Ep. 23 - Play Dirty is the twenty-third episode of Hand Jumper.
Plot[]
We begin in Min's past. An aberrant, glowing with orange essence, is smugly talking to Min, telling him that his weakness is that he's too predictable. Min has his signature white hair, but is without the prominent scar on his left cheek. It is revealed that Min is bleeding and stuck against a wall, with wood and iron stuck in his arms and legs, and a iron bar coiled around his left arm, pinning it to the wall. The aberrant is sitting on a pile of bloodied, dismembered corpses, and tells Min that he's an idiot. Since "people assume of others what they know of themselves," and Min is a straightforward thinker, he assumes his opponent will act the same. The aberrant says that he told him to try and punch him, and that if Min succeeded, he would allow Min to live. However, he immediately attacked first and pinned him to a wall, making it impossible for Min to hit him. The stranger tells him that while Min played fair, he didn't. The aberrant's sword closes in on Min, and a transition to the present implies that this weapon caused Min's large facial scar.
We continue where the previous episode left off, with Sayeon telling Min that she won. In response, Min drops her to the ground. Sayeon stands up and complains about being dropped, and Min acknowledges that since she stood up, Sayeon's ankle truly is healed. Sayeon explains that she healed her ankle when he told her to focus on healing it, but since she has he eyes closed Min was unable to see her activating her essence. Sayeon tells Min that she actually did sprain her ankle, but did so on purpose, since she knew she couldn't punch Min using any normal approach. Thus she had to make Min approach her.
Responding to Min's frustrated look and tone, Sayeon tries to explain herself, and acknowledges that her tactic what somewhat unfair. Remembering his experience being defeated by the other aberrant who played unfair, Min acknowledges his defeat. He says that he should have realized she was not in pain, and while saying "That's my failing. Not yours." he appears to reach for his scar. Min tells Sayeon to return to the gym tomorrow morning so that he can train her. Sayeon tries to convince him to do it tonight, but Min demonstrates how exhausted she is by poking her and making her fall over. Telling her to go and rest, he leaves the gym. Sayeon looks on after him, and thinks of all of the times she used her essence that day. She remember not being able to do anything when faced with Jiwook in the warehouse (episode 16).
We switch to Jiwook, who is smoking in the rain and talking to himself about meeting with Red. He says that he can ask her what her sister was doing at the warehouse, thereby revealing that he has figured out that Sayeon is Samin's sister.