Preparing for the Match (1)

"Hey. You're causing quite a stir. A real stir."

Kim Young-tae was making a fuss while looking at his smartphone. Yu Jung-ak, the person in question, seemed indifferent.

"What's the point of being famous for something that's not even good? I should be famous for my fights."

"Oh, look at Yu Jung-ak talking. Don't you know you're being called the 'One Punch Man' in the online communities these days? They say you take down one thug with each punch."

"I heard those kids ran away from home because they were hungry. Don't make too much of it."

"Do you know how scary kids are these days? And there's no need to go easy on guys like that. They're such lowlifes."

"Isn't that the same for adults? Adults commit heinous crimes too. But we don't criticize all adults for it, do we?"

"Are you on something? Those guys are robbers. Robbers with knives."

"I just feel sorry for them."

"Young-tae, stop it. Jung-ak doesn't seem to be in a good mood."

Noticing Yu Jung-ak's unpleasant expression, Kim Young-tae approached him.

"You're too soft-hearted. What's bothering you?"

"I just didn't know because I only focused on training, but I heard there are many kids in our country who run away from home and roam in groups."

"There are many."

"I feel like I was lucky to have good parents and live comfortably. If I had grown up in a bad environment, I might be like them now."

"Man, not everyone ends up like that just because of their circumstances."

"How do you know that, hyung?"

Yu Jung-ak stared at Kim Young-tae as he spoke. Kim Young-tae hesitated. He chuckled and patted Yu Jung-ak's shoulder once before speaking.

"Well, whatever you say."

Then he got up and left to exercise. Oh Jung-ryong, who had been watching this, approached Yu Jung-ak.

Yu Jung-ak was lightly working on his abs with leg raises.

"Young-tae is right about that."

"About what?"

"That not everyone ends up like that just because they're in a bad environment."

"But the probability is higher, isn't it?"

"But it's not everyone. Young-tae is living proof."

"Young-tae hyung?"

"If you look into it, he's got quite a story too."

"What kind of story?"

"It's not my place to tell you. You should hear it from him directly later. Anyway, has Young-tae ever shown any signs of that?"

"No, I never knew..."

"I understand you're shocked, but if you keep frowning, it'll make everyone else tense too. After all, you're now the face of Team Silence. Even if you started training late, if you do well, you represent the team. There are several trainers who want to work with you now. So, lighten up and try to look cheerful. That way, other team members can train energetically too. You're more likely to get injured if you train in a bad mood."

"I got it."

"Are you still uncomfortable about using your fists?"

"A bit. It felt weird. The feeling of breaking teeth with bare hands."

"But you didn't do anything wrong. What if, let's say, those guys weren't robbers but rapists or murderers? If you hesitate even a little, someone could die. Just think of it as saving a life."

Oh Jung-ryong gave advice to Yu Jung-ak like a senior in life. Although he usually seemed light-hearted, he unexpectedly had a serious side. He was performing his role as the most senior member of Team Silence very well.

Yu Jung-ak's incident of beating up the robbers seemed to be fading away quietly, but it took a new turn in the evening.

DisCatch, an online newspaper that had recently become famous for breaking many exclusive stories about celebrity private lives, featured Yu Jung-ak's robber capture incident as a special article. Originally, DisCatch mainly covered entertainment news, but recently it had been breaking exclusive stories in various fields.

What was even more interesting was that DisCatch somehow obtained and published online the CCTV footage of Yu Jung-ak taking down the robbers. After that, the internet exploded. Even people who weren't interested in mixed martial arts started searching for Yu Jung-ak's name.

"They want to interview you."

"Who? DisCatch?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, isn't it illegal to upload such things?"

"They talk about freedom of the press and whatnot. Anyway, higher recognition means better chances of getting fights. Think of it as things going well. You didn't do anything wrong."

Cho Yong-il chuckled.

"That's true, but I'm not comfortable with the interview. I've already said everything before. Isn't that enough?"

"Why don't you just do it?"

"It's okay. I'll call and explain myself."

Yu Jung-ak called the DisCatch reporter and politely declined the interview. He said he just did what he had to do, and the DisCatch reporter praised Yu Jung-ak's modesty in the second special article.

Yu Jung-ak's video showed much more explosive views than his fight videos and was even introduced overseas.

After that, fight schedule inquiries started pouring in for Yu Jung-ak. Naturally, Team Silence had nothing to lose.

Previously, they had to accept whatever offers came in, but now they could choose. They could choose the opponent and the date. Being able to choose was an incredible privilege for a fighter.

Above all, being part of a team meant that they could also insert other team members into the fights where Yu Jung-ak was appearing. So Yu Jung-ak was carefully selecting opponents and organizations. Needless to say, there was no offer from Spirit FC.

Yu Jung-ak voluntarily asked to look for fights where as many Team Silence members as possible could participate. It might seem too kind-hearted, but in fact, other team members had suffered because of Yu Jung-ak. They couldn't fight in the big organization called Spirit FC anymore.

While Yu Jung-ak was happily contemplating which fights to choose, the runaway teen robbery case was taking an unexpected turn.

