Chapter 178: Reaching an End of a Vicious Test
“Chi-Hyun,” squatting with his barbell like every other day, Chi-Woo asked, “What does it mean for a person’s physical ability level to be rank C?”
Chi-Hyun, who was training with him, snorted.
“…A rank C is a rank C,” Chi-Hyun answered and let out a long sigh. “Why are you suddenly asking me that?”
“Just ‘cause. I was curious.”
“Hm.” Chi-Hyun glanced at his brother. Besides mental fort.i.tude, all of Chi-Woo’s physical abilities were rank D on average. It seemed that his brother was simply curious rather than whining about when his abilities were going to increase in rank. Then there was no reason for him to not give Chi-Woo an answer.
“A growth system is a form of absolute measure. It’s a standard that’s applied to all without exception, and the one who decided on the standard is, of course, the Celestial Realm.” Chi-Hyun sat back down and continued after taking a deep breath, “For example, we can rank a magician according to different standards.”
“Like what…from 1 to 9?”
“That’s the most common ranking system, but let’s say rank F to rank S to match Liber’s system.”
“Okay.”
“Imagine that a magician is trying to go from rank F to E. Thus, they asked the magician council about it and got a response saying that they needed to know at least 15 spells out of the 30 spells an E rank was expected to know.” In other words, the magician needed to learn 15 spells to become an E rank. This was no different from Liber’s growth system.
“Ah, that’s why it’s absolute…”
“Yes, the standard that the growth systems expect you to reach to rise in rank is absolutely fixed.”
“Does that mean different species would have completely different starting ranks?”
“Yes. A species especially gifted in strength can be born at rank B.”
“Then what about us…?”
“We are humans, more specifically earthlings,” Chi-Hyun responded, “We can rank up our physical abilities with training, but there’s a limit for us, like all species. Our maximum limit is considerably low.”
“Maximum limit?”
Chi-Hyun got up and slowly breathed. Then he put down the barbell and wiped his sweat away. “No matter how much one works or how talented and gifted they are, there’s no changing the fact that they are human, and there’s a bar they cannot exceed. Thus, no matter how many decades an earthling trains, it’s impossible for them to uproot a mountain and throw it. That is the maximum limit of each species.”
Chi-Hyun brushed his hands and stomped up to Chi-Woo. “And if you ask me how great a C rank is…you know, I went to a martial arts world a couple of times. Can you guess how much power an ordinary person would be able to ama.s.s after training themselves their whole lives without any sort of miracle or blessing?”
Chi-Woo shook his head.
“If that person comes to Liber in that state, the growth system would rank their strength C.”
Chi-Woo’s mouth gaped open slightly. To think a person could train their whole lives and be stuck at rank C. It really hit him then what he had achieved. It also meant that he should’ve only been able to reach rank C even if he trained all his life normally.
“But—”
“That’s where the growth system comes into the picture,” Chi-Hyun answered Chi-Woo’s question before he voiced it. “The growth system allows users to rise in ranks after meeting certain requirements, and as a result, turns a hero into a superhuman.”
This was the reason Noel had been so glad to hear that a growth system had been established on Liber; with it, there was a way for each species to surpa.s.s their limit.
“Of course, there are other methods besides using the growth system.”
“Natural talent?”
“Like medicine…huh? What did you just say?”
“Isn’t having a natural talent most important?”
Chi-Hyun slowly stroked his chin and said firmly, “No.”
“It’s not?” Chi-Woo’s eyes widened.
“Of course, natural talent does affect one’s growth. I admit it. But when a person is trying to surpa.s.s the limit of their species, natural talent becomes meaningless.”
Chi-Woo didn’t seem to understand. Thus, Chi-Hyun continued.
“Talent dictates speed.”
“Go on.”
“Say a kid showed exceptional talent in math and learned calculus at the age of five. That kid must be a genius right?”
“I guess so…?”
“But calculus is something that most ordinary people could learn once they get to high school even if it takes a bit more time.”
