Classes had ended. Jihyeon was in his apartment, doing pull-ups on a bar he had installed. Sweat ran down his forehead when he received a message.
Chulwoo: "I've already apologized."
Jihyeon got down from the bar, breathing heavily. He grabbed his phone and typed: "It's okay. Nothing weird happened? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Chulwoo: "No, everything's normal."
A few minutes passed. Then, Chulwoo wrote again: "Well… Jaemin invited Dowan out for some drinks."
Jihyeon's eyes lit up. If his memory served him right, Siyeon would also go to that place. That would be the first meeting between Dowan and her. And thanks to Siyeon witnessing Dowan's abilities, he had joined the gang council as Boramae-dong's representative.
This could be a good opportunity… or a complete disaster that ruins everything.
Jihyeon wanted Chulwoo to join the gang council. Maybe he could use this situation to his advantage. Dowan had had to fight some guys from Sillim-dong to join, and only avoided the consequences because Siyeon backed him and named him leader.
Of course, there was also Sehun Kang… but taking him out of the equation, if Chulwoo caused a little chaos, like Dowan did, would Siyeon even find him interesting?
Jihyeon sat on the couch, wearing a thoughtful expression.
"Could this work? Does it all depend on luck? If hypothetically Siyeon sees potential in Chulwoo… could he recruit him?"
He grabbed his phone and typed:
"Chulwoo, you have to go there. I'll explain everything tomorrow."
With that, Jihyeon went to shower. He wanted to rest. Tomorrow would be a long day… or so he thought.
When Jihyeon closed his eyes to sleep, the world changed immediately.
He found himself standing in a vast gray field, covered by a fog that obscured the horizon. He took a deep breath and murmured,
"No… not again."
He already had some guesses about what would happen. In the distance, Jichang's motionless silhouette appeared again, standing without moving an inch.
Jihyeon took a few steps forward, frowning. "What is this place? Why do you have to appear, Jichang?"
Jichang remained silent, still.
Then something caught Jihyeon's attention: a floating screen appeared in front of him. A progress bar glowed faintly on it.
"What the hell is this? Why is this showing up?"
He stepped closer to the bar, observing the indicators.
"This… won't be like in games, right? Following that logic… I have to hit Jichang for the bar to progress?"
The bar seemed to respond to his thoughts, showing rewards at different levels:
Level 20: Hand Blade Training Method.
Level 40: Hand Blade Skills.
Level 60: Strategist Vision.
Level 80: Fun Drive State.
Level 100: Path to Mastery.
Jihyeon squinted, a complicated smile forming on his face. "Damn… I have to defeat him to earn these things. What a tough challenge for my current self… but it'll also help me know my level and… make me stronger."
With that, he turned his gaze to Jichang, who remained still, waiting. His heart pounded—time to fight.
Jihyeon stepped forward, determined. He took a firm step and launched a direct kick to the enemy's face, but Jichang merely moved his head, dodging with impeccable precision.
Before Jihyeon could react, Jichang raised his right hand and threw a strike with his fingers together, rigid, as if his hand were a sword aimed directly at Jihyeon's neck.
He barely had time to react. A sharp pain shot through his throat, forcing him to grit his teeth as immense agony shook him and spat some blood. He stepped back, clutching his neck, but Jichang appeared in front, delivering a downward strike with the edge of his hand.
Jihyeon rolled to the side just in time; the blow hit the ground with force. He took a deep breath, feeling something strange.
"Wait… could it be that when I unlock more percentage, Jichang gets stronger?" he murmured while analyzing the situation. "This Jichang is… a bit weaker than I remember."
He made a frustrated grimace. "That means I'm still weak… I can't even hurt him."
But immediately his gaze hardened. "This can't end like this."
He stood with determination. Jichang lunged, but Jihyeon stomped the ground, kicking up dust into his opponent's face. Taking advantage of the opening, he threw a punch directly to Jichang's face, which was partially blocked—but it was only a feint: the real hit landed first on Jichang's foot, followed by a blow to the liver.
Jihyeon was about to continue, but Jichang raised his right hand and threw a diagonal strike. Jihyeon ducked just in time and, with a quick movement, swept his opponent's legs, knocking him to the ground.
Without losing a second, Jihyeon unleashed a flurry of punches to Jichang's face, who, despite being on the ground, deflected most with the edge of his hands. Still, one punch landed fully, breaking his opponent's glasses with a sharp snap.
Jichang reacted immediately: he raised his hand and threw a diagonal strike with the edge, hitting Jihyeon's chest. A small cut bled, forcing him to step back. Sweat and blood mixed, covering his torso as he gritted his teeth, assessing the situation.
Jihyeon paused for a moment and looked at the floating progress bar: 4%.
"This hurts more than I expected…" he exhaled, touching his chest with blood and sweat, but his eyes shone with determination. "But I can't give up."
"This isn't the time to back down," Jihyeon growled, clenching his fists.
He lunged forward and punched Jichang directly in the face. Jichang responded with the edge of his hand, cutting through the air like a sword. Jihyeon barely stepped back, watching the strike pass right by.
Taking advantage of a tiny opening, Jihyeon countered with a precise kick to Jichang's crotch. The rival bent slightly, and Jihyeon didn't hesitate: he grabbed both of his hands, pulling him close to slam a brutal headbutt against his nose.
