Chapter 43. The First Smile I Saw

***

After calming Grecia down and continuing our conversation for a while, I could understand why she had said such strange things.

“In short… you want to reach Talent Level 4? Is that it?”
“If you simplify it, that’s correct. Han Chunsung, just as you’ve reached Level 4, I want to rise to Talent Level 4 too. And I also want to understand you better.”

Facing Grecia who was finally speaking sensibly, I slowly nodded.

Competitiveness. No, Grecia strongly reflected an emotion that should be called ambition. She seemed to have been pushing herself too hard recently.

Even her current appearance was disheveled, suggesting she had been training intensively, and she seemed to be straining to reach Level 4 somehow.

I couldn’t help but laugh when she mentioned being utterly defeated in a duel with Leonhardt.

As she looked at me, saying it was frustrating, to me it seemed like a very natural result.

‘Well, of course.’

Leonhardt is the protagonist of this world. Moreover, he was close to ‘perfect’ from the start.

Talent, aptitude, personality, appearance – there wasn’t a single flaw in him.

Even if his naive and kind personality caused some crises in the early stages, by the middle and late stages, he would gain composure and completely avoid being deceived by anyone.

‘Come to think of it, should that be attributed to Yumia’s influence by his side?’

With Yumia assisting him in various ways, there was no need to worry about scammers and other trash clinging to him.

He is truly the protagonist of this world, and despite his insane growth rate, he overwhelms his surroundings with a strong light from the beginning.

An existence that shines so brightly that everyone can’t help but notice and pay attention to…

He was the epitome of a munchkin. That’s who Leonhardt was.

It would surely be difficult for any ordinary person to even maintain a duel with him…

“…”

I suddenly stopped my train of thought.

Thinking of Leonhardt as the protagonist, I naturally centered my thoughts on him. But then I realized that I had achieved a draw in my duel with him.

Although it was a result of various factors like the compatibility between spearmanship and swordsmanship transcending Talent grades, and the difference in Talent levels, the fact that I had drawn with him was a ‘fact’ and ‘reality’.

…And that might have more significance than I thought.

“Han Chunsung, I’m not asking you to tell me the same realization you gained. Just stay by my side. I’ll try to understand you, I’ll judge for myself how you could become so strong by watching you, and I’ll learn from you that you’ve reached mental completion.”

Grecia’s serious voice that followed made me laugh involuntarily.

“Completion…?”

Muttering one of the words Grecia had said, I unconsciously turned my head to meet her eyes.

“…”

Her brilliantly shining blue eyes were looking at me so directly.

As if asking me to accept her words as they were. Feeling the intense desire in them… I could sense her sincerity.

There seemed to be no falsehood in her words or actions.

An absolute competitive spirit and a strong will to move forward.

‘Is this why Grecia becomes a named character?’

Although Grecia’s role in the novel was small because she wasn’t involved with Leonhardt, I realized why she was a named character who always ranked at the top just by meeting her gaze.

Above all, she had ambition. An absolute will to move forward somehow.

But that made me smile.

‘Yet to call me complete…’

Really. That word, how should I put it. It was enough to make me feel strange.

I thought I was pretty good at ‘self-objectification’ even by my own standards.

That hadn’t changed much from my original reality to this world of Groa.

So I tend to think about the path I should take, how I should do things, and act on it.

I’ve never thought I was lagging behind others.

Because I know objectively what I need to do to get ahead, to advance further.

And right now, I’m really… nothing.

It’s just the beginning of the academy.

When students are generally struggling at Talent Level 2, I’ve just shown promise early on.

Of course, reaching Talent Level 4 on the day of the entrance ceremony was an incredibly significant evolution and growth rate beyond common sense. But that will naturally be caught up to in about a year.

Therefore, I had no room for complacency.

I had to keep pushing forward hard, either breaking through or overcoming the obstacles in front of me.

The potential of Legendary, Unique, and Rare Talents. I know how much potential they hold each time they evolve in level.

So, I had to push forward hard before they caught up to me.

When others take one step forward.
I take two steps. No, three steps forward, looking ahead.

That’s the only way I can stay ahead of them.

“Han Chunsung. Did I… say something strange?”

As I remained silent for a moment, Grecia cautiously asked as if finding it odd, and I slowly shook my head.

If I voiced my current thoughts, it would seem like deception to Grecia. So, I kept them to myself and spoke something else.

“No, it’s not strange. Grecia, I think that mindset is definitely good. And you remembered exactly what I said.”
“…Of course. It hasn’t even been a week yet.”

The words about needing to be with me to understand me. They were just words from that moment, but Grecia was placing great significance on them.

So I found myself pondering a little about what to do right now.

Meeting four times a week is clearly too much. I now understand why she wants to be with me, but what’s not possible is not possible.

“Instead, since tomorrow is Friday. Let’s meet on Friday and Sunday this week. We’ll keep it at twice a week for now, and we can think about increasing it later.”

Since the entrance ceremony was on Tuesday, the previously promised Tuesday and Sunday meetings were a bit awkward, but for now, it seemed good to fill those two days and think again later.

“Friday and Sunday…”

Seeing her disappointed expression at my words, I smiled slightly, feeling oddly curious.

From the day we first talked, when Grecia treated me lightly, so much had changed between us in just a few days that it was hard to believe it was the same Grecia.

ㅡUnique grade with Level 3 Talent.

