Fight End

[Yuito's POV]

*Ting!* *Ning!* *Ning!*

The bell rang and the third round started.

Yet my opponent looked like he had completely lost the fight. There was no longer that determined and firm eyes on Munseoung.

He was only fighting for the sake of it.

'Boring.' I thought to myself while we made our way towards each other.

{You were the one who took their souls. Don't complain now.} I shrugged.

We reached each other but we stopped when we were at arms reach. We both just looked eye to eye.

"What? Gave up already?" I said.

"After training all this time. You are just going to give up. Lose to a prodigy like me, again?" I taunted him and he listened.

In the Manhwa, Logan Gracie found him beaten up in an alley. It was because he lost a fight to a taekwondo prodigy Taehun.

Now he was facing a bigger prodigy than Taehun which was me. I was sure it must've brought up some bitter memories and trauma.

"Is that all there is to you, Munseoung?" We circled each other and locked eyes.

"Tell me, do you despair?" I asked and he stopped, pausing dramatically.

I could see the gears spinning in his head. He seemed to be going through some kind of character development and some shounen power-up.

I smiled, 'Good.'

"I have been dealt with a bad hand all my life." Munseoung said, "I have always done everything I could to survive."

"I don't despair."

Beast don't despair.

I threw a jab at him, this time without holding anything back but I was not particularly trying to hit hard either.

My jab landed on his forearm and it sounded like a gunshot when I hit him. My strength was already beyond human capabilities.

But Museoung did not back down, his eyes regained their former determination and the fight started again.

Then he threw multiple combinations of punches my way and never stopped.

To him, thes best defence was attacking. My punch hurts him even if he blocked so he continuously attack so that I will be busy dodging and will not attack.

I weave through each attack with ease only by my pure head movements, nothing else.

When he threw a jab, I would lean back until his glove grazed my face but the distance was just right so that I did not get hurt.

When he threw a straight, I slightly tapped on his incoming fist and changed its direction slightly so that it missed me by less than a centimeter.

When he threw a hook, I slipped on either side and let the punch fly by me. And when he threw an uppercut, I stepped back and got out of range.

In his defense, he was very much stronger nad faster than before. It seemed he was conserving his energy to draw out the fight before, but now that he realised he would never tire me, he went all out.

He was also very adept with boxing. My head and his hands blurred to the naked eye. We were moving at absurd speed, yet he never hit me.

The only thing he hit were my phantoms which might've looked like I was getting hit to the viewers. I had a cocky smile on my face while he bit down on his mouthpiece, giving it his all.

But in an MMA fight, punches were not the only attacks to look out for.

"Whao!~" I exclaimed while leaning backward to the limit and I saw a body kick fly by me, grazing at my nose.

Then Musnseoung spun and swept the canvas with his leg, going for a leg sweep. I jumped to avoid his leg which moved at the speed of a helicopter blade.

Then I also spun in the air and delivered a 540* kick right at the side of his head, knocking his consciousness out for a second before it returned.

He tumbled back rapidly until his back hit the fence. I used that chance to run at him and leaped in the air, executing the ultimate karate move.

The flying kick.

I hit him right in his chest and his mouthpiece came out with sprinkles of blood as he flopped limply on the mat.

I landed on the floor and looked at his fallen body. I bowed slightly to pay respect, "Thank you for the match."

It was the most exciting fight I had in a while, but in the end, he only gave me excitement but not a real challenge.

I walked away from him and the referee immediately ran to him. I did not turn back and walked away from my opponent like a main character walking away from an explosion.

I felt cool in my mind but when I was at the center of the octagon and was about to take exactly the 10th step, I realized something.

I clearly saw the referee running at Munseoung when I turned around to leave. So why hasn't he announced the knockout? Why wasn't I announced as the winner already?

And why is it so eerily silent? The audience did not cheer, instead, they were quiet. As if they were holding their breath.

Then I felt movements behind me that flared up my instincts like never before. It was not only my martial arts instincts that I have honed for years but also the natural instinct that humans were born with.

An instinct that guided the early man through danger and told him when to avoid a predator. An instinct that flares up when a human is in grave danger from an animal.

*DANGER!!* they screamed.

{YUITOOOO!!!}

My heart started beating madly, like an old engine that slowly came back to life, my heart started thumping rapidly like a machine gun.

*Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup* *Thup-dup*

I used my skill bullet time instinctively to avoid the incoming danger I felt.

[Bullet Time : Intermedaite]

I turned around and I saw a wild animal. A beast.

