I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 62 : Team Match (4)

Kang Geon-woo and Su-hyeon stood facing each other.

"Geon-woo definitely has the advantage."

Kwon Seung-yeon said.

"They're both clothed, and the floor is solid asphalt. This can only bring out the full advantages of a judo practitioner."

"The weight class difference is also a factor, and it remains to be seen how effective Jeong Su-hyeon's strikes will be."

Jeremy McGarr added.

"I look forward to this. I've wanted to face you like this since the entrance exam."

"You've gotten much stronger compared to then."

Su-hyeon said, and.

"You think you're the only one?"

Geon-woo gave a bitter smile.

"Hmph!"

As Geon-woo began his transformation, his body grew enormously, becoming covered with thick fur like a gorilla.

A true mass of muscle.

"Well then."

When Geon-woo took his stance, it created an intimidating presence like a massive boulder crouching.

Kang Geon-woo.

A judo expert and super heavyweight fighter whose endurance and brute strength both surpassed Su-hyeon's.

'In terms of brute strength, Geon-woo would be third in Class 1.'

His strength followed Kong Young-jin, whose characteristic itself was the ability to convert mana into power, and Sung Do-kyung, who had the ability to enlarge his body.

'Besides, even in terms of mana quantity, Geon-woo is currently ahead of me.'

Su-hyeon's mana quantity had only just reached C- level thanks to the mushroom he had consumed previously, but.

Even excluding Seo Jun-seong, Hwang Ji-su, and Lee Yu-jin who had mana quantities equivalent to C+ level, most of the top cadets in Class 1 boasted at least C level power.

Geon-woo was no exception, and.

Moreover, the sturdy muscles of the Were-ape, said to be second only to the Were-bear among lycanthropes, could be called weapons that created explosive power beyond simple mana.

"Here I come!"

"So earnest."

Keeiiing!

Su-hyeon's eyes twinkled with stars as he activated his Eye Power skill.

"Hmph!"

The first move was a right straight, substituting for a glove touch.

Su-hyeon, reading Geon-woo's attack trajectory, extended his fist in the same way.

Bwack!

A powerful impact sound that was hard to believe came from fist meeting fist was heard.

"...Hmm."

The one who stepped back was Su-hyeon.

"As expected."

Having met fists, Su-hyeon could clearly feel Geon-woo's strength.

'It's still difficult to compare to Lee Yong-ju's monstrous strength. But without using Liberation, I'm clearly at a disadvantage.'

No matter how much Su-hyeon's body had been intensely trained through Unlimited-based training, and no matter how much his mana flow had increased.

It was still unreasonable to exceed the physical abilities of the lycanthrope species.

'Anyway, my fighting style is far from pushing forward based on superior specs.'

Su-hyeon smiled.

'This should be quite enjoyable.'

With his skill that had managed a successful throw against Instructor Oh Chang-seong even amid tension and inexperience that prevented him from showing his full abilities.

Geon-woo was certainly one of the few cadets capable of hand-to-hand combat with the current Su-hyeon.

"Then let's start using some real power."

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"This guy is quite annoying!"

Hong In-hyeon raised the corner of his mouth as he watched Ahn Jun-tae showing unexpected tenacity.

"So you're using the terrain!"

Jun-tae's fighting style—hiding behind walls thick enough to withstand In-hyeon's wind and firing small flames in all directions—resembled urban warfare between riflemen.

"That's just inadequate stalling at best."

In-hyeon twisted the air currents around him to create extreme turbulence, then shot this unstable energy at Jun-tae.

Bang-bang-bang!

Flames and asphalt fragments exploded like claymore mines, striking even where Jun-tae was hiding.

"Wow!"

"He can even do it that way."

Just as everyone was admiring In-hyeon's ingenuity.

Whoosh!

Asphalt bricks, ignited by Jun-tae's flames, flew like bullets.

Pat-pat-pat!

Though he quickly raised wind to deflect them, In-hyeon was grazed on the shoulder and thigh by two fragments, causing him to smile fiercely.

"Oh really, you want to keep defying me, is that it?"

Abandoning his plan to conserve energy by dealing with his opponent moderately, In-hyeon flew toward the wall where Jun-tae was hiding.

Contrary to everyone's expectations.

This fight also didn't seem like it would end as quickly as they thought.

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Woong!

After deflecting the widely swung arm, I landed a whip-like inside low kick on Geon-woo's inner leg.

Thwack!

The fierce low kick, reminiscent of a Nakmuay's, momentarily stopped Geon-woo's step, and I immediately circled to the side and delivered consecutive outside low kicks and straight punches.

"Hmm."

Since taking Kang Jun-man as his guidance instructor, Geon-woo had been learning striking techniques to complement his grappling, seeking to diversify his combat style beyond just judo.

Thanks to this, he had equipped himself with punches and kicks as options and had become more active in using footwork, but.

His strikes still resembled pushing with force rather than a striker's hits.

'His form has improved quite well.'

Geon-woo's steps were also close to the unique "grabbing" style of judo.

'Perhaps he's trying to strongly implant the option of grabbing in my mind before striking unexpectedly.'

But even knowing this, I couldn't help but be conscious of Geon-woo's insane throws enhanced by monstrous strength—truly one-hit kills.

'His weapons are nothing other than the floor and gravity.'

If properly thrown onto the asphalt floor like this, it wouldn't end with just difficulty breathing.

'One throw and bones would shatter, resulting in instant death. If he throws me head first, even the condition of the corpse would be a concern.'

Because of this, I was actively using my overwhelming footwork proficiency and the merit of Eye Power to adjust distance, employing evasion and counter-attacks without getting drawn into Geon-woo's fighting style.

'Jab!'

The moment I perceived the opponent's attack, I retreated with a backstep to avoid jab range and delivered an outside low kick.

