Would It Really Be Like That in Reality?
Would it really be like that in real life?
Kang Tae-san had been big from the day he was born.
Even as a newborn he was twice the size of other babies, and by elementary school he was already looking down on grown adults. Once he hit middle school, no one ever stood in his way again. With that body alone, the entire world lay beneath his feet.
He never needed to learn how to fight. One swing of his fist and the other guy went flying. If he just shoved, everyone went down. Technique, fundamentals—those were things weaklings studied. All Tae-san ever needed was one thing: the size and strength he had been born with. That was enough.
"Tae-san, kid, you were born for this. This isn't something effort can create."
His coach always said the same thing.
"A physique like yours comes along maybe once in a hundred years. You're going to the Octagon for sure. You're going to be the best in the world."
Sponsors said it. Fans said it. All of them. The next heavyweight monster. The strongest physique on the planet. A man with a free pass straight into the Octagon.
Tae-san took every word as simple fact. Because it was true. In his first two fights after debut, both ended in under a minute. Opponents went pale the second they saw his size, and one punch later they were carried out. The world was under his feet. At least, that was what he believed.
"Your opponent this time is Han Daewong. Some rookie who's been getting buzz lately."
Even when his manager handed him the file, Tae-san just snorted.
"A rookie? Heard he was already a hot topic before his debut. Guess he can throw a little."
"They say he's pretty big himself. You should be careful—"
"Big?"
Tae-san let out a short laugh.
"Who in this world is bigger than me? When it comes to size, I've always been on top. Never lost once."
That had been the story of Tae-san's entire life. No matter who he met, he was always the biggest. He had never once looked up at an opponent. That fact was a truth that would not change even if the sky fell.
"A big rookie? Fine by me. Once they stand in front of me, they're all the same."
Tae-san tossed the file aside and stood. When that massive frame rose, the office ceiling suddenly looked low.
…Just another guy to step on and climb over.
That was how Tae-san thought. The way he always had. The Octagon was already as good as his.
That was everything—until fight day.
Fight day.
I was wrapping my hands in the locker room.
"…Bear."
Beside me, Seo-yeon couldn't sit still. She had been circling around me for a while now.
"Are you really going to be okay? That Tae-san guy is actually huge. I watched the videos—he just throws people around like dolls. You really have to be careful."
Worry filled her whole face. She had been like this since the other night. After searching Tae-san, she had bombarded me with messages, and today she had followed me all the way into the locker room and refused to leave my side. She claimed she was here as an assistant manager, but I knew she had come because she was worried.
"…I won't get hurt."
"How would you know that?! Do you even realize how big he is?!"
"…I watched. The videos."
"If you watched, you should be more worried! How can you say that after seeing that size?!"
Seo-yeon stamped her feet. I just watched her quietly. The girl who always called me Bear this and Bear that with so much fire was this rattled, and somehow it warmed a corner of my chest.
I stood up and lightly ruffled her hair.
"…Don't worry."
"How am I supposed to not worry, you dumb bear?!"
"…Don't you remember? I told you before."
I said it low.
"I'm not doing UFC… I'm doing WWE."
Seo-yeon went blank for a second. Then she burst out laughing.
"…Ah. That."
"Yeah. Win or lose, it's just a show. It's fixed. So you don't have to worry too much."
Of course it wasn't actually fixed. But Seo-yeon understood what I meant—that I never went all out. That I always held back and controlled myself when I fought. So even if a giant like that showed up, to me he was just another opponent I would have to go easy on.
"…You're impossible."
Seo-yeon gave a short laugh, her face finally easing.
"Fine. I'll trust you. But still be careful, okay?"
"…Yeah. I'll be back."
I left the locker room. Behind me, Seo-yeon's voice followed.
"Go win, Bear!"
Fight day.
Tae-san walked toward the cage. The crowd's roar poured over him. When that enormous frame filled the walkway, people cried out in awe. Sounds he had heard a thousand times. Look at that size. Is that even a person? He's a monster.
Tae-san savored the familiar noise as he stepped into the cage. Then he looked across to the other side.
A man was standing there.
"…"
Tae-san's steps stopped dead. Something felt wrong. He was looking at his opponent—and his eyes were going up.
At first he thought it was a mistake. That he had seen wrong. His whole life, he had looked down on everyone. Looking up at an opponent was something that did not exist in Tae-san's world.
But it wasn't a mistake. Tae-san slowly lifted his head. The other man's shoulders sat higher than his own. To see his face, he had to tilt his head back. That massive body cast a shadow over Tae-san completely.
It was the first time in his life. Seeing someone bigger than himself.
