Episode 56: 7th Iteration: Interim Review (2)
North America, at a certain underground fight club.
Artificial lasers traversed the darkness.
Intoxicated by the loud music and excitement, people screamed with an unpleasant smell of tobacco and marijuana covering the building.
People drunk in alcohol and drugs danced indecently and in slightly darker corners, men and women of all races gushed out heated breaths as they embraced each other.
Yu Jitae’s clone 1 stepped into that vulgar world after changing its appearance.
– On the greeeeen coorrnerr! Explosive fists! Strong quads! He achieved three consecutive wins at a fearsome speed!! The shiniest head, listed by the Times as the best head to lickkk~~~ Baldman!!
When the host raised his voice, cheers echoed from all four sides and welcomed the bald man entering the ring. The scar going down from his head to the chin made him appear all the more ferocious.
He was most likely a superhuman; and a criminal, who suddenly needed some extra cash. Most of the ones that swung their fists at a place like this were like that.
However, Clone 1 was interested in someone else.
s
– On the reed cooorrnerr!
The host’s words were met with an explosive reaction.
““Uwaaaaahhh—!””
In that moment, the bustling crowd looked towards the ring.
– The mysterious powerhouse of the abyss! Master of fighting! The greatest star of our club and the protagonist! The champion with 12 victories!! Misterrrrr~~~~ Cthulhuuuuu!!
Screeching cheers left the crowd. Among them were some men who frowned when the women near them cheered their guts out.
The squid-masked man who soon walked up the stage had an overwhelming build. Enormous shoulders, perfectly symmetrical abs and twitching biceps and triceps.
Standing in front of each other, the two of them raised their fists and Clone 1 leaned on a chair as he watched them fight.
Deng–! The bell rang.
The bald ran in with tight fists.
Kwaang–!
But the bald head disappeared with one strike. Blood splattered and a drop of blood also entered the single malt whiskey ordered by Clone 1.
Without understanding what was happening, the crowd rolled their eyes. Upon closer inspection, they found something smooth in between the shoulders.
It seemed that the downward smack was so strong that the head of the bald man crushed the inner muscles and bones and entered the body. After finally understanding the situation, more thunderous screams of cheers left the crowd.
“Waaaahhh!”
“Cthulhu punch! Cthulhu punch!”
“Unbelievable! That’s a crazy amount of power-!!”
The protagonist of 13 consecutive wins threw his hand up into the air and marked the end of the fight.
No-one cared for the dead.
The champion, Mister Cthulhu, bathed in the cheers of the crowd as he stepped down from the ring with others that were as big as him. He showed off his showmanship by lifting his fist into the air. When several drunk women ran up to him, ‘Mister Cthulhu’ lifted them up and placed them on his shoulders as an extra performance.
Mister Cthulhu.
His name was Jefferson Antonio.
He was the chief aide of the International Superhuman Association’s leader but he wasn’t wearing his usual suit.
As a youth who wanted to be acknowledged on the battlefield as a soldier, he went through several wars and got acknowledged for his loyalty alone.
In other words, his individual strength had never been acknowledged. The place he belonged to was the International Superhuman Association where all sorts of monsters gathered worldwide. A Rank 781 like him in a place like that was commonplace.
When he graduated at the top of a state academy as the youngest to do so in history, he thought he was the strongest in the world.
In the new environment, he realised that there was a sky above a sky and felt a severe inferiority complex. And therefore, he would enter the underground fight club in secret and swing his fists to fill his ego on weekends.
No-one cared on his 1st win but everyone watched him after 3 wins.
They looked up to him after defeating the champion, and after defending the place 5 times in a row, people started expecting a lot from him.
He was a clown. A clown that made the opponent into an increasingly more bizarre corpse.
Cheap and vulgar respects like this felt better than being respected by those that wore suits all day.
Even now, that was the case.
“Hey, sexy lady.”
He spoke to the one he liked the most from those that ran up to him.
“Ouh, me?”
“Yes you. Who else there is sexy apart from you.”
“Oh my…”
“Would you like to go on a drive tonight?”
He was met with a vulgar gaze.
“Hahh… how far can you take me?”
“My car always goes down the Autobahn.”
It was clear what her reaction would be and that undoubtable feeling was what made him satisfied the most.
Like Cinderella chosen by the prince, the female smiled brightly and showed off to other women nearby. The jealous eyes of other women were a delight to watch, and the glaring eyes of men – losers – from behind made him incredibly joyous.
This is my life.
I’m this great of a man.
“Kuhahaha!”
But Mister Cthulhu’s joy didn’t last for long.
A strange man stood in front of him and blocked the way. He was tall and had an ideal physique but his eyes were somehow hazy like a corpse.
“What ya doing here you bastard! Get the f*ck away from here right now!”
