Hey, You're Pretty Decent— Wait, No, Yeah, You're Amazing
Whoa, you’re actually kinda decent. Yeah, seriously, you’re fucking incredible.
THUD!!!
“Fucking hell…”
Was it arrogance?
No.
I was tense. Focused.
Han Seol-hee and I had never fought in person, but the rumors had spread everywhere—inside and outside school.
When I heard she could hold her own against high-schoolers, or even take on elementary-school brats, I thought it was just hype.
That was me underestimating it even then.
The lightning that came flying at me always gave me the worst choice.
Just as I was about to get zapped and dazed, her fist—pure anger and irritation—slammed into my face and sent me flying.
If I dodged, she’d instantly appear right where the lightning had been, grab my collar, and slam me into the floor.
And the scariest part was still to come.
THUD!!!
“Kehk!!”
Han Seol-hee’s quiet, furious whisper right beside me while riding the lightning was the most terrifying thing I’d ever heard.
I wanted to argue—misunderstanding or not—but she didn’t give me a chance.
Lightning again. I dodged. Then I punched where it had vanished.
But this time her voice came from right behind me.
“Who the hell do you think you are, messing with my little brother?”
CRACKZZZZT!!!
“KYAAAAAK!!!!”
I had no idea anymore. I couldn’t tell what was hitting me, what I was dodging, or what I was supposed to do.
If this was some monster created by that guy’s superpower, I had to endure it.
And use it.
I had to get stronger. I had to prove it.
That my superpower could reach number one.
That I could succeed.
[Kang Ryu-yeong, rotating her body to the right while catching the lightning]
Her voice echoed from the training hall speakers.
There was no time to think.
I did exactly what she said—rotated my body to the right and snatched the lightning headed my way.
My left hand felt like it was burning from the current racing through my whole body, but I felt it at the tips.
That was Han Seol-hee’s wrist.
CRACKZZZZT!!!
“Harang?!?”
“WAAAAA!!!!”
I held on to her wrist with my left hand, enduring the current that felt like it was roasting me, and spun my body—using my hips and momentum like she’d told me—then hurled her away.
THUD!!!!
“Ha… ha… ha…”
I’d finally landed a counter.
=== === === === ===
I finally couldn’t hold back anymore and grabbed the microphone connected to the training hall speakers, ready to help Kang Ryu-yeong.
I wasn’t feeling sorry for Ryu-yeong. I just wanted Han Seol-hee to win.
Kang Ryu-yeong’s incredible physical ability was painful to watch if she couldn’t use it just because she lacked technique.
Han Seol-hee’s lightning control was insane.
Even I, who had used countless magic tricks and manipulated lightning in wild ways, suspected for a second that Seol-hee had turned into lightning and appeared where it had vanished.
Honestly, the very concept of a lightning spear was a trick.
The hint had come from Dad’s words—Mom’s genes.
Han Seol-hee hadn’t just thrown a lightning spear.
She’d been holding thin, steel wire in her hand.
She wrapped lightning around the wire, threw it, and created the spear.
If the opponent dodged the incoming spear, the wire would stick in the wall, then she’d shrink it in an instant and fire the lightning and wire together.
I’d known she wasn’t where the lightning wasn’t.
I grabbed the microphone again and spoke.
“Seol-hee-unnie’s ability isn’t throwing a lightning spear and teleporting there. It’s using the wire. Open your eyes wide and focus on the tip of her fingers.”
My words made Kang Ryu-yeong’s eyes change.
Honestly, she’d taken so many hits she should have given up or collapsed, but she was grinning like she was waiting for this exact moment.
Han Seol-hee looked at me through the glass with sad eyes, but this was for her.
If it was a weird attack using a tool instead of raw power, I had to consider what would happen when the opponent figured out the counter.
Kang Ryu-yeong no longer feared lightning.
She was watching the wire’s direction the entire time, thinking maybe the lightning had been weakened by too much shock.
Now Ryu-yeong was being attacked first.
When the wire stuck in the wall and shrank, she swung her fist toward the direction it vanished, blocking Han Seol-hee’s follow-up.
