Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: High School Girl VS Stamina Training (2)
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"Oh my gosh! Oh no! Isn't that blood? That's so brutal!"
Pyo Hye-in covered her eyes dramatically.
On the screen, a burly high school boy was bleeding from his nose.
High School Fighting King Season 2.
A show that gathered hot-blooded high schoolers from across the country to crown the strongest.
We were watching it together during lunch break.
"Is that guy just taking hits on purpose to wear down his stamina...?"
Park O-yu-na pushed up her round glasses and asked.
Unlike her usual dazed look, her eyes sparkled with a thirst for knowledge.
"Nah. He's just playing with him."
The fighter dominating the screen was the "verified pro."
The Season 1 champion, who had three pro fights under his belt by filming time.
The first hurdle in High School Fighting King was the "pro verification" round.
They gathered kids from each school known for being tough and had them spar pros.
Of course, the pros didn't go all out.
It would've been one-sided abuse.
Even so, the matches were pretty lopsided.
"Look at how gentle his eyes got."
The challenger on screen tumbled over.
The same punk who'd been bragging he was the toughest before the fight.
Talking about his street-hardened fists from 300 brawls, how they'd drop you with a graze...
The loudmouth thug had turned into a meek lamb after getting smashed.
Pretty entertaining.
It was fun enough that even Pyo Hye-in, who knew nothing about fighting, felt satisfied.
"That tattooed punk deserved it!"
"You said it was too brutal to watch, but now it looks fun?"
"I'm not watching 'cause it's fun, okay? I'm just watching 'cause you guys are."
The next episode, and the one after, followed the same pattern.
Sinrim-dong bat-slinger.
Cheongju mad dog.
Nampo-dong Dagestan.
Fancy nicknames, but their skills were all meh.
All but one.
The Mountain Hunter.
—Hello. I'm An Seung-ho from Namwon, Jeonbuk.
—An Seung-ho, you wrote your nickname as Mountain Hunter. What does that mean?
—I ran into a bear on Jirisan Mountain and fought it.
The word "bear" made my ears perk up automatically.
Like a knee jerking from a rubber hammer.
My brows furrowed on instinct.
—What? You fought a bear? For real?
—Yeah, for real. A wild Asiatic Black Bear. Bigger than me.
—And what happened?
—I landed a clean Counter Hook on its jaw, and it went down. I won.
—No way, that's bullshit. How's a human beating a bear that big?
—I get why you don't believe it. But my friends saw it all. That's how I got the nickname Hunter. Haha.
What the hell.
I almost cursed out loud.
Does this idiot just spew whatever from his loose lips?
Even I, a UFC top contender, got mauled by an Asiatic Black Bear.
What? KO'd it with a Counter Hook?
I was trembling with rage when Pyo Hye-in started freaking out again.
"Whoa! He beat a bear! Eun-ha, you should learn from him! Didn't you say you wanna beat a bear too?"
Grind.
My teeth hurt.
Her innocent words scratched even more.
"Learn what? He's obviously full of shit."
"Go Eun-ha! Why are you so mean? He's clearly on another level from those thugs up front!"
"What do you know about fighting?"
"I don't know fighting, but I can read faces."
I wondered why she was acting up.
Then I saw it was because of An Seung-ho's face.
"Look at that straight nose and those dewy eyes. It says 'nice guy' all over his face..."
Pyo Hye-in's voice dripped like honey.
Park O-yu-na was admiring him too.
"He's the winner for a reason. He landed solid hits on the pro verifier too..."
She quietly added, "And he's handsome."
"He looks like some pretty boy parasite. What's so great about that?"
A real man should look the part.
Bald! Buff! Hulking!
That's man's charm, right?
"He is pretty good though...?"
"Hmm. Compared to the others so far, yeah, he's decent."
Crisp strikes with smooth head movement.
Solid wrestling defense.
Good ground game.
A well-rounded hexagonal fighter.
But his real edge was in his "eyes."
"His eyes are sharp."
"Right? Like they're glazed with honey. So sweet just looking..."
"Not that. His dynamic vision's good. Dodges punches well, lands his own. Means he has strike sense."
Of course, by my standards, nothing special.
Just decent for a high schooler.
Pyo Hye-in ignored my explanation and kept gushing.
"Oh wow, look at those muscles."
"Fashion muscles."
"He talks so innocently and cute~"
"Acting?"
"I'm his fan starting today!"
"I'll leave hate comments."
"...Go Eun-ha. Why are you such a jerk?"
Because I was sure he was a fraud.
No way he beat an Asiatic Black Bear with that skill.
If the story's true, he probably puffed up a fight with a cub.
"I'll uncover the truth with this fist."
We kept watching.
Pro verification was the prelims for High School Fighting King.
