1 - I Teach Self-Defense

Self-Defense Classes Offered, Episode 1 > BookRabbit - Web Novel Archive "Ah... I'm screwed." Screwed. There was no better word to express my current situation. Looking at the empty space inside the Hapkido gym right in front of me, there was no way another word could suffice. Me, Joo Seong-hyun. Age 27. An instructor and owner of a Hapkido gym. Members? Zero. "Dammit." I never thought it would come to this. This Hapkido gym was my dream. The memories of playing at the Taekwondo gym with my friends during elementary school were vivid and joyous, and I wanted to create a similar place. So I majored in physical education. Not as an athlete, but studying to be a trainer and educator, earning my qualifications and graduating smoothly. Then I enlisted in the Air Force a bit later and was honorably discharged. And as I was about to start working towards opening my own gym, that moment came. “Our Seong-hyun... from now on, live doing what you want... with joy... and laughter... don't let anything... bind you... *cough*..." "...Yes. I will." “Good…” Grandfather passed away due to old age. He had taken care of me in my parents’ absence due to their busy schedules when I was young. Among the grandchildren, he showed a particular fondness for me, and I dearly cherished him for it. Thanks to that bond, I bawled like a child all day. He went peacefully with a gentle smile, but it was still a good farewell. The emotions, sparked by his care and concern for me until the end, flooded over, and I cried my heart out. A few days after calming down a bit, my father handed me a bankbook. "What is this?" "It's the money for your gym. Your grandfather left it for you to help you out. Use it wisely." "What? How can I accept this? There are uncles and aunts..." "Do you think your grandfather didn't leave anything for them? It's fine; we all received our share, so don't worry and just take it." “But still…” “If you refuse, I might as well change my car…” “I’ll take it.” "You brat?" Luckily, my family and relatives were all on good terms. And though he played it nonchalantly, I knew my dad added a little extra to what my grandfather left. 'Thank you, Grandpa. I’ll work hard.' Thanks to my grandfather, I was able to fast-track my plans. I quickly started analyzing market trends with my dad. At the same time, I helped a college senior manage a Taekwondo gym, deepening my understanding of the roles of an instructor and gym owner. I opted for Hapkido, finding it more enjoyable than the more common Taekwondo. A year passed that way. I was able to set up a respectable Hapkido gym in a neighborhood with decent foot traffic. When I first opened, my heart was brimming with hope and emotion. By hosting various opening events, I managed to recruit several children from the neighborhood. Such community gyms often serve as places for school-aged children, which was my target, so I gladly welcomed them. I even promised instructor positions to juniors looking for part-time jobs, thinking I was establishing my presence gradually. "I was totally crushed." But things went downhill fast. Not a single member remained. There were various contributing factors if I had to list them all, but the primary reason was the Taekwondo gym nearby. When I decided to set up here, I knew there was a thriving Taekwondo gym nearby. It was so successful that it seemed nearly oversaturated, leading me to believe there was room for me to carve out a share. "That unethical gym owner..." As soon as I opened, the existing Taekwondo gym's owner hastily expanded. He likely had expansion plans in mind for a while. Seeing children enrolling at my Hapkido gym probably spurred him into action, overcoming his hesitation and proceeding with his expansion. From that moment, my gym began to wither slowly. Beating out a Taekwondo gym with over a decade of local presence was an impossible feat. They had strong connections with local parents, and for both parents and their children, my gym was merely a second choice when there was no room at the established Taekwondo gym. Eventually, the kids started migrating back to Taekwondo, and I failed to attract adult clients, leaving me alone to mind the empty Hapkido gym a year in. Yes. I found myself utterly defeated. *** "......" As night approached, I sat in the center of the gym, lost in thought, reflecting on the past and facing the stark reality. There was nothing more I could do. I had gone out, trying to promote the gym, hoping