Chapter 75

Rather than charging straight at Hanseul Ga, Gyeol feinted forward—then sharply twisted to the right and dove low into Hanseul’s lower abdomen.

“...Ugh!”

Hanseul, who had been rushing straight ahead, lost his footing and staggered. The surface beneath them was just as slippery for him. Lowering his center of gravity, Gyeol planted himself firmly and stretched out his good hand. He didn’t even need to get that close.

He snatched the long cat tail in one swift motion and yanked hard.

The Velcro fastening at the end of the waist belt ripped free, and the cat tail landed in Gyeol’s grasp.

He immediately tried to grab Hanseul’s shin and pull him down too, but Hanseul reacted a split second faster and jerked himself away.

Still, Gyeol had completely seized the momentum from the very start.

Without hesitation, he tossed the captured tail outside the buoy, then straightened the antler headband that had tilted from the recoil.

“Starting rough already?”

Breathing hard, Hanseul smirked at him. He was clearly trying to act calm, but his face had gone stiff.

“Looks like you were doing the same thing.”

Gyeol answered quietly.

Hanseul had rushed him the moment the match started too. Since the buoy was so slippery, it was easy to fall into the water before even stealing ears or tails. Hanseul had obviously decided the best strategy was overwhelming speed from the start.

Gyeol had simply been faster.

But dragging this out won’t help me either.

The two of them stood at opposite ends of the buoy in a tense standoff while cheers and shouting from the Alpha and Omega contestants rang around them.

Hanseul slowly began circling to the right.

Facing him directly, Gyeol matched his pace and moved left.

Whoever attacked first—or moved even slightly faster—would have the advantage. Gyeol held his breath and waited for an opening.

Then suddenly, Hanseul dropped down onto the buoy, grabbed the edges tightly, and started bouncing his body up and down.

The buoy lurched violently.

Gyeol hadn’t anticipated a counterattack like that. His body tilted backward for an instant.

“Gyeol!”

“Gyeol!”

“Hanseul’s smart.”

Voices tangled together from every direction as Gyeol desperately threw his center of gravity forward.

He managed to avoid falling into the water by collapsing onto the buoy instead—

—but Hanseul immediately lunged and grabbed the stag antlers.

Gyeol lost the headband.

“Whoa!”

“Holy shit, this round’s insane.”

He couldn’t stay sprawled there.

As Gyeol pushed himself upright using the buoy, Hanseul came crashing down on top of him.

Gyeol twisted his body while rising, narrowly avoiding having his tail grabbed, but their strength collided head-on. Hanseul seized Gyeol by the shoulders while Gyeol drove inward toward Hanseul’s waist.

A brutal power struggle followed.

If either of them relaxed for even a second, they would fall before losing ears or tails.

Normally, Gyeol felt like he could have shoved Hanseul away much more easily. But because of his injured hand, he had to compensate with his forearm instead, and his movements weren’t as smooth as usual.

Pain flared faintly through his hand from the strain in his arm, but it was bearable.

There was no way he was giving up over this much.

Sometimes Gyeol gained the upper hand only to slip backward on the wet buoy, and other times Hanseul’s footing faltered and Gyeol pushed back in. Blow for blow.

“Ugh...”

Hanseul let out a low groan.

“Hah...”

Gyeol sucked in a rough breath.

The contestants shouted in excitement.

If all he cared about was winning, there actually was an easy way.

He could pretend to shove Hanseul while cleverly driving his head straight into Hanseul’s chest or solar plexus. That would let him avoid reaching for the tail entirely while taking Hanseul down in one decisive hit.

A guaranteed victory.

But with enough risks already piled up around him, he didn’t want to add something else that could damage his image.

There’s got to be a smarter way.

His thoughts spun rapidly for a split second before stopping on one point.

Something caught Gyeol’s eye.

There.

His mind lit up instantly.

While they pushed and struggled against each other, Gyeol slowly began adjusting his position.

Not abruptly.

Carefully. Naturally. So Hanseul wouldn’t notice.

At last, Gyeol’s foot stepped directly onto the center of the buoy.

This was it.

This was the spot he’d been aiming for.

Now.

He had to finish this in one shot.

He didn’t hesitate anymore.

His hand throbbed painfully, but he ignored it.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Gyeol gathered every ounce of strength he had left and slammed forward, shoving Hanseul back.

“Ah—!”

Hanseul tried to brace himself against the force, but compared to Gyeol—who had committed everything into one decisive strike—he simply wasn’t strong enough.

It happened instantly.

Hanseul lost his footing and crashed backward onto his rear.

The moment the timing aligned, Gyeol stomped down with all his strength and launched himself from the exact center of the buoy, throwing his body downward.

The impact was enormous.

As Gyeol dropped with his full weight behind it, the buoy rocked violently.

Hanseul let out a sharp cry before slipping straight off and plunging into the water.

—Go Gyeol, victory!

Applause and shouts exploded all at once.

Even Jaekyung Park and Woo Seok Jung stared wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open.

“Hah... haaah...”

Panting hard, Gyeol collapsed onto the buoy.

