The Fifth Balance Game's Reward

The fifth Balance Game.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

[Above-average talent in many things vs. One exceptional talent]

I went with the romantic choice and picked the latter.

Romance aside, I figured I'd keep picking up all kinds of abilities through future Balance Games anyway, so locking in one truly exceptional talent felt like the smarter play.

The problem was, I had no idea what that exceptional talent actually was.

"What, you're not going to tell me this time either?"

Thinking about it, KokoaTalk had only promised to explain the bonus rewards. It had never said anything about spelling out the options themselves in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠detail.

So I was sitting here with some kind of outstanding talent already installed in me — and zero clue what it was.

I immediately started running experiments to figure it out.

When you hear "talent," the first things that come to mind are studying or athletics.

I grabbed a random book, cracked it open, and started reading. Nothing. No sudden speed-reading, no photographic memory. If anything, two years of barely touching a book since taking my leave of absence had left me even rustier than before.

Ruling out academics, I started moving my body.

"Hup—!"

Strength, stamina, flexibility — everything I could test at home, plus a full lap around the neighborhood at a run. Nothing felt meaningfully different.

Back home, I tried games next.

Talent matters less in gaming than people think, but still. I fired up League and queued a match. Lost in fifteen minutes. Great. I'd just gone on a three-win streak with Ajeong, and now my rank was dropping for nothing.

After that I tried cooking, singing, cleaning — every random skill that crossed my mind. Nothing remotely "exceptional" turned up.

That was when the anxious thoughts started creeping in.

What if it's a completely useless talent?

Back in high school, my friends used to say stuff like this:

"I was born with the talent to become a tenth-circle fire mage. Tragically, I was born into a world with no magic."

"Then I was born to be a stone-tool specialist who'd get filthy rich in the Paleolithic. Too bad technology advanced too far."

What if I'd been handed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a talent I could never even use? Even if it wasn't that extreme, it could still be something hyper-niche — like being a world-class instant-ramen chef. Zero practical application.

"Haa…"

The range of things that could count as a "talent" was so absurdly wide I couldn't even begin to guess.

Wait — the bonus reward?

It hit me late, but I decided to pin my hopes on that. Last time, KokoaTalk had messaged me about the bonus, so I opened the chat right away.

When did it notify me last time?

The first and only time I'd received a bonus reward, the message had arrived the moment I finished eating that shit-tasting curry. I'd assumed the bonus dropped after the Balance Game choice took effect — which meant this time it should have arrived the second I made my pick. It hadn't.

So there's a different trigger.

I scrolled up through the chat, hunting for anything I'd missed.

Huh?

The countdown hadn't stopped.

Instinctively, I realized something only kicked in once the timer hit zero.

So last time the timing just happened to line up by coincidence?

I didn't fully understand it, but I decided to wait the countdown out.

Just in case, I selected the option one more time.

Nothing changed.

Ten seconds left…

Is it coming?!

"There it is…"

Thankfully, the moment the countdown hit zero, another KokoaTalk message arrived. Almost identical to last time — with one key difference. As promised, it was actually explaining the bonus reward this round.

Even so, the details only unlocked after I chose, so it didn't help me pick right now.

Stats…

KokoaTalk itself was nudging me to consider the stat option. Last time I hadn't even hesitated before grabbing the new trait. This time, I actually paused.

This was a Balance Game too. A stat increase would deliver a benefit on roughly the same level as a new trait. Given that the reward was talent-related, the stats on offer were probably something like Learning Speed or Comprehension — which, if you thought about it, was basically the same as getting above-average talent across the board.

"Hmm…"

I deliberated, but not for long.

Even so, nothing quite matched the kind of change you got from a trait — a skill, basically. I'd been disappointed by Taste Alteration at first, and now I used it constantly. More than that, there was a chance the trait itself would help me identify the exceptional talent I'd just received.

This time, the reply came the instant I selected.

