Chapter 200: Singer (10)
[Chapter 11 – Verse 5] I Am Kang Moon-soo!
If the summer Olympics begin with the track marathon, the winter Olympics start with skating.
(The hot topic of the winter Olympics, athlete Kang Moon-soo, is entering now.)
(Marathon, swimming, track and field, taekwondo. This is the athlete who set truly unbelievable records at the summer Olympics.)
My hearing, sharper than the average person’s, faintly picked up the voices of the commentators handling the live broadcast of the event.
(There’s a rumor that he only enters events where he can win gold.)
(That’s right. But gold medals don’t come from confidence alone.)
(This first event is going to be extremely important for those who bet on Kang Moon-soo in sports toto.)
(The race begins.)
“Ready…!”
At the referee’s command, the athletes took their positions on the starting line of the ice.
Click, click, click, click.
Skating events are divided in many ways by distance and gender, so the number of gold medals available is quite substantial.
‘Just be the fastest and it’s over!’
No need to overcomplicate it. Run faster than everyone else, complete the required laps, and win!
The national skating team coach and athletes probably inserted me into the mixed relay—composed of two men and two women, four in total—to aim for a gold medal, but I had no intention of giving up the individual events either.
DING—!
The starting signal sounded.
‘Let’s go~!’
While others gradually built up speed, I pushed hard against the ice with the side edges of my skate blades, unleashing explosive power.
If the ice gets too badly damaged, it could be considered malicious foul play and result in disqualification, so careful, careful…
Zooooom!
I shot forward.
(Whoa?! What kind of speed is that?!)
(Kang Moon-soo takes the lead! He’s dominating the ice right from the start…!)
(The gap isn’t closing—it’s only getting wider!)
(Already half a lap ahead!)
(Kang Moon-soo! Overwhelming!)
“Waaaaah!”
“Waaah!”
Cheers and roars erupted from the stands. Probably the people who bet on my gold medal in sports toto without a shred of doubt.
Some might regret it now, but sports toto bets can’t be changed, refunded, or canceled once the Olympic opening ceremony begins—so too bad.
(That’s not last place!)
(A full lap difference! An impossible situation at the Olympics!)
(Kang Moon-soo is adjusting his speed to avoid getting tangled up with the others.)
(He doesn’t look tired at all.)
(Of course not. He has to sweep every skating event and then head straight to the kendo dojo. He can’t afford to get tired yet.)
Beep—
Forcing myself to keep staring at the butts of my competitors as we circled, I finally crossed the finish line.
(Without any accidents or variables, Kang Moon-soo finishes first!)
(Everyone, do you see that number? It’s a world record right from the qualifying round.)
(Overwhelming. He shaved off a full lap.)
(We’ll be right back after a short break.)
“W-what the hell is this…”
The national skating team athletes watching were left speechless, mouths hanging open.
“See? I don’t care if I come in last in the relay, so just make sure you don’t get us disqualified midway.”
“…Yes.”
“Ah, yes…”
Realizing the situation had completely flipped, the athletes became noticeably subdued.
“Please take care of me, Kang Moon-soo…”
Even the “hyung-nim” who had asked me to settle for third place was no exception.
“Yes. Please take care of me too.”
Part of me wanted to torment them a little more, but I held back—since a twisted judging decision could lead to intentional disqualification.
Senior, are you watching? Your frustrating junior has learned patience and mercy!
“…Ah! Right. Hyung-nim said you hate relays, so I’ll take your place instead.”
“What—?”
“A guy with weak stamina doing a relay? Just focus on your individual events. I’ll run the relay in your place, hyung-nim.”
“Hyungs, did you forget? The relay was originally supposed to be me.”
There are three types of skating relays in total.
Men’s, women’s, and mixed.
But I had already conceded the men’s relay to the national team athletes and only planned to participate in the mixed one. Yet even that single spot sparked fierce internal competition among them.
Just participating in the mixed relay guarantees a gold medal and pension—so naturally their eyes were bloodshot.
Ahem. “Kang Moon-soo.”
“Ah, yes. Coach.”
