068. He Lifted Her and Slammed Her.
068. He Lifted Her and Slammed Her.
Shock spread across the faces of the cadets watching the sparring match.
A heavy silence fell over the training ground, eyes wide, breaths held.
Because something no one had ever imagined had just unfolded before them.
"......He lifted her."
"......And slammed her?"
"......Kang Do-hee?"
A male cadet—not a female cadet—had lifted her and slammed her into the ground.
Kang Do-hee's face, too, wore a look of disbelief, as if her mind hadn't yet accepted what had happened.
The reason Kang Do-hee—whose Martial Arts Specialization reaches S-Rank even in her normal state—failed to handle the grappling was simple.
It came down to the nature of the enemies she'd fought all this time.
She had always faced monsters many times larger than herself.
You can't exactly grab an opponent whose forearm or thigh is the size of your whole body and apply a joint lock.
On top of that, the people who'd picked fights with her had all been knocked out with a single light punch or kick, so this kind of tangled, messy brawl was necessarily unfamiliar.
'Of course, once she builds up interpersonal combat experience, she'll pick it up fast.'
I kept my eyes cool as I held her by the waist.
'Still, that probably didn't do much damage.'
In the original world, a hit that hard would've meant worrying about a concussion, but to her, this was nothing.
I had to move immediately, while she was still dazed and hadn't grasped the situation.
'If I don't seize the edge right now, it's over!'
I released my grip on her waist and instantly flipped my body.
And in the same motion, I tangled my foot around her leg to lock her down.
Kang Do-hee's foot was positioned right in front of my face.
I pulled her leg in tight and gripped her foot.
Heel Hook.
A technique that twists the Achilles tendon, knee, and ankle ligaments.
Easy enough for a beginner to perform, but extremely dangerous.
The reason I chose the heel hook over an armbar was simple.
Kang Do-hee would absolutely fight on to the end, even if it meant sacrificing one of her arms.
But a foot controls mobility, so she can't afford to lose it.
'So that means even I can at least match Kang Do-hee with joint locks.'
Joint locks were techniques designed to overcome differences in raw strength in the first place.
And on top of that, I have a Swordsmanship Specialization.
Meaning my grip strength gets boosted by my Specialization.
Once I get the position right and lock it in, I can hold the advantage!
Creeeak—
I grabbed her ankle and began twisting, putting force into my grip.
"Kgh—!"
A pained groan leaked from Kang Do-hee.
A distinct vein stood out on her forehead.
Even though it was a joint lock that should be hard to resist with pure strength, I could feel considerable resistance in my hands.
"Give up......! Kang Do-hee!"
I said through clenched teeth, while holding her ankle.
"......Give up......!? Bullshit!!!!"
At that, she bit down hard on her lip, as if telling me not to spout nonsense, and poured strength into her ankle.
A taut tug-of-war stretched between Kang Do-hee, trying to somehow break free, and me, twisting.
'I could...... just twist it all the way, I guess.......'
Mm, even if she could recover with healing, doing that to a fellow party member would be a bit much.
Jin Yu-ha thought this, completely failing to realize that suplexing a party member in the first place was already a shameless thing to do.
'......Hm, guess this is far enough.'
I was fully satisfied with this much.
Because I'd risen to an equal standing with Kang Do-hee.
'Outstanding. Well done, me.'
That was enough for today.
As long as I took classes with her, I'd keep running into her.
And every time, I could just teabag her from behind.
'And then I'll refuse to fight her.'
I nodded to myself, calm.
"Kang Do-hee."
I called her name as she lay flat on the ground, struggling with all her might.
"Alright, I'll admit it."
When I spoke in a serious voice,
Kang Do-hee paused her attempt to pull her foot free and stared straight at me.
"You really are strong."
"......."
"Equal to me, or maybe even stronger."
I delivered a time-honored taunt line her way.
At that, Kang Do-hee's momentarily blank face twisted like a wrathful demon.
"You Yellow Dog bastard......!"
She lifted her leg high, as if she intended to slam me foot-first into the floor.
Whoosh—!
But,
I released her leg, flung myself backward, and executed a backflip.
Tap.
And just before she lunged,
I turned my body toward the instructor and raised my hand.
I opened my mouth with a bright smile.
"I lost."
"......What?"
Disbelief washed over Instructor Hong Ji-na's face as she stared blankly at our sparring match.
And at the same time, Kang Do-hee charged at me from behind.
That very instant, I hid myself behind the instructor's enormous, comfortable back.
Then I raised the corner of my mouth and said to her,
"Instructor. Once one side declares defeat, it's immediately considered a loss. Isn't that correct?"
