novelraw Chapter 23 : Boxing Match (3)
Chapter 23 : Boxing Match (3)
Hong In-hyeon, taking Su-hyeon's words as provocation, gritted his teeth and unleashed his attacks.
'He uses setups well.'
Su-hyeon thought as he weathered his attacks.
Setup punches.
Simply put, they're foundational attacks thrown to set up decisive blows.
Setup punches were the groundwork needed to create various attack patterns by hitting guards, throwing feints, or pounding high and low to draw out guards before delivering the finishing blow.
But Su-hyeon's physical abilities were formidable against Hong In-hyeon's dazzling offense.
Athletic ability, reflexes, eye-hand coordination, flexibility, and stamina.......
In every aspect, Su-hyeon, who had long surpassed the level of elite athletes, showed good responses to Hong In-hyeon's attacks even without Eye Power.
'His upper body movement is extraordinary.'
Kwon Seung-yeon thought, with a towel draped over her shoulders.
Not only his brilliant upper body movements mixing ducking, weaving, and swaying.
His defensive abilities combining guards, blocks, parrying, and occasional shoulder blocks were also astounding.
Thus, despite the shower of attacks, effective hits that properly landed on Su-hyeon were virtually non-existent.
"Hup!"
Bak!
Hong In-hyeon was shocked by the feeling of abs when he forcibly threw a body shot, abandoning defense.
'It's like hitting a wall.'
Su-hyeon grinned at his reaction.
'Muscle is armor.'
Taking one hit didn't even make an impact.
"Cheek!"
As the situation of failing to inflict proper damage continued, Hong In-hyeon grew impatient and began adopting a more aggressive offense.
But aggressive offense is a double-edged sword that exposes more openings.
Su-hyeon wouldn't miss that timing.
'Here!'
Su-hyeon deflected a front hand body blow with his back hand and succeeded with a front hand hook counter.
"Wow!"
After nimbly avoiding Hong In-hyeon's straight thrown with clenched molars.
Pak!
He landed a back hand straight dead-on.
'This bastard. He seems to extend lightly but the power.......'
The two sharp attacks raised his vigilance.
'He puts proper impact at the end, like cracking a whip. He knows how to hit.'
Even though it was an attack with greatly restrained power, Hong In-hyeon had no way of knowing that fact.
'It would be dangerous to go in too close.'
"He's widening the distance."
To Hwang Ji-su's words, Kwon Seung-yeon replied.
"Yeah. He seems to be really wary of counters."
But fighting from the outside couldn't be a strategy against Su-hyeon.
Sheek! Sheek-sheek! Shee-shee-sheek!
The two engaged in single-shot exchanges, mixing jabs, power jabs, and flicker jabs, but superiority soon became evident.
Pang! Pang-pang!
Su-hyeon's fists began increasingly catching Hong In-hyeon's wind-like steps and moves.
"It's like watching real boxers fight."
"They're both good."
To the non-practitioner cadets, it looked like both were exchanging impressive offense and defense.
'This bastard!'
But Hong In-hyeon was feeling increasingly dismayed.
Even jabs hurt when they land repeatedly.
'At this rate, I'm at a disadvantage.'
Basically, boxing isn't a martial art that knocks someone out with a single punch.
A boxing KO comes from continuously moving, dodging, hitting, accumulating damage like drizzling rain, and then delivering a decisive blow to knock them down.
Therefore, concerned about the damage accumulating on his body, Hong In-hyeon began to gradually back away.
Su-hyeon continued to pressure him, landing combinations and then threw a liver shot at his exposed body.
'No!'
Bak!
Sensing danger, Hong In-hyeon narrowly avoided a direct hit by inserting his right arm.
But Su-hyeon, not losing momentum, immediately landed a right uppercut on his exposed face.
The timing was impossible to dodge, but Hong In-hyeon succeeded in mitigating the impact by raising his chin.
'He definitely has good sense.'
Even Su-hyeon had to acknowledge that response.
But.
'His posture has completely collapsed.'
The opponent's stance collapses, while mine continues rhythmically without wavering.
This was precisely the timing when a flurry of punches would knock the opponent down.
