Monster Protection and the Austin Showdown
They said he came from the streets. After greeting Young-hoon's mother, I stepped outside. There he was, plopped down right in front of the door, head bowed. He'd clearly overheard our whole conversation. I ruffled his hair.
"Head on in. I've got some business to handle, but I'll be back soon."
"Yeah..."
Setting up a business wouldn't take long. But if I was hiring him as an employee, there was a ton of prep work ahead.
On the way in, I'd looked up the hospital his mom went to. Given that one breast was gone, it looked like breast cancer, and a quick search confirmed she was at a top-notch place.
I got home, pulled out my phone to scout houses near the hospital, then fired up the computer. I'd planned to start a security firm, but I hit a wall right away. The requirements for establishing one were a nightmare.
So I explained the situation to Dad and asked for his help. Since I'd almost never asked him for anything like this before, he jumped on it immediately. Dad had no trouble setting up the business—thanks to Big Uncle, we made it a U.S. corporation with Dad as the representative, hiring Young-hoon on the payroll. The client would be me, so all that was left was depositing the funds.
Big Uncle laid out the framework, so Dad dove into studying it all over again. This put out the immediate fire, but for a proper setup, we'd need police permits too. Dad being ex-military made him a perfect fit as the rep—no issues there.
Now Young-hoon just had to follow me around and train. I hired a lawyer, got the contract drawn up, and headed excitedly to his mom's place with it in hand.
She looked uncomfortable seeing me. She was deeply sorry, probably because cancer treatment messes with hormones and piles on stress and pain—you can't control your emotions. She must've thought she'd been rude to me. But honestly, just keeping her head together like this was impressive as hell...
Young-hoon's iron will to train to death for success? Yeah, he got that from her.
"Young-hoon going back to school..."
"I got the contract ready. It's a security firm backed by the U.S. military."
"Pardon...?"
"Our Big Uncle wants to bring in some retired soldiers when he retires too."
She hadn't heard I was mixed-race.
"Monster Protection. What do you think of the name? Gonna call it KMP. The U.S. branch'll be AMP, maybe?"
"Ahaha..."
"Dad's the rep, Young-hoon's the first employee. I'm the client, so he just shadows me and trains—that's it."
"Thank you... truly."
"No biggie. And drop the formal talk—we're friends with Young-hoon."
Time for the awkward part, so I scratched my head.
"Uh... like I mentioned before, I was gonna hand over 600 million right away, but taxes ate it up bad. Felt wasteful cutting it in half."
"We never expected that much."
"So how about starting at an annual salary of 3,000? It's a legit security firm, so with rank and seniority, I can get you over 600 million in ten years."
I didn't need any of that. I'd dump Young-hoon's first paycheck into Bitcoin. Four months from now, those 5,000-won coins would hit a 60x multiplier event. I'd already bought some for the kids at home under their own accounts with 5 million each.
"His fight money stays untouched, so once he starts competing for real, we'll pay it back fast."
"...Can I ask one thing?"
"Sure."
"Does Young-hoon... really like fighting?"
Did Young-hoon like fighting? Honestly, no clue. His goal had always been money. But that look in the octagon? Pure hunger. I'd craved it myself enough times to know that expression for sure.
"Looked alive to me."
"If that's... if that's enough, then it's plenty."
His mom wiped tears, smiling.
"Oh, cut salary means I added some perks. Your cancer treatment first—once Young-hoon starts earning, medical aid gets tricky, right? Company covers it. Housing support too."
"Pardon...?"
I knew it. I'd spend way more than taxes this way.
"Start fresh and healthy there. Picked a villa next to your church."
"Y-you don't have to go that far..."
"C'mon, Young-hoon's my guy. That makes you my mom too."
I flashed her a bright grin as she bit her lip.
"But... fighting means he might get hurt..."
"If that's the life he chose, I don't care."
We wrapped up the contract talk, then I hit training. Time flew, New Year dawned, and I flew to the States with Young-hoon in tow. My fight was two months out.
True to my word, he dumped his salary into Bitcoin. Dad added that he needed to look like a proper bodyguard to outsiders. Once Young-hoon turned legal, Dad planned to send him on assignments to real security gigs.
That shifted Young-hoon's vibe—he was genuinely my right-hand man now. Knowing I'd built a real security firm ahead of time, not just for show, fired him up.
I was legally an adult in Korea too. Trained with Dominic at AKT, waiting for Brown. Young-hoon learned kickboxing and proper MMA in Korea. The gym guys said he was a big help.
Sweating it out wrestling Dominic when Brown showed. We went one-on-one in the office.
"Your new contract."
"Time flies. Taking this long for a fight."
"Twice a year is plenty."
Scanning the contract, I eyed the signing bonus for round two: 40 grand. Top-tier for a ranker this era. Overkill for a guy with just two fights.
He's cheap later, but he tries to treat you right. Or maybe he just likes me.
"Anything not to your liking?"
"Mandatory four months off after one fight? Gotta spell that out?"
"You read faster than me. How?"
Random compliment—I just shrugged.
"Think of your age. No amateur org pushes an 18-year-old like that."
"Hm?"
"But you might get called up mid-event—check the clause..."
If I summoned him, fight money quadrupled.
"This is America. Do it wrong, they call you a kid-grinding org. Bad press."
"Call me often then."
"Tch... not planning to."
"Sweet deal for a low-ranker. Perfect for filler in boring numbered cards."
"Can't... deny that."
Brown's face said no sub-ins for me. Sipping the Korean mix coffee I'd gifted him, he continued, eyeing me.
"Joining AKT for real?"
"Nah, started Team Monster this time. Know it?"
"A team already?"
"Just one's training there—the welterweight striker. Fun one incoming."
"Ooh... Strikers always welcome. How's he stack up to you?"
"No one in the world compares."
Shrugged, and Brown grinned.
"Confidence... yeah. Fine then. No issue sparring AKT guys?"
"Spare the AKT roster if you can."
"Why?"
"Traitor image sucks."
"Caring about optics in weird spots."
Signed the contract, back to training. A month later, my opponent was Austin, an unranked striker. Three-fight win streak though.
Sometimes wondered if Brown wanted me to lose. Why pair me with a hot three-winner? If you're feeding momentum, make it a ranker.
—"Common's more popular than expected. Means plenty wanna see him lose. That's why Austin's perfect. He's the rising star on a three-win streak. Makes no sense Common hit #12 off two fights while Austin's unranked."
—"One of 'em proves top-rank challenger material after this."
That wrapped Brown's bit on me. Even with Austin's two decisions and snoozefests, three wins is three. Made my #12 look off.
Austin based in Muay Thai. Watched his fights on my phone—solid but vanilla. Only the low kicks stood out. Nothing special.
The more I watched, the clearer why they matched us. Austin was hype and fluff. Decent takedown D, but soft matchups so far.
Still, I'd analyze him deep. No slip-ups.
Tahar hooked me up with a Muay Thai specialist coach who broke down counters. Sparred hard.
After, posed for a pic at AKT's entrance in sweats.