The Talent to Keep Going

Happiness, ironically enough, grew larger through lack, longing, and unhappiness.

When he was young, Seonwoo had been born with a frail body that was not meant to live long.

Instinctively, he had yearned for parental love from his father and mother, only to be turned away. It hurt, and it hurt terribly, but because that had been the natural shape of his life, he had accepted it without resistance.

But everything changed when Seonwoo was given a tablet.

A tablet issued to him because the law required him to complete compulsory education.

Through that tablet, Seonwoo was able, at least indirectly, to learn about the world outside his room.

And when he encountered Goddess Saga—

At last, he came to understand what family, friends, and comrades were.

And he began to long for them.

He learned what he lacked, and once he knew, he started yearning for what was missing.

He had never learned how to suppress that yearning, so it only kept growing.

Then, at the very end of his life, that ever-growing longing had been fulfilled like a miracle.

What he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wished for became reality.

And so he was simply happy, and in order to reach for an even greater happiness, he moved forward, and forward again.

She nodded, understanding the heart inside him.

How had he not broken, even after countless repetitions?

He was, in the end, only an ordinary human who had never managed to forge an unshakable self.

To be slowly worn away was more painful than being vaporized in an instant by overwhelming firepower.

And for an ordinary human, that span of time had been far too vast.

Especially when it had been a repetition of failure and misery.

To the question in her eyes—and the cat's—Seonwoo answered with a faint smile.

"Because to me, that was normal."

"That... was normal to you?"

"Yes. I've never been someone who could do things well on the first try."

Not getting up.

Not breathing.

Not even being born.

Seonwoo knew better than anyone that there had never been a single thing he had done well in one attempt.

That was who he was.

Which was why, when he first played Goddess Saga, he hadn't given up even in situations where an ordinary person would have quit hundreds, thousands of times over.

Even after losing to a single early-game boss hundreds of times.

Even when he still couldn't see any way to beat it.

I'm just like this.

So he had simply kept challenging it.

But that was not the doggedness of a loser who accepted failure and defeat as natural.

Someday, I can win.

It was the certainty that someday he would triumph, and with that certainty he had kept moving without stopping.

Goddess Saga had boasted a scale so massive it was hard to believe it was a mobile game from that era.

Even so, it had still been, in the end, a mobile game.

And somehow, unbelievably, it had taken Seonwoo three years to clear it for the first time.

That was how long it had taken a child who knew nothing to reach the first ending.

In other words, even if it took him three years, Seonwoo was the kind of person who would keep moving and eventually clear it no matter what.

After that, he had kept replaying it, over and over, yearning for family and comrades, until he became someone worthy of being called a veteran master.

But even then, the road Seonwoo had walked was rough, ugly, and so clumsy it would be hard to retrace ever again.

Still—

"My only strength is probably that I keep moving forward."

Even with enough regret piled up to reach this place, Hanwa, Seonwoo had walked a path that was slow and ugly, but never stopped.

Like an ordinary human being, smiling all the while.

"Ha, haha. Hahahahaha! I see. So that was it!"

And when she heard that story, she laughed.

Loudly.

Delightedly, without caring for anything else.

And in her eyes, which looked as though the cosmos itself had unfolded within them, Seonwoo was reflected with perfect clarity.

"To keep moving forward. So that, and that alone, was your talent. I see now."

Seonwoo smiled awkwardly.

"Isn't it a bit much to call that a talent?"

"No, no. It is a talent more precious and greater than anything else. A talent that even I cannot help but envy."

-...What?

The cat perched on her shoulder stared wide-eyed.

Seonwoo realized for the first time that even an animal's face could express shock that vividly.

-Envy...?

-Lady Seorin?

"Haha! Yes. I truly do envy it. Never in my life have I envied another person's talent. But I suppose if one lives long enough, one is bound to experience all sorts of things."

It was a little hard to keep up with the conversation.

From the sound of it, the fact that she could envy anything at all was something astonishing.

And then—

"So then, young hero."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, young hero. If you are willing, would you learn martial arts from me?"

"...!"

This time, Seonwoo's eyes widened.

Would you learn martial arts from me?

That had been one of the longings inside him that had only grown larger through countless repetitions.

But then, almost immediately, the warmth drained from his expression with startling clarity.

"Thank you. But..."

"Is there something about it that troubles you?"

Seonwoo shook his head firmly.

"No. I'm incredibly happy. It's something I've truly wanted, over and over again. But..."

Back when he had first arrived in Goddess Saga, a time that now felt impossibly distant, Seonwoo had already thought that what he needed to change the future was martial arts.

At the second beginning—after his first failure, after his first Restart—

he had learned that even the body he had here was far weaker than an ordinary person's.

He had also learned that he possessed no talent whatsoever for Mana.

So he had decided that if he wanted to change everything, he needed to learn martial arts.

Because if he mastered martial arts, he could fundamentally change his constitution.

One way or another.

