Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 210

"W-Wait, did you just say retirement?!"

Bzzzt!

As soon as the statement was made, microphones shot up, and flashes exploded.

"Are you saying that, starting today, you’re completely ending your career as an athlete?" "Not exactly. I intend to faithfully fulfill my military service."

Military service.

Foreign reporters didn’t fully grasp what was meant, but the Korean reporters understood right away.

"So, does this mean you’ll be transitioning into coaching instead of competing?" "That’s right. I plan to share my expertise. I want to run a 7-day intensive training camp for athletes."

This was already something discussed and settled with the Korean Boxing Association. Once the reporters realized this, they immediately fired more questions at Kim Donghu.

"Then why bring up retirement? I’m curious why you used that term." "I’ve accomplished everything I can in amateur competitions."

The statement was bold.

"Everything I can achieve in amateur competitions."

The impact of those words was tremendous.

"Well, it’s true—there’s never been a time where it took more than 5 minutes to win a gold medal." "Olympics, Asian Games... how boring must that be?"

At first, the appearance of an exceptionally strong person may be entertaining. It’s fresh, destructive, and it’s hard to imagine what kind of performance they’ll bring.

But if it keeps repeating, people get tired of it.

Overwhelming victories every time they step into the ring? Dominating before the round even ends, before the judges even have to make a decision?

That sort of thing actually kills the excitement of the competition. The presence of an overwhelming champion eliminates any sense of anticipation.

"The reason for his retirement from amateur boxing is that he was just too strong." "That’s a reason for retirement I’ve never heard before."

And so, Kim Donghu declared his retirement from amateur boxing.

"Does that mean you’ll be entering the professional stage?" "My answer is the same as when I said it at the Olympics."

If the conditions are right and the money is substantial, he said, he would consider it.

Even though he hadn’t officially debuted as a pro, he could say this because Kim Donghu was a new kind of character the boxing world had never seen before.

"S-So that means... uh...?" "Yes, for the time being, I plan to live as a coach."

Because that’s part of the athlete’s journey too.

At his words, the reporters nodded in understanding.

While the overall situation wasn’t clear, since he was speaking in English, they could follow the context.

"Thank you for sharing your future plans. Now, if we could move on to the match itself?" "Yes, feel free to ask anything." "In today’s final, you used a new technique that hadn’t been seen in previous matches. Was there a particular reason for that?" "Since it was the final, I felt it was necessary to show a performance worthy of the occasion." "So why didn’t you use it earlier in the competition?" "I only perfected the technique the day before the final."

Even before the medal ceremony, reporters scrambled to get just one more comment from him.

Another 30 seconds passed.

"Due to time constraints, we’ll have to wrap up the interview here."

The rest would be continued in the official press conference.

Kim Donghu stood up after his final words.

It was time to go collect his second gold medal.

***

"[Is Kim Donghu really thinking about turning pro?]"