Chapter 80 – Heavenly Demon’s Disciple (2)
“Owwk…!”
Smack!
The heel of my left foot slammed down on the crown of the head of the world’s #2 ranked taekwondo fighter.
A dull vibration echoed through his skull.
He staggered, but he didn’t fall.
“So you can endure it?”
As expected of second place.
He didn’t topple in one hit like the others.
But that was all.
Thud!
He bent forward from the waist, and I drove a front kick into his face.
‘I’ll spare your handsome nose.’
If I kicked seriously, even an athlete—whose body is tougher than a normal person’s—could die. And besides, he was a candidate for the next Olympic team.
No matter how justified, if I sent every first-division athlete to the ICU, I’d be crucified.
“Who’s ranked number one?”
“……”
“……”
No one was kind enough to answer.
“There isn’t one?”
“Number one is a foreigner…”
“Ah! I see.”
There had been no tension at all.
At first, winning felt great. But now, I only felt like a bully picking on the weak.
‘Alright, then…’
Let’s hear the master’s verdict.
“What are you exactly? That reflex speed… that reaction time…”
In the Old Era, taekwondo athletes who aged out became instructors, and those with success opened dojangs as masters.
[TL Note: A “dojang” is a Korean term for a martial arts training hall.]
But after P’s aptitude scanner appeared, taekwondo began training professional educators instead of simply retired fighters.
What’s the difference?
The biggest thing I’ve felt while training as a swimmer is their ability to observe.
“Master, do you already forget? I’m a shaman.”
“How could a shaman—!”
“Come on. A shaman who captures spirits wouldn’t be weaker than a human, right?”
“That’s ridiculous! Even Yoo Il-am, Yoo Il-chung’s brother, is a shaman, but he’s nowhere near your level!”
The master reacted strongly.
He’d realized it.
That his proud students weren’t inferior—it’s just that I was abnormal.
“Please don’t compare him to me. I only called him a senior out of courtesy because he became a shaman first.”
“Huh…”
“I won’t interfere with your students’ training. If you just guarantee my spot in the Olympics.”
“…What if I refuse?”
“I’ll spread the news everywhere that your fighters lost to a swimmer.”
“You said you were a shaman.”
“Fine, then I’ll say they lost to a shaman. A non-athlete. That’ll hurt even worse—but if that’s what you want—”
“D-don’t!”
The negotiation progressed peacefully.
My Olympic slot was secured.
At that moment, Yoo Il-chung—his face swollen like bread—screamed:
“You’re nothing compared to Go Yoon-kyung!”
“Go… Yoon-kyung?”
“Yeah!”
“The name sounds like a girl.”
“She is! She’s my girlfriend! Go Yoon-kyung is the women’s taekwondo world rank #1!”
“She’s a woman.”
“You sexist bastard?!”
“You wanna die? Don’t twist my words. I meant women fight women.”
Go Yoon-kyung.
Since I’d only recently become interested in taekwondo, it was expected I didn’t know her.
Women’s taekwondo official #1.
But so what?
The men’s #2 lost to me pathetically. Why would a women’s #1 make a difference?
Yet…
“He’s right. If it’s Go Yoon-kyung…”
“So Il-chung really has a girlfriend?”
“She’s unbeatable.”
The very fighters I defeated all agreed with him—not dismissively, but in earnest.
No bravado.
A real warning.
“Kang Moon-soo.”
“Yes?”
The master called me again, as if he still had business with me.
“I acknowledge it. You’re strong. But Go Yoon-kyung is stronger. Women’s #1? Wrong. That girl is the world’s #1, period.”
“……”
“Will you spar her?”
“No.”
I refused without a second of hesitation.
“Running away?!”
“You’re misunderstanding me, Master. I don’t like unnecessary violence.”
“Ha! You say that after turning my students into that?!”
The master roared.
“Just because I hate violence doesn’t mean I should stand here and get beaten up. Am I wrong?”
“Grr…!”
“If you have nothing else to say, I’ll be on my way—”
“Wait!”
“……”
He still refused to give up.
“What if it becomes necessary?”
“Provoking me won’t work. What benefit do I get from beating the women’s champion? If anything, all I’ll get is outrage that I hit a woman.”
If I win, I lose.
If I lose, I lose even worse.
There is no profit.