She was in such a position. Even now, Grecia was probably among the top students in A-Class.

Although I had reached Level 3 as a Common, Unique Level 3 was qualitatively completely different.

I experienced how strong Leonhardt was with his Legendary Level 3, and I couldn’t beat him even at Level 4.

That’s how much difference there is in Talent grades.

Organizing my thoughts, I felt it was time to end this meeting.

“Grecia, it’s gotten quite late today. You can ask one question if you’re curious about something. Let’s wrap up with that.”

We had already been talking for over an hour.

It was now approaching 10 o’clock.

…Honestly, I was a bit tired.

“One question?”
“Yes. One. You can ask anything. Whether it’s about realization or whatever, I’ll answer anything I can.”

The initial realizations weren’t really that valuable.

It wouldn’t hurt to tell anyone. If this makes Grecia feel more favorably towards me, that’s enough.

“Hmm…”

At my words, Grecia seemed to be pondering deeply.

As if she thought I had the key to reaching Talent Level 4.

“Then, Han Chunsung. I’ll ask one thing about your duel with Leonhardt.”
“Okay. What do you want to know?”
“After the duel ended. What did you feel when you looked at Leonhardt?”

I hesitated for a moment at her question.

…I thought she would ask about some realization, but she threw a very peculiar question.

What did I feel from the duel with him. Thinking for a moment, I hesitated to answer immediately.

Too many things came to mind.

But the answer was set. One answer was enough.

“Strong.”
“…Strong?”
“Yes. I thought that Leonhardt is indeed stronger than me. In fact, I felt like I had almost lost the duel. So I could acknowledge that he’s strong. And also the fact that I need to work harder.”

I wanted to say that he’s the protagonist of this world, but putting it a bit differently, ‘strong’ seemed to fit perfectly.

Even I, who had reached Talent Level 4, couldn’t beat him who had reached Level 3.

That was the objective difference in power.

I gained a lot from the duel. I dueled with the one who will become the strongest in this world, and from that duel, I gained confidence.

Great confidence that I could move forward with the spear I held.

“……”

As Grecia seemed lost in thought at my words, I gently stood up.

The directions to our respective dormitories were different.

So it didn’t seem bad to part ways here.

“Then I’ll go first.”

Step.
Step.

After taking a few steps while saying that.

“Wait.”

Her firm voice unconsciously stopped me in my tracks.

As I turned my head, Grecia was quickly approaching me.

Then she took something out of her pocket and held it out to me, and my eyes widened involuntarily.

“This is payment for answering my question.”

As she said that and extended her hand, there was a glowing coin in it.

A coin shining with a golden light.

It was gold, unbelievably, it was gold.

“You’re giving gold for one question?”

I found myself asking before accepting it.

Even so, the payment for the question was too much. I just talked about my feelings from the duel, and it wasn’t a realization or anything else.

It was just something I would have easily answered if asked casually. Nothing more than that.

“It’s fine. I gained more than that. Here, take it quickly.”

She directly grabbed my hand and placed the gold in it, and even as I received the gold, I felt strange.

‘Just how much.’

How much money did Grecia have on hand?

To readily give gold for such a light answer. Originally, the monthly allowance given to C-Class students by the academy was 20 silver.

That alone was enough to live and eat without burden.

…But at this moment, I had received an amount equivalent to 5 months’ worth.

“Then I’ll be going. Han Chunsung, thank you for staying with me today.”

As she passed by me with a light smile, I found myself staring at her as if entranced.

‘For the first time.’

Grecia smiling like that…

It was definitely the first time.

***

Click.

Returning to her dormitory, Grecia immediately started taking off her clothes, which had become almost like rags.

Due to the long training, her clothes were full of various impurities.

Rustle, rustle.

With the sound of clothes brushing, she soon became naked and headed straight for the bathroom.

ㅡ!

As soon as she activated the magic stone, warm water started pouring.

Shaaaaa

As she met the stream of water, Grecia slowly closed her eyes.

After entrusting her body to the water stream for a while, she suddenly spoke.

“Acknowledging the strength of the opponent.”

It felt like she had gained a clue to evolution. And the most important one at that.

Not just focusing on training while thinking only of oneself, but facing the opponent and acknowledging their strength.

Han Chunsung had given her such a realization with just one sentence.

As she brushed her hair up, she couldn’t help but smile.

It might have seemed like an obvious statement, but to her, it didn’t feel obvious at all.

After all, she had focused on winning in duels. When she lost to Leonhardt in the duel, she had no thoughts at all.

ㅡA wall.

She couldn’t surpass him with Talent or aptitude or anything else. That feeling was so strong that nothing else even crossed her mind.

The thoughts she had after the duel with Leonhardt were truly pathetic.

But Han Chunsung’s answer was different from the start.

He was the only one who had drawn with Leonhardt in a duel, and instead of thinking about winning or losing, he directly faced the opponent’s strength.

…And he aims to move forward.

“How can he really do that…”

As she muttered blankly, she found it amazing.

It was hard to believe that he had such thoughts even after a duel where he poured everything out.

She wondered just how mentally complete one had to be to have such thoughts. The more she thought about it, the more amazed she was by Han Chunsung.

“Friday.”

Then she remembered that she could meet him again tomorrow.

As she slowly washed her body, a smile escaped her lips.

It was a smile that she herself wasn’t even aware of.