Chi-Woo agreed to this.
“Just because the young child learned faster than others, who could guarantee that they would reach a greater height than anyone else?”
“That’s…” It was then Chi-Woo realized what his brother was saying.
“You could say natural talent determines the pace of individual growth. But what decides how much a person can progress and how far they can surpa.s.s their species’ limit is one’s dormant potential.”
Chi-woo’s eyes widened further. The term ‘talent’ was relative. Someone who was a genius in their hometown would meet crowds of students on the same level if they enrolled in Seoul National University. And how would they compare with students from universities all over the world? What about the whole universe? One’s talent became less unique and special the wider the scope of comparison. Of course, there were very few figures who could be called genius when compared to talents across the whole galaxy. Thus, heroes who had worked for a long time soon realized one truth: that with the exception of the very few, natural talent would soon become overshadowed. Thus, when people of similar talents competed, their hidden potential differentiated them from one another.
Geniuses quickly progressed, but they soon reached their limits; and when they couldn’t surpa.s.s their limits, they despaired and grew stagnant. On the other hand, those born with exceedingly high potential had no limit. Whether they started early or late, they would go further than anyone else without hitting a wall as long as they continued to move forward—like it was always supposed to be that way. Such individuals weren’t known as ‘geniuses’, but called ‘monsters’ or ‘G.o.ds’ with fear and awe.
“…I went on a tangent.” Chi-Hyun lifted his shoulders. He had planned just to teach his brother about rank C and ended up giving a whole lecture. “Well, I think I answered your question well enough…” He glanced at his brother. “There’s no need for you to be so fixated about only training. Utilizing the growth system is also an option. How about—”
“No!” Chi-Woo jumped out of his seat and shook his head. “ I won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Well, because it would be a waste, wouldn’t it?” Chi-Woo smirked and lifted his barbell. “I don’t know how great my potential is, so I want to save as many merits as possible. Maybe I can raise my ability to rank A through training alone and push it further up with the system after that…”
Hearing this, Chi-Hyun realized that his brother had completely understood what he said. He began to wonder if he had revealed something he shouldn’t have. In the end, Chi-Hyun watched as Chi-Woo did squats with the barbell and smiled wryly. Truthfully, regardless of talent, even Chi-Hyun didn’t know the limit of Chi-Woo’s potential.
* * *
Time pa.s.sed like an endless stream. One month blurred into two, then three. The entire time, Chi-Woo consistently and earnestly trained, surprising Chi-Hyun further. He thought Chi-Woo would surely whine all the time since his parents always let Chi-Woo get away with anything and showered him with love. At the very least, he thought Chi-Woo would call it quits once.
And yet Chi-Woo repeated the same training every day and showed no sign of going astray or doing things sloppily. He didn’t appear anxious, nor did he act out. Like a farmer waiting for harvest, he quietly sowed seeds under the scorching sun. His effort was neither excessive nor lacking, but perfect.
Of course, from Chi-Woo’s perspective, the training was still torturous and hard. He would be lying if he said it wasn’t boring. But after talking with his brother and Philip, Chi-Woo had a change of mind. If rank C was something a person could only reach after training all their lives, it seemed preposterous that he would already be rank D right now, and too self-centered of him to expect progress just because he worked hard for a couple of months. Moreover, Philip had sworn to him that the day Chi-Woo walked out of this place, he would be a different person. The harder the trial he faced was, the greater the reward would be.
He did keep getting reality checks when seeing that his physical abilities remained at the same rank, but it wasn’t like there was no change at all. In his fostering list, the number of merits he needed to upgrade his inherent abilities was decreasing day by day, especially for Golden Ratio; not only had he reverted the necessary merit count to its original count, but the number was also actually dropping even lower. It was like what his brother had said—data didn’t lie, and his user information told him that he was progressing. Without realizing it, Chi-Woo was beginning to find joy in this place tailored for him, where he could only focus on training.
