Ch.75If you get hit, you die.

May suddenly arrived.

The National Youth Boxing Championship was receiving a level of attention completely different from usual.

Normally, this was a competition where at most three sports journalists would show up.

Currently, at least twenty people were lined up waiting.

“Haha, this kind of attention is quite burdensome.”

The president of the Korean Boxing Association,

Choi Sekchan, expressed his bewilderment at the journalists milling around.

“Indeed. This competition doesn’t usually receive this much attention…”

The executive members also echoed his sentiment, showing their awkwardness about standing in front of cameras.

“Kim Donghu really is something else.”

“But we never leaked the participant list, so how did they find out?”

“Well… seems like some folks are doing selfish things to make a living.”

It was ultimately good that the competition was receiving attention, becoming known to more people,

and gaining recognition so more people could enjoy it, but.

“Exploiting kids for what, wealth and glory? Tsk.”

Choi Sekchan expressed his disgust at the inappropriate methods.

If it were an adult competition, the participants would have enough experience to handle journalists, but.

He felt uncomfortable with the blatant camera shutter sounds at an event with children.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed it.’

If he had known it would be like this, he would have kicked them all out, attention or not.

But in reality, this was an unavoidable choice for Choi Sekchan.

With the national prince Kim Donghu participating,

would journalists really not take photos if filming wasn’t permitted?

‘Most likely only the most determined ones would remain, willing to use any means to get shots.’

That could disrupt the competition.

This was Choi Sekchan’s best effort under the circumstances.

‘This is the maximum we can handle right now.’

Fortunately, Kim Donghu’s participation hadn’t been officially announced.

The journalists were already overwhelming, but what if Kim Donghu’s fans showed up too?

He could already envision the staffing shortage.

Anyway, after all these complications, the National Youth Boxing Championship began.

After a brief opening ceremony, the competition would start immediately.

The rules were simple.

Two minutes per round, one minute rest.

A total of 3 rounds to determine the champion from 32 contestants.

Competitors were divided by age and weight class.

Except in special cases, middle school and high school divisions were strictly separated.

‘But this time, we have a special case.’

Choi Sekchan watched as Kim Donghu slowly entered the high school division area.

One thing was certain—he was incredibly handsome.

He thought the boy was even more handsome than his own late-born youngest son.

Perhaps he had the most perfect appearance of anyone he’d seen in person?

It was hard to believe someone with such looks would be boxing.

‘The most unbelievable part is that he deliberately applied for the high school division.’

Physically, Kim Donghu certainly matched the high school division, but.

The difference in experience and physical development due to age was enormous.

No matter how good a middle school student was, it was extremely rare for them to apply for the high school division.

Was it because the case itself was so rare?

Choi Sekchan had forgotten about this rule until Kim Donghu applied.

Perhaps that’s why?

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

To see what he would show.

But that didn’t mean he could focus only on Kim Donghu’s match.

As soon as he confirmed Kim Donghu had entered the ring, Choi Sekchan briefly looked away.

Soon after, the signal to start the match sounded.

Exactly 4 seconds later.

BOOM!

The sound of a cannon blast hit his ears.

“W-what?!”

Startled, he looked for the source of the sound and saw.

The opponent collapsed on the floor in shock, the coach hurriedly throwing in the towel,

and Kim Donghu standing still after hitting the post.

+++++

Skills are usually invisible to the eye.

Just as you can’t tell if someone is a baduk master or a martial arts expert just by looking at them.

Skills acquired by the body don’t show on the outside.

All the skills I learned before were of that nature.

‘Piano, swordsmanship.’

Neither of these caused any physical changes to my body.

Because they were purely in the realm of skill.

But with boxing, things became slightly different.

The agility to move like a butterfly and the precision to sting like a bee.

This wasn’t something that could be solved simply with technique.

It was in the realm of physical ability.

That’s why I was a bit afraid after receiving my second boxing talent.

As silly as it sounds, I literally couldn’t gauge how strong I would be.

So I kept practicing with the coach’s mitts until the competition started,

and came to one conclusion.

-Donghu, that’s not a fist, it’s a cannon. If you hit kids with that, they’ll die.

Destructive power that could be perfectly unleashed from any angle.

And precision that guided that destructive power at the optimal angle.

The synergy of these two was beyond imagination.

So the coach and I came up with a new strategy.

-Let’s make them forfeit.

-Forfeit?

-Yes, pressure them with jabs, corner them, and then hit the post to intimidate them.

When I first heard this plan, I wondered if it would really work, but.

I had no other choice.

With the sandbag making explosive sounds,

how could I possibly hit a person with this?

So as soon as the match started, I moved according to the plan.

While harboring doubts about how this would make anyone forfeit.

But then.

BANG!

“Eek!”

As soon as I hit the post, my opponent fell over in shock.

