Fight for your life!

The fight is brutal, and it’s bloody, and it’s one you’re going to lose.

****-Soo would have been more than a match for you at the best of times. But after an exhausting hike up the mountain, a fucked-up leg and an hour-long scramble down the tunnels – not to mention the lingering effects of the chloroform – you’re no match at all.

****-Soo’s knife flashes out almost lazily. He’s toying with you, enjoying himself, but there’s nothing you can do – his blade opens up cuts on your arms, on your ribs, even a glancing line across your knees. You protect yourself as best you can, brain retreating back into defensive moves only, but this fight is a foregone conclusion and you know it.

You both know it.

Which means that ****-Soo totally expects to win.

Being underestimated is an invaluable gift. The words echo in your mind from your very first day in self-defence class, taught by a towering, silver-haired old veteran who stalked up and down the line of nerdy kids, nervous girls and the occasional curious martial artist. I’m not going to teach you to look good. This isn’t a fucking Jackie Chan movie.

I’m going to teach you to win.

Your hand streaks out, catching ****-Soo in the side. His gaze flicks down, incredulous – it’s a weak strike, worse than pointless, not even enough to wind him. And now your own side is exposed.

Step one: let the enemy underestimate you.

****-Soo grins savagely, then twists his knife and stabs down hard. You jerk out of the way – not enough to escape entirely. His blade leaves an angry red line across your ribcage, and you let out a hiss of pain.

Step two: let him think he’s going to win.

With the knife coming back for another pass, you do the only thing you can – fall forwards. It’s basic physics: an object of sufficient mass moving into a space will displace the object already there.

Your entire body crashes into ****-Soo’s torso, a dead weight, and he’s **** back, two steps, then three, dangerously close to that edge. His eyes are still locked on you, though, and you feint forwards, **** to keep his attention off the **** drop.

This is it. This is your only plan.

But it’s seriously going to hurt.