Joo Doyun had always been a strong fighter, able to overcome weight and size differences despite never learning a martial art. He'd even beaten people who'd studied multiple martial arts, in other words, he was a natural fighter, a fighter strong enough to crack 'The Underground' rankers list and become an executive of the Dokkabei gang.
-But why can't I reach him?!- Doyun thought as he was sent reeling from a front kick, luckily Doyun had managed to move back with a kick lessening the impact. Doyun still was forced to take a retreat to reorient himself as he wiped the blood from his face.
Hajun leisurely went back to his wide stance, bouncing on the balls of his feet remembering the words of his teacher.
-keep your breathing steady, don't hesitate when you see an opening, and don't stay passive, I can do this. I can beat this guy before the rest of Dokkabei shows up.-
Doyun looked desperately to his fellow Dokkabei members but they were hopelessly outnumbered with only 8 members present while Hajun had brought more than 30 with him.
"Dammit! Fuck you Hajun you think you can beat me after what happened!" Doyun lashed out closing the distance with a Superman punch but was nearly knocked unconscious by another kick from Hajun that caught him mid-air.
"You should stop running your mouth before I knock your ass out like last time." Hajun to back up his stance this time circling.
Doyun spits out some blood as he stood back up, this time his legs were unsteady and he struggled to stand upright. Doyun desperately looked around at the roof of the school they were fighting in. As Hajun blitzed forward, throwing a series of punches alternating between the body and head, Doyun curled up trying to protect himself.
Doyun panicked as he tried to find a way out, -fuck! there is nothing here use, wait! There are the teachers! they saw us head in here there's no way they'll let a fight slide in school. I just need to hold out for a bit longer-
Hajun delivered a spinning heel kick with Doyun barely managing to duck it, Doyun panted as he rolled clear. Hajun's gang cheered and laughed while hurling insults at Doyun who was essentially trying to run away.
Over the sound of all the shouting and insults, Doyun heard Hajun's voice despite him not raising his voice.
"If you're waiting for someone to come, I assure you nobody will... no one will disturb us for quite a while."
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Meanwhile
Gyun and Doyun peered through the slightly opened door, onto the roof where the fight was taking place.
Juwon winced as Doyun took a brutal roundhouse kick to the side of the "Damn that's brutal, he's getting destroyed"
"Shhhhh, quiet or they'll hear" Gyun whispered a bit annoyed at Juwon's lack of stealth
Juwon immediately lowered his voice to a whisper "Oh damn, sorry... but I mean look at him he's being murdered"
Gyun looked back at the fight
-Well he's not wrong, the other guys clearly got some skills but he's completely outclassed in terms of technique. And that Hajun guy has a good sense of distance and flow, he's keeping calm and not getting excited, plus his technique's pretty good. On the other hand, the other guy's got a cut on his brow that bleeding into his eyes, his forms sloppy but he's not entirely bad, he's got a good chin. He's still standing after all that beating, that many shots to the head would separate the average person from their consciousness. But.....-
Gyun continued to watch, with a thought that was emerging in the back of his head.
-They're not that good-
Gyun's expectations were absurdly high compared to what was reality, even though he'd lowered his standards he was subconsciously comparing them to murim warriors. Of course, 2 high schoolers who were having a fistfight on a roof couldn't compare to murim warriors.
In murim, where warriors can study martial arts and live as long as 200 years an old man with the aid of internal energy move faster than a blink and punch hard enough to destroy a small mountain. Compared to the modern world where most professional fighters reach their prime in their late 20s and early 30s. A murim warrior's prime was always their current state, and in almost all cases an older warrior was a better warrior.
Very few could overcome the gap of time to accumulate energy and train in martial arts. Gyun however overcame this and within 10 years of appearing in murim, clawed his way to the top by quickly gaining experience and refining himself by putting his life on the line in the inter-continental wars.
Gaining internal energy from elixirs he got from raiding cities and armories and wealthy families. Even then he didn't have the amount of qi to rival the old powerhouses so he honed his sword techniques to the level where he got the title of sword god, but after suffering a loss in a private spar to the 'Perfected Buddha' from the Shaolin temple, who practiced the art of nine limbs, Din Mok (1).
Gyun focused only on melee techniques for his last few years in murim before his final battle with the 7 of the remaining 12 of the Heavens Equals.
To the highest order of fighting genius that was Sung Gyun who'd overcome the hundreds of years of experience and practice that the Heavens Equals accumulated throughout their lives. They looked slow, sloppy, and weak.
-I'm bored-
Gyun turned to leave but was grabbed by the collar by someone and lifted into the air as he was slammed into the wall.
Juwon yelped out in surprise, "What the fu-urg"
Juwon was cut short as he was punched in the stomach causing Juwon to fold over coughing. It was a new experience for Juwon, he'd seen it on TV in fights before and in person even in fights or when the bullies in his class got violent.
But he never imagined that it hurt so bad, he gasped for breath as he was sent to his knees trying to control his breath. He gagged as a wave of nausea slammed into him, and he spit on the floor. Juwon looked up to see two of the Hajun's crew looming over him.
Pinned to the wall by the larger of the two, Gyun raised his hands in surrender,
"Hey, hey hey we're cool"
"What are you doing here?"
"Uhhhh....I....forgot my notebook?"
The guy scoffed, "You forgot your notebook on the roof?"
".....yes?"
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Din Mok- A reference to a fake martial art that was invented by Count Dante a fake martial artist who was famous in the 70's and 80s, it means death touch. (not a real martial art !just thought it'd be fun to reference it, currently in the story Gyun uses almost entirely just striking, with a mix of muay thai and taekwondo, with a sprinkle of judo trips and throws, and a lot of lethwei moves, but he is not restricted to these disciplines, the majority of the time he simply strikes in an optimal way at the most optimal place. But it makes it easier for me to write the moves so you know what's going on, and I later plan on using grappling in the story.