Ding!

The bell in the gym rang, and the fifth round started. Dae-Soo’s mood had changed. He had decreased the frequency of punches he shot out, and he focused on adjusting the distance between us more. At the same time, he was saving his energy by withholding unnecessary movements. But, he couldn’t fool me with that because I could tell he was actually aiming to put all his energy into this round. He was waiting for me to come in like a hunter who had set traps to catch monsters.

I went in, pretending that I didn’t know what he had planned. I threw a clearly visible punch. Since I already confirmed that I still had stats left over that could be raised through physical training, it was time for me to set my eyes on my next achievement.

Bamm!

His punch hit my chin, and everything went black. My gaze turned sideways as I opened my eyes. I saw blurry glimpses of the facial expressions of the spectators for a quick second. My legs were shaking, and I couldn’t get my strength back instantly. I barely managed to go back into the corner of the ring, but Dae-Soo caught me fiercely. Being punched in the chin by a pro athlete at my current weak state was more dangerous than I had anticipated. 

Even though my original goal was to find out what conditions would activate the trait ‘The Man Who Overcomes Adversity’, my experiences of escaping from the throes of death didn’t allow me to be beaten by him so easily. 

The next thing I noticed was that I was instinctively shielding my face and body with my gloves as shields. I was also searching for a moment to counter-attack. His punches were swinging in between my gloves, and, at that moment, I could see the gap where I could punch him in the chin. My entire body was itching as if ants were crawling all over me. This must have been a biometric sign to teach him a lesson by smashing his chin. It also felt like an order from God to use the skill, Odin’s Wrath. 

I was sure that as soon as I used Odin’s Wrath, Dae-Soo’s whole face would burn beyond endurance. No ordinary guy could handle it. His face would not only collapse but crumble into ash immediately after the hit. Black burnt flesh would splatter everywhere, and the blue flames would dance in the air. His headless corpse would fall heavily. The world would be chaotic with no trace of peace. 

I stopped defending myself.

Smash!

I tasted something sour in my mouth. Even with my eyes being blurry, I could feel that my balance had been destroyed. I was mentally more vulnerable since my body was weak. My blacked-out vision shifted into a screen, and I saw my comrades who lost their will and whose minds were dominated by the others there. I hallucinated and heard their screams in my mind. The only good thing from this was that I knew things like this couldn’t happen in this boxing ring. 

“Stand up.”

I could hear Dae-Soo’s furious voice over my head. I had dropped to the ground. But why didn’t the trait ‘The Man Who Overcomes Adversity’ pop up on the window? I almost fainted for a second.

Dae-Soo shouted furiously, “I told you to stand up. Right now!”

“Chill, Dae-Soo. You’re going to kill him!” The manager tried to stop him. Their voices and my vision became clear. 

“You can keep going, right? Jeong-Ho?” Dae-Soo seemed like he would force me to stand up. He picked up things quickly. I nodded and clearly expressed my refusal to go down from the ring to the manager. The manager looked concerned, but the audience became wilder. 

Dae-Soo looked at me as if he was telling me, ‘You brought this on yourself!’ As I stood up, he returned to the center of the ring and posed. I also prepared to spar again, but I was short of breath. It felt like rocks had been placed on my chest, suffocating me. He also seemed to be tired, but his eyes were sharper than before. His sharp stare was saying that he was going to do his best to resolve his rage as much as he could before going down from the ring. 

I was able to feel his anger with my entire body. It was inevitable since I had purposely let a pro athlete punch my chin twice as an incompetent F class fighter. Everything was always relative. Although the punches were slower and weaker, each one of them was more threatening. I had brought this on myself, just like his eyes said. If I had faced him in the usual manner, I wouldn’t have been driven to a corner like this.

Smash! Smash!

His punches landed into my entire body with loud thuds. I already couldn’t strengthen my stomach, and I clenched my teeth to prepare for the next hit as he punched my abdomen again. My back bent with extreme pain, and my eyes were filled with his gloves’ movements. 

Smash! Smash! Smash!

My head was wrenched multiple times without mercy. One thing that came to mind at the moment was that I felt something really familiar in my mouth. It was the taste of blood. I couldn’t feel the mouthpiece that was filling my mouth. It might have been flown away without me knowing.

“Stop! Hey! I said stop! Are you trying to kill him?” 

The manager’s voice was faint, and it sounded like he was talking three hundred feet behind me. I couldn’t hear anything after his last words because I allowed Dae-Soo to punch me right on the face. I realized that this blow was enough to knock me unconscious the moment I got hit. 

