Gyun sat panting hard as he sat propped against the cage fence,
He'd never experienced anything like that in his life, of course, there were times when he'd ended up on the ground in murim. But in those cases, the person wasn't as skilled as Haneul at maneuvering and manipulating their weight on the ground.
It would have been a rattling experience for most people who had reached the level of martial arts that Gyun had, but Gyun accepted it for what it was.
He was utterly outclassed, simply put he was dragged into deep water and drowned, Gyun had to correct his previous statement.
Haneul was currently a 50 out of 100, though he posed a serious danger on the ground Gyun could have knocked him out long before. The takedown surprised him though because he was subconsciously expecting a strike.
-I've gotten too complacent, I was arrogant I prided myself on being adaptive but I still made a mistake-
Scolding himself as he left the cage
He saw the CEO approaching him
-Damn-
He put on a smile as he turned to greet the CEO, giving a short bow and standing up from the corner of the octagon "I greet the CEO"
The CEO waved his hand dismissively as he stood in front, "Call me Pan Young-il"
Pan Young-il was an older man, in his mid 60's if Gyun were to hazard a guess but the man's eyes while having a sleepy look to them, contained a sharp gaze of a businessman.
"Yes, Mr.Young-il"
"Tch! What did I just say?"
"I apologize Pan Young-il"
The CEO Young-il looked around, seemingly noticing that there was a crowd of students for the first time.
He turned to Barbosa who was standing near Haneul, "Hey Barbosa why don't you take the students to go check out the food court?"
Barbosa looked past Young-il and at Gyun, "sure"
After a few minutes, the entire arena was cleared of everybody, leaving only Gyun, Haneul, and Young-il.
Young-il spoke first, "Now that everybody is gone, we can get down to business....."
Haneul grabbed a stool from outside the octagon, putting it down for Young-il to sit down.
Continuing from where he left off, he sat down with a soft grunt showing his age, "Ok I'll be honest, I want you to join APEX FC"
Gyun showed no visible reaction, after all, he'd expected this to come, "I'm not a professional though"
Haneul burst out in laughter, "Hahaha! Yeah right!"
Gyun didn't answer
Seeing Gyun's reaction, Haneul looked at him surprised "Really?"
CEO Young-il also looked notably surprised, "What about amateur?"
"No, I've never competed in any martial arts competitions, amateur or professional"
CEO Young-il, glanced at Haneul then back to Gyun, "Well boy what I'm looking for isn't some veteran, I'm looking for talent and someone who can put one on a hell of a performance. You have that."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, it is, and in my experience, you already move like a seasoned pro, and it's not a big deal anyway we can debut you with some other guy who isn't too high up in the rankings or not ranked, but we're willing to contract you to APEX FC."
Gyun closed his eyes as he thought about it for a moment,
-I do need money to pay off the medical bill plus Naeyon needs money for her college if she wants to pursue a master's degree. Plus I'd need spending money to dig up some information on my father's death-
Gyun leaned against the chain link fence of the caged octagon, "How much?"
Young-il smiled, "Of course we'd have to go through all the procedures but for now, with your talent and if you put on fights like just now. I can give you 8 million won ($8,000) to fight and 8 million to win, with the potential for 50 million won performance and fight of the night bonuses. Of course, you can have up to 3 sponsors, we won't really oppose who they are or what they sell as long as it's nothing that viewers under 18 can't buy."
Gyun kept his eyes closed, as he compared those numbers to what Juwon had told him, who suspected that Gyun would be recruited, of what would be a good number before he left.
-According to Juwon that's what most veteran unranked fighters would get in larger promotions, it's not bad for most people. But I need more for now, but he won't give it to an unproven fighter.-
Gyun opened one eye to look at Young-il, "Sure but I want the chance to renegotiate if I win my first 2 matches with finishes"
Young-il leaned back in his stool, "Very nice, I like it when a young man has confidence in himself, you look like you're probably middleweight or light-heavyweight so we can put you in either of those."
Gyun interrupted him, "Which division is Barbosa in?"
Young-il was a bit caught off guard, "Barbosa?"
".....he's around my size"
CEO Young-il chuckled "Hahaha, He's in the Light Heavyweight division, He's a 2 division champ though at the moment. You'd have to fight quite a few guys to get a shot at him, and even then he's completely out of your league...at least for now"
Gyun stood straight at that, "Well in that case I'd probably choose Light Heavyweight, but it doesn't have to be him immediately, but I want someone ranked within the top 15 for my debut,"
CEO Young-il's eyes flared with anger, "Boy I'd watch your words in front of your elders, I'm the one who gets to decide whether or not you get a contract."
Gyun rolled his neck around, he felt the vertebrae pop, he smiled in satisfaction
-I finally got that pain out of my neck, from jumping-
Walking over to Haneul, who was just as tall as Gyun, turning to the CEO, he asked, "He's a ranked guy right?"
"Yeah, but that'd be for Middleweight, the weight class below Light Heavyweight"
-He's a bit big for that division, or is it just me? Well, Juwon said fighters cut weight to make certain weight classes-
"If I can beat him here and now in a rematch, I'd think it'd qualify for a bump in pay, of course before we sign any contracts"
Haneul, didn't bat an eye at the provocation
"Mr. Youn-il I'd be more than happy to introduce, this arrogant guy to the professional league, but I only fight when I'm paid."
The old CEO had a bit of a smile on his face, "So you're saying you, the 3rd-ranked middleweight want to fight a debuting fighter?"
Haneul looked into Gyun's eyes with anger, "It wouldn't be the first time the promotion's done something similar, and last I checked it ended well...at least for you"
"Hmmm" The old man had a satisfied look on his face, "I guess it's a win-win for both parties"
"Now we just have to sign a contract"
"Sure, I'll have my assistant send the papers over to you and we can have everything done by the end of the week, then we can set a date."