I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After that, Li Mei Ling explained the Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear technique she had used in more detail.
"Basically, all Bajiquan starts and ends with Jin’gak. So when someone begins learning Bajiquan, they focus intensely on a fundamental thrusting move called ‘Chongchui’, one of the eight foundational postures of Vajra-style training. It usually takes three years to fully master Chongchui. Once you've solidified the basics, you go through three stages of training. Only after all that can you receive the eight secret techniques known as the Eight Major Postures—and the Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear I used is originally one of those eight, called ‘Fierce Tiger Mountain-Splitting’."
It was a pretty complex explanation, so I couldn’t say I fully understood everything she was saying—but I did get the main point.

"So basically, what you’re saying is that to learn Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear, I’ll need an insane amount of time?"
"Maybe you will. Or maybe not. No one knows how long it’ll take you to master Jin’gak."
Li Mei Ling shrugged as she said that.

I rubbed my temple, feeling oddly overwhelmed.
Based on her explanation just now, it supposedly takes normal people three years to learn even the basic Jin’gak move.
And no matter how much of a natural talent this body might have, I wasn’t confident I could completely mimic a martial art I was seeing for the first time in my life.

Not to mention, even if I perfectly mastered the basics, there were still three more stages of training, right?
There was no way I could learn it all in just a few days.
But seeing my troubled expression, Li Mei Ling offered a kind of hopeful torture.

"Still, I’m not asking you to become a Bajiquan master overnight. But it’s also true that the absolute minimum technique required to learn Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear is Jin’gak. Without the weight transfer of Jin’gak, you can’t generate the explosive impact."
I understood what she meant.
"So what you’re ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) saying is, I need to first completely master this Jin’gak technique?"

"Exactly. If you want to learn Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear from me."
If I succeed, great. If I don’t, too bad.
Since I had nothing to lose anyway, I decided to take on this time-attack challenge.

"Alright then, let’s do this."
If a man’s drawn his sword, he should at least slice a radish.
***
After hearing my answer, Li Mei Ling nodded in satisfaction and demonstrated Jin’gak herself.

"Jin’gak, at its core, is a technique that uses weight transfer to generate explosive force at the point of impact. It’s not just Bajiquan—this method is common in many Northern martial arts."
Saying that, she lightly curled her fist and placed it above her navel, then lifted her right leg.
And the moment her steady breathing—exhaling and inhaling at even intervals—stopped—

PANG!!
She stomped the ground hard and simultaneously thrust her right fist forward.
It all happened in a split second, but I could feel, on a visceral level, just how powerful the technique she showed me was.

To call it a simple thrust didn’t do it justice. The pressure in that punch was anything but ordinary.
"This is called Chongchui."
In most media, Jin’gak in Chinese martial arts is depicted as just a strong stomp on the ground.

But the Jin’gak she showed me right before my eyes was quieter than I expected, and the follow-up motion flowed with incredible smoothness.
The way Jin’gak and Chongchui flowed together—it was like they had been linked from the start.
And I realized this Chongchui move wasn’t all that different from the preparatory stance she used during yesterday’s sparring match with Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear.

"So this is why you said Jin’gak is essential."
When I muttered that with a look of understanding, Li Mei Ling gave a small, amused chuckle.
"Even with secret techniques, they’re ultimately created based on existing fundamentals. That’s why every martial school emphasizes the basics above all else."

I nodded and recalled the move she had just demonstrated.
Both hands gathered above the navel, and the leg on the same side as the punching arm lifted slightly.
Then, as I stepped forward, I twisted my lower body a bit to transfer the weight into my upper body.

WHAM!
But I must’ve put too much strength in my leg—because all I got was a puff of dust rising from the ground where my foot landed.
Watching and doing really do feel completely different.

Seeing my struggle, Li Mei Ling offered some reassurance.
"No one’s good at this from the start. Just keep practicing when you have time. And ask me if anything’s unclear."
"Got it. I’ll keep that in mind."

Even so, I had a rough understanding now of what Chongchui was.
In short, it was about transferring the weight from both your upper and lower body into your fist in a single instant.
And I already knew of a similar technique.

A straight punch in boxing.
The motion and stance were different, but the core principle was very similar.
The reason you twist your leg when throwing a straight is the same—it’s all about channeling your body weight into the punch.

But what I needed to learn right now wasn’t Chongchui—it was Jin’gak.
She had said that repeating the basic Chongchui would naturally lead to mastery of Jin’gak, but maybe because of my science background, I found myself approaching it more theoretically.
I lost track of time as I repeated Chongchui in the park, recalling countless martial arts I’d seen before.

The Russian imperial martial art Ivan had used, Boris’s Combat Sambo, Sasha’s Systema, the jujutsu from Yaguchi’s dojo yesterday, even the boxing from that punk…
Their forms and methods varied, but they all included some kind of motion that added body weight to the punch to maximize destructive power.
And I focused on distilling all of those experiences into my fist.

Hh…
I exhaled, then inhaled again.
And in a fleeting moment, I held my breath and stepped forward.

WHAM!!
With a cracking sound like I’d just shattered a paving stone, I thrust my right fist straight ahead.
"……."

It felt better than when I first tried it, for sure—but something still felt off.
I figured the problem was disharmony.
My head understood it, but my body couldn’t follow.

This was the first time I’d experienced something like this since possessing this body.
And that made it even more—
"Fun."

I found myself completely immersed in this unfamiliar thrill.
***
Kim Yu-seong’s training, which had started before dawn, continued long after the sun had risen high.

At first, Li Mei Ling had planned to stop him after a little while and suggest they head back home. But as she watched his terrifying focus while practicing Jin’gak, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
And he was really improving at a scary pace.
The Jin’gak that had at first looked like a clumsy imitation—one that might’ve destroyed his own knee cartilage—started to sound different with each repetition.

The Chongchui, which had felt awkward because he hadn’t yet grasped Bajiquan’s unique breathing technique, began to move in the right direction.
It was monstrous talent.
He had only seen the technique demonstrated once, and yet by self-training, he’d brought it to this level in half a day.

Even to Li Mei Ling, who had grown up being called a prodigy, this man called Kim Yu-seong was an unbelievable bundle of talent.
It was almost more bizarre that someone like him had remained unknown until he took down Ivan all by himself.
And then—

"Ah."
Under the scorching midsummer sun, he kept repeating the same movement without complaint—until he finally looked like he’d had a revelation.
And he called out to Mei Ling, who had been resting in the shade.

"I think I’ve figured out the proper timing for Jin’gak. Can you take a look?"
She agreed without hesitation.
After all, she’d been watching his entire training session—at worst, it would just be one more failed attempt.

But—
This time was different.
Placing his fists just above his lower abdomen, he steadied his breathing, then lifted his right leg lightly.

From repeating Jin’gak for half a day, the dirt around him was covered in scattered footprints.
And on top of that mountain of prints, he stomped his leg down once more.
PANG!!

"Huh?"
For the first time, there was a crisp pop—the sound of air being burst apart.
With perfect timing, perfect stance, and a perfect strike, he looked at Mei Ling with a face full of joy.

"I got it right, didn’t I?"
Unbelievable.
No matter how talented, completing Jin’gak—a technique that normally takes people three years to learn—in just half a day?

Li Mei Ling could only stare, dumbfounded, at his smiling face.
***
After all that grueling effort, I found out that the timing for using Jin’gak was actually super simple.

I never imagined it would feel so similar to deadlifting.
This is why guys should go to the gym.