The First Round

[For our first round! Hyuk-Jae, hailing from South Korea! Come on down! His opponent: Baskoro, coming from the Philippines!]

The audience stands, holding thousands of anxious spectators, overlooked this stage as the lights dimmed, focusing on the competitor entrances.

He watched as both left, going to opposing ends as he could see that the gray eyes of Hyuk-Jae were resolute.

As Hyuk-Jae walked out of his tunnel, the crowd cheered as the announcer properly introduced him:

[In his homeland, Hyuk-Jae is known as the "Flowing Riptide" for his mastery of Taekkyeon! Will it be enough to overcome his foe?!]

Just as Hyuk-Jae slipped through the ropes, entering the arena in which all of the luminescence shined down upon, his opponent walked in from the opposing side with a grin.

It was the man from earlier; marching forward with a powerful, confident strut as his flip flops slapped against the ground.

[There's not much known about Baskoro! He defeated the previous qualifier who held his ticket, so he's earned his way here through strength! He requested his epithet to be the "King of Brutality!"...Talk about intimidating!]

There wasn't much applause for the lesser known fighter, though Baskoro hardly seemed to care as he casually entered the ring before cracking his neck side-to-side with a smile.

"Looks like the gods aren't smiling down on you today–they set you in the ring with me as your first opponent," Baskoro smiled, chuckling.

"--" Hyuk-Jae ignored him.

The Korean-hailing fighter unzipped his tracksuit, ripping the entire uniform away to reveal an all-green gi beneath.

"Oh?" Baskoro smiled wide, scratching his scruffy beard.

"I'll teach you proper respect, savage," Hyuk-Jae said calmly.

"Looks like I made the little boy angry," Baskoro grinned.

As the two faced off at opposing ends of the arena, the member of the tournament staff looked at both before slamming the gong–signaling the beginning of the battle.

In the stands, the two friends of Touma's sat, spectating as Ishikawa stuffed her face with popcorn.

"That 'Baskoro' guy rubs me the wrong way! I want him to lose!" Ishikawa said with a mouth full.

"Same…" Tadashi agreed.

Straight away, Baskoro rushed forward with a wicked grin, immediately going for wild haymakers.

Hyuk-Jae kept composed, stepping back and guarding against the powerful fists thrown his way. It hardly seemed as if there was any technique inlaid with the wild punches thrown by the taller, more built opponent of the taekkyeon master, but the aggression and power behind them was unquestionable.

Carving between those wild blows, Hyuk-Jae's calm eyes pierced through–finding an opening as he launched a powerful, wind-breaking sidekick straight against the burly man's barrage of haymakers, stifling his fury.

"Gh–!" Baskoro lost the air in his lungs.

Before the Filipino man with messy, curly locks that reached to his shoulders could regain himself, the smaller opponent was in front of him, already rearing his palm back.

"Dragon's Blue Scale."

What came from the Taekkyeon master's technique was a combination of blows, all launched with tremendous, swift force, aimed for the tanktop-wearing man's broad chest.

Hyuk-Jae finished off the immaculate combination attack by spinning into a sharp kick that flung his opponent back against the ropes.

[What a wild start! Hyuk-Jae is dismantling his opponent!]

Going in for another blow, Hyuk-Jae spun into an ax kick, bringing his heel down towards the tan-skinned man's head.

THUD.

Baskoro had blocked the kick with his forearm just before impact, swinging the glasses-wearing opponent of his back as he grinned, cracking his shoulder as he rotated it.

In the stands, Tadashi watched cautiously, "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Really? It looks like the taekkyeon guy has this in the bag! Go Hyuk-Jae!" Ishikda cheered, shoveling more popcorn into her mouth.

It was the same for Touma, who watched from the waiting room; he squinted at the screen, knowing what was coming.

I felt it when I blocked his kick…that guy is a monster, he thought.

–

"Not bad. You've got some spunk, I'll give you that. This'll be a nice warmup!" Baskoro laughed.

"--"

Hyuk-Jae stayed ready in his stance, looking his opponent down before–

The mysterious competitor was already in his face, grinning as he caused the taekkyeon master to momentarily freeze.

"Boo," Baskoro taunted him.

Before the Korean fighter could counter, a tremendous front kick with hardly any proper form was launched forward, slamming into the man's chest with an impact that resounded throughout the arena.

"Phh–!" Hyuk-Jae spit out the air from his lungs, being knocked back.

As Hyuk-Jae was blown back, his launch backward was halted as his hair was gripped by his larger opponent, who smiled down at him.

From the impact of the previous kick straight to the chest, Hyuk-Jae's chest was reddened and bruised already.

"Is that all you had earlier? That's seriously pathetic!" Baskoro grinned.

While Hyuk-Jae had still yet to draw air back into his burning lungs, the inelegant fighter slammed his knuckles against the man's face, shattering his glasses without any care.

Ishikawa winced from the sidelines, "--Is that legal?!"

"...Apparently so. The crowd doesn't seem to mind," Tadashi answered.

–

"Ngh…!" Hyuk-Jae winced.

The sharp fragments from the man's broken glasses had stabbed into his skin, latching onto his eyelids as he was hardly able to open his eyes.

"He-he-he," Baskoro laughed in enjoyment.

In an act more of cruelty than sport, Baskoro lifted his opponent into the air with his hold onto his air, throwing him across the ring.

"Gh!" Hyuk-Jae breathed out, tumbling across the white mat.

As Baskoro stretched his arms out, cracking all of his knuckles in unison, he grinned wide while approaching slowly as Hyuk-Jae picked himself back up slowly, huffing and holding his chest.

[What a turn around! Baskoro is leading an unstoppable assault against his opponent! Is this the "King of Brutality"?!]

While Hyuk-Jae struggled to open his eyes, he parted his stabbed eyelids to reveal his bloodshot, but still composed eyes, flowing into his stance as he waited for his opponent to approach.

"--Still ready to go?...Let's see how long that lasts!" Baskoro yelled out.

Leaping into the air, the man who utilized brutal aggression reared his fist back, using all of his momentum to come down with a heavy downfall of his fist.

Hyuk-Jae breathed in quietly, waiting for the exact moment that Baskoro fell into his range before–

"The Evergreen Tree's Blossom."