Ch.71Shall we get straight to it without warming up?

The alarm hadn’t even gone off when I woke up at exactly 6:50 AM.

I immediately got up, did about 10 minutes of full-body stretching.

After just washing my face, I put on a cap and went outside.

“Ssssssip.”

The dawn scent tickled my nose,

And the still-moist leaves revealed yesterday’s weather.

“Whew, let’s go.”

Beep!

Then with the alarm sound, interval running begins immediately.

This had been my routine since the day after I decided to prepare for the boxing competition.

‘Even if I’ve gained talent, I always need to maintain the right mindset for it.’

It’s true that Sims – Real Life is a cheat key.

But that doesn’t mean I can just lie under a persimmon tree waiting for fruit to fall.

I needed to consistently drive out my rotten mentality through steady effort.

Huff, huff.

Step by step.

As I run, gasping for breath, memories of my past life naturally surface.

‘I used to run like this back then too.’

During that time when I hated being at home.

When I could barely stand the fact that I was alone.

I remember avoiding even facing people,

Covering my entire body and running every day.

Perhaps I can run so well now because of those times.

Somewhat glorifying my past, I finish my run,

Take a shower, eat breakfast, relax at home, and then start my post-meal walk.

“…When did they put this up?”

As soon as I headed toward school, what caught my eye was:

<Shinbit Middle School’s pride! Ten-million-viewer actor Kim Donghu!>

A new banner had been put up despite it still being winter break.

‘They’ve decided to use me as the school’s poster child.’

I wasn’t upset about it.

Rather, it was unfamiliar but nice, since I’d never been treated this way before.

‘Ahem.’

After briefly witnessing this new scene of social murder hanging at the school gate,

I immediately continued my leisurely routine.

‘Golden Bell is in March, and the boxing competition is in May, right?’

It’s the end of January now, so I had about a month of leeway.

‘And if Eclipse does well, they said there are plans for fan meetings too.’

MNC had made various promises if ratings exceeded 40%.

That means they really want to break that 40% barrier.

‘It’ll easily exceed that.’

When I saw the script, Eclipse had an A rating next to it.

From what I’ve observed so far, for dramas, B means 30% ratings and A means 40%.

‘For movies, A means ten million viewers, and B is… I’m not sure yet.’

I haven’t seen a commercial film with a B rating, so I can’t judge the performance clearly.

But considering that Hero, a short film with a B rating, won four Mise-en-scène awards,

An A rating might mean it could become a short film that reaches worldwide audiences.

‘It might become one of those well-known films on OTT platforms later.’

While I was thinking about these things:

>Donghu, could you spar with me once next week?

>If I only practice with my coach, I can’t get a good feel because of the size difference.

>We were supposed to do it in April, but I think doing one more in advance wouldn’t be bad.

>What do you think?

>Of course, you can refuse if you don’t want to… haha;;;

Why does our coach change so much when texting?

In person, he looks like a shark that no one would dare approach…

<I’ll do it

>Really?

>Thanks, seriously…

“…”

While I was feeling strange about how different he was online versus offline:

>Oh right, you said you’re entering a boxing competition?

>I just woke up this morning and seriously thought about it.

>I’ll be your manager!

Yerim’s text arrived with uncanny timing.

Be my manager? What does that mean?

+++++

Time passed quickly, and on the day before the scheduled sparring,

Kim Donghu’s sparring partner Kim Sansu was warming up lightly at the gym.

Pak, pak, pak-pak, puk!

His incredible reaction speed was evident as his fists connected with the mitts instantly.

Proving why he was called a promising talent.

Kim Sansu threw punches with a relaxed expression.

Ding!

Then came the sound marking the end of the round.

After catching his breath casually, Kim Sansu finally opened his tightly closed mouth.

“How should I crush that Kim Donghu tomorrow?”

“It’s just sparring, what do you mean crush? You’re not thinking something weird, are you?”

“Come on, how could I think weird things about sparring?”

Contrary to his brilliant skills:

“I just thought I might put some scratches on that face he’s so proud of.”

His character was exactly inversely proportional to his skill.

“Cut it out. Don’t you know about his fandom? You’ll get yourself killed.”

“What do you mean killed? They’re just losers who can’t say anything to your face.”

“This guy really has no fear. Do you know what ratings Eclipse got?”

“I don’t watch it, so I don’t know.”

“36%. That means almost everyone is watching these days. You need to be careful.”

“But it’s interesting you arranged this sparring match.”

That’s because I was worried you’d cause trouble if I didn’t.

The coach frowned, suddenly regretting his past decision.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have suggested it.’

Sparring was good to do consistently, even if not frequently.

Combat sense could only be built through experience.

In that sense, objectively speaking,

The sparring between Kim Sansu and Kim Donghu was quite ideal.

‘Their skills seem similar, and their builds roughly match.’

That’s why he had specifically asked Coach Paek Sangha to arrange this appointment.