“Kang Moon-soo. What dan rank are you?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
“What a shame! Then what will you do? You can’t enter the Olympics like that!”
“……”
In the dream, I never heard of such a rule.
Maybe it was added later?
It didn’t sound like a lie.
“To take the black belt test for 1st dan at Kukkiwon, you need one year from the day you enroll. Then you need another full year to be eligible to test for 2nd dan.”
[TL Note: Kukkiwon means “national sports institution” in Korean and refers to the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.]
“…So?”
“If you defeat Go Yoon-kyung, I’ll arrange your eligibility so you can participate in the next Olympics.”
“Illegally?”
“Legally.”
The master and the fighters clearly wanted to hand me a loss somehow.
Yet, despite seeing my ability, they had absolute confidence that ‘Go Yoon-kyung’ would win.
That made me curious.
‘How strong is she really?’
Was it hype, or fact?
I wanted to confirm it myself.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
“Wise choice!”
“But shouldn’t we ask Go Yoon-kyung if she agrees to this match?”
“Don’t worry about that. You beat up her boyfriend. You think she’ll let that slide?”
“Oh, right!”
I’d forgotten Yu Il-chung was her boyfriend.
“Tell me when you absolutely can’t make time.”
“How about right now?”
“Go Yoon-kyung mainly trains at a relative’s dojang. We need to schedule it.”
“She’s busy.”
“But if she hears her boyfriend got hurt, she’ll rush over immediately.”
“Then just notify me a day beforehand. Text or call.”
“Good! I’ll contact you soon!”
“…Hold on.”
“What now?”
I noticed multiple messages from Chief Seo Hye-ju.
Missed calls: 3
Seo Hye-ju: Do you remember that patient I mentioned?
Seo Hye-ju: The deputy chief is trying to dump them on me again.
Seo Hye-ju: Help me! I’m begging you!
“…Looks like I’ll be busy too. I’ll send you my available dates by text.”
Plans had changed.
‘A new patient? Then of course I’ll accept!’
A few days before we were scheduled to leave for joint training in the middle of the Pacific, Section Chief Seo Hye-ju had approached me with a request.
The patient had been asleep for around three years.
They had been transferred from hospital to hospital around the world, until they heard that another patient with the same condition (Choi Kang-min) had been successfully treated at Elmolance Hospital. That’s why they came.
“Want to try?”
“Yes.”
“…You’ve changed. I haven’t even mentioned the treatment cost yet.”
Section Chief Seo looked at me suspiciously.
“We’re saving a person, aren’t we? You don’t choose patients based on money.”
“You can be honest with me.”
“Fine. I think the experience I gain in dreams is reflected in reality.”
I could’ve hidden it for now, but since we were business partners, she’d eventually find out anyway. So I told her immediately.
“…Really?”
“Yes. I went to a national taekwondo facility yesterday and knocked out every fighter there. One strike each—oh, except the world #2, he needed two hits.”
“You said you learned under that legendary taekwondo athlete in a dream?”
“Learned? I got beaten up nonstop more than I learned anything.”
Gomushin.
I originally thought he was just an old-school taekwondo guy with decent skill, but after coming back from Nam Hae-soo’s dream, I researched him for fun.
He only ever won a single Olympic gold.
But all the disciples who were beaten by him every day swept the Olympic medals for generations.
Completely different from Nam Hae-soo.
Nam Hae-soo isolated and eliminated his competition by any means necessary so he could monopolize medals.
The Gomushin Master, on the other hand, abandoned status and pension even though he had the skill—devoting his life entirely to teaching students.
Aside from his stinky feet, the man was a flawless saint.
“Your coach, who cares for you like a son, told me something similar. I found it strange too.”
“My record improved drastically after I entered dreams.”
“But if you die in a dream, your performance drops sharply too. Correct?”
“Correct.”
Even with a short explanation, Section Chief Seo understood immediately. Or maybe she had already suspected.
Either way, things were easier for me.
“You’ll have to be careful from now on.”
“Right. If I die in a dream, I lose everything. Time, abilities… total loss.”
It was almost like gambling.
“If only we could see what dreams patients are having, we could drastically lower the risks…”
“True.”
“Worst case, you’d run into a monster beyond human limits—like that magic boy Choi Kang-min. You’d die instantly.”