The dry sound of impact echoed across the gray field. Without giving him a chance to breathe, he lifted him higher and drove his knee into Jichang's solar plexus.
The floating bar glowed: 9%.
But Jichang broke free from the hold, crossing his hands under the knee at his solar plexus. Even so, Jihyeon didn't stop. Roaring with effort, he grabbed Jichang by the hair and forced his face upward, raining punches on his face.
Jichang's face was stained with blood, but he didn't falter; with a sudden move, he threw a kick that knocked Jihyeon down. Jihyeon rolled on the ground, barely catching his breath, when suddenly Jichang appeared above him, spinning with a devastating kick to the face.
The strike sent him several meters away, his nose bursting with blood as his vision blurred.
The bar flashed again: 13%.
Jihyeon, gasping, wiped the blood with the back of his hand.
"Damn… it hurts like hell… but… I'm making progress."
Jihyeon got into a boxing stance, fists firm in front of his face. Jichang, with an empty stare and the rigidity of a killing machine, went straight at him. The first strike came diagonally, the edge of his hand cutting the air and hitting Jihyeon's chest.
"Kh…!" he gritted his teeth, the pain burning like fire, but he smiled with anger.
Taking advantage of the gap, he delivered a punch to Jichang's liver. He stepped back half a step, but in a second, he twisted his wrist and threw a horizontal slash. Jihyeon responded with a jab to the jaw that made the air crack. Jichang didn't stop; he changed the angle of his attack mid-motion, turning it into a diagonal and then a descending vertical strike, like an invisible sword trying to split him.
The final attack was the deadliest. With fingers extended and palm rigid, he threw a strike directly at Jihyeon's head. Feeling real danger, Jihyeon caught the rigid hand with both of his, and with a roar, he drove a knee into his opponent's jaw. The impact shook Jichang, who lost balance.
Jihyeon swept him with a solid strike and, seeing him fall, lifted his leg and slammed it with full force into his face, burying him into the ground with a crash. Blood poured from Jihyeon's nose, his lips split, his chest marked with cuts. But Jichang also bled, though his expression remained blank.
The silence lasted only a second. Jichang got up again and went straight, trying to finish the fight. His hand, in the shape of a blade, cut through the air, aiming to end it once and for all.
Jihyeon didn't step back. He moved forward. He let the strike hit him directly in the chest.
The pain shot through him; a stream of blood came out of his mouth. But he didn't let go. He grabbed that rigid hand with desperate strength.
"You won't…!"
His voice trembled, teeth clenched, eyes bloodshot. Then he began driving headbutts into Jichang's face, one after another, until the dull sound of bone against bone filled the field.
Jichang tried to break free, but Jihyeon held him like a cornered animal. One final headbutt made him lower his head, and Jihyeon drove his knee into his opponent's ribs.
"Fall… fall… fall… FALL!"
Each word was accompanied by a desperate strike, his voice broken between rage and fear. Finally, Jichang's body fell backward, motionless, eyes closed.
The floating bar appeared in front of Jihyeon:
Progress: 20% reached.
Training Method Unlocked: Hand Blade
The air vibrated as if an invisible bell had rung.
Jihyeon fell to his knees, his breath shattered, barely conscious. Blood stained his face and chest. And then… darkness.
He woke up with a start in his apartment. Sweat drenched his body; he was breathing as if he'd run a marathon. A sharp pain shot through him from head to toe. He brought his hands to his ribs, his head, every wound he remembered having.
"Ah…!"
The veins in his neck and forehead bulged with agony. The pain lasted several unbearable seconds. And suddenly, as if it had never existed… it disappeared.
Jihyeon stayed gasping, his body trembling, soaked in sweat. He staggered to the mirror and looked at himself.
There were no injuries. Not a scratch. Just his reflection… but different. His gaze seemed sharper, more determined.
He raised his fist, clenched it tightly, and remembered the floating words from the dream.
"It's true… I reached 20%…"
A crooked smile appeared on his face. He had suffered like never before, but now… now he felt stronger.
Wanting to test if the progress bar had really rewarded him, he closed his eyes and relaxed, and just as he expected, training techniques had appeared in his memory.
Jihyeon read them in silence, a mixture of surprise and excitement. It was as if the memory of the training was in his head… not exactly learned, but imposed. His body knew how to do it, even if he had never practiced.
Then he looked down at his hand. It was clean, the skin smooth, almost soft; only the knuckles showed slight wear from the punches. At first glance, it didn't seem dangerous or strong, more like the hand of someone who hadn't hardened their body yet.
"Let's see how weak you really are…" he murmured.
He formed his hand into a blade and swung a downward strike at his apartment table.
"Ugh…!"
The impact was solid, but it didn't cut anything. It only left a small scratch and a pain along the edge of his hand up to his wrist. He held his hand with a grimace.
"Of course… it was expected, after all, I've never trained this part…" he said between breaths, a thread of pain in his voice.
Still, a smile appeared on his face. A twisted, almost proud smile.
"But at least… now I know how to train. If I keep on this path… I'll become stronger."
With that thought in mind, he took off his sweat-soaked shirt and went straight into the shower. The cold water hit him. After a while, he would have to meet Chulwoo, explain the plan, and make sure everything went as he hoped.