The skating coach—who had only ever spoken to me once in a curt, notification-style conversation saying I could join the mixed relay—approached.
“If you have time, could you participate in the men’s relay as well?”
“I seem to recall you saying that if I participated, it would disadvantage the other athletes.”
Ahem, ahem. “Situations change, and we have to adapt proactively, don’t we? One of the scheduled athletes isn’t in good condition, so we’re reluctantly asking for your help.”
“……”
I stared straight into the coach’s eyes.
“P-please…”
Realizing how shameless he sounded, the coach bowed his head in surrender.
“Alright.”
“Thank you!”
The skating coach’s face looked like someone who had returned alive from hell to heaven. Personally, I was happy too—more medals meant a fatter pension.
Afterward,
Jingle~ jingle~
With five skating gold medals hanging around my neck, I headed straight to the kendo dojo!
***
(We are at the Olympic kendo venue.)
(The atmosphere is incredibly heavy.)
(It’s because he’s here. The man who became a legend in taekwondo has now come to conquer kendo.)
(There were expert opinions saying kendo is different from taekwondo.)
(Let’s hope those experts are right. Otherwise, following taekwondo, kendo will be utterly devastated too.)
Hey! Devastated? The commentators’ wording is way too extreme!
I’m not a genius like Senior, so I can’t drive the athletes to the point of self-loathing by humiliating their talents.
All I can do is crush them with raw power!
“Begin.”
Smack!
The moment the first preliminary match started, I struck the opponent’s crown with my bamboo sword.
“Ah…?”
The athlete, completely unable to react to my movement, let out a stunned sound from inside his protective gear.
“I went easy.”
If I had struck with full force, even with the protective gear, it would’ve been a guaranteed concussion! I confirmed this while practicing kendo in dreams.
“Don’t underestimate me…!”
Smack!
I’m not underestimating you. I’m just going as easy as possible because killing someone would get me disqualified.
“Of course.”
“……”
My movements are nowhere near the miraculous grace Senior displayed in taekwondo, but against opponents much slower than me, I’m more than capable of winning overwhelmingly.
Smack!
I blatantly targeted only the highest-scoring spot—the crown.
“Damn it!”
“Calm down. No matter how angry you are, cursing isn’t allowed.”
“Are you mocking me…!”
“If you really want to go all out, come find me later with a written consent form. I’ll face you with a real sword.”
From my personal experience of having severed quite a few necks, a bamboo sword is basically a toy for adults.
Wherever you hit with a shinai, how many points?
It’s absurd. Unless you’re covered head to toe in plate armor like a medieval knight, a real sword would be fatal anywhere it lands.
“Don’t underestima—”
Smack!
“……”
Let’s not get excited and just finish this quickly!
(He can’t do anything against Kang Moon-soo…)
(The speed difference is too extreme!)
(Perhaps aware of the criticism that he crushed the athletes’ spirits in the last taekwondo Olympics, he’s crushing them simply and without technique.)
(Isn’t that even crueler?)
Smack! Smack! Smack!
(Kang Moon-soo stubbornly targets only the opponent’s head.)
(Even knowing it’s coming, he can’t block it. There’s no head left to protect!)
(Kang Moon-soo’s one-sided assault continues. It’s a scene bordering on abuse. Even watching is painful for us…)
(The referee is basically on standby now. There’s nothing to judge!)
Beep—!
For someone who has actually cut people with a blade, kendo was more frustrating than skating.
‘Because of these garbage rules…’
I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of trading single hits or certain body parts not scoring points.
If it were a real sword?
Elbow, thigh—everything is fatal. The concept of “who hits the higher-scoring area” becomes meaningless. If you sever the opponent’s neck but get your chest slashed open and your guts spill out, it’s a draw in the end.
Smack!
“…Match over. Kang Moon-soo wins.”
The referee, who now looked half-asleep, declared in a flat, emotionless voice.
(Ahh, now the athlete is crying.)
(He couldn’t do anything and just got beaten one-sidedly.)
(Even if he starts in a defensive stance protecting his head, it’s useless. In an instant, the opponent circles behind and strikes the back of the head!)
(Is giving up your back common in kendo?)