Mister Cthulhu’s ‘brothers’ went out and cursed at him but the guy remained silent even when the brothers approached him.
But Mister Cthulhu stopped them.
The man was looking down at him as if he was pathetic and it was a gaze he was seeing for the first time in this place. Cthulhu was therefore intrigued.
“Bro. You got something to say?”
“Looks like you’re having fun. Is this seriously what you wanted?”
“What?”
“You’re a soldier, yeah?”
“Right. Don’t I look like one?”
“How pathetic. Acting cocky in front of anchovies and struggling when with sharks and whales. Watching that does make one sympathise.”
“Hoho…”
Mister Cthulhu couldn’t stop himself from sneering.
“A little friend with a death wish or something… you’re saying I’m pathetic?”
Cthulhu’s muscles twitched.
There was nothing else to say. A sudden gust of wind was followed by a large thud and before anyone could even realise it, Cthulhu’s fist smacked the man’s head. It was a fist that could create a dent in steel-armoured cars, but was grabbed by the man’s hand.
Inside the squid mask, Jefferson Antonio’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”
The ‘guy’ gave a hazy smile.
“Even this…”
Soon, he turned around and disappeared while the brothers were flustered. Mister Cthulhu, or rather, Jefferson Antonio was even more dumbfounded. Grabbing his fist in mid-air? Who in the world is that person?
Despite being flustered, he tried to forget it since the person disappeared.
However, even when he was drinking with his brothers and spending vulgar times with women he didn’t know, his head was muddled with discomfort.
And on the 14th defence round that was suddenly added at dawn, Mister Cthulhu’s discomfort hit its limit.
– On the greeeenn sidee!! A first timer that grabbed the hearts! Of all the judges~~ The mysterious man who quickly rose to fight the champion!!
The man was wearing gloves instead of bare fists, and a yellow mask of a baby chicken on the head. The crowd wasn’t that interested by his appearance.
Gloves? And what’s with that chicken mask? Is he here to play around?
Some of them even booed and jeered.
“Fuc* off!”
“I’ll deep fry you!”
But the crowd changed their attitude when the man took his shirt off. He had the idealistic muscles and a balanced structure that even normal people were baffled with, let alone superhumans.
“Kyaaa–!”
“Good nipps–!”
The men were unenthusiastic but the women screamed out loud in joy from the spectacle. Or perhaps, it was just himself that felt like the women were screaming out more.
Jefferson gritted his teeth.
– Misterrrrrr~~ Baby chicken!!
The ‘guy’ was his next opponent.
***
“Hukk! Wait, no!”
Kaeul clapped.
“What’s wrong, Kaeul?”
“Unni unni. If we go in like this, it’ll definitely be boring!”
In front of the elevator, Kaeul suddenly stopped them from taking a step forward.
“Ahjussi. We’re doing a birthday party right now. Right? Right?”
“Yeah. We are.”
“A birthday party has to be a surprise party. That’s the rule!”
A surprise party?
Thinking back, the kids did carry out a surprise party on his birthday.
He replied.
“…But today is to commemorate you guys.”
“Uhh, yes I guess?”
“You all know already, so what surprise party.”
“Eyy. C’mon ahjussi? We’re not the only ones inside the house…!”
Kaeul smiled as if his words didn’t make any sense. Right now, Chirpy the baby chicken and the protector were inside the house.
“The two of them probably don’t know anything, right?”
She giggled, ‘Kuhihi’, with the face of a mischievous child.
However, Yeorum looked dissatisfied. Wearing a frown, she was about to press the elevator’s button but was again blocked by Kaeul.
“Whyyy!”
“Ehew. What a freakin’ kid. You really think that’s gonna be fun?”
“Of course it’ll be fun!”
“The cleaner cleans without saying anything and the damn chicken eats all day and goes outside. You think it’ll be fun teasing them?”
“What? Chirpy is so cute! And cleaner ahjussi is also slightly cute in some areas! Don’t you think so too, Gyeoul?”
“…”
Kaeul glared while waiting for a reply but Gyeoul merely smiled faintly without saying anything in response.
“Look. Even damn Gyeoul is saying no.”
“No. No, no no. Unni, ahjussi. Listen.”
‘Hmm’, she pondered with her tongue sticking out, before opening her mouth.
“Listen carefully. Firstly, Chirpy likes me, Kaeul, the most. So if I don’t give him any attention, he would be very disappointed right?”
“Well yeah. ‘Cuz it always sticks to you like a gum.”
“Nn nn. And I think cleaner ahjussi actually likes Gyeoul a bit more. Right?”
Does he? Gyeoul tilted her head.
