Side Story 7, Swamp (7-4)

Recently, his grandfather had assigned him a couple of programs to review, and since a competition meant he would need to focus solely on training for quite a long period, it seemed difficult to accept.

"That would be difficult..."

When he muttered lowly, those who had flinched as if his words were shouts quickly regained their spirits and started yelling boisterously.

"Jin Je-hwan, we heard you really love fighting strong guys! Come out! You'll come out, right?"

"Two really strong guys have shown up at the same time! This kind of chance is rare!"

"Don't you want to fight them? Huh? Your blood must be boiling! It must be!"

Though he had long ago realized that the best way to advance one step further into deeper levels wasn't just enjoying physical training but sparring with strong opponents and had been enjoying such opportunities whenever possible, somehow the rumors seemed to have become somewhat distorted.

As Yu-wan slightly furrowed his brow, disliking the noise, one of the flinching kendo club members suddenly shouted "L-look at this before you answer!" and thrust what seemed like a portable virtual hologram player from his chest at him. Then they all fled at once, avoiding Yu-wan who frowned at the unexpected development.

"Woowoowoo! Run!"

"H-holy shit, this is the first time I've seen someone so handsome and scary!"

After the noisy group ran away, Jin Je-hwan blankly stared at the PVP that had been shoved against his chest before slowly picking it up and placing it on the desk.

He had no idea what they wanted him to see here.

'Do they want me to look at something related to the internal OS program of this device...?'

But that didn't seem right.

While examining the PVP from various angles, unaware that all his classmates sitting around him were watching him nervously, Je-hwan finally realized after a while that they might want him to see something contained within the program and pressed the button. Immediately, a video started playing with loud sound.

- Well done! Win!

'Tah! Tah! Tah!'

'Hwook!'

In what appeared to be the center of a kendo dojo, two boys were clashing amid playful cheers. One was tall and well-built, but the other had a slender body that looked smaller and less muscular. Though both wore masks and their faces couldn't be seen, they were clearly skilled practitioners.

Especially the smaller boy, who despite the height difference showed no disparity in strength, blocking all attacks with nearly superhuman power, displayed the composure of a strong fighter that would be difficult to find at that age.

'How can he generate such power?'

But upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the power of refined technique rather than physical strength. By cleverly shifting the direction of his wrist and arm movements, he blocked the opponent's attacks with minimal force in a way that appeared like superhuman strength.

- Well done, Mu-heon! Push him back again!

- Jeong Seung-jo! How long are you going to keep losing? Hahaha!

- Hey, aren't you going to eat? Let's finish this quickly!

Though the various noisy shouts from around them were very irritating at first, after the yell to finish quickly, the situation suddenly began to change dramatically.

- Haah!

From the moment the thinner one let out a fierce kiai and gripped his sword anew before charging in, Yu-wan forgot all about his dislike of noise.

'...'

His eyes twitched once as he stared intently at the video, and his fingertips curled several times as if shocked by a cool current. His well-balanced body under his school uniform shirt was tensed stiffly like a compressed spring ready to burst forth at any moment.

Even after the video finished playing after about five minutes, Yu-wan stared at the screen as if entranced before slowly raising his finger again to press the repeat button.

- Well done! Win!

'Tah! Tah! Tah!'

The same sounds played again as the video started over. Yu-wan watched without taking his eyes off the scene of the two boys facing off again in the screen. Afterward, Yu-wan terrified his classmates by watching that video repeatedly all day long without a single break before suddenly standing up and heading to the kendo club.

Slide!

"This bastard. New guys should greet before entering... ack! Jin Je-hwan!"

"This video."

When he held up the portable player with slightly bloodshot eyes from watching without blinking, the startled kendo club members began shifting blame to each other without even listening.

"Who said we should show him that?"

"It was you!"

"Ah shit, that was my precious one...! Sob..."

"Give it up, where haven't we been hit by that guy."

"Give me this video."

"Yeah give it to hi... wait, what?"

"What?"

"Really?!"

Seeing Yu-wan's serious eyes as he firmly stated his request regardless of the noise, the kendo club members realized he was serious.

"W-will you participate?"

"Yes."

It was an unbelievable answer. That Jin Je-hwan, who had become famous at school for living life entirely his own way, was now going back on his word and expressing willingness to participate!

"Woowaa!"

However, Yu-wan opened his mouth with a cold expression, still indifferent to the kendo club members who were going wild with excitement.

"But, those who appeared in this video..."

"Ah, those two are the captain and vice-captain of Suun High School's kendo club, said to be the best in the city and province. Cool, right? It was really hard to get that. Those Suun bastards, why do they treat a mere video of guys like it's some sacred treasure, seriously."

"If I enter, I'll definitely get to see them?"

"Of course! How could they not show up?"

"Then I'll take a copy of the video myself."

"Ah, sure sure. Do whatever you want. Uahahahaha!"

Leaving behind the guys who just laughed and agreed to whatever he said, Yu-wan turned around and closed the door. It was fortunate that the skills of the guys in the video weren't fake.