If there was a next chance, he had believed he would eventually be able to change the future through martial arts.

But now—

even after repeating ages so vast they could not be counted, Seonwoo still could not use anything that could truly be called martial arts.

Because he had never been able to learn it.

-I'll be honest with you. You have no talent.

-Please don't misunderstand me. In all my life, I've never seen anyone as untalented as you.

-Martial arts would be a waste of time for you. Don't spend your short life on it.

Seonwoo spoke with a smile.

"I don't have any talent for it. Truly. Not even a little."

In martial arts, talent was as indispensable as breathing itself.

If you lacked talent, you could not even begin.

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

Even in sports like soccer or basketball, there were heights one could never reach without innate physical gifts and talent.

So what about martial arts, a path meant to transcend human limits altogether?

He had lived through immeasurable ages, and not for a single moment had he ever been lazy in training.

Before each final battle, he had forced the issue and wrung at least a few words of instruction from extraordinary masters.

And yet, because he had no talent, Seonwoo had never managed to so much as enter the gateway of martial arts.

And on top of that, there was the body reset by Restart.

Within the span of life given to him each time, the greatest limit Seonwoo had ever managed to reach was D-grade.

Even after accumulating time so vast it bordered on the absurd, all he had reached was D-grade.

"I'm truly grateful for the offer. But I don't think I can live up to your... expectations."

Even a fool could tell.

He knew how extraordinary the being before him was.

There was no way Seonwoo could ever meet the standards behind martial arts taught by someone like her.

He knew from experience that things like this had to be said upfront, before they could sour into discord.

So Seonwoo had steadied the joy inside him and spoken the truth.

"Hahahaha!"

And she laughed again.

Brightly. Freely.

"Young hero, you need not worry about such a thing. Do you know why?"

"...No."

"Because it does not matter in the slightest. What you worry about is talent, is it not? This talent that is supposedly so important in learning martial arts."

"Yes."

"Even if you were the most hopeless fool in history, I would not care. It would not be a problem at all."

"What people call talent is merely the standard of the mundane world. But you see..."

"To my eyes, the greatest prodigy in all ages and the greatest dullard in all ages look nearly the same."

"...What?"

It was absurd.

It should have sounded absurd.

No matter what, how could anyone accept the claim that the greatest genius in history and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠greatest fool in history looked almost the same?

"From where I stand, it is no different from slow creatures crawling along the ground and competing over a speed so meaningless it may as well not exist."

And yet when she said it, it did not sound empty.

It sounded like a simple fact.

Because she truly, sincerely believed it.

She grinned.

With a smile so dazzling it almost stole his breath, she said,

"Not crawling on the ground, but reaching the heavens, and going beyond even that, until at last one advances through the boundless cosmos."

"Measured against that goal, the sort of talent the world speaks of is too trivial to even matter."

"It does not matter if one begins a little slower or faster. What truly matters is not stopping."

And meeting her gaze, Seonwoo murmured before he even realized he was speaking.

"Not... stopping."

"Exactly! There is only one thing required. To keep moving forward without stopping."

"And since you possess the greatest talent I have ever seen, how could I not covet you as a disciple?"

"I promise you this. What I pass on to you will be the greatest martial art under heaven."

"And so long as your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will does not break, it will be a martial art that can carry you anywhere."

"So I ask again, young hero. Will you become my disciple?"

Her sincerity reached him without the slightest doubt.

Smiling, Seonwoo nodded.

"Yes. I want to."

He had longed for this.

It had been one of the lacks, one of the desires that had only grown over an uncountable span of years.

And now that the one thing that had held him back—his lack of talent—had been declared irrelevant, there was no reason left to refuse.

"Good! Very good! Never did I think that after dying, I would see a day this joyous."

At Seonwoo's acceptance, she was so openly delighted that Seonwoo almost wondered if it was really all right for her to be this happy.

"Then let us form a master-disciple bond."

There was no need for excessive ceremony, she said, so they would keep it simple.

Following her instructions, Seonwoo showed the proper respect and bowed, and with that, they became master and disciple.

"My name is Seong Seorin. From now on, you are to call me Master."

For the first time, he had gained a master of martial arts.

"Yes, Master."

"Haha! Wonderful. So this is what it feels like to be called Master by a disciple!"

Apparently, having a disciple was a first for Seong Seorin as well.

That seemed to make her all the happier as she continued.

"The martial art I will pass on to you is called Do-jin-gong."

Do-jin-gong.

It meant a martial art that advanced along the path.

"And in the world, it is known as Cheonma Shingong."

"What?"

"It is widely known throughout the world as Cheonma Shingong."

Seonwoo's eyes widened as far as they physically could.

Cheonma Shingong? Then Master is...

There had been a legend in Murim, the dimension of another intelligent race humanity had encountered.

It was said that if only that being had existed, Murim would never have fallen.

The name of that being was the Heavenly Demon.

A being whose name alone had once been mentioned in Goddess Saga.