The crack of a bone breaking was the only symphony.
Jaeha flew backward, his body tracing a grotesque arc before crashing into a splintered table.
Dust rose.
[System]: After awakening Hajun's potential, receive 2 cards.
[Attack Card][Hajun Gu Exclusive]
> (The Return of the Overlord)
With each attack, an invisible doppelgänger appears and strikes the opponent twice.
[Attack Card][Hajun Gu Exclusive]
> (Out-Boxer)
A long-range boxer who uses straight punches and seeks to maintain distance.
Hajun lowered his arm, still tense, as if his fist were still fighting even though his flesh was no longer doing so.
"Does it hurt?" he muttered, with a broken smile.
Jaeha growled, his jaw clicking as he sat up.
"I'm not done..."
He advanced. Hajun didn't move. He landed a punch. Two. Three.
Nothing.
Hitting Hajun was like hitting hot stone.
He didn't flinch, he didn't burn. He just responded.
[System]: Hajun Gu's resistance intensifies.
Then Hajun spoke.
"My turn."
A flurry of blows. A punch to the diaphragm. An elbow to the cheekbone. A hook to the neck.
Jaeha collapsed.
[Flashback – Age 11]
A bottle smashed against the wall.
"If you lose, no dinner, bastard!"
The boy didn't cry. He just lowered his head.
That night, his knuckles raw, he studied a magazine as if it were a grimoire.
"Boxer Line... issue 98..."
"Jab. Cross. Hook."
He whispered it in the rain, as if each word welded a bone to him.
[End of flashback]
Jaeha spat blood. He was still moving. Not out of pride. Out of stubbornness.
"Are you still standing?" Hajun asked, almost disappointed.
"Shut up!" Jaeha roared.
Hajun took a step. Then another.
And with each step, an echo of yesterday.
[Flashback – Age 14]
School bathroom.
A bully pushed him against the urinals.
"They say you're invincible."
"I don't care what they say," Hajun muttered.
A blow. Dry.
Broken jaw. The other fell like a sack of bones.
And then... he smiled.
Not because of the victory. But because of what he had felt.
The spark.
The fever of the blow.
[End of flashback]
"This isn't a fight anymore, Jaeha..." Hajun whispered.
Knee to the stomach. Broken ribs.
Downward elbow strike. He chewed dirt.
[Flashback – Age 16]
A teacher asked him softly:
"Why do you fight so much, Hajun?"
He didn't look up. He just stared at the ground.
"It's not to win."
"Then why?"
"Because it's the only thing that makes me feel alive."
[End of flashback]
Surrounded by ruins, Hajun stood still.
His fist trembled, still hungry.
"It still happens to me," he muttered. "That thrill.
That impure joy when I strike...
And yes... winning is still fucking pleasurable."
Then, a broken laugh interrupted him.
Jaeha Han, lying on the ground, his face shattered, began to laugh.
"Damn it..." he spat blood. He smiled, crookedly.
"...hahaha..."
His breathing was broken, but still, he forced out each word with a trembling voice.
"After all... I..."
He barely lifted his head, just enough to look Hajun in the eyes.
"...lost."
And he said it without hatred. Without resentment.
Just the weary laughter of someone who gave it their all... and surrendered to the truth.
[One hour later – West Gangbuk Main School – Meeting Room]
The clock read 2:47 a.m.
Victory did not smell like glory. It smelled like sweat, dust... and restrained blood.
The meeting room was a sterile, white mausoleum.
Artificial light fell like blades on the five bodies kneeling in front of the long table.
Seok Kang. Changung Yeom. Dongtak Seo.
Jaeha Han executives.
Now without a boss and without power.
Tied up, their wrists behind their backs, their clothes dirty and their pride sunk into the concrete.
In front of them, sitting as if that seat had always belonged to him: Suhyeon Kim.
Behind him, standing like statues, were his personal executives:
Gukja Yang, Hajun Gu, Haru Seong, Hyeondong Lee, Yugyeom Na, Jihyeon Lee
and his advisor, Ji-hyuk Yang, who was flipping through a holographic tablet without looking up, analyzing the territory they had just conquered.
Suhyeon leaned back slightly in his chair. His gaze was cold, without judgment. Only calculation on his face.
