Chapter 192.2

Chapter 192.2

“…”

“But why would a Russian agent be using MCMAP? As far as I know, your special forces stick to Systema. That’s your pride, isn’t it? Your very own invention. So what’s this mess, this peaceful dog bowl of styles?”

She bit her lip.

“Hasn’t that gotten you blacklisted before?”

He began tapping her shoulder, side, and thigh with his cane like a teacher correcting a student.

“All the agents who’ve come here so far used only Systema. So I’ll ask againm why are you using MCMAP?”

His punches came off casual, but every one landed with the weight of a hammer. He shifted his shoulders and hips with the kind of practiced rhythm she’d seen in Russian agents as a child. There was no wasted movement.

He threw angled punches and moved in sync from head to toe. Seoryeong crossed her arms to block, but she couldn’t keep up. Even this one blind man slipped through her defense, no, touched her again and again.

He wasn’t even throwing fists anymore. It was his open palms brushing against her. No exaggerated movements, just perfectly timed redirection. He used her strength against her and gave it right back.

She hunched over, clutching her stomach, but it didn’t even hurt.

That only made it worse.

Dodging his loose, wide arms, she went straight for his chin with everything she had.

Thwack!

“…!”

He hadn’t retaliated at all, not if she dodged well. But he’d kept offering up his face. And now that his chin turned so easily from the blow, a cold shiver crept down her spine.

He touched his jaw, pausing like he was trying to remember something. Even under the bandages, his trembling eyelids gave him away. His voice came sharp and urgent.

“Where are you really from?”

“I told you! I’m with the Federal Security Service. I learned all this through official training.”

“…Is that so?”

His brow tightened. Something in his expression turned pained.

“Then whoever trained you must’ve really cared about you.”

“…!”

“Every move is built for someone smaller, weaker. Everything you’re doing is built for defense, not attack. There’s even some Silat mixed in.”

He stepped forward with each word.

“That’s never listed in formal training. It’s an Indonesian martial art, based on a woman defending herself against a tiger. You know what that tells me? Whoever trained you… really liked you.”

Her chest tightened. Her heartbeat picked up.

And now that she was looking closer, she saw it beneath his clothes, faint traces of emergency field dressings. Bandages and gauze wrapped around his wrists, ankles, abdomen, ribs, lower back.

Scars she hadn’t noticed before traced beneath his jaw, behind his ears, along his hands and wrists.

A strange burning sensation bloomed inside her.

She narrowed her eyes and stared hard at him.

She still didn’t understand why he was putting her through this ordeal.

“I don’t get why you’re doing something so pointless.”

“…You’re the first to ask me that so directly.”

Biting and releasing his lower lip, the man suddenly lowered his head.

“There’s someone I have to find no matter what.”

“…!”

“Whether it’s a man or a woman, whether they’re Western or Eastern, I don’t know what form they’ll appear in, so I’m checking every single one. But there’s one thing I’m sure of-”

Suddenly, the long stick pressed against her neck, slamming her into the wall. His breath drew close enough to brush her nose.

“The body doesn’t lie.”

The man breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling with barely contained intensity. His gaze locked onto her, slowly sweeping from head to toe. His sharp nose brushed past her hair, skimmed her pale earlobe, and hovered near her chin. Her carotid artery pulsed wildly in her neck. The charged stillness pressed in, and a wave of nausea twisted in her gut.

“What kind of teacher doesn’t recognize their own student?”

His grip on her forearm tightened, making her gasp. Urgh!

“What kind of man in this world–!”

His hoarse roar tore from his throat like a sob. Lee Wooshin slashed open her tight combat suit with a knife, tracing over her collarbone. His intent to check her overhead mask was painfully clear.

“– doesn’t recognize his own woman!”

His fingers clawed like he was trying to peel off a sticker. Seoryeong immediately kicked him in the groin.

“Ugh…!”

He clenched his jaw tightly but didn’t back away.

She had to escape. She needed to get far away from him. Warning alarms screamed in her head.

She moved to stab his forearm with her knife but hesitated.

D*mn it…!

Her face twisted with rising helplessness. A trembling hand cupped her cheek.