods forward and brawls. Super tough.'
Jung Seung-hyun's a natural talent.
Innate striking, iron chin.
Above all, fearless.
No wonder they're calling him Undead.
His weakness?
'Slow feet.'
Poor footwork.
Zombie lore, maybe?
'Answer's in-and-out.'
Poke in at my range, my timing, score points,
then slip out quick on his turn.
Of course, that's theory.
If his striking sense outclasses mine?
'I'll eat shots going in and die.'
That's what I wanted to find out.
Could I impose my timing on him?
If yes, could I deal real damage with this high school girl's body?
Slap!
Leg kicks to control distance.
Body jabs, random spinning blows for level changes and variety.
Annoy him.
Confuse him.
That was the key.
But.
"Ugh!"
A sudden high kick flew in.
It blocked my escape, closing the distance.
Jung Seung-hyun's heavy fists rained down.
"Eun-ha! You gotta get out!"
O-yu-na shouted.
But it wasn't easy.
My mind knew perfectly,
but my body couldn't keep up.
I'd anticipated that high kick.
It was just way heavier than expected, tying up my feet.
'Damn, this body's too fragile.'
The gap between ideal and reality was huge.
Even landing one on Jung Seung-hyun, my power was laughably short.
But his casual jab rocked me.
'Answer's the ground?'
-The thought had barely formed.
When Jung Seung-hyun shot in for a takedown first.
"Booo~"
"Tackling a high school girl? Disappointing, Coach."
"You're really going all out..."
"Can you blame him? She's insanely good."
I gave up top position in a flash.
I wrapped my legs around his waist.
Made a closed guard, but submissions were out, even blocking ground-and-pound was tough.
Raw strength gap.
'Gotta stand up.'
Bait him, create an opening.
As he passed guard, I rolled away.
Escaped the bad spot.
Sparring went back to stand-up.
"Whoa, what was that just now?"
"She knows jiu-jitsu too."
"Her instincts are insane."
The onlookers were impressed, but my pride was already scratched.
'Not enough power...'
I ate shots to get in.
Uppercuts, hooks, body shots.
Fists fueled by every muscle in my body.
'More...'
Take a hit, land one, take another, land again.
Desperation in every strike.
Suppress the rising breath,
chew and swallow the pain,
surrender to the fists.
Pang-!
"..."
But he didn't budge.
The spar dragged on in similar fashion,
Beep-
And the five minutes ended.
"Huff, haa... haa..."
I dropped to my knees, gasping for air.
It was exhausting, but the spots that got hit hurt too.
"Whoa, that was tough."
Jung Seung-hyun patted my shoulder.
"You're way too good. Caught me off guard."
"......"
It wasn't just him.
Everyone praised me.
Said I fought amazingly.
Striking and grappling both top-tier.
But I wasn't satisfied.
'Got utterly smashed.'
Still miles to go.
Body power, and drawing it out.
Technique overwhelmed by strength.
"We said you did great, why the long face? You weren't seriously trying to win, were you?"
"Didn't think I'd win easy, but I figured there was potential."
"Hahaha. You're something else."
Yeah, whatever. Can't beat Jung Seung-hyun with this body.
Not yet, anyway.
"Learned a ton."
"I had fun too."
Finishing the spar with him fired me up.
'Gotta tweak the workout routine.'
Up the strength training ratio.
That's basic,
'And research new techniques.'
Technically, too.
The stuff I'd used so far were male Go Eun-ha's strongest moves.
They didn't fit high school girl Go Eun-ha.
So, adjust everything, develop moves optimized for this body.
'Like creating my own martial art.'
Call it... Ultimate High School Girl Fist Law.
Nah, that's lame...
I'll think of a name later.
The long day of training finally wrapped up.
Go Eun-ha, Park O-yu-na, and Pyo Hye-in bowed deeply.
"Thanks for your hard work."
"Yeah, today was a blast. Come visit often. Our fighters love it."
"Sure."
"High School Fighting King prelims are soon, right? Episode 1 starts airing soon, all the way through. Both of you, take care of yourselves."
"Got it."
"And, uh, wanna grab dinner? My treat—meat."
"No thanks. It's late; gotta head home."
"It's only 7."
"Mom said come home early."
"...Alright."
Mysterious iron walls, those girls.
After sending off the high schoolers and tidying the gym,
he finally hit the showers.
Jung Seung-hyun took off his T-shirt.
An Seung-ho eyed his abs.
"Coach."
"Yeah?"
"Your stomach's red..."
"Huh?"
He checked the mirror.
It was true.
His right side was swollen red.
"No way—did Go Eun-ha do that?"
"Ugh, embarrassing. Gave her too much."
Honestly, after the spar, he'd wanted to collapse.
No matter how laid-back he was.
Dozens of gym members watching.
Couldn't flop down in pain from a high school girl in front of them.
"She hits hard."
"Yeah, really packs a punch."
"But going down was a bit much."
"Come on, even you gotta razz me?"
"First time for me. Cut me some slack."
He laughed it off.
But both felt uneasy inside.
Go Eun-ha was strong—insanely so...
'Just how strong is she?'
Hard to gauge her level.