[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 48

I saw someone panting at my words and continued speaking.

“Wait in the ring. Let me treat our kid first.”

Ignoring the Sergeant Major who was giving me a strange look, I grabbed a hot pack and headed to the sink outside the gym.

As I was soaking the cold pack in water, thoughts of that guy came to mind. From his rough, hardened hands to his well-trained body—it was clear he’d been through a lot.

This is the military. Specifically, the 901 Special Operations Unit, a place crawling with monstrous human weapons.

I’m just an ordinary person who’s lived a life far removed from fighting. That guy? A battle-hardened pro who’s been grinding here for years. My senses were wide awake, and an instinctive unease washed over me.

As my thoughts reached this point, words automatically spilled out of my mouth.

“Status Window!”

[Ding!]

[[Shop List]]

[Skills] [Items] ─ [Ascending] [Search] [Remaining Balance: 8,438,000 won]

[Heavenly Peach]

..

..

[Skillfully Splitting Wooden Chopsticks]

[Walking]

..

[Strengthening Sphincter Muscles]

..

..

[Pastry Making]

..

[Swimming]

..

[Spirit Spot Detection]

..

..

[Heavy Hit]

..

While smoking a cigarette, I scanned the skills that popped up before my eyes.

What should I pick to make it seem like I made a good choice?

Since what I needed right now was combat power, I was mainly looking for martial arts-related skills when a message appeared in front of me.

[Mara Papiyas recommends Stamina and Heavy Hit.]

[Siddhartha Gautama advises resolving things through conversation.]

“Isn’t conversation already a lost cause? Why bother with some frozen-to-death talk when I’ve got a good fist?”

[Mara Papiyas admires the successor’s excellent way of thinking.]

[Siddhartha Gautama gently urges you to show mercy.]

“If I waste time on useless stuff like that, my kid’s gonna get hurt.”

Ignoring the two who were loudly chattering, I moved my hand toward the text floating in front of me.

[Heavy Hit]: Attack Enhancement

[Price: 20,000,000 won]

[Stamina Lv.6]

Significant increase in strength

Significant increase in cardiovascular endurance

Significant increase in muscular endurance

Significant increase in agility

Skill level increases with each purchase

[Price: 64,000,000 won]

[Ding!] [Ding!]

[Pathetic Heavy Hit Lv.1]

Slight momentary increase in striking power.

[Price: 40,000,000 won]

[Stamina Lv.7]

Explosive increase in strength

Explosive increase in cardiovascular endurance

Explosive increase in muscular endurance

Explosive increase in agility

Skill level increases with each purchase

[Price: 128,000,000 won]

[Remaining Balance: 380,000 won]

Looking at the status window that kept draining my bank account no matter what I did, I couldn’t help but sigh.

I clenched and unclenched my fist, checking my body to see if anything had changed, but there didn’t seem to be any visible difference.

[Ding!]

[Mara Papiyas sends the promised gift.]

“A gift?”

At the same time as the message about the gift, a new skill appeared in the status window.

[●●●●●]

[Entry-Level Martial Arts]

◈Comprehensive Martial Arts

◈Basic Fist and Foot Techniques

◈Basic Footwork

◈Basic Lightness Skill

◈Basic Breathing Technique

[Growth Rate: 0%]

“What is this? Why can’t I see the letters?”

[Mara Papiyas tells you to stop looking at weird places and focus on practicing the gift.]

[Siddhartha Gautama looks at you with dissatisfaction and ponders.]

[Ding!]

<Would you like to move to the Basic Training Ground?>

“Who the hell do these guys take after? Stop talking nonsense and explain. What’s this training ground thing?”

[Ding!]

<Would you like to move to the Basic Training Ground?>

“Damn it. I’m not doing it, you bastards!”

Ignoring the message that kept ringing, I headed toward the gym.

Seeing Gang-cheol sitting on a chair, groaning in pain, the anger I had suppressed started boiling up again.

As I approached, Gang-cheol seemed to sense my presence and raised his head.

“You’re here, ma’am.”

“Gang-cheol, keep this on your shin.”

“Thank you. But ma’am, don’t go up there.”

Following where Gang-cheol pointed, I saw Kwak Jun-myung warming up on the ring.

“Didn’t you see me send that bastard’s dad to Hong Kong?”

“You damn bitch. Get up here now!”

“Ah, was it the River Styx? Or was it the Workers’ Party?”

Teasing Kwak Jun-myung, I stepped onto the ring, and he glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

“Nice timing. That bastard earlier took two hits and went straight to hell, so I didn’t get to mess with him much. But thanks to him, I’ll get to have some fun with you.”

“…You’ll never get up again. After I’m done with you, I’ll kill Gang-cheol too.”

“Damn it. I’ll stick a red star on your head and send you to the same hospital room. Go hold hands and play or something.”

[LOL, the room master never backs down.]

[Even if that piglet was one thing, isn’t he an active black ops warrior? Isn’t this a big deal?]

[When the room master punches, you can hear the sound of the air exploding. Her strength is no joke.]

“Damn it. Hit the bell!”

As Kwak Jun-myung shouted at the soldiers below, the bell rang.

—Ding!

With the sound of the bell, the world slowed down.

Bending my waist slightly, I pushed off the ground with all my strength, and my body shot forward explosively. As I moved, the gift I received earlier began to imprint itself on my body.

