After the First Victory and the Second...

"Well, this is the first time I've interviewed a debuting fighter on the octagon in my career as an MMA commentator. Let's meet Yu Jung-ak, who showed us a huge upset victory today."

"Hello, I'm Yu Jung-ak."

"You've completely shattered the predictions of many experts today."

"Yes, that's how it turned out."

"Haha. You're speaking very calmly, but were you confident? Your opponent changed just four days before the fight, didn't he?"

"That's true, but I thought I could win if I stayed calm and faced him without getting excited."

"That's amazing, Yu Jung-ak. Do you have any plans for the future? Are you aiming for the lightweight belt?"

"As a fighter, it would be a lie to say I'm not interested in the belt, but I've only had one fight so far, so it's not the stage to mention that yet. If I have a wish, it's to continue fighting strong opponents and gain experience."

"I see. We'll look forward to your future performances."

After finishing the interview with commentator Kang Du-hwan, Yu Jung-ak came down. The atmosphere in Team Silence was already festive.

Moreover, the community's reaction was explosive.

[Spirit has found a gem of a fighter. Incredible. Just incredible.]

[Unbelievable. A debuting fighter beating Liu Jinshi]

[To be honest, Liu Jinshi is only top-tier in China, not so much in Asia. He was overrated.]

[Your mouth is overrated. Look at Liu Jinshi's record and tell me if that's overrated.]

[Wow, a thrilling fight after a long time. Spirit is on fire. The fight content was excellent too. A real eye-opener after a while.]

[Somehow I feel Yu Jung-ak will be successful]

[Yu Jung-ak VS Keyboard Warrior -1 -1]

[He's still a Keyboard Warrior for now.]

[If he passes that, Yu Jung-ak can win.]

[We'll have to see them fight to know.]

[Grow properly and go to CFC! Fighting, Yu Jung-ak!]

[But when they get this much hype early on, they often end up being nothing special later. Remember Son Lee-moon?]

[Yu Jung-ak's physique is different from the start. In fighting, physique is crucial, and look at Yu Jung-ak's physique. With that physique, he'll succeed at anything.]

The response was so good that even foreign sites were writing articles about it. Yu Jung-ak proudly recorded a 1-0 record on Sherdog.

After the fight, Yu Jung-ak took a week off from training. Fights consume a lot of energy, so recovery time was needed. Especially since he had forcibly cut weight and then rebounded, it was important not to overdo it even if there was no damage.

For a week, Yu Jung-ak didn't do strength training but only light jogging and walking. He also did stretching to prevent his body from stiffening.

That light jogging was at a level that would be considered intense exercise for an average person, but it was just right for loosening up Yu Jung-ak's body.

Yu Jung-ak spent the week as if on vacation, watching movies to his heart's content and taking a rare trip to Seoul.

He was going to meet some acquaintances after a long time. Yu Jung-ak didn't have many acquaintances. Since he had disappeared for a while, it was even more so. Nevertheless, there were people he could contact. Yu Jung-ak was on his way to meet them.

These acquaintances were older guys he used to play games with when he lived in Seoul. Yu Jung-ak was introduced to TRPG by a neighborhood older boy when he was in elementary school and was active in the group until he went to the mountains. Before going to the mountains, he attended every weekend to play.

Even back then, there were many online games, so not many people played TRPG. Yu Jung-ak was now going to meet those older guys he knew from that time.

"Hey! Look how skinny this bastard has gotten!"

The one who welcomed Yu Jung-ak was Yeom Yun-ho, who was like the leader of the TRPG group. He was the oldest in the TRPG group, 20 years old four years ago, so now he was a full-fledged adult.

"Hyung!"

"Hey, you sent just one text message the other day telling me to watch TV, do you know how surprised I was? When you appeared on TV, I almost spat out my food."

"Have you been well?"

"Of course, you punk."

"How about Jung-seok hyung?"

"That guy's busy, working a job now. But he said he'd come, so he should be here soon."

"It's been a while since we've gathered like this. Did you meet Jung-seok hyung often?"

"We just called occasionally. Let's go inside for now."

Yeom Yun-ho led Yu Jung-ak to a nearby cafe.

"You punk, you said you were going for a wrestling gold medal, how did you end up in MMA? Seems like you're destined for sports."

"Haha. Have you found a job, hyung?"

"Job? I'm just being unemployed."

"Do you meet Jung-seok hyung often?"

"We don't meet often, just call sometimes. We haven't met since you disappeared. Oh, wait, we did. When you were kicked out of the Olympic wrestling team. Jung-seok and I met and drank then."

"You must have laughed a lot?"

Yu Jung-ak smiled slightly.

"Yeah, we laughed our asses off. We talked about you and Sang-jin too."

"Ah, did you visit Sang-jin hyung often?"

"No, after what happened to Sang-jin, I said I'd visit often but I didn't."

"If only Baul hyung were here, we'd all be together."

"Baul's overseas. He's in China. That guy finally found his dream. He got a job at a game company and is doing well."

"Does he contact you?"

"That guy contacts often. Says he's lonely."

Yeom Yun-ho said. Yu Jung-ak had often hung out with these guys since he was young. Despite the age difference that should have made it impossible for them to get along, they strangely liked Yu Jung-ak. Even though TRPG was an outdated genre, Yu Jung-ak preferred it to other games.

