The rookie's breath came ragged, chest rising and falling as he watched the man across the cage.
The stranger slammed his palms against the bars, voice cracking as he shouted over the crowd.
No way… The rookie's pulse spiked, cold sweat breaking along his spine. That's the legend. He looks exactly like how they described him…
His fists clenched tighter, knuckles whitening. He grit his teeth, his legs felt heavy, like the floor itself was trying to pin him in place.
DING! The bell rung, the match has started.
"I'M NOT YEON SEOJIN!" Seojun continued to shout as loud as possible.
Fuck it. The rookie lunged, desperate to end it before the legend could move.
Seojun turned at the sound, but he was too slow.
CRACK!
The rookie's fist smashed across his face. Pain exploded white-hot as Seojun's body lifted from the force, sent flying sideways into the steel bars.
BANG! The cage rattled, the impact echoing through the hall. Seojun crumpled to the floor, dazed, his cheek burning, vision swimming.
The audience gasped in unison, the roar cut down to a sharp intake of breath. Even the chant faltered.
The rookie froze, staring at his own fist.
I… hit him? That easily?
For a moment, no one made a sound.
Seojun's palms pressed against the cold steel floor, trembling under his own weight. His head rang, vision flickering as he forced his body upright, inch by inch. His knees wobbled, threatening to buckle again, but he clenched his teeth and dragged himself to standing.
Then the hall erupted, louder than before, half the crowd cheering, the other half crying out in shock.
The commentator's voice exploded through the speakers, shattering the tension.
"Did you SEE that, folks?! He took that hit on purpose! Testing his opponent, measuring his power—exactly a move a legend would do!"
The crowd roared, buying into every word.
Seojun's lungs burned as he sucked in a breath, his hand brushing his throbbing cheek. Blood tinged the corner of his mouth.
On purpose…? His thoughts spun in disbelief. If I take another hit like that… I might actually die.
The chant began to rise again, pounding at the walls, demanding more.
"FIGHTING! FIGHTING! FIGHTING!"
He's… still standing? After that? The rookie's knuckles whitened as fear clenched his gut. His legs shook despite his desperate command to move. Every instinct screamed that the man before him wasn't human, that the stories were true.
Seojun lifted his head. His gaze swept over the crowd, faces twisted with hunger, fists hammering the cage, voices melting into a single violent chant.
There's no way out of this, huh?
His eyes dropped back to the floor. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
Guess this is where I die, Seojun thought bitterly.
But to the rookie, that bitter smile was a predator's grin.
The rookie's breath came quick and shallow, every inhale scraping his throat raw. His fists hovered in front of him, trembling, sweat dripping from his chin.
He's smiling… like that punch meant nothing. No, no… he can't take another one. If I hit him again, he won't be able to stand. He can't.
His teeth ground together. I have to finish him before he finishes me.
With a guttural shout, the rookie lunged forward, feet pounding against the steel.
"There he goes!" the commentator's voice cracked through the roar, electrified. "The rookie's not holding back now!"
Seojun's head lifted slowly, his eyes seemed to show that he has accepted his fate.
The rookie closed the distance, about to land his punch–
But Seojun still hasn't moved.
WHOOOSH!
…
Seojun's entire body had tilted at the last possible instant, his head bent sideways at an awkward angle, the punch sliding harmlessly over the crown of his skull.
I dodged it!?
"OOOOOH!" The commentator bellowed, nearly falling out of his chair. "Did you SEE that reaction speed!?"
The rookie's eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. He dodged it... without even trying.
Seojun's right foot dangled, lifted clean off the ground, his left foot straining to hold him upright. Seojun wavered, one knee buckling, arms flailing slightly as he struggled to regain balance.
Damn it... I moved so fast, so sudden, my body's off balance!
The rookie immediately twisted his hips as his leg lashed out, sweeping Seojun's already unbalanced foot.
THUD!
Seojun's back smacked against the cage floor, air exploding from his lungs in a harsh grunt. His arms sprawled uselessly, palms scraping against the cold metal.
The rookie didn't waste a second. He jumped, twisting his body in midair. His fist drew a brutal arc, a spinning punch aimed straight at Seojun's skull.
Seojun's instincts screamed louder than the crowd. His body jerked sideways, rolling across the cage floor just as the rookie's knuckles came crashing down.
CRACK!
The blow slammed into the steel where Seojun's head had been, the entire cage reverberated with the impact.
Seojin slid past the rookie's flank, scrambling to his knees.
The rookie landed hard, breath ragged, eyes snapping wide when he realized Seojun was no longer beneath him, he was behind him.
"OOOOOH!" The commentator's voice cracked through the frenzy. "That was all planned, the rookie fell right into the legend's bait, now he's out of the corner!"
The rookie snarled, refusing to hesitate this time. He lunged, leaping high with his fist cocked back, a hammer meant to split Seojun's skull in two.
Seojun instinctively ducked, as the kick grased past his head.
Seojun's still on the ground– but the rookie was already twisting, his body snapping sideways.
