Kapitel 126: Would You Close a High-Earning, Illegal Operation?

"The game is end," I think, sensing that in this brief instant, the sum total of one's life choices comes into agonizing focus. In this short span of time called a fight, the unveiling occurs: Did you train enough in your formative years, or didn't you? And now, your life is the wager on this dreadful gamble.

As the old man's leg swings toward my head, muscles tensed and energy pulsing, the very air around me vibrates as though charged by a lightning bolt. 

"Lee Hyun, stop it!" a voice thunders from the second floor. 

The deadly arc of his kick halts just a centimeter from my skull. The near-miss sends a whoosh of wind that slaps my cheek, stinging like a winter chill. It's a reminder of the grim reality that loomed a heartbeat away.