It turned out that the three runaway teenagers Yu Jung-ak had caught had committed several convenience store robberies before.

Moreover, they had been holding a runaway girl captive in what they called their lodgings. Under the pretext of giving her a place to stay, they had lured her in, raped her, and were even trying to force her into prostitution. When the runaway girl strongly refused to engage in prostitution, they even tortured her.

The torture was said to be so cruel that it was hard to even speak of, and the victim girl was said to be in such a bad state that she would have to live with physical and mental scars for the rest of her life.

Yu Jung-ak was truly shocked when he heard this story. The facts revealed a week after the incident contained a shockingly cruel truth.

"My God..."

Cho Yong-il's mouth fell open in shock as he read the article. Yu Jung-ak was equally shocked.

"So the guys you beat up were doing such things?"

"When I looked into it, I found out that these runaway groups have a lot of problems."

"Huh. Still, for kids to do such things..."

"So what happens to those guys now?"

"Shouldn't guys like that get life imprisonment?" Oh Jung-ryong said.

"What life imprisonment? They're all minors, they say."

"That's right."

"Because of the juvenile law, this and that, they won't serve more than a few years. Even if they're punished severely, if they behave well inside, their sentences will be reduced, and they'll probably be out by their mid-twenties."

Yoon Chang-seon explained in detail.

"You mean they can commit such acts and still come out to live normally? That can't be right. Yoon coach, you must be mistaken."

"Come on, boss. You know I used to volunteer at a juvenile detention center, right? The guards there say most of them end up like that. Don't you know about that famous case in Japan next door? The Junko Furuta case?"

"The Junko Furuta case?"

"You know, like this case, where some boys kidnapped a high school girl or middle school girl, left her in a room, raped and tortured her until she died, then put her in concrete and dumped her."

"What?"

"The guys who did that are probably living well now after being released. Look it up on the internet. Kids these days are no joke."

"Huh. It's truly the end of days."

"There was a similar case in our country recently too, wasn't there?"

Cho Yong-il, feeling uneasy, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He didn't light it because they were in the office and there were many people around.

"Let's stop talking about this."

"Yeah. Let's talk about Jung-ak's fight from now on."

"What's the best option?"

"They're all similar. The best one is Best FC. Honestly, the fight money is the lowest, but it's good from the team's perspective."

"Did they agree to use our team members?"

"Yes. They said they'd give us two main card fights in addition to the dark match. One is a women's division fight. Angela. The other is Young-tae. Blue Dragon will have to wait a bit, unfortunately."

"Is there enough time?"

"Two months."

"It's not plenty, but it's okay. Let's go with Best FC. It's a one-fight contract, right?"

"Of course."

"Who's my opponent?"

"A lightweight Japanese fighter. Best FC says they had a hard time getting him. Furuya Uno. The opponent is also an undefeated rising star in the Japanese lightweight division. But you know, right? Japanese fighters often have many amateur fights?"

"I know."

"You'll need to prepare thoroughly."

Furuya Uno was a lightweight fighter whose stock was rising in Japan. He was good at both ground game and striking, and due to his intense striking skills, he was being evaluated as the second Gomi Takanori. Although he had never been a champion in any organization, he was considered a high-level fighter overall.

Best FC had decided to bring in Furuya Uno as a candidate for the next lightweight champion, but by Yu Jung-ak accepting this offer, a highly anticipated match was set. No matter what anyone said, Yu Jung-ak was the hot issue in South Korea right now.

So other organizations were in a frenzy trying to get him. Even major overseas organizations had contacted him, but Cho Yong-il declined because the conditions weren't that good. Although it was a small organization, Best FC's offer was the most attractive.

Best FC was thinking of Yu Jung-ak as a trump card to raise the organization's recognition. So they agreed to pay a fight purse of 20 million won, and set a win bonus of 20 million. 40 million won for one fight was not a small amount for a mixed martial arts fighter.

And they said they would fully cover insurance for any injury, no matter how small. The world's top fighting organization, CFC, was getting a lot of criticism for various systems, such as requiring fighters to pay out of pocket for injuries under $1,000.

This was because the money and benefits going to the fighters were too small compared to the income the organization was earning.

But Best FC, even though it wasn't a big organization, was trying its best to take care of the fighters' welfare. This was a point that deserved praise.

Once a fight was set, Yu Jung-ak quickly switched to fight mode. He was still in regular contact with Yoon Ji-yun, but their schedules didn't match, so their plans kept getting postponed. This was because their lifestyles were different.

Yoon Ji-yun was a rookie entertainer whose stock was rising rapidly after her debut, so a regular lifestyle was impossible. On the other hand, Yu Jung-ak's daily routine was precisely set. So it wasn't easy for the two of them to meet.

Bang! Bang!

As soon as the fight was set, Yu Jung-ak threw himself into training as if trying to forget the shock of the robbery incident. He put aside the evasion training he had been doing and now it was time for full-fledged mitt training. Rumsak Noi held the mitts with a voice full of spirit, and Yu Jung-ak hit them quickly.

There were 2 months left until the fight.