Ch.210Retirement?!

“Uh, are you talking about retirement?!”

Pababababak!

As soon as the statement ends, microphones shoot up and flashes burst in an instant.

“Are you saying you’re completely ending your career as an athlete starting today?”

“That’s not it. I plan to faithfully fulfill my military service obligation.”

Military service obligation.

While foreign journalists didn’t quite understand what that meant,

Korean journalists immediately grasped its significance.

“Does this mean you’ll be active as a coach rather than competing in tournaments?”

“That’s right. I plan to share my expertise. I’m going to open a seven-day intensive training camp for athletes.”

This was already something that had been fully discussed with the Korean Boxing Association.

And realizing this, the journalists once again directed questions at Kim Donghu.

“Then why did you mention retirement? I’m curious why you specifically used that expression.”

“Because I’ve achieved everything possible in amateur competitions.”

“!”

A bold statement.

‘Everything possible in amateur competitions.’

The impact of those words was tremendous.

“Well, none of his gold medal matches took more than 5 minutes.”

“Olympics, Asian Games… how boring must it be for him?”

The first couple of times, the emergence of an extremely strong person can be interesting.

It’s fresh, destructive, and impossible to imagine what they’ll show next.

But when it keeps repeating, people eventually get tired of it.

Overwhelming victories every time he enters a competition?

Power that ends matches before the decision, before the first round is even over?

Such dominance actually reduces interest in competitions.

The presence of an overwhelming champion kills anticipation.

“Retiring from amateur competition because he’s too strong.”

“That’s truly a one-of-a-kind retirement reason.”

That’s why Kim Donghu declared his retirement from amateur competitions.

“Does this mean you’ll be entering the professional arena?”

“My answer is the same as during the Olympics.”

His statement that he would consider it if given interesting conditions and enough money.

The reason he could say this despite not having officially debuted as a professional is because

Kim Donghu is a unique character in the boxing world that will never be seen again.

“S-so that means, uh, um…”

“Yes, I plan to live as a coach for the time being.”

This is also part of an athlete’s career.

The journalists nodded at those words.

Though they couldn’t understand the entire situation,

they could follow the context since he was speaking in English.

“Thank you for sharing your future plans. Now, would it be alright if we moved on to discussing the match?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Please ask freely.”

“You used new techniques in this final match that you hadn’t used in other matches. Is there a reason for that?”

“I felt that as it was the final, I should show a performance worthy of it.”

“Then why didn’t you use them until now?”

“Because I only completed the technique the day before the final.”

Before the medal ceremony,

the journalists tried to squeeze in as many questions as possible during the brief prepared interview.

After about 30 more seconds,

“Due to the timing of the medal ceremony, we’ll end the interview here.”

The rest will continue at the official press conference.

With those words, Kim Donghu stood up.

It was time to go receive his second gold medal.

+++++++

[Does Kim Donghu really intend to go pro?]

-Well, the amateur level is too low for him;

ㄴEven at the pro level, it would be similar for someone like Kim Donghu

ㄴHe’ll probably take all heavyweight championship belts ㅇㅇ

[A group intensive training camp, huh]

-Seems like he’s doing this for community service hours

-But can anyone actually follow Kim Donghu’s training?

ㄴFirst of all, nobody can learn that straight punch

ㄴHow do you learn a punch that sends people flying?

ㄴCan anyone learn how to make people bounce off the floor? lol

ㄴDefinitely not possible

[So Kim Donghu will just be teaching kids until December]

-Even with the most intensive schedule, it’ll take 3 months

-The fact that the association and Military Manpower Administration approved this lol

ㄴDon’t think of it as special treatment

ㄴHe deserves special consideration, or would you take responsibility if he changes citizenship?

ㄴIn other countries, there wouldn’t even be military service

ㄴThe fact is China, Russia, Japan, and the US are already trying to recruit him to change citizenship

[Seems like they’re being cautious about the naturalization issue]

-There have been several articles about it

(Link)

-The Military Manpower Administration and Korean Boxing Association have already “promised” various accommodations for Kim Donghu

-It’s not just talk, they’re really going to do it

-I think they won’t even be strict about his service hours?

ㄴPublic opinion is good since it’s not like the actor special treatment controversy

ㄴHe’s just too strong; what can you do when someone’s that strong?

ㄴHe won 2 gold medals in less than 10 minutes combined for Olympics+Asian Games

[YouTube is full of Kim Donghu boxing highlights lol]

-The highlight videos are all similar in length

-Just different background music LMAO

ㄴI agree

ㄴCan’t help it when even with all highlights and slow motion it’s still under 10 minutes

[Sorry to change the subject, but I have a question]

-My son says he wants to learn boxing;;

-He says he wants to be like Kim Donghu, how do I explain this to him?

