The moment the bell rang, I stepped out of my corner and approached David. I couldn't hold back my smile when I saw he had already taken the center of the ring. It was always like that—he was a boxer who controlled every aspect of the fight.

Without a second thought, I charged toward David. However, in an instant, his jab had already connected, stopping my momentum.

Our styles were completely different. David was an intelligent and calculating out-boxer—his fight IQ and vision felt like they were on a completely different level. On the other hand, I was an aggressive and instinctive boxer, always looking to cause as much damage as possible. While David thought through every punch, I let my body dictate every movement on its own.

Once again, I took the initiative and threw a combination.

...Not a single punch landed.

David was much shorter than me, yet somehow, he managed to control the distance and dictate the pace of the fight—a style that didn’t match his stature.

Feeling both frustrated and excited, I tried a different combination this time—a powerful one-two as I stepped in and forced my way through his guard. It was a combination I had seen the great Naoya Inoue use multiple times.

Once I had broken through his guard, I seized the opportunity and threw a powerful uppercut that landed cleanly.

David didn’t take long to respond.

After taking my punch, he took a small step back with his rear foot, gathered momentum, and in an instant, a powerful overhand was coming straight for my face at full speed.

"It's over" I thought, without any real confidence.

I had sparred against this guy many times before, but I had never seen him hit the ground. I wouldn't be able to knock Joan out, even if all my punches were as powerful as that last one.

After taking my punch, he looked straight at me and smiled shamelessly.

"Asshole" was all I could think as a smile formed on my lips before I even realized it.

This time, it was my turn to attack.

I threw a flurry of jabs, not intending to hurt him at all—I needed to set the stage.

Little by little, I started slowing down each jab until, on one of them, I let my arm drop slightly before bringing it back to my guard.

The movement was obvious enough for Joan to notice but subtle enough that he wouldn’t suspect anything.

I repeated the action again and again until...

In that tiny fraction of a second when my arm was down and my left side was exposed, Joan took a small leap forward and unleashed an impressive right hook.

At that moment, I couldn't help but smile slightly.

If Joan was like a wild animal with a killer instinct, I was a hunter.

The instant Joan lunged at me, thinking he had found a flaw in my guard, I stepped forward with my left leg and leaned my whole body in, transferring all my weight into a beautiful counter—a final overhand that used both my strength and Joan’s forward momentum.

I could feel the impact in my fist—anyone else would have gone down after a punch like that. But not that beast.

After landing the punch, I saw him standing right in front of me, his guard lowered.

But even though he looked unprotected, his eyes never left me.

I could see it—one wrong move, and I’d be the one hitting the ground.

We hadn't set a duration for the sparring session—there were no rounds, no time limits. We just wanted to let off some steam.

I was glad about that, and I wasn’t the only one. I could see it in the way we looked at each other—neither of us wanted this moment to be interrupted by something like a round break. This was a thrill that couldn’t be paused.

At that moment, we both lunged at each other.

This would end here. We were both determined to make it so.

But the world didn’t share our desire.