CRACK!
Seojun blocked in time, a vicious side kick slammed into Seojun's arms. His lungs collapsed under the blow, the air ripping out of him in a wheeze as he staggered from the force into the cage wall. The steel rattled violently, pain rippling through his ribs.
The rookie didn't stop. He launched again, knee driving upward with brutal force, aimed squarely for Seojun's face.
CLANG!
Seojun sidesteps at the last second, the rookie's knee smashing against the steel.
But even that didn't slow him. The rookie spun around, slamming the side of his knuckles against the cage wall again and again, each strike forcing him closer and closer to Seojun, who was backstepping fast, boots screeching against the floor.
The crowd swelled as one lung, a roar that split the steel air like a fault line.
The commentator's voice pierced the roar, wild and electric.
"LOOK at this! The rookie's going for the kill, he's trying to end the legend here and now!"
"Shit–!" Seojun's body lurched, nearly toppling, but he forced himself forward, sprinting clumsily toward the center of the cage to escape the rookie's furious barrage.
Behind him, the rookie's eyes blazed. He planted one palm against the steel, legs coiling. With a roar, he launched himself off the cage wall, he twisted his body midair, leg coiled back, as he went for a mid-air roundhouse kick straight at the side of Seojun's head.
The crowd shrieked.
Seojun turned his head just in time to see it coming. His stomach dropped. His foot snagged again, tilting him forward
WHOOSH!
The rookie's heel sliced through empty air, barely missing Seojun.
Not again! Seojun's mind screamed, one leg flailing in the air, arms windmilling for balance.
The rookie landed, his momentum dragging him into a low crouch, still tilted forward from the failed kick. His boots scraped against the floor, desperate to recover– when suddenly Seojun's stumbling foot came down, pinning his foot to the ground.
The rookie's head snapped up. "What the-"
"Huh?" Seojun spun, half by accident, half by desperation to catch himself upright. His elbow whipped around–
CRACK!
The sharp point of his elbow smashed flush into the rookie's temple. The rookie's eyes rolled white as his body snapped sideways, collapsing limply onto the steel.
THUD.
The cage went silent.
Then–
"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The hall detonated in noise, the commentator's voice soaring over the chaos.
"WHAT A MOVE! A SPINNING ELBOW, OUT OF NOWHERE! THE LEGEND LIVES UP TO HIS NAME!!!"
Seojun froze, chest heaving, eyes wide in disbelief as the rookie laid unconscious at his feet.
Did… did I just knock him out?
The commentator's voice boomed through the speakers, every word dripping with hysteria.
"WHAT A DEBUT! Did you SEE that, folks?! The legend himself, Yeon Seojun, knocking out the rookie with a single, devastating elbow!"
The audience howled back, stamping their feet, fists hammering the rails.
Medics came in as they picked the unconscious rookie up and brought him outside.
"This is history in the making! A night no one will ever forget!" the commentator pressed on, feeding the frenzy.
Seojun's chest heaved, sweat dripping down his chin, his eyes unfocused as he staggered a step backward. He wanted to tell them he wasn't a legend, that it wasn't planned, that it wasn't even his win, but the crowd drowned out his thoughts.
The commentator's voice rose again, sharp as a blade.
"But the question is," He drew out the silence, letting the arena hang on his words.
"--WHO'S NEXT?!"
Seojun's heart stopped cold.
No. Please… no.
His eyes darted to the fighters waiting outside the cage, their bodies pressed close to the railings. His lips moved before he realized it.
"Don't raise your hands… please, don't raise your hands."
For a moment, the entire arena obeyed him, not a single hand lifted, not a single fighter stepped forward. Even the crowd seemed to hold its breath.
Seojun's chest heaved, relieved.
Thank god–
BANG.
The steel floor shook with the force of a boot.
Seojun's head jerked up. His stomach dropped.
A menacing figure approached.
The chants died before they reached their throats. A single bootfall cracked against steel, and the crowd parted without being told. Bear entered like gravity given flesh, each footfall tilting the room toward him.
"Shit… it's him."
"Nobody lasted one minute against that monster."
"Why's he here tonight?"
The cage door screeched as he ripped it open and stepped inside.
Seojun's chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, but his legs rooted to the spot, as if cement had poured itself around his feet. His gaze locked on the mask, on the hollow black eyes staring back at him.
As he stepped into the light, Seojun noticed the steel floor around the cage door, it's dented, warped, as if something massive had slammed into it over and over. The man's arms were thick with scars, pale ridges crossing his skin like claw marks etched by another beast.
Bear stopped just inches away. The heat radiating from his massive frame pressed against Seojun like a wall, Seojun could feel him breathing on him.
Seojun tilted his head back, eyes dragging upward until they finally met Bear's. His throat tightened.
There's no way out of this. They'll tear me apart if I refuse, and he'll crack me in half if I fight.
And yet he stood there, staring up in silence, his stillness saying what his voice could not.
There's nothing I can do.
DING! The match has begun.