-It’s really awkward to explain as a parent

ㄴJust let him try it

ㄴYeah, better to let him feel the disappointment of reality quickly than try to explain

The community forums.

『Kim Donghu Becomes a Coach? A New Teacher for Korean Boxing!』

『An Unprecedented Achievement, Kim Donghu Opens Special Camp!』

『For Athletes Only, “Will Conduct High-Intensity Training.”』

『Kim Donghu Gradually Being Mentioned? Pro Boxers Speak Up』

『Featured on New York Times Front Page?! “The Emergence of a Player Who Will Write New History”』

『Clearly Showed the World Which Country is the Boxing Powerhouse!』

『It’s Not That Korea is Strong, But That Kim Donghu is Strong, Need to Re-examine Korean Boxing…』

『Boxing Gyms Booming! Everyone Caught in the “Kim Donghu Fever”』

『Exclusive Interview with Kim Donghu’s Coach Paek Sangha! “I Never Thought I Raised Kim Donghu, I Just Helped Him.”』

The news articles too.

Everything was in an uproar.

Because no one expected him to be this overwhelming.

No one anticipated he would show such a destructive performance again.

The impact was even greater than the Olympics.

Back then, people weren’t prepared to accept it and hesitated slightly.

But now, they were somewhat ready for the tide to come in.

So they could actively push Kim Donghu.

“I didn’t know he could spin ‘retiring from the national team after military service’ so well.”

“Yeah, with that level of skill, he should go pro anyway.”

The journalists smiled admiringly at Kim Donghu.

Slurp.

Drinking 300-won coffee from a vending machine,

they analyzed Kim Donghu’s strategy once more.

“First, he creates a sense of regret by suddenly announcing retirement.”

“It makes people think, ‘He’s so amazing, why is he retiring? Why?'”

“Then naturally at the official press conference, he’ll say he’s retiring when his military service ends.”

The result is the same, but the nuance is different.

If he were to retire immediately after completing military service, he might face criticism.

Kim Donghu is a boxer and actor who receives a lot of attention.

But by bringing up retirement in a positive atmosphere where everyone is smiling,

the public also interprets it with a smile.

“Saying he needs to move to a higher stage… the atmosphere is just right.”

“He’s smart, really smart.”

He resolves his community service hours as a military athlete through the intensive camp.

And the association has already accepted his two gold medals as sufficient for his athletic career.

“So he’ll go pro right after his service period ends?”

“Yes, but he also said the other party needs to agree.”

“What?”

“Without complicated processes, just… like an event match, I guess.”

“That’s straightforward.”

The journalists checked the news about Kim Donghu that was flooding the internet even at this moment.

Despite many gold medal events at the Asian Games,

most of the focus was on Kim Donghu.

Well.

There haven’t been many such overwhelming victories.

How thrilling must that be.

“But this really looks like CGI.”

“What?”

“The way he sends people flying.”

“That video already has nearly 50 million views.”

Fastest to reach 50 million views for a sports highlight on YouTube.

That’s how unbelievable the scene was.

“Kim Donghu must be training even at this hour, right?”

“Well, I guess he probably is?”

People were very curious about what Kim Donghu was doing right now, but

contrary to their expectations, Kim Donghu was currently:

“Isn’t your stamina too poor?”

“…It’s my wife who has too much stamina.”

He was enjoying a steady daily life.

++++++

Exactly three days after the end of the Asian Games boxing,

after returning home, I immediately opened the short-term intensive camp as planned.

Some suggested I should rest a bit first, but

this was actually the optimal time.

Right now, when my body was perfectly conditioned for competition.

At this moment when all preparations were complete, training would be most effective.

“Now let’s start proper training. I’d appreciate if you trust and follow me!”

“Yes!”

And so the training schedule began.

There had been talks with Disney about The Tarzan, but

suddenly it was postponed because apparently they had many things to resolve.

‘Well, I have things to do during that time anyway.’

So my schedule consisted of two parts:

Training athletes steadily during the day, and

“…I won’t be coming for a while, it’s too hard… Kim Donghu is crazy! Beast! Pervert! Freak!”

Doing consistent cardio at night.

“Honey, I don’t think I can come over for a while because of my activities… yeah…”

Of course, this cardio didn’t last long.

Even though we were taking turns,

both of us eventually reached our limits.

And right at that moment, as if she’d been waiting:

-Could we talk about Tarzan?

After a long time, I received a message from Evelyn.