The speed was impossible if someone were typing a reply by hand. Even if they'd pre-copied both answers and just hit paste, it still didn't make sense. Whoever — or whatever — I was talking to clearly had nothing to do with the actual KokoaTalk company.

Curious as I was, figuring out their identity could wait. I checked the trait.

Eye for Talent…

A thirty-day cooldown was steep, but the ability justified it. Finding out what you're actually good at is one of the most important things a person can do. More than that — this was basically exactly the trait I'd been hoping for. And even with the cooldown, I could check other people's talents too. Jackpot.

Show me my talents.

…

My talents.

Jung Woohyun's talents.

"What the hell."

I'd followed the description exactly. Nothing happened.

"Target…?"

Did "target" not include myself?

Thankfully, no. A moment's thought made it obvious — it was an eye. I had to be looking at the target with my actual eyes.

I went straight to the bathroom and faced the mirror.

My talents.

Fwoosh—

A rectangular blue window materialized beside my face in the glass.

The first thing that jumped out was Appearance.

Wait — max level?

I'd known I'd gotten ridiculously good-looking, but seeing it displayed like this made it hit differently. The randomly assigned face had been the absolute best possible result. Landing an exceptional-tier talent through pure luck was both absurd and fantastic.

Appearance wasn't just the face, of course, but the face was clearly the biggest factor.

I only marveled for a second before refocusing on the real goal — identifying the new talent. As advertised, only three showed up. Besides Appearance, that left two: Magic (Sleight of Hand) at Lv MAX, and Strength Training at Lv 5.

The newly acquired talent had to be magic.

Magic…

Strength Training sitting at level 5 suggested MAX was probably around level 10.

Yeah, no wonder I couldn't figure it out.

I'd never done a single magic trick in my life. It hadn't even crossed my mind.

Can I just… do it right now?

What did MAX even mean in practical terms?

My looks are insane, sure, but have I actually leveraged them in any meaningful way…?

I had. Looking at the women I'd gotten involved with lately, it was almost unfair. But unlike looks, magic required me to actually do something. Sitting still wouldn't activate it.

Having never performed a trick, I searched online. The absolute basics came with instructions. Anything beyond that did not.

…

I waited for some instinctive knowledge to surface. It didn't.

Right — this wasn't a skill. It was a talent, pure and simple. The focus wasn't on what I could do immediately, but on potential. I still needed at least a minimal clue before I could pull off related tricks. I didn't have that level of ability yet — but I could reach high-level results at an accelerated rate. And the ceiling I could hit would be relatively high, too.

The first thing I tried was a coin trick.

Even with incomplete instructions, my hands were already moving.

"Whoa."

I'd never done this before, and yet my fingers were flying with insane precision. It felt like my conscious mind couldn't keep up with the talent. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no idea how I was doing it — couldn't even grasp the exact principle — but magic was happening in my hands right now.

I spent the rest of the night hunting down magic videos before finally falling asleep.

The next day — Monday.

I left the house earlier than usual and stopped somewhere that wasn't the gym.

A flower shop.

I'd watched a ton of magic videos last night, but without the props I couldn't try most of them. I'd ordered the basic tools online, but for flowers I wanted to use real ones.

I picked red tulips. The kind people give as a confession of affection.

Timing-wise, right after our workout, just before heading home, felt perfect.

I couldn't wait to see Ajeong's face when I pulled it off.

"You seem like you're in a good mood today."

"Do I?"

"Yeah! You've been smiling this whole time. Something good happen?"

"Mm, something like that."

Nothing good had happened yet — but the anticipation of what was coming must have been written all over my face. Between planning to shock her with a flower trick and hoping to leave her genuinely moved, I was having a harder time focusing on the workout than usual.

"Woohyun, you're hanging out and talking with me after this again, right?"

"Obviously."

If anything, I was the one looking forward to it.

"Hehe… I've got a present for you later."

"What is it?"

"It's a seeecret. You're gonna love it, Woohyun!"