(No! It’s something that absolutely shouldn’t happen under normal circumstances!)
Smack! Smack! Smack!
(The only sound echoing is the bamboo sword cracking against heads!)
(The coach tries protesting to the referee, but it’s not accepted. There’s no rule against hitting the head.)
(Finally, a foul has occurred!)
(It seems he panicked trying to avoid getting hit in the head and made a mistake.)
(An absurd error in such an important final match.)
(The athlete who moved first but still gave up his head lost his words from the shock.)
“Good work.”
“……”
“Kang Moon-soo wins!”
The kendo athlete who became the sacrifice for my seventh gold medal gave a half-hearted bow, then staggered away with his head deeply lowered.
(Currently, the Olympic kendo venue is enveloped in suffocating silence.)
(Kang Moon-soo has added another gold medal following skating.)
(Kendo gold in his 20s, overall age-group gold! Even the masters from famous dojos and former gold medalists surrendered their crowns to him!)
(Does he have some grudge against heads?)
(We don’t know. What matters is that he already has seven gold medals!)
(Having finished the award ceremony, Kang Moon-soo is hurriedly moving on.)
(Of course. He’s only completed two events so far. There’s still a long way to go.)
“Kang Moon-soo! Just one word on your thoughts…!”
“Why do you stubbornly only target the head?”
Stop.
I had been planning to ignore them and walk away like during skating, but a reporter asked a really good question.
I can’t let this one slide.
“Because the head gives the highest points. There’s no other reason.”
“Are you confident for tomorrow too?”
The reporter, having successfully stopped my steps, pressed on with momentum.
Confident?
“Of course. Archery is one of the events I’m most confident in.”
In the world of the romance fantasy <The Generous Young Lady Who Receives Everything>, I charged across battlefields shrouded in dust so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead, piercing the heads of countless handsome men with arrows.
For someone like me, a stationary target?
Even if a typhoon swept through the shooting range, I’m confident I could hit dead center for a perfect 10.
(Having finished giving his thoughts, Kang Moon-soo is heading to the shooting range.)
(He says it’s the event he’s most confident in. Any insights?)
(None. We don’t even know if there’s a bow in Kang Moon-soo’s house… Oh! He’s sharing a deep embrace with his girlfriend.)
(We’ve often shown them together, but this is the first public display of affection since the airport.)
(For a man who devastated the Olympic kendo venue, his gentle demeanor is surprisingly tender.)
“Good work.”
“Just as expected!”
Vroooom~
As Song Sun-young and I got into the back seat of the waiting vehicle, the staff member drove off.
“…Is the toto app more important than me?”
“Ah, no!”
I’m sorry! I’m such a terrible guy!
“Did you bet some money this time?”
“Yeah. I just recovered my principal.”
Seven gold medals. Normally, hitting even one should recover the stake, but so many people bet on me that the payout was extremely low.
“You spread it out, huh?”
“And you?”
“I didn’t bet.”
“Huh?”
It was an unexpected answer. She had just let go of a chance to rake in money.
“So don’t feel pressured—just do your thing.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Something felt off, but if she says she didn’t bet, what can I do?
I let it slide.
“…Ah! Right. Mom and Dad bet on you. Especially Dad—he went a bit overboard saying he wants to open his own private clinic.”
“That’s burdensome?!”
If I mess up, my future father-in-law could go bankrupt.
“They spread it out too. Mom mostly invested in jousting, and Dad—thanks to my tip—put it on dodgeball and hockey. Mom said hockey is even worse than kendo?”
“Worse… no, that’s something you call ‘cool.’”
Sweeping the entire opposing team alone!
Isn’t that every man’s dream?
“Dad used to complain about me dating a shaman, but his attitude flipped completely. Still, he treats Mom well now, so it’s fine.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
When it comes to treating my mother well, my father was the best husband…
I sometimes miss that empty spot. Right now, that spot belongs to Senior.
“…How’s your body?”
“I’m fine.”
“I mean, even if you don’t rest at the hotel and exert yourself, will it affect tomorrow’s events?”
“Not at all!”
If that’s the case, I’m confident I could run all night without getting tired!
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