WeTried Translations

Translator: Joy

Editor: Joy

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◈ Damned Transmigration

Chapter 27

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Lessons to be learnt

From the moment Chuk-sin-doo wreathed the Madorido in Ganggi, Yuri no longer felt the need to suppress his smile.

He knew, with the certainty of a top-tier player, that what looked like a ridiculously simple attack required a depth of internal energy that most masters could only dream of.

‘Good grief.’

Yuri’s eyes were still too slow to properly track the duel.

One moment, Bakerd was launching himself from the ground; the next, he was already flying backwards, arms braced to meet the Madorido, before being slammed into the dirt.

“Hooo!”

Chuk-sin-doo didn’t perform his usual goal celebration, but the cry was a clear note of triumph.

The duel was set for five minutes. Not even ten seconds had passed, yet Bakerd lay embedded in the ground, unmoving.

The Madorido floated back to its master.

Chuk-sin-doo didn’t bother to approach the downed man. He simply balanced the sphere on the top of his foot, his expression relaxed.

“Had enough?” he asked.

A stifled groan was Bakerd’s only answer as he forced himself to his feet.

He’d thrown up his protective Ganggi the instant before impact.

His arms weren’t broken, but the shield hadn’t absorbed everything; he could feel the sharp, grating protest of shattered ribs.

“I’m… fine.”

Bakerd steadied his breathing, using his taught muscles to lock his broken ribs in place, preventing them from piercing his lungs. The damage was external; his organs were intact.

He settled back into his stance and glared at his opponent.

Clang.

The Madorido shot off Chuk-sin-doo’s foot again. This time, it wasn’t a straight shot. The Ganggi enveloping the sphere began to spin, coalescing into a vicious vortex.

Bakerd didn’t charge. He widened his stance, sinking into a low horse stance as he chambered both fists at his waist.

‘The Diamond-Shattering Fist.’

Yuri had seen it only once during their month of training.

It was the art that had earned Bakerd his title and carried him to the 6th Circle, a technique of immense weight and power, built on a foundation of brutal external arts.

“An indestructible body?”

Chuk-sin-doo’s lips twisted into a smirk.

He knew such a thing was a myth, but he didn’t mock the attempt. His eyes could see the sheer solidity of the defence Bakerd had erected.

‘Can he break through that head-on?’

Yuri swallowed, his own fists clenching.

He had been told the gap between the 6th and 7th Circles was a chasm, but he had never seen it measured.

This was a rare, brutal opportunity to witness the power a transmigrator could achieve, and to finally understand the difference between a master and a monster.

He focused, straining his eyes, determined to burn every detail into his memory.

CRACK!

Chuk-sin-doo kicked.

Propelled by the spinning Ganggi, the Madorido tore through the air like a fired cannonball wrapped in a tornado.

Bakerd reacted instantly, drawing on his internal energy without reservation.

A solid protective aura flared around him as the very nature of the Ganggi coating his fists changed, hardening into an unyielding, unbreakable force.

Crrk, crrrk…!

Power coiled through his torso, turning his shoulders into siege engines. His fists shot out to meet the attack.

CRUNCH!

Bakerd’s fist met the Madorido.

He gritted his teeth against the cataclysmic force that surged up his arm, a shockwave that threatened to shatter his bones and tear his body apart. His feet lifted from the ground, but he held his stance.

With a roar, he drove his fist forward.

Thud!

The Madorido was knocked slightly upwards, its vortex of Ganggi still churning.

His fist screamed in protest, injured despite its protective shell.

He had meant to shatter the attack, but had only managed to deflect it. He felt no disappointment. To have met it head-on and still be standing was an achievement.

‘The Moonlit Reveller is—’

He was gone.

Bakerd’s eyes widened. A spike of pure danger made him snap his head upwards.

Chuk-sin-doo was hanging in the air above him. He hadn’t missed the Madorido’s altered trajectory.

THWACK!

His forehead connected with the sphere.

‘A header?’

Yuri’s eyes widened.

A header, from that angle? It should have been a weak blow, but that was a fatal miscalculation.

CRACK!

Struck by Chuk-sin-doo’s forehead, the Madorido plummeted towards Bakerd like a meteor.

“Kuhk!”