“F-forfeit!”

A white towel immediately dropped in the center of the ring.

‘This actually works?’

After that, the matches felt really easy.

I realized why [Sims – Real Life] had downloaded an additional application.

‘With such destructive power, variables simply wouldn’t occur.’

When you shoot someone with a cannon, not even a trace remains.

There’s no way to find an opening for a counterattack.

‘At least I’m not wasting energy.’

Although matches were scheduled at about one per day.

If these matches continued for long, cumulative fatigue would build up.

But without such worries, I was able to advance to the finals quite smoothly.

And by some twist of fate.

‘Is this also the influence of my smooth sailing?’

My opponent was Kim Sansu, someone I had briefly encountered before.

+++++

‘What am I watching right now?’

Boxing journalist Kim Jindae concluded that what he was seeing must be an illusion.

There were too many things that couldn’t be explained otherwise.

‘If I write an article saying there’s a boxer who makes opponents forfeit just by hitting the post, would anyone believe it?’

He’d definitely get cursed out by his editor-in-chief before it even made it to print.

That’s how fantastical the situation was.

‘Kim Donghu, what exactly are you?’

National prince,

The genius who brought Golden Bell’s single-digit ratings back to double digits,

The textbook definition of the perfect son, and so on.

He had many titles, but at this moment, he was showing a completely different side.

‘Was he a boxing prodigy?’

The sense of incongruity he felt from the moment the round of 32 began.

Why would someone forfeit just because their opponent hit the post hard?

That’s a scene no one would understand unless they were watching up close.

‘The density is different.’

It’s like bringing a real gun to a place where kids are playing with toy guns.

It wasn’t simply “He hit the post hard, so he must be strong! I should forfeit!”

The opposing boxers were predicting the future as soon as they saw Kim Donghu’s fist.

‘If I get hit, I’ll die.’

Moreover, Kim Donghu’s intention was also clear.

At first, he absolutely would not hit a person on purpose.

Because he wanted to intimidate them into forfeiting.

And that intention was clearly conveyed to the opponent.

How is that possible?

‘It’s scary.’

When someone is pointing a real gun at you right in front of your face.

What kind of brave fool would say “It might not be a real gun!” and challenge them?

Moreover, the post Kim Donghu hit seemed to bend slightly, though it might have been an optical illusion.

It was so extreme that the opponent’s coach asked if he had plaster cast under his bandages.

Even knowing that such a thing couldn’t happen in a kids’ match,

his punch power was enough to make people wonder.

Perhaps that’s why?

Kim Donghu’s opponents quickly began to forfeit.

There was no point in continuing something that couldn’t be won.

And so the final match set up an interesting dynamic.

The pristine Kim Donghu without a drop of sweat, and

the promising young boxer Kim Sansu who had fought his way up through fierce battles.

The stark contrast between the two created tension that hadn’t existed before.

Looking at the match records, Kim Donghu’s victory was the obvious prediction.

But there were still those who held out hope for Kim Sansu, who had shown such tenacity.

Just when everyone was anticipating what kind of match would unfold.

“…Donghu, I’m really sorry about what happened back then. I came up here to say that… I’ll forfeit too.”

Suddenly, Kim Sansu bowed his head deeply and apologized.

‘What’s going on?’

Is this a joke? A hidden camera prank?

Is the high school division boxer trying to ease the tension for the middle school kid who made it this far?

While such questions floated in everyone’s minds.

Kim Sansu seemed sincere as he said those words and left the ring.

“…National Youth Boxing Championship, high school division winner, Kim Donghu.”

Under the judge’s incredulous voice,

the most anticlimactic champion was crowned.

This news was quickly turned into articles and began to spread on the internet.

The reason it didn’t spread widely was simple:

Boxing isn’t that popular a sport.

So the news about this National Youth Championship remained something only those in the know were aware of.

But that didn’t mean the story was completely over.

Those who had seen Kim Donghu’s matches, with his most anticlimactic victory,

all said the same thing:

“If Kim Donghu, the actor—no, the athlete—had just a bit more interest in boxing.”

We might have another boxing gold medal for our country, don’t you think?

++++++

When did things start going wrong?

“Kim Donghu, so you’ll look at me naked, right?”

“What? Are you crazy?”

Why is Yerim suddenly saying such things to me?

“Why, what’s wrong? I’m fine with showing you.”

How did we end up having this conversation?

I was confused.

What went wrong?

Where did it go wrong?

“You said models need to have beautiful bodies, and that they even… can show their naked bodies.”

“I did say that.”

“If I’m going to show someone, I’d like you to be the first to see.”

No, no, this isn’t right.

This is really not right.

I frowned as I recalled the past.

It was June.

Let’s go back to when I seriously counseled Yerim about her modeling career.

“I believe you’ll become an excellent model.”

The problem started with this one sentence.