"......."
She turned and looked at me as if to say, What the hell kind of bastard is this? But well, you have to take responsibility for the words that come out of your own mouth, don't you?
When I ducked behind the instructor, Kang Do-hee stopped in front of her.
"......Jin Yu-ha! You......!"
Kang Do-hee shouted, face flushed bright red, as if she couldn't accept it.
I poked my head out and narrowed my brows.
"Kang Do-hee. Where's your conscience?"
"......What?"
"I mean, because we were sparring, the other cadets couldn't even get one match in. Did we rent out the whole class? We should move aside so the others can go. Right, Instructor?"
"......."
And so our sparring match concluded: a nominal victory for Kang Do-hee, but in reality, my win.
* * *
After the sparring match ended.
Once her head cooled down a bit, Kang Do-hee wiped her hand over her face and thought.
'......I lost.'
It was me.
I lost for the first time.
And it wasn't just a simple loss.
Victory had been handed to me.
While I rolled around on the floor, humiliatingly.
Even if I'd let my guard down, this match had been my defeat.
She couldn't help but admit it.
If Jin Yu-ha had truly intended to snap her ankle back then, he could have.
And after that, the match would have naturally turned against her.
The guy had kept up with her speed and held his own against her even when both of her feet and both hands were free.
So if she were unable to use one foot in that situation......?
Kang Do-hee chewed on her lip.
Honestly, she was still boiling with rage.
The words that Yellow Dog had said at the end seemed to be banging around noisily inside her head.
'......Equal to me, or even stronger?'
Haah—.
Kang Do-hee let out a long breath and opened her eyes.
Jin Yu-ha was squatting a short distance away, watching other cadets spar with a bored expression.
She strode over to him and looked down at him.
"Jin Yu-ha. I lost this time."
At that, Jin Yu-ha turned his head and looked up.
"Huh? You won."
This Yellow Dog bastard answered in a glib voice, perfectly aware of what I was saying.
"......I'll request a rematch next class."
"Do-hee, Do-hee....... What do you mean? Don't you know the winner can't request a sparring match from the loser? If the winner asks the loser for a match, that could be one-sided harassment."
Jin Yu-ha shook his head and spoke, infuriatingly.
The rule structure of this damn class meant a rematch was impossible
unless the loser requested it first.
"And anyway, what do we gain from fighting each other?"
"......What?"
"I mean, yeah, at first we sparred once to gauge each other's skill. But the two of us are the 'same' A-Rank, aren't we?"
"......."
"Even if you won the sparring match, I'm still A-Rank. Equal to me, or even stronger."
Kang Do-hee's fists trembled at his tone, as though he found her utterly pathetic.
The situation—being forced to stay still after hearing such humiliating words—felt so incredibly alien to her.
'Should I just....... Beat the shit out of him......?'
Honestly, she felt like no one would curse her if she pummeled this insufferable bastard right then and there.
They might even praise her for it.
Maybe he'd sensed her innermost thoughts, or perhaps it was an instinct for survival, but Jin Yu-ha opened his mouth.
"You want to fight me that badly?"
"......Yeah."
Kang Do-hee nodded.
"Then, Kang Do-hee. Practice grappling with me."
At his words, her brows narrowed, failing to catch his intent.
"You must have figured out your weak point this time too, right? You might be used to fighting monsters, but you're weak in interpersonal combat, like joint locks."
"That's......!"
"Yeah, sure. You've won up until now. But that's because you've never seriously tangled with someone on your level or stronger in human-to-human combat. You think there aren't Demonized Humans like that?"
Kang Do-hee's mouth shut like a clam.
Jin Yu-ha pointed a finger at her.
"You completely escaping my grappling. That's the condition for a sparring match."
"The condition for a sparring match......."
"Oh, and obviously, you can't just sacrifice and give up the limb I've trapped."
Kang Do-hee stared fixedly at Jin Yu-ha, then nodded.
"......Fine. Got it. I'll do it. Yellow Dog. Don't you forget that promise. Once I escape the grappling, you'll spar with me."
"Yeah, practice hard~"
Leaving behind Jin Yu-ha's parting words that grated on her every last nerve, Kang Do-hee bit down on her lip and turned away.
'......Wait.'
And in that instant, a thought flashed through her mind.
'With Jin Yu-ha....... Grappling?'
Which meant,
having to tangle bodies with him and roll around on the floor every time.
And in front of the other cadets, no less.
'That lunatic......!?'
Face flushed bright red, Kang Do-hee whipped her head around to stare at him.