Caught off-balance, Bakerd’s body contorted. The sphere crushed his left arm before bouncing upwards again.

He staggered back, fighting to regain his footing.

Chuk-sin-doo was still airborne.

He trapped the Madorido with his chest, twisted his body, and swung his leg in a wide, fluid arc.

BOOM!

It became a cannonball once more.

‘So fast…!’

Even from the sidelines, Yuri was stunned.

The sphere alone was a nightmare of speed and power. But Chuk-sin-doo wasn’t a simple ranged fighter. He now hovered directly above Bakerd, striking the Madorido in a continuous, flowing assault.

‘It’s a constant chain. He’s not giving him a single moment.’

He would slam the sphere down, trap its rebound, and immediately fire again, using only his feet, head, and chest in a mad, brilliant refusal to use his hands.

To Yuri’s eyes, it looked as if Chuk-sin-doo was teleporting, blinking in and out of existence in mid-air. With every reappearance, the Madorido slammed into Bakerd.

The Fist Wolf couldn’t respond. All he could do was focus his protective Ganggi and shield his head with his arms.

It was a one-sided beating. This was no longer a duel; it was a battering.

A complicated mix of emotions stirred in Yuri: awe at the mastery Chuk-sin-doo had achieved.

His persona was ridiculous, but the journey to this peak of power could not have been easy. The fact that he could maintain that absurd concept was proof of his overwhelming strength.

Then, a pang of sympathy for Bakerd.

He had abandoned the spear, poured twenty years of his life into his fists, and clawed his way to the 6th Circle, only for all that effort to seem meaningless before this onslaught.

‘Is the gap between Circles really this vast?’

Bakerd must have known he would lose, but could he have imagined being so completely dominated? Chuk-sin-doo had warned him: all he would gain was a profound sense of despair.

Was he feeling that now? Yuri’s gaze fixed on the man.

Under the relentless barrage, Bakerd’s protective aura flickered and wore away. His clothes were in tatters, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“Moonlit Reveller! Moonlit Reveller!”

The crowd began to chant his name.

It was a brutal pummelling, but they were captivated by the flashy, spectacular display.

Through the gap between Bakerd’s shielding arms, Yuri could see his eyes, and they were not filled with despair.

It wasn't because of some profound insight, or his month of training with the man, or even his dislike of Chuk-sin-doo.

It was simpler than that.

It was the contrary streak that had always been part of Lee Su-hyeok. He hated seeing everyone cheer for the one dishing out the beating. He found himself siding with the one taking it.

He could have kept quiet. But spurred on by some stubborn impulse, he opened his mouth.

“Fist Wolf.”

He didn’t shout. That would be embarrassing. But he didn’t mumble it, either. His voice was clear and steady, cutting through the noise.

Beside him, Haryeong and Elena turned, surprised.

Haryeong’s initial astonishment melted into a soft chuckle. Elena, for some reason, looked deeply moved.

‘Why are they making such a fuss?’

He felt a flush of awkwardness and turned his focus back to the fight, doubting his voice had even carried.

Chuk-sin-doo trapped the rebounding Madorido with his foot and fired. In that instant, Bakerd’s response changed.

After minutes of pure defence, his arms finally moved.

‘Ah.’

The intent radiating from his fists was different. The movements were familiar, the very art Yuri practised every day. But this was no sparring session. Infused with his full internal energy, the first form was unleashed in its entirety.

‘The Fist of the Rending Cloud.’

Whoosh!

The Ganggi flowing from his fist swelled and scattered like a cloud, enveloping the incoming sphere. It was the epitome of softness.

“Oh?”

For the first time, Chuk-sin-doo showed a flicker of surprise.

The Madorido’s trajectory warped, sending it careening wildly off course.

It posed no problem for him; this entire space was his pitch. He could intercept it instantly. But the fact that a 6th-Circle fist had altered its path at all, that earned his admiration.

‘I thought his only strength was that straightforward power.’

Chuk-sin-doo grinned and kicked off the air, stopping the soaring Madorido with the sole of his foot.

The sphere plunged downwards.

Bakerd, breathing heavily, tracked its descent. His feet began to move, executing the footwork designed to complement his new style.

The Whirlwind Cloud Steps were on full display.

‘What is that?’

Yuri didn’t recognise the footwork, but he could see it was a perfect match for the Fist of the Rending Cloud.

