Real Man

Chapter 430:

Chapter 430:

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Lee Jang-woo’s fists started to gain speed and power.

His relentless and solid attacks broke through Kim Chun-sik’s defense line.

The crowd reacted wildly.

“Go. Go. Go. Go.”

The cheers from the audience were like a compass for Lee Jang-woo.

He couldn’t see anything, but he kept swinging his fists.

Drip. Drip.

Blood was splattered on the floor, but Lee Jang-woo didn’t stop.

When his fist hit the octagonal ring, Kim Chun-sik was already on the ground.

The referee rushed in and raised both hands above his head.

Whistle.

The referee blew the whistle, and the crowd erupted in applause.

“Woahhhhhhh.”

The announcer jumped up from his seat and shouted loudly.

“Amazing. Lee Jang-woo, with a powerful finish, finally gets the champion belt.”

The audience was boiling with excitement at this historic moment.

All the cameras were focused on Lee Jang-woo in the ring.

Creak.

The ring door opened and Yoo-hyun ran in.

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

Lee Jang-woo, who was breathing heavily with a stunned expression, lifted his head and barely saw Yoo-hyun.

“Senior.”

“You did well. Really well.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Jang-woo’s back trembled slightly.

Slap.

“Ow.”

Yoo-hyun slapped his back again and smiled brightly.

“Don’t make a weak sound as a champion. Greet the audience first.”

“You go first, senior.”

Lee Jang-woo bowed respectfully to Yoo-hyun first.

Then he raised his clenched fist and thanked the audience for their support.

“Lee Jang-woo. Lee Jang-woo. Lee Jang-woo…”

The cheers celebrated the birth of a new champion.

No expert had predicted that Lee Jang-woo would lift the champion belt.

Even the people from Number One Gym didn’t easily think that Lee Jang-woo could beat Kim Chun-sik.

If they were like that, it was natural that the public didn’t expect Lee Jang-woo’s victory either.

The more unexpected the reversal, the more vividly it remained in people’s memories.

Right after the match ended.

As if to prove it, Lee Jang-woo’s name rose to the top of the real-time search keywords on a famous portal site.

Considering that even the famous Kim Chun-sik had never ranked in the real-time search keywords, it was a tremendous achievement.

It was proof that the public was paying attention to Lee Jang-woo’s three-letter name.

But there was an out-of-place keyword right below it.

-Back Smashing

This keyword, which was more unexpected than Lee Jang-woo’s victory, made Yoo-hyun uncomfortable.

That evening.

When the excitement of the match had subsided a bit, Yoo-hyun received a phone call from Shim Hyun-ji, his niece from Yeontae Village.

“Brother, that was really awesome. How can you hit someone so hard?”

Yoo-hyun chuckled at Shim Hyun-ji’s blunt words that came out of nowhere.

“What do you mean by hitting hard? I just patted my junior’s back.”

“Hey, don’t be silly. Your palm looked much more painful than your fist. The village is going crazy saying you should be the champion.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Yoo-hyun asked incredulously, and got an even more unbelievable answer.

“It’s true. Mr. Lee said you could be a champion if you ate eels, and he went to catch some eels right now.”

“So that’s why he called me earlier and said something about energy.”

“Yes. And Uncle is looking for some herbal medicine right now.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun lost his words for a moment.

Should he stop them now?

Yoo-hyun thought for a while and shook his head.

He knew very well that they were the kind of people who would send more if he stopped them.

Click.

After exchanging a few more words, Yoo-hyun ended his call with Shim Hyun-ji.

Then he looked through the list of calls he had received so far.

Most of the people he had met in Yeontae Village had contacted him, as if they had watched it together as a group.

Among them was a message from Kim Seung-mi, the wife of Choi Jeong-bok who had given Yoo-hyun some advice.

-Doryeon-nim, you have a lot of fun experiences. I was touched when you hugged your junior after winning.

As she said, he had a rather fun experience.

Yoo-hyun smiled faintly and checked another message from Park Young-hoon, his colleague from the gym.

-Your video of hitting Jang-woo’s back is uploaded. It’s crazy. Go and see it.

Yoo-hyun sat in front of the computer and accessed the online video site that Park Young-hoon had told him.

He didn’t even have to look for the video, as it was prominently displayed on the main screen.

This video contained a short clip of Yoo-hyun hitting Lee Jang-woo’s back and yelling.

It wasn’t the main content of the match, and the playback time was short, but this video had as many views as Lee Jang-woo’s match highlight video.

As there was a lot of interest, there were also a lot of comments.

-That must have hurt. Lee Jang-woo totally jumped up.

-Look at the clear palm print. It must have bruised.

-Is spanking the answer to waking up? Lee Jang-woo’s eyes changed after getting hit.

-He didn’t even blink when he got hit by Kim Chun-sik, but his eyes rolled back when he got hit by the coach.

-The coach is stronger than Kim Chun-sik, that’s academic consensus.

Yoo-hyun laughed as he read the comments.

But he couldn’t say anything because of Lee Jang-woo’s expression that he saw in the video.

