The Chairman's Real Job is Fighter!?
…………… “……What did you say?”
Spread thinly across the tatami mat, I heard Yeom Hana's voice from the edge of her shadow.
Lee Se-hee stood from her chair without a word in response.
“No sneak attacks.”
A curt declaration. “I'm challenging you to a fight right now. Accept it.”
Thud. Lee Se-hee's left foot stamped the floor.
In her hanbok, without any preliminary motion, she closed the distance to Yeom Hana. Her left fist shot out in a straight line.
Oh. A flawless jab. Textbook perfect—could go in a manual.
The essence of modern striking arts: speed, trajectory, and power in perfect harmony. Who knew? That hime-cut chairman must have martial arts as her main gig and chaebol heir as a side hustle.
But Yeom Hana is Korea's strongest S-rank Awakener. Even untransformed, there's no way she'd eat a normal person's jab.
She tilted her head back in a sway, dodging by a paper-thin margin.
“Hey, wait! What the hell is this!?”
No answer came.
Lee Se-hee dropped her hips, shifted her weight forward, and dove at Yeom Hana's leg, hooking her left foot in a single-leg takedown.
“Ha, you have got to be—!”
Yeom Hana backpedaled, but it was too late. Even she couldn't defy the laws of leverage.
Thud.
Yeom Hana's back hit the reception room floor. Lee Se-hee rode the falling momentum seamlessly, circling behind without missing a beat to secure back control, then snaked her arm around the neck.
Rear naked choke. Every move flowed like water. And that grappling? No beginner stuff. She could debut pro tomorrow.
“Fight for real. Or there's no cooperation.”
Lee Se-hee sneered right by Yeom Hana's ear. “Or—is this all you've got?”
In that instant, sparks flew from Yeom Hana's eyes.
No metaphor. The choker at her throat—the Neutronium Suit in standby—pulsed red.
She's really pissed now. Rookie trash talk, but it worked.
Sitting side-by-side with my mind-world gremlins, I munched popcorn.
Crunch. Nom.
S-rank Awakener or not, even untransformed—is it smart to provoke her like that? Chairman's got guts.
Yeom Hana didn't struggle against the choke. Instead, with superhuman leg strength, she stood with Lee Se-hee clinging to her back, then kicked off the floor and leaped into the air.
Three meters. High enough to graze the reception room ceiling.
And then—defying gravity, Yeom Hana flipped midair, slamming down back-first.
BOOM!!
The tatami shook, the impact rattling the whole room.
“H-Hana! If you do that—!”
Han Min-seo shrieked near-scream.
Hmm. A normal person like Lee Se-hee, pancaked on the back during a three-meter drop? Spine should've shattered.
What now? If Lee dies here, my attachment human goes to jail. Smuggle Yeom Hana to the Americas? Japan? China?
But my worry was unfounded.
“Ngh…!”
Lee Se-hee rolled on the floor, groaning from the shock as she released the choke arm. But in the split second it took to catch a breath, she sprang to her feet, resetting her stance.
“N-No way! How…!?”
Han Min-seo clapped a hand over his gaping mouth.
Right? A civilian should've been paste. Standing right after tanking that drop? Something's up with this chairman.
Lee Se-hee's left foot arced in a crescent. Middle kick. A crisp hip-twist strike aimed at Yeom Hana's side.
Yeom Hana caught the ankle. Kick catch.
Now she's in trouble.
But Lee Se-hee, with her left foot trapped, pivoted on it and whipped her right leg up.
Spinning back kick.
Crack!
Weight, leg power, and spin loaded into the kick nailed Yeom Hana's jaw dead-on. Her head snapped sideways.
Wild. Even untransformed, Yeom Hana's S-rank. She squats metric tons. How's a normie keeping up?
She holding back?
Got it. But strength parity? Physics says no. Technique has limits against raw muscle.
The doctor-coated thoughtling chimed in.
Ah. Didn't Yeom Hana learn something from Dr. Stein? Relativity Fist or whatever. Could end it easy.
True. Same reason no Neutronium Suit. Jaw rocked, Yeom Hana reset.
Lee Se-hee rushed in with a one-two combo; Yeom Hana guarded and fired a check hook.
Yeom Hana's right smashed Lee Se-hee's temple.
“Tch!”
Lee nearly crumpled but recovered before the next punch, clinching and hugging Yeom Hana's waist.
Fierce infight: elbows flying, knees colliding, headbutt cracking nose.
Lee Se-hee disengaged first.
“I've got your measure.”
Breathing ragged, voice steady. “Yeom Hana, great power, but polish those skills more.”
“Ha. You pick a random fight, and now you're messing around?”
Oop, Yeom Hana's on banmal now. Pissed.
“I said fighting me was the condition. You pass. Next time, suit up and go all out.”
Wait. Face full-power Neutronium Yeom Hana? She held her own barehanded, but one hit from geared-up? Bones to dust.
Suicide wish? Or ace in the hole? Curious.
Lee Se-hee dabbed her split lip with a handkerchief.
“Now go tell that Threat Management Agency guy my will. Oseong Group is ready to oppose Microgenics and will back the Agency fully.”
“Goddamn chaebol privilege. Manners mean nothing, huh…!”
“Business done. Leave.”
Yeom Hana grumbled, but Lee Se-hee sat back down, eyes averted.
“……Tch!”
Yeom Hana turned. Neutronium choker shimmered then faded.
My attachment human really wanted to deck that hime-cut boss. Good restraint. Gold star.
Han Min-seo dithered between them, then hustled after Yeom Hana as she stormed for the door. At the threshold, he bowed to Lee Se-hee and bolted.
Click.
Door shut. Silence in the reception room.
Just Lee Se-hee in her chair and me, thinly plastered to the floor.
I'd been nibbling her emotions throughout the fight. Unique flavor. Pure, deep focus—like cold, heavy lead. Zeroing in on maxing her performance against a superior foe.
But now? Alone, her blank mask softened. Faint smile, fists clenching and unclenching. Reliving the fight buzz.
Lead before. Now? High-proof distillate. Hits cold and tasteless, then burns down the throat later.
Word for it: craving. Or ambition. Her bedrock emotion.
Korea's top chaebol boss. Killer fighter. Burning ambition inside.
Lee Se-hee. Interesting. Gonna be fun.
Hee hee hee.
……………
Curious about Lee Se-hee, I slime-stuck to the floor, trailing her all day—but that's next time.
Not the point now.
I'm hiding in her bedroom's capsule sleep accelerator. Specifically, under the gel pad inside.
Gel's thick viscosity—naked eye can't spot me. Perfect stealth.
Hee hee hee.
She opens the capsule, I pop out and scare her. Mind-world gremlins are praying, hyped.
Shh. Quiet. You'll blow it.
Gremlins clamped mouths with both hands.
Five minutes later. Bedroom door opens. Bare, damp feet pad closer.
Hiss.
Capsule lid lifts. Cool air mixes with warm humidity.
Go time.
Reform to human shape in the gel.
0.02 seconds.
Peek-a-boo.
From her view: like flipping bedsheets and a whole person stretching up from underneath. Even steel nerves would jump.
Here we go.
“……”
I rose through the gel, locking eyes with fresh-from-shower Lee Se-hee.
My face reflected in her black pupils.