* * *
While Chi-Woo was absorbed in his training, Chi-Hyun left a couple of times to finish unresolved business or replenish their supplies before they ran out. And one day, after finis.h.i.+ng his breakfast and warming up, Chi-Woo saw Chi-Hyun come back with a few people.
“Mr. Ru Amuh? Ms. Ru Hiana…and Ms. Hawa?”
“It’s been a long time, Teacher.”
“Senior!”
The Ru siblings were overjoyed to see Chi-Woo, and Hawa nodded at him when she met Chi-Woo’s eyes.
“Well…I was just curious what you were up to these days,” she said monotonously. Then she explained that when she sought out Chi-Hyun to ask how Chi-Woo was doing, he brought her and the Ru siblings here to see Chi-Woo for themselves.
“I heard how you were doing last time, but I was still worried. I didn’t expect you to be receiving training from Sir Choi Chi-Hyun privately,” Ru Amuh said after they exchanged greetings.
“As expected of you, Senior. Even the legend acknowledged you,” Ru Hiana said.
‘I see.’ After listening to them, Chi-Woo grasped the general situation. It seemed his brother had come up with a suitable explanation for other people. ‘I should be careful to not call him hyung.’
“So Senior! What kind of teaching have you been receiving here?” Ru Hiana’s eyes sparkled as she asked. It seemed she was particularly interested in hearing about the training Chi-Woo was getting under the legend’s guidance.
“It’s just basic training,” Chi-Woo said while stretching. “I was about to start before you guys came. Do you want to do it with me?”
“We can do that?” Ru Hiana exclaimed. Chi-Woo turned to his brother.
“Um…It doesn’t matter, but this s.p.a.ce is…” Chi-Hyun was about to say ‘This s.p.a.ce was made for Chi-Woo, so it won’t fit you all’, but managed to swallow his words. He couldn’t reveal Chi-Woo’s real name, but he didn’t want to address Chi-Woo impolitely as ‘you’ in front of his close companions, either—most of all, he couldn’t call Chi-Woo his younger brother. In the end, Chi-Hyun thought he had no choice but to call Chi-Woo by his fake name.
“Chichi…” Chi-Hyun’s face stiffened mid-sentence, and he turned away.
However, Chi-Woo clearly saw the corners of Chi-Hyun’s mouth twitch as he stared resolutely into the distance. Chi-Woo narrowed his eyes at Chi-Hyun for a while and sighed.
“It doesn’t matter to me. You may train with me or just watch.”
Chi-Woo was getting trained by the famous legend. Any hero would be interested, so Ru Hiana and Ru Amuh eagerly volunteered. Hawa also joined in. However, the number of trainees soon decreased in half. The first person to drop out was Hawa. She endlessly ran towards the peak of the mountain and in the end, collapsed in fatigue. Her face was soaked in sweat as she looked up at the three figures moving further away with great frustration.
Ru Hiana didn’t get that much further. “Huff! Ack! Heeckkk!” She lasted longer than Hawa, but was unable to decrease her distance from Chi-Woo and Ru Amuh. She stumbled in the end and finally collapsed. Pressing her hands against the ground, she stared at Chi-Woo and Ru Amuh as they moved further away.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Huff! Puff!”
Ru Amuh and Chi-Woo ran. They ran without taking a break. After reaching the mountain peak, they swam in the ocean that suddenly appeared and returned to the starting point almost at the same time. Chi-Woo sprawled on the ground and frantically gasped for air, while Ru Amuh panted heavily with his hands and knees on the ground. Then he looked at Chi-Woo with shock.
‘How…’ He hadn’t matched his speed to his teacher’s; he didn’t have the leisure to do so. He might be mistaken, but he felt tested every moment he was in this s.p.a.ce. Thus, he had run while giving it his all, but Teacher was matching his pace. While he came in slightly ahead, there were times when he was overtaken. ‘This place is…’ By that point, Ru Amuh realized the nature of this s.p.a.ce. After experiencing the training course once, he figured out the exact intentions of the person who created it. No tricks or special skills worked here. Instead, it forced the trainee to go through a firm and set path. Thus, by moving along the trajectory set by the s.p.a.ce, one would have no choice but to get stronger.
