The Gathering Storm
The atmosphere at Seoyeon High had chilled. The news of the fight had spread, warped by fear and rumors. The student Jinwoo dropped was a close affiliate of Han Tae-seong, and the King's silence was more terrifying than any open threat. Everyone now saw Jinwoo, the former wallflower, as a potential threat—or a fool marked for destruction.
Jinwoo sat on the rooftop, his mind a battlefield. The Echoes were vibrant: Minjun's flawless footwork and his devastating punching mechanics. Jinwoo could execute them perfectly in slow motion, but his speed and power were abysmal. He needed more. He needed strength.
His current goal: find a way to train his physique using his Mimicry, not just copied combat moves.
The Observation of Efficiency
He found his next blueprint in a place he never expected: the wrestling team.
Jinwoo was observing the campus gym, looking for weightlifters to copy, when he saw the wrestling squad practicing their takedowns. They weren't fighting; they were drilling control and leverage.
His attention immediately fixed on the captain, a muscular, compact student named Joo Hyuk, known for his terrifying endurance and ground control. Joo Hyuk was demonstrating a drill focused purely on core stability and isometric holding—the ability to maintain immense pressure without tiring.
Jinwoo activated his Mimicry. He watched Joo Hyuk's body—not the combat technique, but the way his internal structure held tension. He saw the subtle, efficient engagement of every muscle fiber necessary to maintain an unbreakable posture.
The headache was immense. This wasn't a one-second motion; this was copying endurance and structural integrity. When the pain subsided, Jinwoo had the blueprint: the knowledge of exactly which muscles to train, and how to tense them for maximum stability.
He now had three blueprints:
1. Minjun's Striking Mechanics (Power Delivery)
2. Minjun's Footwork Rhythm (Movement Efficiency)
3. Joo Hyuk's Core Stability (Endurance and Defense)
He had the perfect scaffold, but the bricks—his muscles—were still weak.
The Ambush
Later that evening, as Jinwoo trained in an isolated park, drilling his copied footwork while consciously engaging his newly understood core muscles, the inevitable happened.
He heard the heavy footsteps before he saw them. Three figures, bigger and harder than the seniors from the previous night, stepped out from the darkness.
"Jinwoo," a cold, familiar voice echoed from the shadows. Han Tae-seong stepped into the light, his presence dominating the park. "You messed up my territory. You embarrass my people. I'm going to teach you what happens when a dog bites the hand that feeds it."
Tae-seong didn't send his lackeys. He walked toward Jinwoo himself, his movements heavy, powerful, and utterly devoid of wasted motion.
"I hear you're fast," Tae-seong said, flexing his immense arms. "Let's see that speed against raw power."
The first lackey lunged. Jinwoo immediately used his copied footwork, shuffling swiftly to the side, causing the attack to miss by an inch. The perfect technique worked, but it exhausted him.
The second lackey was faster and led with a feint. Jinwoo barely dodged, utilizing a quick, defensive pivot. He saw an opening—the chin—and lashed out with Minjun's perfect counter-punch.
THWACK!
The punch landed flawlessly on the jawline. But unlike the previous night, the lackey merely stumbled back, shook his head, and laughed—a harsh, barking sound.
"Too weak, kid," the lackey grunted, spitting blood. "Perfect form, zero power."
Jinwoo's heart sank. This was the bottleneck. His Echo Striker technique was the ultimate blueprint, but his frail body was the limitation. He had the how, but not the what—the muscle mass to back it up.
The Synthesis of Survival
Tae-seong stepped forward, dismissing his lackeys with a contemptuous wave. "I'll finish this quickly."
Tae-seong's punch was a simple, brutal clubbing motion, but it carried the weight of a truck. Jinwoo knew he couldn't dodge forever, and blocking it would shatter his arm.
He had to synthesize his blueprints.
When Tae-seong's punch arrived, Jinwoo didn't fully dodge. He used Minjun's footwork to shift his body weight slightly, turning his shoulder inward to minimize the surface area. Simultaneously, he activated Joo Hyuk's Core Stability, tensing every muscle from his ankles to his neck, locking his body into a single, immovable structure.
Instead of a clean dodge, it was a redirected block. The huge punch clipped his shoulder, but the rigid core structure minimized the impact and sent the force glancing off.
It worked! But the force still slammed him into a nearby tree, leaving him breathless.
Tae-seong looked surprised. "A redirect? Where did you learn that? That wasn't luck."
Jinwoo didn't answer. He was dizzy, but he was still standing. He had combined defensive movement with structural integrity.
Tae-seong launched a barrage of heavy, wide swings. Jinwoo was forced into an impossible dance of survival, using Minjun's quick shuffles to keep distance, and the Mimicry of Stability to brace and redirect the inevitable glancing blows. He looked like a puppet on strings, perfectly executing movements far beyond his natural ability.
Finally, seeing an opening, Jinwoo exploded forward. He didn't aim for the face. He channeled Minjun's punching mechanics into a low, vicious strike aimed at Tae-seong's unprotected knee.
The blow landed with perfect form. Tae-seong grunted, the pain momentarily breaking his rhythm.
"That's a good form, but not enough power," Tae-seong growled, shaking his head.
Jinwoo took his chance, using the brief distraction to sprint away, activating the powerful Tae-seong stride to maintain maximum speed. He didn't look back until he was blocks away, his lungs screaming.
He hadn't won. He had escaped. He was beaten, bruised, and his core was shaking, but he had survived a fight with the King.