“Oh? Are you worried about me?”
“Of course! It may sound harsh, but doctors must protect their medical instruments.”
“Ah, so I’m a tool.”
It wasn’t inaccurate. No matter how much we understood the cause of the coma, without me, there’d be no cure.
“Hm… I should hire a detective for your safety.”
“A detective?”
“We could meet a patient like Nam Hae-soo again—someone whose life doesn’t match their public persona. We’d need background checks.”
“Great idea.”
If we could learn the patient’s regrets or grudges, we could predict the dream’s world and the patient’s purpose.
With accumulating experience, the system of my ability was becoming more structured.
I liked it.
“Then let’s start investigating this new patient properly.”
“Yes.”
Why would I refuse?
After starting as a swimmer, I had effectively crushed Korean taekwondo.
Even though the matches were unofficial, news was guaranteed to spread.
That’s how I learned:
“Kang Moon-soo! One moment, please!”
“When did you start training taekwondo?”
“Are the rumors true?”
“Just a short statement, please—!”
A swarm of reporters waited for me at the entrance of the university dormitory.
‘This is… familiar.’
In Nam Hae-soo’s dream, when I defeated national fencing and swimming athletes, I’d gotten similar attention.
I didn’t panic. I gave a short answer and moved on.
“Sorry, I have training in five minutes. I need to go right now.”
“Kang Moon-soo!”
“Oh—!? Kang Moon-soo?!”
Whoosh—
The moment I decided to sprint, the reporters chasing me were instantly left far behind me.
My destination was the university athletic center’s swimming pool.
Normally, I warm up by running a full lap around the athletic campus first, but I skipped it today.
Even so—
“It’s Kang Moon-soo!”
“Whoa! Kang Moon-soo!”
“Just a moment for an interview—!”
Even in front of the gymnasium, where the swimming pool was located, more reporters were waiting.
‘This is… out of control.’
I knew people would talk eventually, but I didn’t expect it to blow up overnight.
I slipped away and headed to the rarely used back door of the athletic center—
“Moon-soo!”
“Oh! Coach, you look busy.”
“If you know, then HELP me!”
Inside Coach Jang Seo-yeon’s private office—normally restricted to only staff and authorized athletes—there were more visitors today than ever.
Police officers, facility managers, taekwondo masters, swim coaches, taekwondo athletes…
A strangely mixed group.
“Nice to meet you. Are you Kang Moon-soo?”
“Yes.”
A pair of male-female police officers were on site. The man standing behind the woman, who was speaking with Coach Jang, suddenly addressed me formally.
“We received a report that you knocked out four taekwondo athletes at this university yesterday. Do you acknowledge this?”
“I do.”
I glanced meaningfully at the taekwondo master and athlete I recognized from yesterday and replied.
“It was a consensual spar. Kang Moon-soo bears no criminal responsibility.”
“Then why—”
Why would the police still show up? Simple.
“Please understand. There are frequent cases of people abusing ‘sparring’ as a legal loophole. We have no choice but to check personally.”
“Ah, I understand.”
I immediately grasped it.
The P Aptitude Scanner only measures athletic potential—not morality.
Murder, sexual crimes, assault, drugs, DUI, abusive behavior, gambling…
That’s why sports organizations constantly monitor athletes’ behavior. Coaches act as parental figures to discipline them.
On the other hand—
“The most common complaints we receive are assault cases involving athletes. Athletes say they ‘barely touched’ someone—but even that ‘barely’ hurts an ordinary person.”
“Yes. I’ll be carefu—”
“And there is one critically important issue. Report claims you visited the dojang first and provoked them. Is this true?”
“…Yes.”
“Even if it was consensual, you may be punished for initiating it. It was overlooked this time because there was a legitimate reason to test skill. But do not repeat it.”
“…”
Police value accountability and integrity far more than power.
“And this last part… is just personal.”
“Yes?”
“I feel very proud seeing the convenience store kid who worked late nights grow into someone so impressive.”
“…Oh. Thank you.”
“I was right! I recognized you instantly.”
“…Pardon?”
“You turned twenty this year, correct? But I remember seeing you working at that convenience store a long time ago. At what age did you start working there?”
“……”
‘Coach! HELP ME!’
A massive crisis in my life had appeared out of nowhere!