against hope, but it proved futile. Even when calls came through, it was rare for anyone to come by afterward. Those who did visit would take one look at the empty gym, sigh, and leave. It was truly a hopeless situation. “…It's a waste of rent. Maybe it's time to give up.” I was exhausted. Even if the gym failed, it wasn’t the end of my life. While the rent I had been paying and some loans were a concern, they could be covered by the deposit. Although I felt sorry toward my parents, who had put their trust in me... it was time to let go. “If it weren’t for that gym owner… no, it’s my lack of capability. There’s no point blaming others.” It was painful and bitter, and I felt apologetic towards my late grandfather, but I told myself, it was a valuable life experience. At least I fulfilled my dream of opening a gym. For a brief 2 or 3 months, I enjoyed teaching and watching the kids play. "Maybe I should just have a drink alone tonight... and start cleaning up tomorrow." Trying to maintain a positive mindset, I stood up. I draped a jacket over my training uniform. It was still early spring, so it would be chilly, but my small studio apartment was just around the corner. I turned off the unnecessarily running computer and the lights in the gym. "……." The dojo's interior felt exceedingly cold and lonely... My heart was filled with nothing but bitterness. Clinging to false hopes, I stared at the empty dojo for a while longer before finally turning away. "...It's cold." Stepping outside, the chill cut right to the bone. They said it was exceptionally cold this year, and despite it being spring, it was no joke. I thought to myself that I should quickly stop by a convenience store and then head home—when I noticed him. "Hoo... It's so cold..." In front of the building next door, huddled against the cold, sat a homeless man, visibly shivering. He seemed to be in his 50s or 60s, and the sight of him in such a pitiful state stirred a rush of pity in me, but I turned my gaze away. 'I'm barely holding it together myself... Let's not get involved unnecessarily.' It was unfortunate, yes, but I wasn't the kind of good Samaritan who could afford to reach into my pockets for every person who seemed pitiful. I tried to ignore him, though my eyes kept drifting back. I entered the convenience store and haphazardly filled my basket with drinks and snacks. Normally, I would have picked up a can or two of beer and some snacks, but for some reason, I ended up buying enough for a small gathering, despite being alone. "That'll be 32,000 won." Looking at the soju, beer, and snacks, I thought to myself, what was I doing, failing my dojo and all. Still, I paid for it and... Instead of heading straight home, I found myself going back to the dojo. More precisely, back to the elderly homeless man sitting in the cold in front of the building next to the dojo. "Huh...? Uh?" As I approached him, his face scrunched up as if wondering what was going on, clearly not expecting any help at all. "If you sleep out here, you'll freeze. Come with me." I opened the dojo door for him. *** -Glug, glug...! "Ah...!" "But is it really okay for me to sleep here? Aren't you worried I might steal something?" "If you can find something worth stealing, go ahead. I'm bankrupt, so there's nothing to steal anyway." "Not that I plan on stealing... but you even gave me a new uniform and some drinks, so I'm just grateful. You shouldn't trust people so easily." "Trust? *Hiccup* What trust? I'm telling you, there's nothing to steal." I brought the homeless man—or rather, the old gentleman—into the dojo. I gave him a new uniform to wear because it seemed cold, and we sat in the middle of the dojo, sharing drinks. I wasn't overthinking it. It was straightforward. There was nothing to steal anyway, so I just let him have a comfortable place for the night. It wasn't that I wanted to do a good deed; it was just a whim. He looked so pitiful, and it wasn't like I couldn't help him out a little. And then. "This place looks pretty neat and tidy... why'd you go under?" "That... conscience-lacking Taekwondo gym owner suddenly decided to expand. Even though he's making good money, would it kill him to share a bit of his pie with me... Ugh, it's making me gloomy. Just have another drink." "Sure thing." -Pour Sharing drinks and venting my feelings made me feel a bit lighter. He was a stranger, and we wouldn't cross paths again soon, so I felt free to speak openly. It was too embarrassing and shameful to