Chapter 13 – D-day

Chapter 13

What happened?

Go Junkyung couldn’t hide his confusion. There was nowhere to hide in the small Room 99.

‘Could he be hiding under the bed like a rat?’

Just as Go Junkyung bent down to check under the bed, a dull thud came from behind him. Turning his head sharply, he saw Lee Yoon-sung, who had just been knocked out, collapsing forward at the entrance.

‘Damn it!’

Go Junkyung immediately gathered all his mana and activated all the abilities he could use. Then he charged at Kim Jinsung with all his might, swinging his fist.

Incredible speed!

But Kim Jinsung disappeared from Go Junkyung’s view even faster. At the same time, another sound of bones shattering came from behind him. Turning his head once more, Go Junkyung was shocked.

“No…!”

Lee Yoon-hwan lay on the floor, collapsed in the same position he had been casting his spell, his neck grotesquely twisted, clearly dead.

“It’s all gone wrong!”

Go Junkyung instinctively realized the operation had failed. He hadn’t expected Kim Jinsung to wait outside and ambush them.

‘How did he notice?’

“With the talent of an assassin, and the traits of a magician…”

Go Junkyung heard Kim Jinsung’s incomprehensible muttering.

“Just a little boost to agility and intelligence. I was hoping for a decent skill… Anyway.”

After mumbling to himself for a while, Kim Jinsung finally looked at Go Junkyung.

“You’re unlucky, Go Junkyung.”

He slowly walked towards Go Junkyung.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I was meditating in the incinerator room.”

“When I heard a strange noise outside, I came out and saw you guys picking my room lock. But…”

Kim Jinsung continued, his eyes flickering with a murderous intent.

“Judging by the level of fighting, the result would have been the same even if I had been inside.”

“That bastard…!”

As Kim Jinsung drew closer, Go Junkyung instinctively pulled out the dagger from his pocket. His instincts warned him that Kim Jinsung might be stronger than him.

‘Was he always this fast…?’

Honestly, Go Junkyung had thought Kim Jinsung was just strong. He was confident he was superior in every other aspect.

But now, the speed was unbelievable. Could he have dodged if Kim Jinsung had targeted him instead of Lee Yoon-hwan?

‘No, no! That’s impossible!’

Go Junkyung vehemently denied it as he looked at the fallen Lee Yoon-hwan. He didn’t want to admit it.

“What are you going to do with that?”

Then, Kim Jinsung asked, looking at the dagger. His expression was unfazed.

“Are you trying to kill the club’s top superstar? Do you think Representative Jo will let you off if you do that the day before a match?”

“Ugh…!”

Go Junkyung could only grind his teeth, unable to respond. Kim Jinsung was right. If he inflicted a serious injury with the dagger, Representative Jo would immediately terminate their contract.

He couldn’t afford to have the contract terminated now, after surviving for two years!

‘Wait a minute.’

Go Junkyung’s face brightened as he inadvertently looked at Lee Yoon-sung’s corpse next to Kim Jinsung and remembered something he had forgotten.

He quickly retorted.

“Shouldn’t you be worried about yourself? Aren’t you the one who killed two players who were supposed to play in tomorrow’s match, Kim Jinsung?”

Kim Jinsung looked at the bodies as well. Go Junkyung smirked triumphantly.

“Hehehe, now do you realize? It’s not me who will have the contract terminated first with Representative Jo, it’s you!”

However, Kim Jinsung’s response showed no sign of being shaken.

“Since it’s already done, there’s nothing I can do.”

Then he kicked off the ground and charged at Go Junkyung with incredible speed. Startled, Go Junkyung swung the dagger instinctively, but Kim Jinsung’s kick was faster.

Thump!

“Kuhack!”

Struck squarely in the solar plexus, Go Junkyung fell backward with a loud crash. The pain was so intense that he momentarily couldn’t breathe, but he forced himself to get up. As he was about to counterattack, he was stopped by the sight of Kim Jinsung’s fist filling his vision, close enough to almost touch his nose. If Kim Jinsung had wanted to, that punch would have surely landed squarely on Go Junkyung’s jaw.

Go Junkyung recalled the fate of everyone who had taken a hit to the jaw from Kim Jinsung.

Swallowing dryly without realizing it, Go Junkyung listened as Kim Jinsung spoke.

“If I swung this fist now, there’s a high chance tomorrow’s main event would be canceled. Then Representative Jo would take out his anger on me.”

The main event between Kim Jinsung and Go Junkyung was the most anticipated match in the club’s history. Kim Jinsung knew very well that if tomorrow’s main event was canceled, the backlash would be incomparable to the fallout from killing the twin boys.

“I’ll save this punch for the ring tomorrow.”

With a cold expression, Kim Jinsung withdrew his fist.

Just then, as he continued to look down at the completely subdued Go Junkyung…

Bang!

“What’s going on?!”

“Everyone up! Get out of your rooms!”

The door to the waiting room burst open, and employees armed with rifles rushed in. The 30-minute window to control the CCTV had passed, and other employees had witnessed the commotion in the waiting room.

Seeing the employees rushing in, Go Junkyung’s face turned pale.

‘I’m screwed!’

His expression clearly conveyed his thoughts.

“You bastards!!”

An unusual scene unfolded in the fight club’s representative office. Representative Jo was furiously yelling at Go Junkyung and Kim Jinsung, who were standing in front of him.

“Have you lost your minds?! Were you trying to ruin today’s tournament?! You guys know better than anyone how important this tournament is, so what the hell are you doing?!”

“Hey, Kim Jinsung!”

