When in Doubt, Strike the Face!!
My name is Han Taeyang.
I'm currently a sixth grader at Seoul Beyond Elementary School, and the future Beyond Battle Champion!
Together with my friends and my partner card, Little Dragon Princess, I spend every single day honing my skills to make my dream come true.
My mom always tells me, "Never forget to have fun while working toward your dreams." I do my best to live by those words.
I get a lot of help from my mom, starting with advice like that. It just so happens that my family runs a TCG shop, which is notoriously hard to open.
Thanks to that, even if they aren't super rare, she always gifts me useful staple cards. Unlike other kids, I've rarely struggled with card availability.
Because of that, when I first started playing Beyond Battle, people would pick fights with me over the pettiest things.
They'd sneer and ask, "Must be nice using good cards thanks to your parents' influence."
Nowadays, I've built good relationships with those guys, and we hone our skills together every day. But there are still plenty of kids I have an awkward relationship with.
"—Seriously. Have you guys seen Taeyang's mom? Her boobs are, like, huge! I saw her when I went to the shop the other day, and she hadn't tied her apron strings! Her chest was just spilling forward, bouncing all over the place like this!"
Like that guy, for instance.
『Here he goes again. What on earth are kids these days watching to talk like that when they're barely out of diapers?』
The guy suddenly spouting weird nonsense about someone else's mom is Dae Man-bok. He's a guy I clash with a lot, and picking fights like this is just part of his daily routine.
My partner, Little Princess, always tells me, "He's just trying to provoke you, so don't fall for it!" But I just couldn't let it slide.
"Hey, Man-bok. You're crossing the line again. What, do you want to lose to me in a Beyond Battle and go home crying again?"
"Hah! Look who's talking, Mr. 'I only win because of my mommy's cards.' Unlike last time, I've upgraded my deck. This time, you'll be the one crying into your mom's chest!"
"What did you say?"
"Oh, or maybe you'll cry into your partner Princess's chest instead? Either way, they're both stacked, so it'll probably feel great~."
When I asked him why he was taking his provocations so much further than usual, Man-bok trembled with rage and shouted.
"Who knows? Why indeed? Oh, right! Ever since you won that battle and stripped away my speaking rights, we boys haven't been able to talk about dirty stuff! That's why we're battling! If I win this time, I'm taking charge of our class's right to speak!!"
"Man-bok... I told you, the only reason I beat you was because the girls asked me to stop you from saying those things in the classroom."
『Do you have absolutely no self-reflection?』
"Hmph, like I care! What's wrong with a guy liking pretty girls and big boobs? Besides, I know you watch that kind of stuff in secret too! You're surrounded by it, so stop playing innocent!"
"Don't lump me in with you. I work hard every day to become the future Beyond Battle Champion! I don't have time to waste on stupid things like you do, Dae Man-bok!"
The guy smirked and said.
"Then let's settle this with a duel! If I win, you have to shout 'I'm a pervert who loves big-breasted older girls!' a hundred times in the hallway!!"
What kind of penalty is that? How childish.
"If I win, I'm telling your parents about what you just said. You cool with that?"
"You—?! Bringing parents into this is playing dirty! You know exactly how terrifying my mom is!!"
"You started it! You brought up my mom first, so I'm not battling unless the stakes are just as high!!"
"Ugh. Fine..."
I had no idea why he was so desperate to talk about that stuff in the classroom, but Man-bok declared proudly.
"This time, I will win and reclaim the speaking rights—the freedom—of all the boys!!"
He raised his fist high like a freedom fighter. The girls in the class booed, while the boys cheered him on, heating up the atmosphere.
"Taeyang, don't you dare lose!"
"Beat that perverted pig to a pulp!!"
"—Of course!"
Naturally, I won. Because Little Princess and I are the strongest.
Man-bok wailed in despair, and I channeled all my lingering frustration into reporting today's events straight to his mother.
After school.
After finishing our Beyond Battle club activities, I was walking home with my friends.
"Heh. So that's what happened. No wonder the classroom next door was so noisy."
The boy speaking, who wore large round glasses and carried a laptop strapped to his front, was Kang Saet-byeol.
He was a quiet boy, the brain of our team, characterized by his purple bowl cut and sharp eyes.
"I thought that guy turned over a new leaf after he lost to Taeyang last time. I can't believe he'd say something so nasty! If I had been there, I would've kicked him in the shins!"
The girl getting angry on my behalf was Seo Chae-rin.
She was the sole female member of our team, recognizable by her long pink hair tied with a black ribbon.
"I know, right? Out of nowhere, he starts making fun of my mom. Winning the battle felt great, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. It's like... taking a full bath but forgetting to wash your hair?"
"As a girl, I totally don't get that analogy."
"Huh? Doesn't everyone do that at least once?"
We had our disagreements like this sometimes, but she was nice enough to play along.
"Still, I get what you mean," Saet-byeol said. "No matter how bad Man-bok's personality is, he isn't usually the type to bring someone's parents into it, right?"
"Yeah, exactly."
We clashed all the time, but he had never gone that far before.
『Come to think of it, his deck was stronger than before too. Looking at his behavior today, it felt like he was drunk on his own power.』
"Right. He had so many cards I'd never seen before, it caught me off guard. If I hadn't changed my strategy halfway through, I might have lost."
Saet-byeol asked, his fingers flying across his laptop keyboard even as he walked.
