Fight Class 3 - Vol. 9 Ch. 71 - Round 71: Plum Blossoms in the Midst of the Snow

[MangaDex]

 

[Smokron]

Wow! It finally gets laid bare! She even attempted suicide! Can't believe this development.

 

[Succubewbs]

I am pretty sure the way she phrased it was pretty influenced by said flashback, oh well.

 

[mylastchance89]

Wow! I don't even know what to say. This chapter destroyed me.

On one hand, we get to know more about Maria's tragic past to the point now we know she even attempted suicide after losing her family and friends. But on the other hand, what she did to Ji-tae was uncalled for. He didn't deserve that.
The fight should've been stopped after they noticed his nose was broken. Now the guy's spirit is gonna be broken when all this should've ended with him feeling happy and proud of his progress. Thank god Young-joon is real bro and stopped that nonsense. I honestly don't know how I feel about Maria right now.

Man... This series keeps surprising me with every new chapter.

 

[IcyD3]

Probably the biggest chapter so far this series for the protagonists development beside the bully scene. Where Jiu Ji-Tae character goes from here on out, it's gonna be a big swing.

 

[Starstorm1]

Well....remember this was a cute MMA manga...so do I. Good times, but fortunately these are even better times. I read this chapter a while ago so i knew what was going to happen but reading it again is a whole other story. I’m not surprised at how good this manhwa/webtoon is to be honest and low and behold, (as someone who’s just finished chapter 75), it only gets better. As for this chapter, this is what happens when you forget the emotional implications of working with, living with and essentially raising the son of the monster to brutality killed your own family and forced you to attempted suicide. Did she really think this whole karate kid teacher crap would work easily, as soon as ji tae showed any resemblance to dae gak of course she would get crazy, anyone would. But for some reason she’s ignored that fact for a while and now it’s coming back to bite her. Phenomenal chapter. Also can we take a moment to appreciate the consistency with chapters, shinratensei, you are a gem. Also can we appreciate that ji tae has only been training for a couple of months but can fight toe to toe with a combat sambo veteran who’s ranked 4th in the first year of the best fight school in korea. Jitae kinda snapped.

 

[stinkii]

This was a spine tingler. Holy fuck, Maria.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

So i'm guessing Cha so wol and Young Joon both at some point took part in fight in that "Tunnel". That would explain her wild dog behavior, how she befriended/met Young joon and maybe even her missing leg. As for Young Joon that weird scene where he pretty much tell that one girl he seemed to have been acquainted with to fuck off, make more sense now he probably knew her from t
The tunnel. I always found it strange how that scene happened but we didnt had any prior information or reason for him to act like that. Anyway seem like Jiu ji tae might find himself in that place soon enough.

 

[udomsa33]

Maria went full evil there... her trauma runs deep though
Hopefully she doesn't take it out on our MC too much

 

[AnnaPlayer]

.

 

[gptemp8916]

This chapter was really tough to read, but it was amazing nonetheless.
The crazy part is that a lot of the events and revelations from this chapter were hinted/foreshadowed back in Chapter 28, which was titled "Trauma".

Chapter 28: Jiu Ji-tae compliments Maria's drawings.

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Chapter 71: Maria Crying while reading a letter/document? She seems to be in some sort of atellier/workshop and you can see a canvas on the back.

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Chapter 28: Maria has a panic attack while in Ji-tae's closet.

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Chapter 71: What Maria saw from her own closet.

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This one isn't exclusive from chapter 28 since, through out the course of the series, we've seen Maria wearing that wristband on her left hand.

Spoiler

Now we know the reason.

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This chapter was huge for Ji-tae and Maria's relationship. I doubt thinkg will be the same between them after what just happened. So, going back to chapter 28, I found some really interesting (and sad ) panels.

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Then, in the same chapter we had this:

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I really like how those two scenes showcase the difference in perspective, from both Maria and Ji-tae, about their relationship while also hinting towards what it seems their inevitable falling out.

The saddest part is that you can see Ji-tae looks up to her and cares for her. And, while I do believe Maria has also grown closer to Ji-tae, he will always be the son of the man who killed her family and destroyed her life.