Bakerd moved with an agility that defied his massive frame, dodging the Madorido before leaping high into the air, charging straight at Chuk-sin-doo.

“Hahaha!”

Chuk-sin-doo roared with laughter.

The Madorido hadn’t returned to him yet, but that was no obstacle.

FWOOSH!

A sphere of pure Ganggi materialised at his foot.

“To think you’d actually force my hand!” he yelled, his voice filled with delight.

With a booming laugh, he kicked.

Screeeech!

The sphere vibrated violently before splitting into dozens of smaller orbs that filled the air before Bakerd.

Yuri’s mind was no longer a spectator's. He was in the heart of the duel, contemplating the counter.

‘Cloudy Wind Dance.’

The second form, the one with the most variations.

Bakerd had chosen it as well.

Combined with his footwork, the technique looked like a raging storm, a dance of scattering and converging clouds meeting the incoming spheres.

“Hahaha!” Chuk-sin-doo laughed again, the Madorido already back at his feet.

BOOM!

He fired a direct shot that pierced through the complex defence and slammed squarely into Bakerd.

“Kuhk!”

Blood sprayed from Bakerd’s mouth, yet he was given no time to recover.

Chuk-sin-doo’s assault resumed, but now Bakerd was no longer just defending.

He used the Whirlwind Cloud Steps, deflecting with the Rending Cloud while searching for an opening to land a devastating blow from his Diamond-Shattering Fist.

“Incredible,” Haryeong murmured.

“Reveller is holding back, but the Fist Wolf’s response is superb. He’s weathering the attacks and creating his own chances. I thought he was just a brawler…”

She glanced at Yuri, but his eyes were bloodshot, pupils darting as he tracked the fight with frantic intensity.

‘Don’t tell me he can actually follow this?’

Impossible. Even Haryeong herself was at the absolute limit of her perception. Yuri should have been left behind long ago.

‘Is his talent really this great?’

She had acknowledged he had talent. But this… this was something else entirely.

Haryeong’s quiet astonishment went unheard. Every ounce of Yuri’s concentration was fixed on the two fighters.

Bakerd, weaving his three arts together, was an advanced textbook on combat. But the other was a lesson for his future self.

His mastery of Ganggi Arts was incredible, but it was Chuk-sin-doo’s feet that truly captured Yuri’s attention.

He had fists. He had a heart technique. But he knew nothing about how to use his legs. He had assumed he would learn footwork, but Chuk-sin-doo showed him an obvious truth: legs were also for kicking.

“One minute left,” Namgung Ju-won announced.

If Bakerd was still standing when time was up, he would be the victor.

“Haha! A minute is more than enough,” Chuk-sin-doo said with a grin.

If he had been serious from the start, it would have ended with the first blow.

Why hadn’t he?

It didn't matter. He had never once considered defeat.

The Madorido returned to him. He balanced it on his right foot and spread his arms wide.

FWOOSH!

The air around him shimmered as an impossibly vast aura interfered with the very space around him. Countless spheres of Ganggi materialised in the air.

“This won’t kill you,” Chuk-sin-doo said, smiling.

“Fist Wolf Bakerd, I retract my earlier disrespect. You did not fall into despair. I hope you can do the same now.”

“Hah… hah…” Bakerd, covered in blood, gasped for air.

He could barely muster the strength to raise one fist.

“If you watch this to the end and resist, you might learn something. Then you can fall with a smile.”

Bakerd grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth.

“Thank you. But I have no intention of falling.”

“Hahaha!”

Chuk-sin-doo laughed as he slowly drew his leg back.

The Madorido remained glued to his foot as a phenomenal amount of power concentrated within it.

“Secret Art of the Full Moon Killing Kick.”

Yuri’s eyes burned, straining to see.

‘I have to watch this. Even if I can’t understand it, I have to see it through.’

“Heavenly Downpour.”

BOOM!

Chuk-sin-doo’s foot struck the Madorido. The countless spheres of Ganggi shot towards Bakerd like a meteor shower.

RUMBLE!

A deafening roar tore through the air as the world dissolved into light and sound.

“Pfft.”

In that moment, Yuri couldn't help but let out a choked laugh.

In the distance, Orca and Lacey turned to look at him.

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