“So, we’ll do this. I’ll ignore Chirpy even when he comes up and I’ll look away. And we’ll all ignore cleaner ahjussi, but Gyeoul, you’ll be slightly good to him.”
“…And then?”
“And then you suddenly ignore him and treat him coldly…! What will cleaner ahjussi be like then?”
“…Sad?”
“Yes, yes. Like, they’ll both be sad and like… when they don’t know what to do, we’ll suddenly give them the cake!”
For some reason, a party that was meant to commemorate the 7th iteration was starting to become like a birthday party for the protector and the baby chicken.
However, after thinking about it, Gyeoul seemed quite interested in Kaeul’s strategy.
“…Sounds fun.”
“Right!? When the protector ahjussi is looking sorrowfully at the wall, you suddenly give him the cake. How happy will he be?”
“…Do I, give?”
“Of course you do!”
While sharing their imaginations, Kaeul and Gyeoul giggled. Meanwhile, Yeorum seemed to have mastered how to say ‘retards’ with her expression alone.
“What! What’s with that expression?! After hearing this much, don’t you also think it’ll be fun, unni?”
“Shut it you kids.”
Crossing her arms, Yeorum clicked her tongue but suddenly remembered how a few days ago, the protector had opened the door of her room without even knocking on it, saying it was cleaning time.
Because of that, Yeorum, who had killed her presence to enjoy the ‘reading time’ in secret just for herself, was quite mad.
She did chase it away in fury but that definitely wasn’t enough.
Listening to them speak, it did sound slightly interesting as well…
“…Hmm. So you’re the only ones doing it?”
When she asked while hiding her inner thoughts, Kaeul gave a bright smile.
“No no! Let’s do it together unni!”
“I don’t really feel like it…”
Clueless, Kaeul persuaded her again but Gyeoul looked into her eyes before sneering.
“Oi, did you just laugh?” asked Yeorum.
“…What.”
“You wanna die?”
“…Hmph.”
“Nn? Nn? Why are you suddenly fighting? Anyway, there’s something for you to do as well Yeorum-unni…!”
Before long, Yeorum was also immersed in thinking of the strategy and the three of them started adding more and more depth to their plan whilst laughing out loud. At the start, it was just to tease the two of them, but soon they decided to upgrade the seriousness of the situation by having Gyeoul and Yeorum fight, or by having Kaeul cry after getting hit by Yeorum.
Bom, who was quietly standing next to Yu Jitae, chimed in when their strategy started becoming excessive.
“Kaeul.”
“Nn?”
“Don’t be too excessive,” said Bom.
“Huh?”
“The cleaner ahjussi and Chirpy will feel hurt.”
“Hukk, really…? Maybe it’s too much to put the cake into the armour?”
“If someone were to put a cake inside your clothes, that wouldn’t feel good right?”
“Hing, you’re right…”
The atmosphere started cooling down a little. Bom tapped her lower lips with her fingers before turning around and staring at Yu Jitae. She then widened her eyes.
What.
“Guys. So it will be more fun if someone plays the bad role right?” asked Bom.
“Nn nn!”
“Why didn’t we think of this before?”
“Nn? What is it, unni?”
“We have the master of awkwardness creation next to us.”
The master of creating awkward situations. Hearing that phrase, red, blue, green and yellow – four pairs of eyes naturally turned around and reached Yu Jitae.
Soon, they suddenly realised something.
“Uaahh! Right, right!”
“…!”
Kaeul and Gyeoul clapped their hands together and created a fuss. “Ahh, that’d be freakin’ perfect…!” said Yeorum after seemingly thinking of something and also laughed out loud.
What is it.
“Ahjussi…! Help us out a little, please!”
“With what.”
“Please get angry! Not much and just a little! Just a tiny little bit…! Enough to make people nervous!”
“…”
He didn’t say anything.
It was a clear demonstration of his unwillingness.
“Ahhhng! Why nottt!”
Kaeul stuck right next to him while Gyeoul’s eyes also turned into circles.
“…Please.”
“I, haven’t done anything like this before.”
“Ahh! It’s not hard…!”
With a wide smile on her face, Kaeul started sharing the new plan she had in mind.
“…So,”
And after listening to her plan, he pressed on his temples.
“You want me to scold you?”
“Yes yes! Chirpy and the cleaner ahjussi does something wrong, but ahjussi misunderstands that and scolds us! Something like that has never happened before, right? I’m sure they’ll both be super surprised!”
“…”
“Please scold us! Be just, a little bit scary…!”
s
The Regressor wasn’t really fond of the current situation. He just bought a cake so why did things turn out like this.
But at this point, even Bom was staring at him with eyes full of intrigue and it was rare for the kids to be expecting something together, so he couldn’t turn them down.
“…Got it.”
They shouted, ‘Wahh!’ in joy.
And soon started the plan.