reveal my true feelings to friends or family. Everyone around me knew that the dojo wasn't doing well. But seeing them tiptoe around my feelings just made me feel guilty. It hurt my pride. So, I hadn't been seeing them as often recently. Talking with the homeless man, or rather the older man, helped ease my mind a little. Besides, his speech had a strangely familiar ring, reminiscent of how my late grandfather used to speak. "But let me ask..." "Glug... What now?" "Do you have to work with kids only? Don't you want to work with adults?" "Well... when I was young... *Hiccup*... it was my dream, but really, it doesn't matter much to me now." "Is that so?" "Kids are cute and all, but honestly, when they don't listen, it can be exhausting. The illusion kind of got shattered. They're cute, though." "So adults are fine too?" "If they come, I'll welcome them with open arms." "Hehe... You'd like it even more if they were pretty women, right? Teaching them while getting a little handsy... am I right?" "You've got to be kidding..." I chuckled at his cheeky grin, his face flushed from the drink. Of course, as a man, the idea would cross my mind if a pretty woman walked in as a member, but who these days would do something so foolish just to get a reputation—or worse, end up behind bars for sexual assault? "It'd be nice if some pretty ladies came by, sure. But the odds of a pretty woman wanting to learn Hapkido are about the same as hitting the jackpot." But between men sharing drinks, I could play along that much. "Right, right. It's more motivating to teach a pretty lady. Not just Hapkido, but maybe something else... Speaking of which, do you have a girlfriend?" "..." "No way. You're not completely inexperienced, are you?" "Are you trying to ruin my drinking mood?" "Oh, come on... Tsk tsk. Living your life without a partner... What have you been doing all this time? Built like a bear, but..." His sincere pitying made me feel like tears might come. It's not like I didn’t want a cute and pretty girlfriend. To be honest, I just wasn’t that experienced with women, and none around me seemed worth the effort of dating. Really... it wasn't like there weren't any pretty or decent girls, but just... damn it. "Just drink." "Alright. Here, Seong-hyun, have a drink. I'll pour." "...? Thank you." Did I tell him my name? I don't remember. After that, we continued to drink and chatted idly, sharing random thoughts that came to mind. Soon, I was feeling quite tipsy. I’m not a professional drinker, having tried to moderate my drinking as someone training in sports, but alternating between soju and beer after a long time... "Oh..." -Thud I eventually sprawled out on the dojo floor. I was so inebriated that I couldn't remember what we talked about next. As my eyes slowly closed, the last thing I saw was the homeless man's face, wearing a gentle smile. "…Live joyfully… and with a smile." Just before collapsing onto the dojo floor, those words of wisdom I'd heard somewhere lingered in my ears. *** The next day. As I woke up on the dojo floor, a peculiar sensation enveloped my entire body. Though the dojo was the same as always, it felt as if it had become a part of me—a strange sense of belonging. "Did the old man… leave?" The dojo floor was spotless. Maybe the homeless man had cleaned up before leaving. It was as if no one else had been there but me. I wondered if he had taken anything, so I glanced around, but all the small exercise equipment and uniforms were still there. Everything except for the uniform I had given him to wear. Something felt off. "No hangover…" I felt surprisingly good, without a hint of a hangover. And oddly enough... "…What is this?" The office in the back seemed to be glowing, catching my attention. Feeling a strange pull, I walked into the office and realized that the source of this peculiar sensation was my computer, which I used for managing gym memberships. Entranced, I turned on the computer. And then— As soon as the system booted up, a new tab and pop-up window appeared on the membership management program, showing something I'd never seen before. "What is this?" ------------------------------= <Tutorial Quest (Linked)> “Begin the joyful and happy journey of building Head Instructor Joo Seong-hyun’s dojo!” “To develop your dojo, you'll need members first, right?” (!) [Encourage at least one 'female' to sign up for a trial membership] ─Reward: ??? ------------------------------= It was as if a game quest had just popped up.