In reality, they had only known each other for about 3 years. After that, they couldn't contact Yu Jung-ak because he was living in seclusion.

It wasn't that long of an acquaintance, but they were chatting comfortably as if they were old friends who had known each other for a very long time.

This was because they had a common denominator called 'Sang-jin'.

Yun-ho and his friends belonged to the so-called otaku group, but uniquely, they had a hobby of liking TRPG.

Since they liked the same things, a group naturally formed. So every weekend, they gathered at Yun-ho's house to enjoy TRPG.

In this situation, Yu Jung-ak coincidentally moved in next door. Yu Jung-ak, who liked comic books and games, became friends with Yun-ho, and through that, he was introduced to TRPG.

A life of wrestling on weekdays and TRPG on weekends.

Yu Jung-ak enjoyed writing and erasing numbers on character sheets. Adventures that progressed through conversations while holding erasers and pencils.

There was a fantastic world there that didn't exist in wrestling.

Yu Jung-ak joined this unlikely combination. The young Yu Jung-ak got along very well with them.

Then a big problem arose in their lives.

Sang-jin's sudden death.

He was the kindest person in the group. The older brother who took care of Yu Jung-ak the most. For the first time in his life, Yu Jung-ak lost someone close to him.

And he cried a lot.

After Sang-jin's death, the group didn't meet anymore, but they still contacted each other occasionally. This was because their internet cafe was still alive.

Five members.

Sang-jin was still there as a member.

"I'll pay for the meal."

"You're still a high school senior. I'm the company employee, so I should pay."

The conversation diverged to who would pay at the meat restaurant. Jung-seok said he should pay because he was working.

"I won yesterday and got a huge bonus. I can afford this much. Besides, you guys bought me a lot when I was young."

"How much did you get?"

"Three thousand."

"Wow."

"Three thousand won?"

Yun-ho joked. Jung-seok got irritated.

"Hey, that's a third of my annual salary."

When Jung-seok said this, Yun-ho's eyes widened.

"Wow, you get paid that much?"

"What? It's actually low for the work I do. It's so tough."

"Well, you've been doing it for a while."

"Because I've been steady. But what are you doing now?"

"Don't know. I can still mooch off my parents for now. But are you going to continue in that field?"

"I need to make money. Lots of places to spend it."

"Like what?"

Yu Jung-ak didn't reveal where he was going to spend the money until the end. After talking late into the night with Jung-seok and Yun-ho, Yu Jung-ak went home.

Their appearances had changed, but their personalities remained the same.

Cheerful and pure people.

When he returned to his lodgings, he got a text from his younger sister, Jung-sun.

Jung-sun, whom he had seen recently when he went home.

She was about to enter high school and had grown to nearly 190cm tall. However, she wasn't as built as Yu Jung-ak. Rather than big, she was more lanky.

She resembled Yu Jung-ak but seemed more fastidious than him.

[I watched your fight, bro. You looked cool. And make a KakaoTalk account. Who uses texts these days?]

After reading Jung-sun's message, Yu Jung-ak didn't reply. Then he checked his bank balance on his smartphone.

3 million won fight money from beating Liu Jinshi.

And on Yu Jung-ak's desk was nearly 10 million won he had received from Representative Jang Hyun-sung.

After checking his fight money, Yu Jung-ak lay down on the sofa and grabbed the remote.

He clicked on a movie he wanted to watch on TV.

Utopia.

The utopia that three men wanted to go to.

It was a gangster movie that had received such good reviews that it was one of the movies Yu Jung-ak wanted to see. After watching that movie, Yu Jung-ak would often say "Come on, come on" when training with his teammates.

Time was passing quickly again.

==

Two months later.

Representative Jang Hyun-sung, with some hope, made an offer to Yu Jung-ak. The originally scheduled fighter had dropped out due to injury.

In MMA, injuries were frequent, so changes in match-ups were common.

"Who is it this time?"

"Hiroya Kizaemon. Look at the photo."

"A Japanese fighter? But why is he smiling like that?"

"He's famous as the 'smirking fighter'. He's also from a striking background, but he's different from Liu Jinshi. Good strikes and ground game too. Japanese fighters generally have solid ground wrestling."

"Coach, do you think I can handle it?"

"He's not top-tier in Japan like Liu Jinshi was. But he's trickier. For you right now."

"I've improved a lot since then."

"Even if you've improved, you're still a rookie. But Representative, why do you keep giving substitute offers?"

"Jung-ryong is also fighting in this event. So they're giving us a card."

"They're not going to flip the match-up like last time, right?"

"We got a firm answer. If the opponent changes this time, they'll cancel the whole fight. And they'll pay the fight money as originally agreed."

"Then there's no problem on that end. But the time is a bit tight. Ten days. Is it possible?"

"Cutting weight isn't a problem. But you said the opponent is strong?"

"Of course he's strong. As you go up, you'll face stronger opponents anyway."

"That's true. Let's do it."

Hiroya Kizaemon.

An MMA fighter with a record of 7 wins and 2 losses, coming from a striking background, was chosen as Yu Jung-ak's second opponent.