Thwack!

There was a crisp sound like a whip cracking.

'That must hurt quite a bit.'

"Eek!"

As Geon-woo charged forward to forcibly close the distance, I slipped to his side and threw a short hook at his exposed jaw.

Bwack!

His neck, thick as an old tree trunk, efficiently absorbed the impact, but.

Thud! Thud!

I didn't stop my offensive momentum, using a combination of body shot, uppercut, and another low kick while retreating, turning Geon-woo's charge into a perfect loss.

"As expected, you're skilled. I can't grab you."

Geon-woo exhaled a light sigh.

I was waging a kicking game using low kicks while sealing mid-level and higher kicks that could result in powerful counterattacks if caught.

'His steps are getting slower.'

The method of striking both the inside and outside of the thighs to damage the muscles.

It was easy to notice that this approach was placing continuous strain on Geon-woo's lower body, making movement difficult.

'Let me use his wariness of low kicks.'

Once again, Geon-woo read the signs of a low kick and raised his leg to block it, and.

Thwack!

I instantly raised the trajectory and delivered a powerful middle kick to his side beneath his guard.

"Ugh!"

Geon-woo swallowed his breath at the unexpected attack.

'If you target breathing gaps, even the thickest muscles can be easily penetrated.'

I followed up this momentum with a low kick from the other foot, and.

"Tsk!"

Through the greatly disrupted guard, I extended a left straight to strike his face.

Thud!

Then, after raising my knee as if about to throw another middle kick, I used hip flexibility to drive a Brazilian kick downward into Geon-woo's chin.

Bwack!

'That landed perfectly.'

"Urgh."

Body, thigh, face.

Having allowed consecutive unexpected strikes to various parts, Geon-woo dropped to one knee.

It was a clear knockdown.

"Sigh. Indeed."

Geon-woo sighed in frustration.

"I don't think I can beat you in striking at all."

"You think so?"

"I understand why Instructor Kang wanted you."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"That's flattering, but you're the cadet who suits him best."

"Of course. It's my great pride."

Geon-woo smiled faintly and chose a quite different attack this time.

Namely.

He approached precariously just outside kick range, then pretended to extend a jab before suddenly lowering his body to attempt a tackle.

An ankle pick takedown, or in wrestling terms, a single leg.

Though forbidden as a low attack in modern judo rules, what Geon-woo had learned wasn't sportified judo, so he executed a highly perfected tackle, and.

The skillful tackle delivered by someone of his size made me feel as if a dump truck was charging at me.

'Knee kick? No!'

I had a good angle for a knee kick to collapse his nose bridge or turn his chin, but that was too obvious a reaction.

Seeing me pull my chin back to prepare for impact, I could instantly read his real intention.

'He plans to tank the knee kick with his build and grab my remaining support leg to take me down.'

At the end of an excessively long thought in a split second, I found the most appropriate response.

Namely, I jumped high and performed a tumbling in midair, narrowly escaping the attack range of Geon-woo targeting my lower body.

'Like a matador.'

"Damn it!"

Unable to stop his charging momentum, Geon-woo ran several more meters before barely turning around.

"I thought you'd use a knee kick."

"If I had, I'd be lying under you right now."

A judoka's chokes are as fearsome as those in jiu-jitsu.

"How on earth did you read that?"

Geon-woo shook his head.

"But are you planning to just hit and run? It makes your earlier provocation seem hollow."

I smiled broadly at Geon-woo's words.

"You don't really think that, do you?"

"Heh."

Geon-woo laughed as if feeling refreshed.

I stopped my footwork and approached Geon-woo.

"What's your intention?"

"I'm curious whether I can withstand your throw."

"That's..."

Geon-woo shook his head.

"Don't you think that's excessive bravado?"

"It's not like we'll actually get hurt anyway."

"!"

The caution disappeared from Geon-woo's expression.

"That's true."

"Throw me properly. Don't think of me as a person."

"I don't know what you want."

Geon-woo shook his head.

'But by now he must have realized he can't beat me as things stand.'

I was confident Geon-woo wouldn't refuse my proposal.

"I'm just confident I won't lose to you."

"A provocation I have to accept even knowing it's one."

Geon-woo's muscles and blood vessels writhed.

"Well then."

We grabbed each other's collars.

"I won't give you any warning."

"You should have thrown me before saying that."

Squeeze.

An enormous grip strength gripped my clothes tightly as if caught in an industrial press.

'In this state, even I can't read and respond to all of Geon-woo's intentions.'

Once grabbed, the "balance breaking" that disrupts my center of gravity can be executed in a total of eight directions, regardless of up, down, left, or right.

Once "balanced broken," throws can happen instantly at the upper, middle, or lower level.

Just like now!

"Hmph!"

Geon-woo lifted my left arm above his shoulder to steal my center of gravity, then used his leg to trip me while using his waist to lift my body.

Right after, my vision changed and my body was instantly thrown toward the ground.

'Waist throw!'

I created a Mana Shield behind my back and took a breakfall, but.

Crash!

"Uurgh!"

The massive kinetic energy, impossible to offset with just that, put my body in a perfect state of grogginess.

'This... resonates right to the bone.'

A profound impact.

But.

Even with damage reminiscent of death, my body wasn't destroyed.

"...You got up?"

Geon-woo widened his eyes as he saw me rise to my knees.

"I threw you with the intention of completely finishing you. As strongly as I would never do to a person."

"But here I am standing before you."

I cracked my stiff neck to the left and right.

Power, speed, technique, and resolute determination.

The throw was flawless in every aspect, but.

"So that's the extent. More bearable than I thought."

At those words, Geon-woo's eyebrows twitched, and.

"Next time, you'll be the one on the ground."

I declared.