'I'm fucked!'
A look of dismay appeared on Hong In-hyeon's face.
In this situation with a collapsed core, he needed to either escape or clinch to mitigate the situation.
Of the two, Hong In-hyeon chose the former.
He tried to escape while keeping his guard up to protect his chin.
'I'm letting him off.'
Bak!
Su-hyeon showed mercy by stopping his pursuit after landing one heavy right body blow.
'This is fun.'
Su-hyeon smiled slightly, thinking this is why he enjoys boxing.
Though he was holding back his power.
Hong In-hyeon was certainly not an opponent to be taken lightly.
'Shall I shift up a gear?'
Keeing!
Su-hyeon's eyes, once again using the Eye Power skill, sparkled as if containing stars.
'This guy.'
Seeing Su-hyeon's smile, Hong In-hyeon grinned with his face starting to redden and swell.
'He looks like he's having the time of his life!'
A competitive spirit ran up both men's spines simultaneously.
"Gulp."
Someone who had stopped what they were doing to immerse themselves in the match swallowed dry saliva.
Su-hyeon initiated the attack first.
To Su-hyeon's movement of creating syncopation with his upper body motion and appearing to aim for a body blow, Hong In-hyeon's front hand hook attempted exquisite interference.
'I can see it clearly.'
But Su-hyeon, with his already different dimension of dynamic vision, ducked to avoid the hook and successfully executed his strategy by planting a strong right body straight.
"Kuk!"
As Hong In-hyeon barely endured the damage and backed away while maintaining tension in his abs, Su-hyeon slowly applied pressure and threw a left straight while feinting a jab.
'Uh oh!'
Hong In-hyeon, who dodged with a backstep, felt dismay at the touch of the rope against his back.
Bak!
Su-hyeon, not missing the opening, landed another right body blow.
"Hook!"
After inducing a guard by pretending to throw a left hook for a follow-up strike.
'Got him.'
He struck Hong In-hyeon's temple hard with a right long hook that came from outside his field of vision.
"It landed!"
"Jeong Su-hyeon's blow is a clean hit!"
"Kuuk."
Even amidst this, Hong In-hyeon's tenacity was commendable as he widened the distance by moving to the side and then extended a left straight.
'I read you.'
Su-hyeon deflected the punch with a perfect shoulder roll, then deeply planted his left foot and embedded a right straight with proper rotation into Hong In-hyeon's face.
Baak!
It was a perfect counter that warranted concern about a KO.
'That one landed properly.'
Having allowed too many effective hits in a short time, Hong In-hyeon staggered into a groggy state.
"Stop! Stop!"
Oh Chang-seong, rushing in, dissuaded Su-hyeon who was about to throw combinations.
"I haven't lost yet!"
Hong In-hyeon shouted in seething anger.
"Come on, it's over at this point."
As he said, the result was clear to anyone watching.
"It's fine."
'A guy like this won't acknowledge defeat unless he's convinced himself.'
Su-hyeon raised his gloves.
"Come at me more."
Just then.
Ding!
The bell signaling the end of round 1 rang.
"......Alright, you both want to continue, right?"
Oh Chang-seong shrugged and went down.
"Let's take a short break and continue."
"Su-hyeon, use this."
Lee Yu-jin handed a towel to Su-hyeon who had returned to the corner.
"Thanks."
Watching Su-hyeon wipe his sweat, Kwon Seung-yeon narrowed her eyes.
'Hong In-hyeon isn't someone who boasts just because of his characteristic. He's been sweeping awards at boxing competitions since elementary school.'
As someone who had also trained in various combat sports since childhood, she was well aware of Hong In-hyeon's skills, which had made him famous among their generation.
'He seems much more accustomed to fighting than Hong In-hyeon.'
Particularly impressive was his method of establishing wariness for body shots, constantly engaging in psychological warfare through high, low, left, right, and landing hits with unpredictable attacks.
'A definite attack option that creates wariness. He easily controlled the match using that as an axis.'
It was truly incomparably seasoned.
'A guy who's so good at sports is also good at combat?'
It seemed like boiled eggs wouldn't be enough to seduce him after all.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
Ding!