Props to the author for his attention to detail and for the payoff to all those little hints he threw in there back then. What a great chapter.

@Rastapopoulos Yeah, when Young-joon's friends mentioned "The Tunnel" in chapter 66, they also mentioned that the girl from the Karaoke was hanging out with a guy from their school who defeated Young-joon in a fight at that place. This also explains Young-joon's attitude towards the girl and why he was avoiding her.

 

[dingdong247]

thanks

 

[BasilD]

This chapter gave me so many conflicted feelings, I have no idea how Maria and Ji-tae will interact from now on. It wrenches my gut to see what was supposed to be a proud moment of Maria celebrating Ji-tae's growth in battle turn into a revival of trauma on Maria's part and, possibly, a source of trauma for Ji-tae. From Maria seeing Ji-tae as a comrade-in-arms against Jiu Dae-Gak to seeing him as a reincarnation of the one who killed your family and friends before your eyes. Her face at the moment of realisation is still imprinted into my mind...

@gptemp8916 it's amazing that you collected all this evidence/info. This really is the mark of a great story, which we've seen from the start of this manhwa: the signs for every major twist and event have always been there, and we can say that we saw it coming, but it's incredible because you really could've seen it coming, and felt that something was there.

 

[jojoxiii]

thanks for the chapter.this was an atomic bomb level chapter

 

[shinratensei16]

Thanks everyone, for your comments and reactions. Whay a chapter huh? I guess we could label it as "The End of the Prologue" haha. Things will definitely change for the story and the characters going forward and I can't wait to find out what's in store for us.

@Starstorm1 Thanks for the kind words!

@gptemp8916 Wow! That's quite the research you got there!

 

[imaginetheaircolored]

Holy fuck that was a scary Maria right there

 

[Starstorm1]

gptemp8916. I forgot about the foreshadowing, this changes this chapter from amazing to devastatingly tragic. I think it’s the fact that the 2hakkk decided to subvert the typical “falling in love with your Senpai” foolishness by having jitae look at Maria like a mum, which is so pure and vulnerable it makes my heart hurt. All this time, Maria has been living with him, training him, making sure he’s healthy (remember when she checked his temperature in his sleep), protecting him from bullies, giving him advice, making he eats enough and just being there for him. They were essentially a family. But this chapter absolutely destroys that illusion. There can be no family between them, Maria’s traumatised in her pursuit of a happy ending and jitae’s helplessly lost in his. Look at the disgusted and terrified look on Maria’s face when she realises that jitae is undoubtedly like his father (in terms of ability) added to the scared, vulnerable and broken look on jitae when he realises that Maria isn’t his new mum but someone using him for her goals who looks at him the same way she looks at dae gak. That’s the true relationship between these two simply because any other one would be unrealistic. And to think, people had the nerve to question whether or 2hakkk knew what he was doing.

 

[gptemp8916]

Haha. The multiple rereads helped a bit. @Shinratensei16

I still think is an amazing chapter. But there's definitely a lot of tragic layers to it that make it hard to enjoy it. And yes, 2hakkk clearly knows what he's doing and had a plan for the story. @Starstorm1

 

[Heap]

There it is!!PLot! plot!! it's awful but i really do like that 2Hakkk is making it clear that she's literally traumatised, she can't separate ji-tae from his father and that demonic side is like a defence mechanism against those memories. And Ji-Tae? we'll see how this partnership works out, because he's been treating Maria as a friend and trainer, even reminded of his mother, but this cruelty is akin to his father; it's gonna mess him up. also, i'm glad i'm not the only one who put together a lot of the foreshadowing, or that i'm not the only whose mind was blown at why Maria wears armbands, or pick up on the fact that Maria wanted to do art

 

[Starstorm1]

gptemp8916. Oh yeah definitely, When I said that it changes the chapter, I meant that it elevates it because it went so much deeper that i was expecting. I think it was a phenomenal chapter either way. I’m just happy it’s getting the attention it deserves to be honest.