Devil Returns To School Days - Chapter 16
4. Change (2)
The gym was on the third floor.
I went up the stairs to a building without an elevator, opened the door, and saw the inside of the gym.
There was no one.
A quiet atmosphere with old equipment.
I couldn’t believe it was a UFC champion’s gym.
‘It’s shabby.’
It was as expected.
UFC champion Jeong Doo-cheol.
He was the first person in Korea to dominate the mixed martial arts stage, but despite his great achievements, he fell to the bottom. The reason is right after the third title defense. In a doping test conducted after defeating Jose Carlos, who was called an undefeated fighter, by KO, Jung Doo-cheol was caught using a drug called steroid.
There was an uproar.
Of course, the match was forfeited, and Jose Carlos, who was the interim champion, was crowned champion.
Jeong Doo-cheol did not make excuses.
He accepted the reality and upon returning to Korea faced a despairing reality.
[Jung Doo-cheol uses banned substances!]
[The entire Republic of Korea was deceived by Jeong Doo-cheol. We believed that he was the world’s greatest talent to represent South Korea, but it turned out that his talent came from illegally banned drugs. Drugs such as steroids are a cheat that significantly increases physical abilities just by using them. The UFC secretariat expressed its regret over the fact that Jeong Doo-cheol made such a choice.]
[Jung Doo-cheol is a disgrace to the Republic of Korea.]
The world changed overnight.
The entire Republic of Korea condemned him.
Drugs were a very sensitive issue in Korea, and as they had achieved great achievements, they had no choice but to fall even more harshly. In this way, Jeong Doo-cheol became a disgrace to mixed martial arts. There was a good reason why a person who could make a living off of fame alone ran a small gym in a rural area.
‘There is no excuse for what he did. But that doesn’t mean I deny his skills.’
I still remembered it.
When Kim Hyun-sung was campaigning against school violence, Jeong Doo-cheol’s data was evaluated by some as a talent too good to be buried with drugs. Jung Doo-cheol is expected to start using drugs after entering the UFC. Jeong Doo-cheol’s skills previously shown in domestic organizations were remarkable. As Kim Hyun-seong overwhelmed his opponents with his natural talent, he often thought about wanting to become as strong as Jeong Doo-cheol.
but.
That’s not the only reason I wanted Jeong Doo-cheol.
One day, while I was in a vegetative state, a story about Jeong Doo-cheol came on TV.
[Kim Moo-yeol, who secured the UFC title fight for the first time since Jeong Doo-cheol, revealed that he was in fact Jeong Doo-cheol’s disciple. Although he hid his teacher’s existence due to drug issues, he tearfully said that he did not want to deny the existence of Jeong Doo-cheol.]
Korean Super Rookie.
He was created by Jeong Doo-cheol.
Kim Moo-yeol spoke in front of the media about how great of a teacher Jeong Doo-cheol was, and that led to Jeong Doo-cheol being included in Kim Hyun-seong’s plans. Not only the best player, but also the creator of the greatest talent. He decided that if he could appease Jeong Doo-cheol, he could lay a sufficient foundation to become stronger in the future.
It was then.
As I was looking around the gym, a man with a bushy beard appeared.
“Oh, you want to register?”
The man smiled brightly.
It was hard to recognize him because of his beard, but he was clearly UFC champion Jeong Doo-cheol.
This was three years before the excavation of Kim Mu-yeol.
It was a time when I was still living as a disabled person.
Hyunseong Kim said.
“Yes, I came to register.”
* * *
I moved my seat.
After putting his luggage aside in his shabby office, Jeong Doo-cheol responded to Kim Hyun-seong with the attitude of a typical businessman.
“At first glance, he looks like a high school student, so I came to the right place. As for our gym, it is a gym that can teach perfectly for any purpose, such as a professional debut, simple diet to improve physical strength, etc. The government fee is 150,000 won per month. It’s definitely not expensive. “It’s a system that I teach through one-on-one PT (personal training).”
It was favorable.
As Kim Hyun-seong remembers, Jeong Doo-cheol had a really difficult time right before Kim Moo-yeol succeeded in the UFC.
What it looks like now.
It was natural.
No matter what the past was like, Jeong Doo-cheol had to live, and he was willing to smile at a customer he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“So why do you want to go to the gym?”
“I want to fight well. Enough to trample on all the kids called Iljin.”
Moment.
Jeong Doo-cheol’s expression hardened.
If you train in mixed martial arts, it is natural to be good at fighting.
However, since mixed martial arts is a type of sport, it was a bit difficult for students who came for the same purpose as Kim Hyun-seong.
Jeong Doo-cheol said.
“I mean the gym. This is not a place to instigate fights. If you’re thinking about going to the gym simply because you want to get better at fighting, I can’t help you. “If you train a little, the kids in the group won’t bother you anyway, so why not try exercising just to train yourself?”
Obvious answer.
Obvious development.
Hyunseong Kim did not answer for a moment.
I quietly looked at Jeong Doo-cheol, who was trying to force a smile.
What he wanted was not Jeong Doo-cheol, who overcame adversity and rose up, but a failed Jeong Doo-cheol who was still desperate for everything.
Hyunseong Kim said.
“why. Director Jeong Doo-cheol also did everything he could to become stronger during his days as a player. “Whatever the reason, my goal is to become stronger, so is there any problem?”
I had my teeth pierced.
I touched on the reverse.
Jeong Doo-cheol could no longer keep smiling at Kim Hyun-sung’s remarks.
* * *
Silence fell.
Jeong Doo-cheol, who had not said anything, finally opened his mouth when he saw Kim Hyun-seong not avoiding his gaze.
“That was a choice I made because I was stupid. “If I could turn back time, I would never repeat my mistakes.”