"Taeyang. By any chance, were the cards Man-bok used today completely mismatched with his deck?"
"Ah, now that I think about it, yeah. But how did you know?"
"That's exactly how the recent Beyond Card Hunters operate. You've faced one before, so you know, but their decks are a mess. They just stuff them with high-power cards without any synergy. It's what they call a Chimera Deck."
Saet-byeol turned his laptop to show us the screen. It displayed organized data on incidents happening all over the world. It looked like he had been compiling this information himself.
"Wait. Are you saying Man-bok is mixed up with those guys?"
"It's just a suspicion for now."
"There's no way..."
"—Don't rule it out," Chae-rin chimed in. "Saet-byeol wouldn't suspect him without a reason. If he isn't a completely bad guy like you said, Taeyang, then why did he suddenly insult your mom? Just because his deck got stronger? Rather than that, I think he gained unearned confidence, just like those thugs appearing lately."
『The thugs we've seen so far also suddenly obtained new cards and started causing trouble. It's highly possible Man-bok has fallen into the same category. I agree with their theory. Even if it's not true, it's best to stay cautious.』
Hearing the three of them lay it out, it did start to make sense...
"Then what should we do? Should we corner Man-bok and interrogate him?"
Saet-byeol immediately made a suggestion.
"Before that, let's go see Ms. Yumi."
"My mom?"
"Your mother runs a TCG shop. That means she's a safety officer recognized by the Beyond Battle Association. If anything happens to us, she can report it to the Association."
"So explaining the situation to an adult first is the right move. True, I got scolded big time by my parents after the last incident~."
"Me too! I got spanked for facing a thug like that in a one-on-one battle~!"
True to his reputation as the club's brain, Saet-byeol quickly came up with a solid plan. Even though it involved my own mom, I hadn't thought of it at all.
Since we were already heading to the shop, we didn't need to change our route.
"Oh, right. I stopped by the shop yesterday to see you, Taeyang."
"Oh, really? Why didn't you call for me?"
"Because there was a man I'd never seen before standing at the counter! Who is he? A new part-timer? He seemed a bit old for that, though~."
『Ah, she must mean Mr. Lee Baek.』
"It was the first time I'd ever seen someone else working at your shop, so I thought he was a thief at first."
Since we were already talking about the Card Hunters, Little Princess and I explained the situation regarding the mister.
We told them how he had his cards stolen just like the other victims we were tracking, and how he had even lost his memories, so he was currently working at the shop with my mom's help.
"Whoa. Ms. Yumi did that..."
"What kind of person is he?"
『He's a genuinely nice person. I was suspicious at first, but he works hard and learns Beyond Battle incredibly fast. Given his level of understanding despite losing his memories, he might have been a pro battler before.』
"A pro?!"
"Just like Princess said. I talk about Beyond Battle with Mr. Lee Baek every day, and sometimes his advice is so sharp that I wonder if he really lost his memories. In fact, I won today's battle easily thanks to his advice."
"What kind of advice?"
Chae-rin, who also aspired to be a pro battler, leaned forward with interest. Princess and I declared proudly.
"When in doubt, strike the face!!" 『When in doubt, strike the face!!』
"Oh... but..."
"...What does that mean?"
"Today, Princess and I were getting dragged around by the cards Man-bok played for the first time. That's when I remembered what the mister said."
『Only clear the cards you absolutely have to, and for the rest, go for the face! Face! Face!』
He told us that when you lack information on your opponent, playing aggressively is the best way to force them into making mistakes.
"Man-bok was acting all smug at first, but as soon as his Life started dropping, he immediately misplayed, right?"
『Yes. He spent too much cost trying to remove me, leaving him unable to counterattack when it mattered most.』
That was how Princess and I found an opening to take him down.
"Since the opponent is a human and not a practice AI, that mister's advice might not be entirely wrong."
"Especially since we tend to lose our cool when the situation gets tense. That's definitely what happened to Man-bok."
While Princess and I boasted about our victory like it was some grand epic, we arrived at the shop.
Hoping to introduce the mister to my friends, I pushed open the door. Behind the counter stood my mom, smiling warmly as always.
"Oh, Taeyang. And Saet-byeol and Chae-rin are here too."
"Hello, Ms. Yumi!"
"Pardon the intrusion again today."
My friends greeted her politely, and my mom turned around to fetch some drinks and snacks as she usually did.
Her actions were so natural that I almost let her go, but I quickly stepped behind the counter and asked.
"Mom, where did Mr. Lee Baek go?"
"Mr. Lee Baek just went to the restroom. He should be back soon."
"Ah, okay."
Turning back toward the breakroom, my mom suddenly froze and covered her mouth.
"Ugh... *cough, cough!* *Cough!*"
Her shoulders hunched, her head dropped, and her body began to tremble.
『Uh, Ms. Yumi?』
"Mom? What's wrong all of a sudden?"
She was clutching her mouth in distress. Her face flushed red as she coughed, as if something was caught in her throat.
Then, pulling out a wet wipe nearby, she wiped the fluid from the corner of her mouth and quickly flashed her usual smile.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just some dust in my throat... *Ahem.* The older boys from the church youth group are using the second floor, so make sure you all stay on the first floor. I'll bring the snacks right out."
"Ah, okay!"
"Thank you~!"
Fortunately, it didn't seem to be anything serious.
Mom popped a throat lozenge—who knows when she bought it—into her mouth and scurried away.