"…What the hell is that."
The words slipped out of Tae-san's mouth before he could stop them. He had lived his entire life believing he was the biggest. That size was power, and power was everything. He had been certain no one stood above him. But the man standing in front of him right now was shattering that certainty just by existing.
Something Tae-san had never felt before ran down his spine. He did not know what it was. He had never felt the emotion even once in his life.
Inside the cage.
I looked down at Tae-san standing across from me. He was big, no question. Easily the biggest opponent I had faced in the Octagon so far. Broad shoulders, thick arms. For a normal person, just standing in front of him would be enough to make them shrink.
But even so—he was still smaller than me. Tae-san was fairly huge, yet he didn't reach my eye level. I simply looked down at that big body in silence.
Honestly, I didn't feel much. When I thought back to when I had truly been big… when I remembered being a 1.9-ton mountain of a bear… Tae-san was just a somewhat large person. Not threatening so much as… a solid-sized opponent. That was all.
But Tae-san, for some reason, had gone completely stiff looking at me. Like he was seeing someone bigger than himself for the first time in his life.
…What's wrong with him.
While I was thinking that—
"—FIGHT!"
The referee's hand dropped. The buzzer blared through the arena.
Tae-san hesitated for a moment. He couldn't quite charge in, lingering where he stood. Facing someone bigger than himself for the first time seemed to leave him not knowing what to do.
But then—
"GRAAAAAAH—!!"
Tae-san roared like a beast. As if trying to pull himself together, or maybe drive out the fear. Then he launched that massive fist straight at me. A hammer of a punch tore through the air.
In that instant, a completely random thought popped into my head.
…Come to think of it.
In my past life, when I used to read comics, there were scenes like this. Two fists colliding head-on, the shock sending wind pressure everywhere, hair flying, the floor cracking open—that kind of thing.
…Would it really be like that in real life?
I was curious. I suddenly wanted to try it.
I knew better. We were in the middle of a fight. This was no time to indulge pointless curiosity. But with a madly racing bear's dynamic vision, that incoming fist looked far too clear. Slow. Extremely slow. Almost as if it were inviting me to meet it.
I just couldn't hold back. I threw my own fist dead-on to meet Tae-san's coming punch.
.
.
.
.
.
…I can do this.
Tae-san repeated it to himself. He admitted the man in front of him was bigger. He admitted his legs were shaking from a pressure he had never felt before. But that was all. So what if the guy was a little bigger? In the end, the one who hit harder won. That was the truth of this game.
…I've never lost. Not once.
Two fights after debut, both ended with a single punch. No one had ever not gone flying from this fist. No matter how big that man was, he was still human. And as long as he was human, one clean shot from this fist would finish it.
I can do this. I can tear him apart. He's the same as the rest of them!
Tae-san crushed the fear and steadied himself. Then he threw the fist that had never once betrayed him in his entire life with everything he had, straight at the man's face.
In that instant—
KWAH—!
He felt the solid impact in his hand.
…It landed!
He thought it had connected. That his fist had smashed the man's face dead center. Just like always, one punch again.
But—
"…Huh?"
Something was wrong. The sensation at his fingertips wasn't a soft face. It was a hard fist. Only then did Tae-san realize—his punch had not hit the man's face. It had collided head-on with the fist the man had thrown right back at him.
…Huh?
And right then—
CRUNCH-SNAP—!!
The fist that had never broken even once in his life crumpled like paper. The bones of the back of his hand shattered. His wrist folded the wrong way. The shock raced up his forearm all the way into his shoulder. With a sickening crack, Tae-san's entire arm twisted.
"AAAAAARGH—!!"
A moment later, Tae-san's massive body lifted clean off the ground and flew backward. The same frame that had spent a lifetime throwing other people around like dolls went flying through the air like a doll itself.
BOOM—!!
Tae-san slammed into the cage fence and crumpled to the floor. His broken arm was bent at an impossible angle.
…What. What just…
In his fading consciousness, Tae-san thought blankly. They had only clashed fists—and his arm had been pulverized while he went flying. The man was still standing in the same spot, expression almost calm, as if nothing special had happened.
Only then did Tae-san understand. His whole life he had believed he was the strongest. That size was power, and with that power he could crush the entire world. But he had been wrong. The real monster was someone else.
Things like him couldn't even reach that man's feet—and beings like that existed in this world. Tae-san, who had lived his entire life at the bottom of a well, only learned it now, after his arm had already been broken.
…Ahh.
Tae-san's consciousness slowly went dark. The last thing he saw was the shadow of that enormous man looking down at him without much interest at all.