The Heavenly Demon Gives Advice (2)
The Heavenly Demon's advice could be summed up in a single phrase: women were beautiful. Her gaze swept the room with cool indifference. Her skin was flawless, like polished marble without a single speck of dust. Her short hair brushed her shoulders. Even in a hoodie that looked like something she'd thrown on at home, she somehow made you think of both "cool" and "beautiful" at the same time. She was someone Seo-woo felt like he'd seen before. Where? Where had he seen her? Not in real life—if he had, he wouldn't have forgotten. Maybe on another stream or MyTube...
"Hwaryeong?"
The name slipped out of Seo-woo's mouth as he mulled it over, and everyone in the conference room unconsciously nodded. They had all been feeling the same sense of déjà vu, and that single word made it click. That was it. She resembled Hwaryeong—the very person who had caused countless controversies since her debut and was the reason this meeting was even happening.
While everyone was still overwhelmed by the woman's unique presence, the director's voice broke the silence.
"Seo-woo. Who is she?"
"Someone you all know. It's Hwaryeong."
"...You mean that internet streamer Hwaryeong?"
"Yes. I have a personal connection with her, so I invited her. I thought she could give a clear answer to the issues you've all been struggling with."
If the person Han Seo-woo had brought was truly Hwaryeong, then she was indeed the most helpful person they could have right now. After all, she was the one who had taken the concept of the Principle of Nothingness—which had once been exclusive to Seo-woo—and spread it to the public. That much was true, but there were still several things that needed to be addressed first.
The director frowned slightly before relaxing his expression and forcing a gentle smile.
"Hwaryeong, could you step outside for a moment? It won't take long."
"Understood."
The moment Hwaryeong closed the door behind her, the smile vanished from the director's face.
"Seo-woo. Do you know what you did wrong?"
"...Yes?"
"I understand that you brought Hwaryeong here for the sake of our team. But you should have at least given me a heads-up first. No matter how skilled she is, she's still an outsider."
"Ah."
The director's scolding continued without raised voices or curses. He simply pointed out Seo-woo's mistakes one by one with an utterly serious expression. It was the kind of scene that made you wish he'd just swear at you instead.
*
While fiddling with my smartphone and listening to the conversation inside, I couldn't hold back a hollow laugh. They had summoned me here so casually that I'd assumed everything had already been discussed. But apparently, nothing had been arranged at all? I'd heard he was a long-time professional Apis player, but if he couldn't even handle something this basic, what was the point? When living in a group, there are procedures that need to be followed. Well, it's not my problem, so I won't concern myself with it.
Just as I was thinking that and waiting, the door opened again.
"Hwaryeong?"
"Yes."
The man who had been meticulously listing Seo-woo's faults just moments ago now wore a reassuring smile, as if that terrifying demeanor had never existed. So he's an adult after all. He knows how to separate work from personal matters. In contrast, Han Seo-woo, who looked like he'd had his soul sucked out inside, was beyond pathetic.
"Hello. I'm Park So-yoon, the director of QZ Gaming."
"So-yoon, then."
"Yes. Please come inside."
The moment I stepped into the room, I felt everyone's eyes lock onto me.
"Before we begin the proper discussion, could you introduce yourself?"
"Of course. Hello, I'm Hwaryeong, a streamer active on Turret. I came here at Seo-woo's invitation."
"Thank you. From what Seo-woo told me, you've come to explain the Principle of Nothingness."
"That's right. He asked me to. He said he was completely hopeless at explaining things himself and begged me to save him, grabbing my ankle and all. I had no choice."
When I openly pointed out Seo-woo's shortcomings, several people near the table chuckled. It seemed they all agreed that Seo-woo was terrible at explanations.
"You're the one who popularized the Principle of Nothingness, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"In your opinion, what exactly is the Principle of Nothingness? Is it essential for using martial arts?"
"I'd like to ask the opposite. If you're not going to learn the Principle of Nothingness, why bother using martial arts at all?"
I asked because I genuinely couldn't understand. The process of learning martial arts is about following the principles of the technique you're trying to master. You walk the path created by those who founded and developed the art, internalize its principles, and eventually inscribe your own upon them. That is the very reason for learning martial arts. So if you're going to ignore the principles, why learn martial arts in the first place?
"The Principle of Nothingness is the foundation. It's absolutely necessary to properly use martial arts."
