Chapter 2: The Training of a "Weakling"
Ji-woo peeled back the tab of the chocolate milk Vasco had handed him and took a hesitant sip. It was sweet—almost too sweet for someone who had spent the last few months eating scraps while dodging cursed spirits in the Culling Games.
Vasco leaned in, his tattooed face inches from Ji-woo's. "Do you know how to get powerful?"
Ji-woo blinked, his heart hammering against his ribs. "No... I don't."
"I can see that," Vasco said, his voice heavy with a weird kind of pity. "You are very skinny. If you want to survive here, you have to train hard. My master, Joon Go, taught me the secret."
Ji-woo leaned in, expecting some secret cultivation technique or a refined cursed energy ritual.
"100 squats. 100 push-ups. 100 sit-ups. And a 10km run," Vasco declared, his eyes burning with intensity. "Every. Single. Day."
Ji-woo stared at him, completely shocked. He does that much just to rule a high school? In Ji-woo's head, the red flags were screaming. This was exactly how it started at his old school—the "tough guys" acting polite, showing off their strength, and then turning into monsters the moment you let your guard down. He was terrified that the bullying was about to start all over again.
Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder. It was Jace Park.
"Don't be afraid of us," Jace said, his voice calm and reassuring. "We don't bully people here. We protect kids from bullying. That is our motto. If we can't protect the students of the Architecture Department, then we aren't the Burn Knuckles."
Ji-woo felt a small weight lift off his chest, but the tension didn't fully disappear.
Vasco suddenly pointed to one of the larger gang members standing nearby. "To prove you have the spirit, do arm wrestling with him. If you don't want to, you can back off. It's your choice."
Ji-woo looked at the massive arm of the Burn Knuckle member, then back at Vasco. A strange, bubble of hysterical laughter rose in his throat. He had survived Sukuna's Domain Expansion and fought off Grade 1 curses, and now he was being challenged to arm wrestling by a high schooler.
"I can do it," Ji-woo said, letting out a genuine laugh.
The entire Architecture Department erupted. The Burn Knuckles started laughing along with him, slapping each other on the back. They thought he was being a "gutsy" little rookie—they had no idea they were about to test the grip strength of a survivor who walked out of Kenjaku's nightmare alive.