Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Do It Right When You Do It

It hurt.

It was hard.

I could taste blood in my mouth.

It felt like sparring in a real combat arena with weight classes and rules.

No, from a karate standpoint, should I call it Kumite?

Anyway, it had been a long time since I had fought something other than monsters, engaging in a proper human-to-human match.

Maybe that was why.

Thump, thump-.

The life I lived before being possessed in <Hunters Blood>.

Specifically, the life of an athlete that shone the brightest before becoming disabled in the army came to mind.

Thump, thump, thump-!

Karate is a technique that builds endurance before striking.

Thanks to that, to become a pro, I had to first endure well, and if I couldn’t learn to endure and enjoy such pain, I could never become a karate athlete.

So, I could smile, reminiscing about my brightest past for the first time in a long while.

“Laugh, huh…?”

At the same time, I was excited.

How long had it been since I had a normal human VS human match?

The pain, the taste of blood, even the rough breathing—everything was something I had missed.

“Ke, Kerrrr…”

“He, heheh…!”

In the world of <Hunters Blood>, where ability-based combat was possible, general martial arts fighting with just fists and feet was a super niche sport.

Thanks to that, when I wrote down ‘karate athlete’ as my future dream in middle school, my teacher scolded me, asking if I wanted to become a beggar.

I believe this old man’s name was Ra Hui, right?

“Kreek. Kreek!”

‘I am just grateful. Ra. Hui.’

Thanks to you, I fulfilled one of my long-cherished wishes today.

For five minutes, I received all of my opponent’s attacks while standing in Sanbonzukuri.

Usually, the victory in karate was decided here.

If I couldn’t endure while my opponent attacked, they would win, and if I held on till the end, victory was already in karate’s hands.

That was the essence of Kyokushin and karate.

“Kyokushin Karate – Seiken Tsuki.”

An all-out straight punch thrust into the center of the unguarded, exhausted opponent’s solar plexus.

“Keheck?!”

Ra Hui, unable to breathe for a moment, covered his chest with his arms in pain, without even a chance to block.

However, he did not die from my all-out attack.

Instead of his body bursting or immediately collapsing with a hole, he just writhed in pain like in a normal match in the ordinary world.

Thump, thump, thump, thump-!

And at this moment, I felt even more excitement.

‘I, I can do it…! I can have a proper match!!’

“You, you bastard… How can a monster throw such a precise punch…!”

“Krrrr!”

“Tsk!”

Before my opponent fully recovered from the earlier pain, I rushed towards Ra Hui, recalling the times I had real matches.

Seeing me pull one fist back, Ra Hui guarded his upper body with both arms this time.

Here, I feigned a punch and instead lifted one leg, aiming to kick his face.

“Naive! I’ll easily deflect that much!”

Ra Hui countered my kick aimed at his head with soft hand movements reminiscent of the Tai Chi symbol.

But.

Swoosh-.

“?!”

“Krrrr…”

‘Kyokushin Karate…’

My kick, having anticipated even that, suddenly changed direction just before meeting his hands, precisely targeting his thigh.

“Krk.”

‘Brazilian Kick.’

Thud!

“Continuing from there…”

“Keuk?!”

“Kyokushin Karate…”

“W-Wait!”

“Breaking a hundred tiles.”

Crack!

Ra Hui, with his leg bones and skull cracked, spurted blood from his nose.

***

Ra Hui was a top martial artist in China, having mastered various martial arts to suit his hunter abilities.

Therefore, his face now showed disbelief at the current situation.

‘What the hell is going on?’

My Chinese martial arts!

Tang Lang Quan!

Shaolin Quan!

The Kung Fu I created by combining them all!

None of it worked.

No, to be precise, every single punch or kick I threw landed perfectly.

Thud!

Thud!

This monster was something else.

Smack!

Smack!

It never backed down.

That wasn’t all.

‘First, a fake punch to the face, then attack the back of the head…!’

Thud.

‘…What?’

Smack!

“Keuhk?!”

What a crazy bastard.

If it was a technique that could be dodged, one would normally try to avoid it, even if just a little.

This monster had none of that.

As if the concept of dodging didn’t exist, it only knew how to charge and charge and charge again.

And the quality of its techniques displayed in each attack was perfect.

“W-Wait a minute…!”

“Krrrr! – Kree!”

‘Kyokushin Karate – Crescent Moon Kick.’

Ra Hui had no idea.

The directors of the Chinese Shaolin Temple who taught him techniques, gave him certification, and even bestowed upon him the title of a martial arts master.

They were actually liars who only wanted to curry favor with Ra Hui, who held real power in the People’s Republic of China.

In truth, Ra Hui’s martial arts skills were no more than those of an amateur apprentice who had just entered the dojo.

On the other hand.

Crack.

“Keuaaaa-?!”

A man who discovered his only talent in a family where his mother ran away and his father died of alcohol.

Who continuously trained it from boyhood and honed it to reach the realm of Kyokushin.

A pro among pros who would have been promised a spot on the national karate team had he properly finished his military service.