"Dongtak Seo and Changung Yeom, you two are strong... but I'm not going to accept just anyone as part of my executive team. So you can leave," Suhyeon said calmly, crossing one leg over the other as he watched them without emotion.
His words left a heavy silence in the room.
Even his own executives looked at each other, visibly surprised by the decision. They knew—better than anyone—that his team needed more strength. But their leader seemed to value quality over quantity.
Then, without raising his voice, Suhyeon made a slight gesture with his hand.
Hyeondong Lee blinked, as if unsure he had understood correctly.
Then he bowed his head in a brief bow.
"As you say, sunbae."
He approached the prisoners and, with precise movements, untied Dongtak Seo first and then Changung Yeom, while the weight of everyone's gaze fell on them.
Both rubbed their wrists, still not daring to stand up.
It was Dongtak who broke the silence:
"Are you really... going to let us go like this?" he asked, looking directly at Suhyeon, without arrogance, but with doubt beating in his voice.
Changung frowned. "It's not a trap, right? I mean... after all this..."
Suhyeon didn't even blink.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be on the floor."
He didn't say it threateningly. He said it as if mentioning a statistic.
"But I don't waste resources on things that don't interest me. And you, quite simply, don't interest me."
Silence filled the room once more.
Dongtak clenched his teeth, then nodded slowly.
"Understood."
Changung, still suspicious, bowed his head as well. There was nothing more to say.
And then, without looking back, they began to leave, their footsteps echoing uncomfortably on the polished floor.
Suhyeon didn't follow them with his gaze. They were already off his board.
Jaeha Han.
Unlike before, he wasn't trying to fight or struggle with the ropes binding his wrists. He stood there, head bowed... but smiling.
His lips moved slightly.
"...So quality over quantity, huh?"
His voice was rough, but not broken. Like someone who has lost everything... but is still himself.
He slowly raised his face. One eye swollen, dried blood on his cheek. But his smile was still there, distorted and serene.
"And what are you going to do with me, Suhyeon?" he asked, without fear. "Are you going to let me go too... or are you going to use me as an example?"
The executives behind Suhyeon watched him intently.
Suhyeon looked at him for a long time. Not as an enemy. Not as an ally either.
Suhyeon rose from his seat and approached Jaeha, who remained seated silently with his eyes downcast, but a slight smile still on his face.
He crouched down in front of him.
[System]: You are using "Boomer" on Jaeha Han.
"Jaeha, join me. I take care of my people as if they were my family, and I see a lot of potential in you... it wouldn't be good to waste it," said Suhyeon.
Jaeha let out a small laugh through his nose.
"Family, huh...? How touching. Are you going to give me hugs and a lunchbox too?" he said mockingly.
But then his smile faded, leaving only the shadow of a neutral expression.
"All right. I accept."
He said it as if he were being offered a cup of coffee instead of a new allegiance.
[System]: Jaeha Han is now part of your team.
And before Suhyeon could stand up, Jaeha looked him straight in the eye.
"But don't think I'm going to follow you around like a dog. You'll have to earn my respect."
His tone was serious. This time without irony.
A promise, or a warning.
[10 minutes later]
The only one who didn't move was Seok Kang.
He was still kneeling, tied up, staring at Suhyeon.
And Suhyeon... hadn't moved from his spot.
He watched him silently.
When everyone left and the doors closed.
Only then did Suhyeon speak.
Seok swallowed hard.
"What about me...?"
Suhyeon walked slowly toward him. His steps were soft.
He stopped right in front of him.
"I don't like you," Suhyeon said.
Just like that, bluntly.
"I'm not going to recruit you."
Seok instinctively lowered his gaze, but then raised it again.
"Then... will you let me go?"
Suhyeon tilted his head, as if analyzing a very simple equation.
"No."
The silence that followed was icy.
"I know you would cause trouble. Not out of loyalty... but out of resentment. And I don't leave weapons lying around."
Then, without another word, Suhyeon knelt down in front of him. He held his face firmly with one hand, as if examining a defective object.
And in that instant, something changed.
[System]: You are using "Mana Drain" on Seok Kang.
---
Message from the author:
A week ago, I mentioned that I would take some time to reflect on the direction of the fanfic. Thank you for your patience, your support, and for continuing to believe in this story.
This chapter marks a turning point. And as a reward to those who are still here, stay tuned...
The next chapter will be out in two hours. Don't miss it.