Modern people use martial arts in VR through the correction feature, but originally, that should be impossible. Without understanding the Principle of Nothingness, one shouldn't be able to wield martial arts at all. It's similar to using a calculator. With it, you can get the right answer without knowing the proper calculation method. However, you won't understand the underlying principles, and you won't be able to progress further.
The moment I finished repeating what I'd said countless times on my stream, someone raised their hand.
"I have a question. I understand that learning the Principle of Nothingness allows one to properly use martial arts. But it can't be applied to everyone, can it?"
"What do you mean by that?"
When I asked for clarification on the coach's words, he continued. He claimed that using martial arts through the Principle of Nothingness was only permitted for a few talented individuals like Han Seo-woo.
"I'm sorry, but do you believe that someone without talent can't do one plus one?"
"That's different from this."
"I think they're the same."
Of course, martial arts are generous to the talented and cold to the untalented. However, no talent is required to encounter the Principle of Nothingness. What is the fundamental purpose of martial arts? It exists so that powerless humans can stand against beings far stronger than themselves. If not everyone can stand at that starting point, what meaning does it have? Not everyone may reach the end of martial arts, but standing at the same starting point should be possible. That is what martial arts are.
Once I finished my explanation, the coaches began discussing among themselves. They seemed unsure how to take my words. I couldn't understand how they failed to grasp such a simple and obvious principle. This was the kind of moment that made me crave my pipe. Modern times are so inconvenient. I can't just smoke my pipe without worrying about rules.
It looked like it would take quite some time for them to exchange opinions, so I excused myself to get some fresh air and left the room.
*
After hearing Hwaryeong's explanation, Seo-woo's only thought was that Han Seo-woo was absolutely terrible at explaining things. Until now, the coaches had to somehow interpret Seo-woo's incomprehensible ramblings. How well could people who knew nothing about martial arts understand those explanations? Naturally, countless distortions had occurred in the process, and the coaches had come to believe that the Principle of Nothingness was something only granted to geniuses.
But in this moment, Seo-woo realized that everything had started wrong from the beginning. Hwaryeong's undistorted explanation was so simple that you could understand it without even trying. What the Principle of Nothingness was. Why one needed to learn it. Whether there were any restrictions on learning it. So this was the original meaning of everything he and the other coaches had been racking their brains to interpret.
While the other coaches discussed among themselves, Seo-woo sat in silence, staring blankly at the desk. The realization that all their efforts until now had been meaningless was so hollow and empty that he didn't know what to do.
"Has everyone's opinion changed now?"
At Park So-yoon's question, Seo-woo lifted his head and nodded weakly. Every point that had been debated between the director and the coaching staff had just been refuted by Hwaryeong's explanation, so there was no reason to object.
However, not everyone shared Seo-woo's thoughts.
"Even so, how can we trust her words? She's just an internet streamer who's good at games, nothing more."
These were the same coaches who had been arguing with the director just moments ago. Even if someone gave them the correct answer, it wasn't easy to change their stance immediately. There were always those who would turn away from the truth even when they knew it.
When one coach raised his voice, Han Seo-woo—who had been sulking in the corner after being scolded by So-yoon—suddenly jumped forward.
"Hwaryeong is better at Apis than I am."
The conference room fell silent at Seo-woo's words. Who was Han Seo-woo? He was always mentioned whenever someone asked for the best Apis player in the world. He was a player who couldn't count his championship trophies with both hands. And now he was saying someone was better than him at Apis?
"Is that true?"
"Yes. If we fought a thousand times, I'd lose all thousand. Even if all our team's pros attacked at once, I don't think they'd win."
"Even so, that's—"
"Have you ever seen me talk nonsense about someone else's skills?"
That was true. While Han Seo-woo was usually more lax than meticulous, when it came to the game Apis, he was different. He would never lie about something like this.
"She's the person who understands martial arts the best in the entire world right now. There's no doubt about her skill."
At Seo-woo's firm declaration, the conference room fell silent once again.
*
I had come outside to smoke my pipe, but there was one thing I'd forgotten. This was my first time visiting this building. So I had no idea where the designated smoking area was. As I wandered aimlessly, I remembered this fact and started looking for someone to ask. Let's see. There are a lot of people over there. If I go there, someone should be able to answer.
Eventually, I found myself in a room filled with rows of VR capsules. Two capsules were occupied, while the rest of the people were watching a screen broadcasting a fight in Apis. One side was the Sword God, the other the Fist King. Either way, their movements weren't bad, but they were still fools being controlled by their own movements. How pathetic. Surely these weren't people who made a living from this?