Stopping abruptly in front of my opponent, I flicked my shoulder and threw a punch.

In the slowed-down time, I saw the guy’s eyes widen as he slowly raised his guard.

Just before my fist landed on his face, he barely managed to raise his guard.

Short and light. Fast and sharp.

My body understands.

The light jab thrown as a feint…

The sound of breaking wind accompanied the strike as it embedded into the opponent’s arm.

[A pitiful heavy hit]

—Whack!

“Huh?”

As I quickly retracted my lightly thrown punch, the world finally began to flow at its normal speed again.

I could see blood spurting from his nose as his guard was pushed back by the jab.

I lightly shook my upper body to create rhythm and flicked my arm.

Jab

—Whack!

Jab

—Whack!

Jab

—Whack!

I could see the guy’s face continuously spurting blood.

After three jabs, his arms seemed to lose strength, and he lowered his guard, but as if proving he wasn’t just any special forces member, he swung his arm at me.

I deeply leaned my upper body to the left, weaving.

As his arm passed over my head, I saw his exposed waist.

I had seen it before while browsing the internet—a liver shot to the right side, striking the liver inside the ribs. Even a seasoned pro fighter would collapse if hit properly in this area.

The liver shot delivers unimaginable pain.

I threw a punch at his exposed waist but immediately eased up. It wouldn’t do to break him too easily.

“Lighter,” I muttered to myself, lightly striking his ribs with my left hand.

—Pang!

“Ugh!”

Even though I tried to hit as lightly as possible, it still seemed pretty strong. The guy was holding his right side, drooling.

“Ugh, you dirty bastard.”

“Ugh…”

“Hey, what are you doing? Get your guard up.”

I waited for a while, but he just held his side and groaned.

Curious about his face, I bent down and looked up at him from below.

“Hey, what’s up? Oh, guys, this bastard’s crying.”

[Oh, crazy bitch lolololol]

[That bastard’s crying lolololol]

[Crybaby lol]

Looking at the phone Gang-cheol was holding, Gang-cheol was trying to hold back his laughter, and the battalion commander had his head down, covering his eyes with his palm.

“Damn, this bastard’s nape looks so tempting. Hurry up and raise your head.”

His legs were trembling as if his spirit had been broken by the liver shot. Still, he stood his ground—guess that’s what makes a pro a pro.

“Sergeant Major, grandpa. This guy’s guarding his occiput. Can I chop down on it?”

“…No.”

“Wow! His guard is so solid. An invincible shield that no one can break.”

[:( Sorry, our crazy bitch]

[She shouldn’t have come out into the world yet, we’re sorry]

As time passed, the guy slowly raised his head.

“There’s no referee, so take your time recovering.”

“Haa… Haa…”

Kwak Jun-myung, breathing heavily, slowly raised his arm.

Once the sandbag was ready, I threw a light jab at his guard again.

—Whack! Whack! Whack!

The thin fingerless gloves made a bone-crunching sound as they struck the guard.

“Ugh…”

His hands trembled as he lowered his guard.

The guy was pushed back and got stuck in the corner.

He lightly flicked his arm and then drove his fist into the flowing nosebleed.

—Whack!

The feeling of his nose being crushed by the punch, and blood gushed out.

“Kya! Kwak Jun-myung blocks with his face guard!”

Now, as if playing around, he completely relaxed his hand and threw a jab.

—Whack! Whack!

“Ah, Kwak Jun-myung continues to block with his face guard! It’s so sturdy. It’s like Sergeant Major’s invincible shield!”

[Oh my god, sorry for the mess.]

[Did the room master learn boxing? Damn, he’s strong.]

—Whack!

“Look at you soldiers below. When you give a young guy in his early 20s a little bit of power, see what happens.”

—Whack!

“Are the officers seeing this and still acting like this?”

—Whack!

“Seeing the scars on our kid’s legs, it seems like this isn’t the first time. Black-hearted warriors. Little worms.”

—Whack!

He slightly lowered his fist and drove it in, and the guy’s teeth scattered into the air.

“Ah! Kwak Jun-myung’s tooth guard at this moment!”

Turning his gaze to look outside the ring, the Sergeant Major showed no intention of stopping.

Now, seeing the guy whose legs were giving out and slowly collapsing, he lifted his knee and stomped down with his boot on the shin.

“Transport him to the same ward with a kick!”

—Crack!

The sound of bones breaking echoed through the gym as the guy’s shin snapped the other way. Kwak Jun-myung, who had already lost consciousness, collapsed onto the ring.

“Touch my kid one more time. I’ll crush your head.”

I thought curses would fly at my growling, but the gym, engulfed in a brief silence, started to hear faint clapping.

“Did you all take drugs or something?”

At my words, one of the soldiers who was clapping spoke up.

“Because of Kwak Jun-myung and Kwak Man-je, we’ve been through a lot too. Of course, there were also those who stuck to them.”

Following the soldier’s gaze, I saw the guys who had greeted Gang-cheol earlier.

[Lol, those guys got screwed.]

[Black-hearted bastards…]

Grabbing the hair on the back of Kwak Jun-myung’s head, who was lying down, I dragged him over and presented the bloodied Kwak Jun-myung to the Sergeant Major with a big smile.

“Grandpa. Your toy’s broken. Can you replace it?”