But he had no idea these were Sansu’s true intentions.

He had always shown signs of being a troublemaker, but not to this extent.

‘I’d like to cancel, but doing so the day before would be awkward.’

He figured he could intervene before anything happened during the sparring,

So there shouldn’t be a problem.

But unlike the coach with his innocent thoughts,

Kim Sansu’s mind was filled with jealousy.

A guy who would have been too intimidated to even speak to him in school,

Who would have had his money taken, had somehow gotten lucky and become famous.

And on top of that:

‘You dare touch my junior? I’ll make you feel how small this world is.’

It wasn’t simple anger but a tangled relationship of grudges.

Park Seokgu, who had been forgotten in everyone’s memories,

The former top fighter of Shinbit Middle School who had vomited after being punched by Kim Donghu.

He would severely punish the one who had hit his obedient junior.

‘See you tomorrow.’

He was really looking forward to tomorrow,

When he would beat Kim Donghu.

++++++

“Yahoo, Donghu!”

Wham!

A sudden voice and an enthusiastic back hug.

I knew who it was, and I couldn’t hide my embarrassment.

“…You really came?”

“Of course I really came. Did you think I’d fake it? I told you I’d be your manager!”

“No, I just didn’t think you’d actually come… I didn’t expect it.”

“But I told you the location and everything?”

“I didn’t have any reason to refuse…”

But I’m sorry, could you release the back hug?

Kim Donghu couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

Some,

Soft, soft.

Something was,

Clearly pressing against him.

But the heart of a pubescent boy refused to politely reject it.

“I’m going to join your agency anyway, so isn’t this much okay? We’re going to see each other a lot.”

We’ll go to the same school too!

“Ah, school too.”

Right, Yerim said she was coming to Daejong High School.

‘So next year I’ll see Yerim, Sujin, and Jaerin all at the same school?’

Why does that seem like it would be a problem?

Why do I have a bad feeling about the three of them meeting at the same time?

Those worries were momentarily interrupted.

“Oh, everyone’s here. Shall we leave right away?”

Coach Paek Sangha appeared with his car.

Since our gym didn’t have a cage or ring,

We had to move to the other gym.

We quickly got in the car and headed toward the gym where my sparring partner was waiting.

“Just say hello briefly and then start warming up, Donghu. I need to talk to them too.”

“Yes, sir.”

The gym we entered was unfamiliar since it was my first time there.

It was notably empty, probably because we were sparring early in the morning,

And it felt like a space dedicated solely to sparring.

“Well, well, I’m seeing a celebrity I’ve only seen on TV. Nice to meet you. I’m Coach Geumjin.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Kim Donghu.”

“I’m Shin Yerim, Kim Donghu’s manager. Pleased to meet you!”

“You already have a manager? Actors really are different.”

Haha.

After a brief exchange of playful conversation,

As soon as the greetings were over, I immediately headed toward the sandbag to warm up.

And at that moment, as if he’d been waiting, I heard a voice.

“So you’re Kim Donghu?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m Kim Sansu, your sparring partner today.”

“Ah… yes, nice to meet you.”

A loose tone and deliberately cocked leg.

Eyes that wanted to look down on me but couldn’t due to our height difference.

A situation where anyone could tell he was picking a fight.

But somehow, this situation felt very familiar.

‘When have I experienced this before?’

Why does this Kim Sansu person feel familiar?

“Bringing a girl to a sparring match? What if you get embarrassed when you lose?”

One-sided provocation.

“Excuse me, aren’t you being too rude for someone you just met?”

“Hey, stay out of this. Want to die? You’re nothing.”

The way he treated people around me.

“I heard you say you’re his manager, but that’s not true, right? You’re this?”

Kim Sansu demonstrated “this” with his hand.

Making a fist and putting his thumb between his index and middle fingers, wiggling it.

Yerim couldn’t say anything in response to this explicit gesture.

That appearance of bullying weaker people just because he was stronger.

‘Ah, I remember now.’

Park something.

He was exactly the same.

As soon as I had that thought, my mind cleared.

Normally, I should have been upset by his low-level provocation.

But as soon as I realized he was similar to Park whatever-his-name-was, the solution immediately came to mind.

“Should we start right away without warming up?”

Originally, I had planned to take it easy.

Even though it was sparring, I knew the talent residing in my body,

So I was going to be respectful and go easy on my opponent.

But if he was the same type as Park whatever, there was no need for that at all.

My body had been itching for action lately anyway.

‘Perfect.’

It was fortunate to have a place to let off some steam.

Perhaps this too was the will of Sims – Real Life?

“You want to start now? Without warming up?”

But when I actually suggested it, Kim Sansu seemed slightly taken aback.

In times like this, you just need to use the magic words.

“Yes, but if you’re scared, you can warm up more.”

“Hey, let’s do it right now. You’re dead, seriously.”

Effective as always.