Before UFC debut.
As people said, Jeong Doo-cheol was a brilliant talent.
There was no one he couldn’t beat, and as if it were only natural, the UFC announced its intention to recruit Jeong Doo-cheol.
And the day of the first game.
Jeong Doo-cheol had to accept defeat with a messed up face.
He clearly led the game throughout, but was stopped in the second half by an opponent who would not fall down no matter how many effective hits he made. Tremendous tenacity and tireless stamina. Unable to keep up with the opponent’s tempo, his stamina was depleted, and the decision unanimously declared Jeong Doo-cheol’s defeat.
I admitted it.
It is true that he lost, but the words spoken by the officials pierced his ears.
“It looks like he took the medicine.”
“It’s obvious. “In this age of anti-drugs, what athlete doesn’t take drugs?”
Even back then.
The technology for testing doping was not excellent.
It was the era of big drugs, to the point where people were said to be stupid if they didn’t use drugs, and as officials expected, the opponent was on the rise, but later fell when drugs were discovered. Jeong Doo-cheol did not want to be the same person as those people. I tried to achieve results without using drugs, but after entering the UFC and losing three times in a row, I was pushed to the edge.
“If you lose one more time, you will be kicked out.”
Exit.
I had to leave the UFC stage.
It was a one-sided notice to leave the stage that everyone had dreamed of and that he himself had dreamed of.
Jeong Doo-cheol believed in his own talent, but players who used drugs showed a deviation from common sense.
If the.
If he had been alone, he might have given up on his dream.
However, he had a wife with two children, and unless he earned money, he could not provide for the family. I thought about it for a while. The drug broker looked at his contact for a long time, who had approached him even before his UFC debut, but had ultimately rejected him. I knew how bad a choice it was. Jeong Doo-cheol, who thought he should be proud of himself because he was proud of himself as a player, came to his senses at some point and found himself knocking down opposing players with his explosive muscles.
Korean Monster.
It was the birth of a monster.
Afterwards, Jung Doo-cheol, who was on a roll, became the champion, but as everyone knows, he was caught with drugs and fell.
Jeong Doo-cheol said.
“I will forever regret the choice I made back then. If you go to any lengths to simply become stronger, you cannot avoid a miserable situation like mine. That was really stupid. If I had known that the perception of drugs in Korea was that bad, if I had known that it would make more money to appear on broadcasts and run a gym after retirement than to fight and receive fight money. I would have somehow resisted the devil’s temptation. So you can’t accept it. “If you become stronger just because you want to beat up the gangsters, you may end up in a nameless prison, unlike what you imagined.”
Squeak.
I got up from my seat.
Since it was a long time since I had seen a guest, I wanted to catch him somehow.
However, he couldn’t do business with a child who was obsessed with madness like himself, even though he knew it was wrong.
I tried to send it.
Until Hyunseong Kim spoke his last words.
“1 million.”
“…what?”
“If you accept my offer, I will give you 100 million.”
* * *
There are degrees of pranks.
100 million won.
Kim Hyun-sung’s remarks were absurd, but his subsequent remarks shattered that distrust.
“As a director, isn’t that the worst thing you can do? If you promise to teach me, I will deposit 100 million won within a day. Since it is an advance payment, there is no reason to lose money by accepting this offer.”
My heart sank.
I started running like crazy.
I had to refuse.
He should have said what nonsense it was, but from the moment he heard the amount of 100 million won, Jeong Doo-cheol couldn’t.
‘If it’s true…?’
A slight possibility.
You can earn 100 million won just by teaching one high school student.
Currently, his two sons and wife are waiting for him at home, and as his sons grow, his child support increases, and his wife goes to work to help with the household expenses. Whenever he was in a cold house with no one around, Jeong Doo-cheol drank in his own incompetence. If I hadn’t doped, I wouldn’t have lived like this. No, if I was thinking about doping, I should have entrusted it to a proper drug broker who would never get caught.
I went through a time full of regrets.
But it’s 100 million.
How can you refuse this?
Even if it was just a student’s prank, Jeong Doo-cheol was so earnest that he could not ignore Kim Hyun-seong’s remarks.
Hyunseong Kim said.
“Director, when you first use drugs, you must have thought through what the cost would be. Side effects of drugs, social awareness, and expulsion from the UFC stage. The reality was harsher than I thought, but it was ultimately the result of the director’s choice. Same goes for me. If I learn how to fight from the director and continue to fight with the Iljin in the future, I may end up with a worse outcome than I thought. Maybe he fights wrong and becomes crippled, or spends his entire life in juvenile detention centers and prisons. However, I came to the director with the determination to endure even those aspects. I have no intention of passing on responsibility. Just as the director back then was desperate enough to try drugs, I need a director. Just look at that fact.”
Jeong Doo-cheol’s eyes wavered.
The other person is only a high school student.
But what on earth is there behind his eyes that are filled with such venom at such a young age?
Hyunseong Kim knew.
Jeong Doo-cheol cannot refuse.
Because I’ve already succumbed to drugs once.
Jeong Doo-cheol will not be able to overcome temptation.
Since the calculation was completed, Kim Hyun-seong received a promise of 100 million won from Go Chang-beom.
Jeong Doo-cheol thought for a while and said.
“…What I can tell you for sure is that I will never use drugs. I absolutely cannot tolerate a young student who has become strong through illegal means but cannot take responsibility for his own life using drugs. If I were to teach you, it would simply be the ‘area of teaching.’”
“great.”
Jeong Doo-cheol gritted his teeth.
He nervously opened the office door and glanced at Kim Hyun-seong.
“Then come to the ring. If you can survive even just one round against me, then I will recognize your will and accept my offer.”
Words spat out fiercely.
That was Jeong Doo-cheol’s last pride.