Those who passed advanced to the main tournament.
16 fighters in a bracket to decide the champ.
The top 8 got spots on KFN undercards.
Pro debuts.
Once debuted, no better stage for rookies.
"Auditions in about two weeks?"
"Exactly ten days."
Time was short.
Stamina training was priority.
"O-yu-na. Hell training starts today."
"Huh...?"
Time to kick off serious camp.
After school, O-yu-na and I headed to Deathworm Gym.
Straight to the fighters' training.
Warmed up with running,
Then air bike, rowing, burpees, shadowboxing.
Classic stamina drainers.
"O-yu-na and Eun-ha, five sets only. Rest of you, ten full sets!"
"Huff... haff..."
Five sets done.
Blood taste thick in my mouth.
Heart about to burst out.
But I dove back in.
"Eun-ha. We're done...?"
"Gonna do ten. You too."
"Huh...?"
Born a woman doesn't mean I train like one.
Others do ten sets? I do eleven.
Always trained that way.
"Urp...!"
Vomit rising inevitably.
"Hey! Don't puke here! Bathroom!"
Barfed it up, then rejoined.
"You okay? What if you collapse?"
"Fine. Weekend tomorrow, no school."
"You're hardcore..."
Even the coach worried about my volume.
"That's why I said train me harder. Starting to feel bored."
"Not something to say right after puking...?"
True, but.
My recovery was weirdly fast.
Puking? Youth? Dunno.
Felt like I could do more sets.
"O-yu-na. Not finishing ten?"
"Huh. Girls usually just do five..."
Grabbed her by the neck, forced her on the air bike.
"You're not a girl. You're a fighter."
Started proper? Go all in.
O-yu-na too.
No slacking from my partner.
"Skills come from stamina. Five rounds in, the one with more gas wins!"
"Kwaaang...!"
O-yu-na pedaled hard, howling.
Me too.
And puking time, as always.
"Urreeegh!"
"Guwaaack!"
Me three times, her twice.
Five pukes in the women's bathroom that day.
After training.
Park O-yu-na showered, sneaking glances at Go Eun-ha.
Whenever eyes met—
Whip.
She'd turn away.
The pattern repeated endlessly.
Drying hair—
Whip.
Changing—
Whip.
Leaving the gym—
Whip.
O-yu-na kept looking at Eun-ha, then turning.
Eun-ha's patience finally snapped.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
Her hand chopped O-yu-na's crown.
"Spit it out if you got something to say. Stop hesitating."
"Uh, yeah, sorry, it's just..."
"What? Some big revelation?"
Eun-ha's face right there.
Freshly washed, fluffy and soft.
Under the neon streetlights, her bare face was goddess-level.
Too pretty... words won't come.
Simple thing, but courage failed.
Can I really hang with someone this beautiful?
Me?
"Speak quick."
"W-Wanna hit a cafe? If not, no biggie! You're tired, maybe don't wanna! Might hate cafes! Reject's fine, I'll go solo! I'm used to alone..."
"Cafe? Sure."
"Th-Thanks...!"
"Thanks? Buy my drink."
"Yeah."
Surprisingly chill.
They hit a nearby chain cafe.
"Eun-ha. What'll you have?"
"Iced Americano."
"Got it."
She pulled a card from her bear wallet, paid.
One iced Americano.
And.
"Chocolate cream chip frappuccino with hazelnut syrup, chocolate, whipped cream, and one Java chip... please."
Super sweet sludge.
Eun-ha gawked at the menu.
"Insane. Gotta be 100g sugar. Why drink that sweet crap?"
"Post-workout, sweets hit different..."
"Liquid fructose is poison. Not aiming for champ? How to UFC like this? Manage yourself. Back in my day, drinks? Water only. Avoided tonics like Guryong Mountain just in case doping. Champs do this much."
"......"
Unexpected nagging flood.
Feels like getting lectured by grandpa...
O-yu-na handed the drink to her picky friend.
"Wanna try?"
"Nah. That's for kids."
"Tastes so good though..."
"If you insist. One sip."
"Didn't insist..."
O-yu-na whispered, handed it over.
Eun-ha stabbed the straw, slurped.
Sluuuuurp.
Hard pull,
Clink—
Her face froze like shattering glass.
"Eun-ha? You okay...?"
"......"
Sip sip.
Two more pulls.
"Ahem. Too sweet, not my thing."
Half the drink gone.
"Drank a lot for 'not your thing'..."
"Drank it for your health."
"Ah. Thanks...?"
"Try mine."
"Yeah."
O-yu-na hated iced Americanos.
One sip.
Money spent, half drink left,
Hehe. Eun-ha's pretty.
Still, fun time for O-yu-na.