Shin-woo, who always won silver, gold, or at least bronze in every youth karate competition, domestic or international, before he became disabled.

“I-I can’t stand up…!”

The level was different from the start.

Kyokushin Karate’s Crescent Moon Kick was a technique where you thrust the ball of your big toe into the ribs where the liver was located.

A highly dangerous technique that could break your toe if executed incorrectly.

It required significant proficiency and, if successful, could penetrate not just bones but internal organs as well, making it a candidate for the ‘banned karate techniques’.

Well, Shin-woo’s sharp Crescent Moon Kick not only succeeded but perfectly dealt a critical hit to Ra Hui’s liver.

“Ugh?!”

Ra Hui, struggling in pain from the internal bleeding in his liver, tried to get up but collapsed again, vomiting blood.

“Keuhak?! This is ridiculous…!”

“……”

The match was over.

Ra Hui was practically incapacitated and now his life was at my mercy.

“…! S-Spare me!”

Perhaps realizing this, Ra Hui, who had been enthusiastically fighting until now, began to beg me, rubbing his hands together.

“You, you! You seem like a monster that understands human language! Let’s not do this and settle things peacefully!”

“……”

“H-How about money?! Or if you’re interested in human society, why not come to the mainland with me?! I can hire you as a servant monster!”

“……”

“Or what about humans! We have plenty of them in China! If you need humans, I’ll give you as many as you want! Just say the word!”

“…!”

To think he would go so far as to offer humans as tribute, just to save himself.

Ra Hui… no, Ra Hui.

How could you be such an evil and despicable human being?

Squeeze-.

“Hiek?!”

What would I have done in the past?

When I didn’t know Princess Kurumi’s circumstances, when I didn’t know Lee Hee-jeong would become a monster and set fire to the streets of Hongdae, when I didn’t even know there was another hunter who could turn into a monster besides me.

Back then, I might have spared even such a human because he was still human.

Swoosh…

“Th-Thank you…”

Squeeze!

“?!”

But that Han Shin-woo no longer existed.

I had ‘resolved’.

Because I relied too much on my seasoned knowledge and got my head full of flowers for a moment, the streets of Hongdae turned into a sea of fire.

I almost lost Che-ran there.

And now, with an unknown monster-hunting hunter targeting Ria.

I had resolved to block all such threats thoroughly.

To the extent that I could abandon even the most important ‘courtesy’ and ‘consideration’ of humanity, with a resolve as black as pitch.

A soldier who hesitates to pull the trigger out of sympathy at a critical moment will die with his head blown off.

But a resolved soldier can at least die together.

And now, this cowardly soldier.

“S-Spare me!! I’ll give you women or anything you want!”

Was finally at the moment to fire his pitch-black lead bullet with resolve.

“Kyokushin Karate…”

“U-woooo?!”

“Seiken Tsuki.”

Boom!

It was just the time when his barrier was about to lift.

Before I knew it, I was back on the deck of the Triad warship, and under the night sky where drizzle had begun to fall, there was only an old corpse with a completely blown head.

“Krrrr…”

‘It’s all over…’

With this, the Sino-Korean military situation had come to an end.

It meant China’s sneaky plan to put a spoon on top of the US Forces Korea had completely failed.

“Krrrr…”

‘Hoo. My body aches all over…’

After the match, my whole body ached.

But more than that, what bothered me was my entire body now stained with human blood.

Did monsterization also erase the ‘humanity’ within my instincts? Despite having killed in the five digits, my mind was oddly at peace.

But that didn’t mean I would forget today’s events.

Even if it was an evildoer, the achievement was made by trampling on a human life.

As a human, I would remember this death for the rest of my life, and each time, I would further solidify my resolve, darker than the abyss.

Because that was the ‘courtesy’ that someone who had resolved to kill had to maintain to prove they were still human.

“Ugh…”

I bent slightly forward, about to dive into the sea.

It seemed the damage from earlier had accumulated quite a bit.

But my body didn’t end up falling, as there was someone supporting my monsterized shoulders.

That person was none other than.

“Good job.”

“Krrrr?!”

‘Katarina?!’

“Oh, by the way, I already know your identity. Don’t underestimate the intelligence network of the Monster Group~.”

Though I didn’t know how she found out my identity, Katarina was smiling at me.

“Hmm~ hmm~. Anyway, our Shin-woo has grown up. To think you can now do the job (murder) too. Personally, I’m so moved that I’m about to cry.”

“Krrrr…”

No matter how I looked at it, it was rainwater, not tears.

But we didn’t have time for such retorts.

“Commander! What should we do?”

“Tch…! Since we have practically defeated all the Chinese warships, we now move to subdue the monster in Jamsil!”

“Understood!”

Soon, Korean Navy warships prepared to bombard our sinking ship.

Seeing them, I decided to just go for it.

“Krrrr!”

‘Katarina, excuse me for a moment!”

“Oh my~♥”

Holding Katarina princess-style, I jumped into the sea just before the bombardment hit.