Representative Jo first turned to Kim Jinsung.

“Even if you were attacked first, man, there was no need to kill! Because of you, we’ve lost two matches today!”

“What are you going to do about this? Are you going to take responsibility for the betting money on both matches?! Huh?!”

“I’m sorry.”

Kim Jinsung quietly bowed his head.

After glaring at him for a while, Representative Jo turned to Go Junkyung. The fury in his eyes was even more intense than when he looked at Kim Jinsung.

“Hey, Go Junkyung, answer me. How should I deal with someone who injures players to the extent that it affects the match the day before?”

“Immediate execution.”

“That’s right. You bastard! If it weren’t for today’s match, you would have been dragged out and shot right now! Got it?!”

“I never thought you, Go Junkyung, would do the thing I hate the most. Even you can’t be forgiven for this.”

Representative Jo looked at both of them and said,

“I’m changing one rule for today’s main event. There will be no decision by points in your match today.”

“You know what that means?”

Representative Jo continued with narrowed eyes.

“The match doesn’t end until one of you is dead. This rule will never change again.”

Representative Jo had declared that after today’s main event, only one of them would walk out of the arena alive.

“The punishment for today’s incident will be given after the match ends. And only the winner of today’s match will have the privilege of not receiving it…”

“Get out! I can’t stand the sight of you.”

At Representative Jo’s shout, the two turned and left the office. Representative Jo gestured to the rifle-armed employees who had been waiting outside the door.

“Hey, Daejoon, come in.”

Daejoon, Representative Jo’s right-hand man, entered the room.

Representative Jo gave him an order.

“Put those two in separate rooms. Don’t send them back to the waiting room; they might cause another incident.”

“…Is there no separate punishment?”

“The match is right around the corner, what punishment are you talking about?! Do you want to ruin the PPV?!” Representative Jo shouted angrily.

“If it weren’t for the fact that all the VIPs are coming today, I would have beaten those bastards half to death with my own hands!”

This tournament, which attracted the highest betting money in history, including from VIPs, was in a situation where postponement was impossible from the representative’s standpoint. Especially since most of that betting money was on the main event.

“Think, think!! I’m already furious, don’t make me angrier!!”

“I’m sorry, boss!” Daejoon bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, and Representative Jo glared at the top of his head for a long while before changing the subject.

“Did you find out who took the money?”

“It’s Shin Young-taek, boss.”

“Shin Young-taek? From the security team?”

“Yes. That’s why he was able to control the CCTV. He ran away right after the incident, and we haven’t found him yet.”

“That bastard… If we catch him, I’ll make sure he can neither live nor die.”

Representative Jo ground his teeth.

“And when are the matches for those twin boys who died today?”

“They’re the 1st and 2nd matches.”

“Then let’s move up the two dark matches that are before the PPV to fill in as the 1st and 2nd matches. Send out a notice text to the members who placed bets now.”

“Understood, boss.”

“You can go now.”

Left alone, Representative Jo leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply, looking years older than he had just a few hours ago.

“Phew… It’s a good thing those two weren’t injured, or we really would have been screwed.”

Today is the day of the biggest PPV in the history of the fight club. Since almost all the attention is on the main event match between Go Junkyung and Kim Jinsung, as long as those two are in good condition, the PPV can proceed somehow.

“Just wait until the match is over. I’ll use this incident as an excuse to extend their contracts at least twice as long.”

Now, it doesn’t matter whether Kim Jinsung wins as planned or, by some bad luck, Go Junkyung wins. With yesterday’s incident, I have a legitimate reason to keep them tied down longer.

September 29th.

It was probably the day with the largest audience in the history of the fight club. The seats were naturally sold out, and the number of online broadcast viewers had surpassed 8,000 an hour before the start of the match.

By the time the main event starts, it’s certain to exceed 15,000 viewers.

Representative Jo had been busy receiving VIP guests since a few hours before the start of the match. He had run out to greet them at the entrance of the building every time he received a notification of their arrival, so many times that he lost count.

“Phew… It’s hot. So hot.”

Despite the chilly autumn weather, Representative Jo was sweating profusely from his large body.

“Hasn’t everyone arrived yet?”

As he looked around the VIP section in the arena, Representative Jo asked. Daejoon immediately checked the list he was holding.

“Um… Three people are left. Two of them contacted us saying they might not be able to make it today.”

“Then we’re done. Who’s the remaining one?”

Just as Representative Jo asked, another report came through his earpiece.

– Representative Baek Jun has arrived.

“Ah! Representative Baek…!”

Representative Jo suddenly realized he had forgotten about the most important guest!

Just as he was about to rush out to greet him, he was startled by the sight of a group entering the arena.

“No, Representative Baek!”

Representative Jo bowed nearly 90 degrees towards Baek Jun, who was walking at the forefront of the group.

“Why didn’t you say anything before coming in? I should have gone out to greet you personally.”

“It’s fine. Where should I sit?”

“This way, please!”

Representative Jo led them to the top seats with utmost politeness.

Other VIP guests murmured in surprise as they saw Baek Jun walking.

“Isn’t that Baek Jun?”

“Right! The representative of the Colosseum!”

“Baek Jun, a famous hunter ranked within the top 20 in South Korea, came to this underground gambling den?”

“Why would the person running the Colosseum bother coming here…?”

Baek Jun.

A hunter ranked within the top 20 in South Korea.

And also, the representative of South Korea’s top survival program, ‘Colosseum.’

Soon, one of the nearby VIPs whispered,

“Could he be here looking for talent to take to the Colosseum?”