Kim-Do's heart was pounding, a panicked drum in his chest that seemed to want to break his rib cage. Every step towards the sports field behind Choi Yu-Ra was an ordeal. The noisy crowd formed a menacing sea, and in the center, like a predator waiting for its prey, stood Park Jin-Ho.
The boy was a mountain of muscles. Bigger than Kim-Do had imagined, with broad shoulders and a lightning-shaped scar that streaked his right eyebrow. A cruel smile stretched his lips.
"So, Kim-Do? Are we dragging our feet? Are you scared?" said Park Jin-Ho, his voice covering the crowd's whispers.
A fat laugh arose among Jin-Ho's supporters, the White Tigers, recognizable by their white armbands. Meanwhile, Kim-Do felt Choi Yu-Ra's anxious gaze on him. She, at least, was an ally. His loyalty, though intended for the other, was for the moment a bulwark.
Breathe. You just have to survive. Find a way out.
But the system decided otherwise.
VZZT.
"'
[URGENCY QUEST: PROOF OF FORCE]
Objective: Get Park Jin-Ho down in less than 3 minutes.
• Reward: +5% synchronicity with the original host.
• Failure: Permanent loss of credibility. Increased distrust of allies.
"'
The panic overwhelmed him, freezing. Put down? Him? While his own legs were shaking. It was a suicide.
"Then? Are we looking at each other or are we fighting?" sneered Jin-Ho as he walked forward, rolling his shoulders.
The crowd fell silent, eager for the spectacle to come. Kim-Do was trapped. Fleeing was impossible. Fighting was a condemnation. His mind was spinning empty, desperately searching for an escape from the blurred memories that floated on the surface of his mind. Fugitive images: the real Kim-Do training, fluid and precise movements, controlled violence.
I'll never make it.
Then, another memory, more personal this time, emerged from the fog. It was not a memory of a fight, but of his old life. He, sitting in front of his computer, analyzing street fights on the Internet for a university project. He had spent hours studying the patterns, the weaknesses, the psychology of the brawlers.
Big guys like him... they rely on their brute strength. They are predictable. They're always aiming big.
It was thin, infinitesimal, but it was a track.
"Have you lost your tongue in addition to your balls?" yelled Jin-Ho, who, overwhelmed by the wait, suddenly charged.
It was a blind, powerful but awkward rush. A huge fist, intended to pulverize Kim-Do's face, whistled in the air. The survival instinct took over. Kim-Do, instead of trying to block the move - a fatal mistake - pivoted to the side. Jin-Ho's fist met only with emptiness, and the strength of his momentum slightly unbalanced him.
A whisper of surprise swept through the crowd. Choi Yu-Ra held his breath.
"Are you dancing now?" growled Jin-Ho, turning around, his face red with anger.
He charged again, faster this time. A hook from the left, then a hook from the right. Kim-Do, his heart on the edge of his lips, dodged, stepped back, bent. He no longer thought, he reacted, his thin body moving out of sheer adrenaline and fear. Every dodge was a miracle, every move a bet against death.
"Stop running!" roared Jin-Ho, increasingly frustrated. His breathing became breathless. He spent his energy in vain.
That's when Kim-Do saw his opening. The same as in those videos he had analyzed. After a series of quick hits, Jin-Ho still lowered his right guard for a split second, sure of his next hit.
The impersonated boy was not strong. He didn't have the real Kim-Do technique. But he had the surprise, and the determination, of despair.
As Jin-Ho prepared to launch another blow, lowering his arm as planned, Kim-Do threw himself forward. Not to strike with the fist - he didn't have the strength - but to throw all his weight against his opponent's front knee, using his own momentum against him.
It was not a graceful move. It was a raw, desperate push with his whole body.
With a cry of surprise rather than pain, the unbalanced giant stumbled. His legs slipped away under him and he collapsed heavily on the concrete, in a thud.
A silence of absolute amazement fell on the sports field.
No one had seen Kim-Do use such a technique. It was dirty, effective, and totally unexpected.
Kim-Do, panting, his muscles trembling, stood in disbelief. He had succeeded. Miraculously, by trickery, but he had succeeded.
VZZT.
"'
[QUEST ACCOMPLITY: PROFECT OF FORCE]
+5% synchronicity with the original host.
"'
A sudden heat invaded him, fast, brief. It wasn't strength, no. It was... a picture. Clearer than the others. The real Kim-Do, in that same courtyard, putting another opponent down with a surgically accurate arm key. The memory was fleeting, but the sense of power and control was intoxicating.
Then reality caught up with him.
Park Jin-Ho stood up with rage in his face. The humiliation burned in his eyes. It wasn't over. The real threat was beginning now.
"You were lucky, imposter," he scolded, but his voice was strangely low, intended only for Kim-Do.
Impostor. The word sounded like a stab.
Before Kim-Do could react, a soft but authoritative voice rang out at the edge of the crowd.
"That's enough."
All eyes turned to Lee Min-Ji, the student council member. She stood there, immaculate, her notebook in her hand. His gaze, however, was not on Jin-Ho, but on Kim-Do. A piercing, analytical look that had never been addressed to him before.
The bell will ring. Disperse yourself," she ordered calmly.
The crowd, disappointed but respectful, began to break up. Jin-Ho gave Kim-Do one last murderous look before turning his heels.
The immediate danger was averted. But as Kim-Do, his mind boiling, was about to follow Yu-Ra, Min-Ji approached him.
"Kim-Do," she said, her voice a whisper. She stopped next to him, pretending to pick up a pen she had dropped. As she stood up, she whispered, so low that only he could hear her:
It was an interesting technique. Very... inventive. It almost seems like you weren't fighting."
Then, with a small, enigmatic smile, she walked away, leaving him alone, frozen, with the hum of the system in his head and a new, much deeper fear in his being.