At first Ryu-yeong was cocky enough to try grabbing the flying wire bare-handed, but of course she only got shocked by the lightning riding it.
CRACKZZZZT!!!
“Kang Ryu-yeong!! Don’t grab the wire with your bare hands!! Getting shocked is dangerous, but the wire that shrinks so hard can slice your hand off!! Dodge it and approach!”
Of course, Ryu-yeong’s Imugi superpower might not even cut steel, but I had to break that habit of only using brute force.
Ryu-yeong started charging.
After realizing the nature of Han Seol-hee’s lightning and flash attack, the fear had vanished.
I panicked and grabbed the microphone again, shouting at Han Seol-hee.
“Unnie!! Stay still and you’ll get hit! The wire isn’t an attack—it’s for movement!! Shoot it at another wall and dodge!”
Han Seol-hee snapped out of it when she heard my voice and nodded.
She shot the wire at a different wall instead of toward Ryu-yeong, and instantly vanished.
Now it was a battle of stamina.
Ryu-yeong chased the dodging Han Seol-hee, who kept leaping between walls with loud thuds.
Every once in a while Han Seol-hee fired the wire at Ryu-yeong to harass her.
After ten minutes of intense pursuit, Ryu-yeong watched the wire shot by Han Seol-hee, then charged toward the same wall at the exact same time.
THUD!!!
Han Seol-hee took Ryu-yeong’s fist straight to the face.
I felt sorry for her, but I let out a bitter smile at the cool training match where Ryu-yeong finally used her Imugi superpower.
“Wha… what the hell?!”
What I saw was Han Seol-hee with a pissed-off expression, catching Ryu-yeong’s fist with her palm.
“KYAAAAAK!!!!”
Han Seol-hee crackled lightning around her while glaring at Ryu-yeong.
Ryu-yeong was confused, but the current flowing from the fist Han Seol-hee was holding made her body flash, then she collapsed powerlessly.
When Han Seol-hee saw Ryu-yeong fall, she helped her up and walked out of the training hall.
She glared at me standing there with a dazed expression outside.
“… Harang. Unnie is sulking.”
Han Seol-hee lay Ryu-yeong on the sofa outside the training hall like it was nothing.
She hugged Han Seol-hwa, who was jumping around yelling “Amazing!”, then walked over to me.
“Ugh!!!”
She grabbed both of my cheeks and started squeezing and kneading them hard.
As I blinked back tears at the pain, Han Seol-hee just smiled softly.
“You wanted to see unnie lose? Too bad. Unnie is strong.”
I kept getting my cheeks rubbed by Han Seol-hee until Ryu-yeong woke up.
Han Seol-hwa, watching the whole thing, approached with a girly laugh and joined in, kneading my cheeks together with her.
Somehow I felt a little unfair after thinking, “Why can’t I just win like this from the start?”
— — —
The Erosion Control Center staff kept coming and going, helping Ryu-yeong recover on the sofa.
They said basic treatment was possible, even if not hospital-level.
When Ryu-yeong woke up, she made a slightly annoyed face and thanked Han Seol-hee for the match.
Then she came over to me, grinned, and said:
“Hey, you’re not bad at all. Yeah, you’re seriously incredible.”
Normally she would have spoken roughly to me, but she flinched at Han Seol-hee’s glare and changed to softer words.
Ryu-yeong, who had taken my advice, had lost the match, but she seemed satisfied with the situation where she’d pressed Han Seol-hee even for a moment.
Ryu-yeong patted my shoulder and said she’d ask me to help again next week at school.
She refused Dad’s offer to drive her home and walked back alone.
In the car on the way home, Han Seol-hee—drained from the fight—fell asleep with a sleepy “I’m so hungry,” and Han Seol-hwa, who had been excited beside her, leaned on her shoulder to sleep too.
I sat in the passenger seat and whispered to Dad.
“Dad… thanks to what you said about receiving Mom’s genes, I learned her secret too. Thank you.”
“Huh? Eh… no, Dad didn’t know. I just said you fight well because you look like your mom… hehe.”
I listened, made a slightly dumb face, then nodded seriously.
I promised myself I’d never make Mom angry.