With the bell signaling the start of round 2, I strode forward to close the distance.
Unfortunately.
Hong In-hyeon, having taken significant damage and left only with obstinacy, was no match for me.
'I can see his attacks and even grasp the timing.'
"Hook!"
Even amidst this, Hong In-hyeon's left straight, executed without losing his senses, was concise and fast.
But I deflected the straight with my front hand, then firmly planted a right body blow.
"Uah!"
After slipping past a spasmodic short hook, another left body.
"Kuhuk!"
Followed by a left hook and right straight combination in one breath.
Each blow landed with substantial impact, but Hong In-hyeon somehow mitigated the damage with a loose guard while backing away.
'He's not clinching.'
That pride of not wanting to engage in meaningless time-wasting, though meager, was commendable.
'Now collapse!'
Following Hong In-hyeon, who was staggering like a newborn calf trying to widen the distance, I landed a precise one-two combination, then easily passed through his retaliatory back hand long hook with a weaving motion, and planted another left body blow.
Then, stepping back one step behind the staggering Hong In-hyeon to secure distance, I landed a front hand hook followed by back hand straight combinations to his face.
"Shit!"
"Don't curse. You'll bite your tongue."
I half-jokingly remarked to the guy who was spitting curses in frustration.
"Shut up!"
After blocking an obvious one-two as if holding mitts, I lifted his chin with a front hand short uppercut.
Puk!
'He's still not going down.'
Seeing Hong In-hyeon's stance of refusing to lie down despite staggering, I began to feel a bit tired of it too.
'At this point, I'm starting to feel like the villain.'
Truly Class 1's top obstinacy representative.
No wonder his nickname among gamers was "Honey Badger."
'Did I hit too lightly?'
My pride was a bit hurt, to be honest.
'Then I'll give him pain he absolutely can't endure.'
Unless he was an awakened with Unlimited, he couldn't beat accumulated damage with just tenacity forever.
'I'll finish with a body blow.'
There are mainly two vital points for body shots.
One is the liver, and the other is the solar plexus.
If targeting the liver with left body shots is standard, then aiming for the solar plexus with right body blows to knock them down is also standard.
'This time, the solar plexus.'
"Hook!"
I extended a one-two over Hong In-hyeon's guard, then consecutively threw a right hook and left hook to pull his guard up.
'It's open.'
Unlike before, I landed a right straight with a bit more weight on Hong In-hyeon's solar plexus.
Baak!
Hong In-hyeon exhaled empty air after taking a direct hit to a vital point in an unexpected state.
"Kuhuk!"
Hong In-hyeon, clutching his stomach, collapsed and tumbled on the floor.
"Kuk. Kuuk!"
They say being knocked down by a chin hit feels like flying to the sky, but getting knocked down by a body blow feels like falling into hell.
'I feel a bit sorry.'
I should have knocked Park Chang-jun down with a body blow instead.
"8, 9, 10...... Match over!"
Oh Chang-seong, declaring the end, jumped onto the ring with an extremely excited face.
"You! That was truly magnificent boxing!"
"Thank you."
I bowed my head while wiping off a couple of sweat drops on my forehead.
"From the looks of it, you don't even seem tired!"
Oh Chang-seong beamed with a broad smile, saying I was unbelievable.
'The boxing pervert is starting again.'
"How about it! Want to have a light sparring match with me too?"
[A quest has appeared!]
[Sub-linked quest: Instructor's Challenge]
[Survive without a KO in a sparring match with Instructor Oh Chang-seong.]
"I'd rather not."
[You have declined the quest.]
"Why! Why on earth!"
Oh Chang-seong stomped his feet with a lost-country expression.
'Because it's impossible to hold back against you.'
He wasn't an opponent I could beat even if I used hidden powers, and if I got beaten one-sidedly, he'd act like he might eat me alive, asking if I was going easy on him.
'A chicken rib indeed.'
This is just the right stopping point for now.
[Sub-quest, Boxing Class cleared!]
[2 skill points have been awarded!]
[Amazing achievement! You overwhelmed Hong In-hyeon, who has the best boxing skills in the year!]
[Achievement points 350 awarded!]