“He really looks hurt.”

Yoo-hyun felt a slight guilt for Lee Jang-woo, but the views of the video kept rising.

This rate increased even more when Lee Jang-woo’s interview was posted on the portal site.

It might have sounded boring and bland in the past, but the situation made the person.

Lee Jang-woo’s words as a champion had that much impact.

-Who is the senior who made Lee Jang-woo a champion?

A comment that indirectly mentioned Yoo-hyun came up on the main page, and the sympathy count skyrocketed.

The phone calls kept coming for Yoo-hyun as the situation unfolded.

It got to the point where he even received an interview request from reporter Kim Yeon-guk.

Eventually, he got a call from his mother, who didn’t watch TV or use the internet.

-Yoo-hyun, how can you hit your junior so hard?

“Mom, I told you. I wasn’t fighting with my junior, I was cheering for him.”

-If you were cheering, why did you hit him?

“When they do martial arts, there’s a break time in between…”

Yoo-hyun patiently explained to his mother.

She finally seemed to understand and laughed.

-Ho ho ho. I thought you had a match with your junior, because the donut shop owner Kyung-ran was making such a fuss on the phone.

“I don’t do that. It hurts when I get hit.”

-Right. Don’t do it even if you run out of money. I’ll give you some.

“Ha ha. It’s nice to have a rich mother.”

Yoo-hyun laughed heartily at his mother’s generous words.

Even late at night, the contacts didn’t stop.

He knew they were thinking of him, but it was quite a hassle to check them all.

Even now, his phone on the bedside table was ringing.

Ring.

“Ugh. Who is it this time?”

He was tempted to turn off his phone for a while, but he checked the incoming message.

-Senior, I was able to win thanks to you. Thank you for leading me, who is lacking. Senior, I respect you.

Yoo-hyun put down his phone and smiled.

“That’s enough.”

Lee Jang-woo’s sincerity conveyed in plain words touched Yoo-hyun’s heart.

How many times would a salaryman go to a martial arts final as a coach?

How many times would he hit the champion’s back and get a bow of gratitude from the champion?

At least there was none in Hansung Electronics.

Monday morning.

Yoo-hyun arrived at the company and casually turned his head.

Whoosh.

The people behind the partitions quickly hid their heads.

They all seemed to avoid Yoo-hyun.

Was it because of the back smashing?

He didn’t see any reason to avoid him like that, so Yoo-hyun was puzzled.

His question was answered by Kwon Se-jung, who sat next to him.

“Yoo-hyun, is it true that the gangsters in Ulsan called you brother? I heard you got on a gangster limousine too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s your rumor, man. That’s what…”

Kwon Se-jung mentioned the rumor about Yoo-hyun that had spread secretly.

It had some basis, but it was all exaggerated.

“But why did that story come up all of a sudden?”

“It matters. The IT team managers were huddled together before you came. They looked like they were scared of you.”

“What? Hey, make sense.”

“It’s true.”

“Or what?”

Yoo-hyun leaned his face forward as he asked angrily.

Then Kwon Se-jung flinched and shrank his body.

“Gasp. Or are you going to hit my back too?”

“Do you want me to hit you once and make you snap out of it?”

“No. I’d rather die.”

Kwon Se-jung wrapped his arms around his body and shook his head vigorously at Yoo-hyun’s joke.

It must have been an overreaction for fun, but his action was a bit too much.

“Ugh. You’re no fun. Let’s stop.”

Yoo-hyun waved his hand and turned his body away.

At that moment, he met eyes with Jang Jun-sik, who quickly turned his head away.

Then he pulled his chair closer and tapped on the keyboard.

Tap tap tap.

What’s wrong with him?

Yoo-hyun snorted.

That afternoon in the small conference room on the 13th floor.

Yoo-hyun attended a meeting to coordinate the exhibition issues with the IT development department.

Ha Mu-gon, who always glared at Yoo-hyun with bad eyes, kept avoiding eye contact and spoke.

“I’ve already contacted the development department. I’ve handed over the contact number and detailed procedures to Yoon Soo.”

Unlike before, his content was also very positive.

Yang Yoon-soo sensed the situation and quickly replied.

“When I contacted them, they said we could see the prototype of the wide panel. This is all thanks to Ha manager who worked hard for us.”

“Manager, thank you. I was worried that Yoon-soo might be ignored because he’s an employee.”

Yoo-hyun also thanked him, and Ha Mu-gon smiled awkwardly.

“We’re in the same room, so of course I have to help.”

He looked very nervous and careful.

Yoo-hyun, who had received a lot of help, thanked him again.

“I’ll make a good result with your support.”

That’s when it happened.

A big fly landed on Ha Mu-gon’s nose.

He didn’t even notice it and smiled awkwardly.

“Ha ha. Yeah. Let’s have a good relationship with each other.”

If he left it like that, the fly might go into his mouth, so Yoo-hyun quickly reached out his hand.

“Manager, there’s a fly right now.”

Whoosh.

As Yoo-hyun’s fist approached, Ha Mu-gon was startled.