Then he lightly curled the hand wrapped in bandages and raised it into the air in celebration.

“Gyeol’s awesome! Holy shit!”

Tommy shouted at the top of his lungs, sounding genuinely overwhelmed, while the others clapped too.

Crawling over on his knees, Gyeol moved to the edge of the buoy and offered his good hand to Hanseul.

Looking like a drowned rat, Hanseul stared blankly between Gyeol’s hand and face.

“I can get up myself.”

His speech had turned oddly curt.

Smiling faintly, Gyeol answered,

“I know.”

At that point, Hanseul couldn’t really refuse anymore.

Letting out a short sigh, Hanseul casually dropped the cat-ear headband he’d still been wearing into the water before grabbing Gyeol’s hand.

There was obvious resentment in the grip tightening around his hand, but Gyeol didn’t care.

This much sportsmanship was only natural for the winner.

If Hanseul reacted badly here, that would only hurt himself.

Gyeol kept a firm hold on his hand until Hanseul grabbed the edge of the buoy and climbed back up.

—Third Round. Number 1, Isu Yoon. Number 3, Hee Jun Kang.

Since the tournament had an odd number of contestants—five total instead of an even bracket—the next match was between Hee Jun Kang, who had won the first round, and Isu Yoon, who had automatically advanced as number one.

The winner of this round would face Gyeol, the second-round victor, in the finals.

No one had objected when the format was explained before the draw.

Well, except Jaekyung Park, who had whispered to Hanseul, “Wait, if I win, doesn’t that mean I have to fight three times by myself?”

But after losing to Hee Jun in round one, he’d completely stopped caring.

—Isu Yoon, victory!

Contrary to expectations that the long tiger tail would put him at a disadvantage, the match ended quickly.

Hee Jun lost to Isu before he could really do much of anything.

The one thing that bothered Gyeol was how easily Hee Jun seemed to give up.

If he’d fought stubbornly to the end, the game probably wouldn’t have ended that fast...

“Good work, Hee Jun.”

“You did great. Nice job, seriously.”

“I lost way too fast. That sucks.”

But despite saying it was disappointing, Hee Jun somehow looked relieved after the match ended.

Gyeol watched him briefly as he returned to Hanseul and Jaekyung’s welcoming reception before turning away.

Worry about yourself first.

—Final Round. Number 1, Isu Yoon. Number 4, Go Gyeol.

At last, Gyeol stood across from Isu Yoon on the buoy.

It was the first time they’d looked directly at each other since their conversation earlier that morning.

Now that they were face-to-face like this, it felt unnatural not to say something, and Gyeol was debating how to start—

when Isu spoke first.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t go easy on me.”

He said it lightly on purpose.

Wearing tiger ears and a tiger tail that suited him so poorly, Isu smiled as he spoke.

Go easy on him?

Gyeol had no idea what emotions lay behind those words.

“I won’t. Why would I?”

Gyeol smiled back.

He’d tried to make it look natural, but it probably came out slightly strained instead.

“Okay. I’ll go all out too.”

“Good.”

Gyeol raised a fist with his good hand toward him.

After glancing once at the bandaged hand, Isu bumped his fist lightly against Gyeol’s.

Then came the now-familiar double alert tone.

The starting signal blared.

True to his word, Isu immediately rushed at Gyeol.

Gyeol didn’t dodge either.

Their shoulders slammed together hard.

The collision of force made the buoy sway violently.

At first Isu seemed to hold out—

but little by little, he started getting pushed back.

“Ng—!”

After repeatedly slipping and replanting his footing, Isu suddenly twisted sharply to the right.

The momentum sent Gyeol pitching forward.

But just before crashing into the buoy, he caught himself with one hand and sprang back upright, barely avoiding disaster.

Isu didn’t miss the opportunity.

The moment Gyeol staggered, Isu immediately reached for his tail.

But the stag tail was too short.

He fell short by barely half a handspan.

Isu’s fingers closed on empty air.

The distance between them widened once more.

It had only been a brief exchange, but it was so intense that both of them were already breathing hard.

His heart hammered violently against his ribs.

Gyeol narrowed his eyes.

Isu looked exactly the same.

Neither of them intended to surrender this victory.

The exchange continued without a single inch of compromise.

The contestants—who had started off cheering noisily—had gradually gone quiet as they watched, completely absorbed. Every now and then, someone would shout a single warning instead.

“Behind you!”

“Left side!”

“Wow, I can’t even breathe watching this.”

“If you stop breathing, you die.”

Jun Shin pointed out dryly.

“Huh?”

Tommy blinked at him blankly, and Jun slung an arm around his shoulders.

“But you are breathing. So you’re not dead.”

“Uh...? I don’t really get...”

“...Jun, everything else about you is great, but I think you should stop making old-man jokes like that.”

Sun Choi shook his head with visible disappointment.

Then it happened.

Still locked in their standoff, Gyeol and Isu rammed shoulders together again, making the buoy pitch violently.

“Ah!”

“He’s falling!”

The contestants all shouted at once.

But only one person wasn’t in danger.

As the buoy tipped sharply to one side—both of them were suddenly lifted into the air together.