However, the feeling of falling into the mire disappeared in an instant, and my eyes opened easily. I felt like I regained my strength. 

[‘The Man Who Overcomes Adversity’ has been activated.]

A message popped up in front of me.

[Your Health level has changed. Change: F → E]

[Your Strength level has changed. Change: F → E]

[Your Agility level has changed. Change: F → E]

[Your Sense level has changed. Change: F → E]

[Your Odin’s Wrath level has changed. Change: F → E]

[Your injuries will recover slightly.]

[You will forget about the pain temporarily.]

As expected, the trait ‘The Man Who Overcomes Adversity’ kicked in only when I was unable to fight.

***

The manager and some of the audience jumped into the ring. It was chaotic for a while. 

“Are you insane? This was too much!” The manager lost his temper on Dae-Soo while he was staring at me. 

We had sparred without any headgear. I couldn’t see how horrible my face was, but I was able to guess from the manager’s and the audience’s reaction. Dae-Soo’s anger seemed to have subsided, and he looked regretful. 

I stood up, and I could feel that my injuries were healed a bit. My heart was now just pumping wildly when it used to beat as if it would explode before. 

“I’m fine,” I said.

Rough breaths and blood came out with each word. The floor of the ring around me was a mess with my blood.

“You said we would have three rounds. There’s one more KO left,” I looked at Dae-Soo.

“I’m sorry, man. I must have gone crazy,” Dae-Soo apologized.

He wasn’t a bad person; it was because I had just bruised the pride of a professional boxer. 

The manager was fired up, “What do you mean by three rounds! Dae-Soo, take him to the hospital! How can you beat someone like that…Gosh. Do you feel any broken bones inside you?” 

Unfortunately, I had to admit this was the end of the fight. When I wiped my face with a towel someone gave to me, it was soaked with blood immediately. The manager performed emergency aid on my eyes and nose, then forced Dae-Soo to take care of me. I said it was all good a couple of times, but the manager didn’t listen to me. I left the gym with Dae-Soo.

“I’m so sorry, Jeong-Ho,” Dae-Soo said.

“You really don’t need to apologize since I brought this upon myself,” I replied.

“Why did you do that? Not that I’m blaming you, but…” he left his sentence vague. 

“I thought I had to be knocked out by you in front of everyone. I was stupid,” I said.

It was then my entire face began aching.

“You did all this to save my pride? Hey, kid. You’re not in a spot to do that. Oh gosh, your face has been beaten to a pulp,” he looked concerned.

“Please spend some time, and go back to the gym, Dae-Soo. I’ll go to the hospital alone,” I said.

“No,” he responded firmly.

“I don’t have any broken bones, and the bleeding stopped,” I said.

“I’m sorry to say this, but you need lots of stitches,” he said.

He had no idea that an Awakened had crazy regenerative power. Light wounds like these would be completely healed within three days without stitches. 

“I’ll come again, soon. Good-bye!” I barely managed to pull him off.

“The Man Who Overcomes Adversity…” I thought of what just happened while walking on the street. I only came back to my senses as the effect of the trait wore off.

Self-harm couldn’t activate the trait ‘The Man Who Overcomes Adversity’ since it only worked when I got into a state where I could no longer fight from external forces or attacks. I believed there would be a deep meaning behind turning the situation around and allowing me to continue the battle with stronger powers. Apart from the physique, I thought that those who were mentally weak didn’t deserve the title ‘Awakened’. Oh well, The man who overcomes adversity had to have a strong mentality. 

I had attempted not to remember when I came out of the birth canal during my birth because it was so painful. However, I also thought that I couldn’t just repress it as my experience of overcoming hardship would help me one day.

While I was wandering around, the television news broadcasted in an electronic store’s showcase window grabbed my attention. 

「Development Bank, ‘The Southeast Asian crisis has had no impact on South Korea.’ 」

A large caption was placed at the bottom of the screen, and the main anchor was delivering the news. Even though there was no sound from the television, I could understand by reading her lips.

“The drop in Thailand baht is not settling down. There has been a domino effect in the entire Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia as their currencies continue to plunge. Regarding the situation, Jo Il-Joo, the Head of the International Planning Department of Korea Development Bank stated, ‘We’ve been monitoring Thailand’s economic crisis since the end of last year and have been preparing. Therefore, there should be zero impact on our nation.’ This was by the reporter, Kim Cheol-Jin.” 

He said that we would not be affected, but Korea was one of the countries with the biggest hits. I scowled at the news. The IMF shock was greater than the shock received on the Day of Advent.