And what came at me was a claw that aimed not at my face, but at my throat.

That was why I felt such danger from it.

It was not an attack to knock me out but an attack to kill me. 

*Swipe!!*

The claws swiped right past me as I was able to leap back just in time. But it manages to leave a small trail of claw marks on my neck.

I leaped a few feet away and after escaping death, my heartbeat slowed down as bullet time deactivated and the world moved at normal speed again.

I heaved huge breaths as cold sweat appeared all over my body. I took the time to observe the beast I fought against. I could not even wonder about how it got here, my mind was busy figuring out what it was.

Was it a bear? A tiger? A lion?

No. 

When I looked at it, I realized it was exactly not an animal.

"What the hell was that?" I mumbled to myself while looking at Munseoung. His pupils had dilated and he was more animal than he was human.

A beast in human skin.

"That freaked me the fuck out bro." I said but Museoung, or the beast, had no interest in conversing with me as he leaped at me like a rapid animal.

I expected a punch, a kick, and even a knee but what came my way was his fingers curled up to imitate a claw.

And he aimed not on my head, my liver, or anything you would expect in a fight, He was aiming to gouge out my eyes.

Panicking slightly, I spun and delivered one of the strongest backkicks I had ever executed. My feet planted on his chest and I felt it cave in and I could also hear the sound of his ribs being broken.

*POWWW!!*

*Crack!*

He flew across the octagon and crashed on the fence before bouncing off it again due to the remaining force and he rolled on the canvas like a dying animal.

While he was writhing on the canvas, I had enough to stop panicking and assess the situation. Then I quickly came to a conclusion and realized exactly what was going on.

AI, otherwise known as 'Animal Instinct'. It was one of the many different modes a fighter could achieve in the PTJ universe (viral hit, Questism, Lookism, Manager Kim, etc).

There are many different abilities a fighter could achieve but you need to be built differently to have these unique abilities. The fighters who had them could be counted on one hand.

These special abilities ranged from UI (Ultra Insticnt), Ability to copy any martial arts by seeing it once, invisible attacks, perfect body and many other special abilities. And what Museoung currently had was called 'Animal Instinct.'

The character I recalled who also have animal intincts was Eli Jang, the big daddy of hostel from 'Lookism' and Suhyeon Kim, MC of 'Questism'

And it was exactly as it sounded. When the fighters enter this mode, they fight like wild animals, making it extremely hard to predict their moves.

They also always went for the kill without hesitation, to them, martial arts were just a chain of limitation. But what truly sets them apart is their tenacity and strength which is akin to a wild animal.

It was evident from how Museong was not completely out after I probably destroyed his ribs and maybe even punctured his organs.

It was never shown in the manhwa so I did not know Museoung had such abilities. 

But still, it wouldn't be enough to defeat me. The reason why I was so freaked out and panicked just now was because this was the first time I faced an attack with killing intent.

I know, I know, what a soft life I had lived as a fighter for this to be the first attack with the intent to kill.

I need to fix that.

Museoung slowly got up and he seemed to have already recovered after a short time. I gave him all the time he needed to recover.

"This is fun." I told him and he growled and got on all fours like an animal, "Come." I said.

Then he pounced at me. The way he attacked was exactly how you would expect an animal to attack. If I were to compare, he was like a werewolf.

I did not fight back and faced his attacks full of killing intent head-on. He swiped his hands like claws and he would pounce at me.

When I grabbed his hands, he would use it to pull me close and try to bite me. It was like I was fighting an apocalyptic zombie or something

Although he was in a special mode, AI, it was nowhere near enough to equal me. But it seemed Ai did allow him to access every strength his body was capable of.

The human body always puts a limiter on its strength to avoid injury but this limiter was off for Munseoung, making him many times stronger than normal.

I faced his bloodlust and attacks until I got used to it and was brave enough to avoid him by the skin of my teeth. And every fear I had of death in a fight was gone.

I did not gain a skill but I did gain a new title.

[New Title : The Fearless.]

[New Title : Lionheart.]

Then I was done. 

When Munseoung pounced on me again, I did not evade and instead, gave him a knee right at the chin. I kneed him so hard that his teeth cracked and he flew up in the air.

While he flew up due to the force, I grabbed one of his feet and spun around with him. Without holding back, I slammed his body onto the hard mat.

*BAAAAAAM!!!*

Then he completely passed out. He was no longer moving.

The fight ended right then and there. 

I won.

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"LADIS AND GENTLMAN WE HAVE A WINNER BY KNOCKOUT!!!"

[Beast mode IMG]

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