Second Chance For The Bullied

Finding The Champion

Jinhoo could be seen standing outside a training center. The Signpost above the training center was written: "Best In The World." 

"What an irony." Jinhoo scoffed as the shabby-looking training center is different from its noble name. Jinhoo lives in a beat-up neighborhood so the only training center he could find is nothing to write home about, besides he doesn't have the money to register in a well-built training center.

"Here goes nothing." Jinhoo walked in expecting to see two or more personal training but he saw no one expected the person lying on the ground with his back facing Jinhoo. 

"Hello?" Jinhoo called as he went closer to the man while looking around to see the types of equipment the training center has. Though Jinhoo has not been to any gyming center before, he still has an idea of what a good gym should look like. The one he is currently seeing could barely pass as a gyming center, the equipments are all worn out, and some can't even be used anymore.

"Hello?" Jinhoo came closer and nudged the man to wake up. Jinhoo saw the empty bottles of beer lying on the floor. "He must be a drunkard, I just wasted my money." Jinhoo registered and paid online, and he is starting to regret his action. The man appeared to be in his mid-forties and something about him seemed familiar but Jinhoo couldn't quite figure it out.

"You better wake up old man and refund me my money." Jinhoo vehemently shook the man until he woke up.

"Who are you?" The man struggled to keep his eyes open.

"I am Jinhoo and I just registered for a training section." Jinhoo's words made every bit of sleep clear from the man's eyes.

"Registered?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Online, I came across your website so I registered and paid." Jinhoo presented his registration ticket and the man's eyes widened.

"You ignorant bas... Child." The man was able to withhold himself from using profanities on Jinhoo. The reason why the man was angry is that he is owing his bank and whatever that is paid into the account would be taken. 

"I can't acknowledge this payment, go home and I am not taking any student."

"Good, give me back my money and I would certainly be on my way." Jinhoo had to pay for the registration with all his life savings, so he doesn't have money to pay for any other training center, besides no training center would take such an amount.

"Your money is lost, I never asked you to register online. Damn that site, I have to shut it down." He muttered the last part but it didn't escape Jinhoo's ears. 

Jinhoo search the whole night in order to find their website, and if he knew that the training center is nothing like the one he saw on the website, he wouldn't have paid. 

"I am not leaving here without my money." Jinhoo sat down with a frown and it made the man angry but he could not do anything to a minor.

"Fine, you can sit here for eternity because you are not getting a dime from me." The man went back to his sleeping position.

"Fine, I will go report to the police and make sure they squeeze out every penny I sent to you." Jinhoo made a threat he would by no means carry out but it did serve its purpose.

"You wouldn't dare." The man sat up instantly and narrowed his vision at Jinhoo.

"Try me." Replied with a determined expression. 

"You win, I accept you as a trainer in this center." 

Jinhoo gasped as this wasn't what he bargained for. "No, I need my money back."

"It's gone, it's either you accept to be a trainer or you forget about your money." 

Jinhoo sighed as he too doesn't have the capacity to involve the police so he has to accept.

"Alright, when will I start?" He asked.

"Start by dying up the training ground. What? You don't expect to train in a dirty environment." The man went back to sleep after saying that.

"What a rip-off." Jinhoo stood up and went ahead to tidy up the center. 

"TASK REGISTERED, CLEANING THE TRAINING CENTER, UPON COMPLETION TWO POINTS WOULD BE AWARDED." The system registered it as a task and it made Jinhoo happy.

Jinhoo took his time to clean up the training center. The ring wasn't new but Jinhoo felt a sense of honor when he was cleaning it. Jinhoo has no plan of becoming an MMA fighter but he wants to get as strong as them. And he chooses MMA because just as its name implies, you will have varieties of skills. 

"I am done." Jinhoo woke the man up and the man found it annoying that the boy keeps disturbing his sleep but before he could say anything, he saw how neat the gyming center has become. It has been ages since it looked this glorious.

"Wow, you really outdid yourself." The man stood up and walked close to the big picture frame of his younger self holding the MMA world championship belt. Jinhoo saw the frame lying on the floor while his cleaning and the picture made him realize why the man looked so familiar.

"You are Jinwoo, the world champion that my father told me about." 

About two decades ago Jinwoo was once the world champion and many fighters were defeated by him. He was giving the people something different and he was loved for that, but unfortunately, the love got to his head and he took a wrong turn in his life. He started using drugs and got so proud, he would always appear to the ring drunk and always ignore his training. Because he believed his talent was enough he started to ignore his training, but sadly talent can only take you far it wouldn't complete the journey. So, gradually he started to lose his touch, he lost his belt, and before he know it no agent wanted to work with him. It got so bad that nobody would turn up to his match since they all know it would end in his defeat. He retired shamefully and has been living his life secluded from people.

"That's so long ago." Jinwoo was surprised that someone of Jinhoo's age recognized him. The reason why Jinhoo was able to recognize him was that his father had a picture of the champions in his collection.

"So, I am done for today, what will I start with." Jinhoo has received his two points and he is eager to start his training.

"There is nothing to do for today, just go home." 

Jinhoo noticed the look on Jinwoo's face and decided not to drag the matter. He took his hoodie and left the champion to wallow in his sadness. When Jinwoo stepped outside, the day got darker than he expected.

"It would be better if I jog home." Jinwoo put on his hoodie and started jogging home without knowing what awaits him ahead.