‘Amazing.’ Ru Amuh was surprised by Chi-Woo’s progress, but he also couldn’t hide his amazement for Chi-Hyun. “How did…he create such a s.p.a.ce…?” Ru Amuh asked while gasping for breath, but Chi-Hyun did not respond—no, he wasn’t able to because he was also surprised by Chi-Woo’s progress. Chi-Hyun could roughly gauge Ru Amuh’s physical ability; it was probably above a normal rank C. But his brother followed Ru Amuh without falling behind.
This meant only one thing. Chi-Woo’s physical ability was also close to rank C. Chi-Hyun almost laughed. A normal human being would have to train their whole life to reach rank C, but Chi-Woo was already on the verge of reaching it. Of course, Chi-Hyun could guess how this was possible by looking at Chi-Woo’s user information.
8. [Golden Ratio AAA]-…all physical attributes increase by one rank, and the same actions become more efficient by several-fold…
It was one of the effects of the AAA skill Golden Ratio. Moreover, even though the Golden Ratio’s rank had remained the same, its proficiency had clearly improved. Living in this s.p.a.ce had corrected Chi-Woo’s misalignment one by one. When things that had been messy and disorderly got sorted out, the existing ability could finally show its true effect and bring about synergy. The results were truly terrifying. Chi-Hyun was certain that one would be hard-pressed to call his brother human now. Since Chi-Woo was no longer human, everything about him became unknowable—be it his limit or potential.
“…”
His brother suddenly felt like a stranger to him.
* * *
The surprise guests left on the same day they visited. Hawa disappeared without a word, and Ru Hiana ran away with a look of frustration, saying, “I shouldn’t disturb you.” Meanwhile, Ru Amuh felt deeply conflicted. He seemed to want to stay and train together with Chi-Woo, but he was responsible for a lot of tasks as the only one among the heroes who had reached Gold.
It was bittersweet to see his comrades go after not seeing them in a long while, but Chi-Woo did not dwell in these emotions. Rather, he resumed training immediately and told Chi-Hyun to quickly hit him now that everyone was gone. Chi-Woo had perfectly adapted to this s.p.a.ce. It wasn’t just training. Another reason why he was able to settle down was because he could converse with his brother.
Since he came to Liber without knowing anything, there were many things he was curious about. He also had many concerns that he couldn’t tell anyone else, but now, he had a great counselor to confide in. Since his brother knew of his background and circ.u.mstances, Chi-Woo could ask for advice without hesitation.
“I don’t know what to do with Ms. Hawa and Ms. Eshnunna.” While eating dinner, Chi-Woo suddenly thought of Hawa and confessed his worries. “They’re both Liber natives, but they both want to become heroes.”
“They probably want to use the growth system rather than becoming heroes.” Then Chi-Hyun spoke with a reprimanding tone. “And why are you worrying about them?”
“Because I promised I’d help them become heroes.”
When Chi-Hyun gave him a pointed look, Chi-Woo scratched his head and said, “Well, other than that, I’ve also received a lot of help from them…so I wanted to help them.” Even while saying this, Chi-Woo was prepared to get an earful. Considering his brother’s character, there was a high possibility that his brother would tell him to know his place and give him a good scolding.
But surprisingly, Chi-Hyun fell into deep thought. “Hmm. Now that I think about it…you’ve received a special privilege.” Chi-Hyun was referring to “7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent”, and Chi-Woo quickly waved his hand in denial.
“No, I wasn’t going that far.”
Chi-Hyun continued, “If it were me, I’d set a specific criteria.”
“A criteria?”
“Yeah, like the criteria of the growth system.”
The special privilege was unique to Chi-Woo, and how he used it was entirely dependent on himself. Just like how a hero earned merits and pa.s.sed promotion tests, Chi-Woo also needed to establish his own criteria. If someone met the conditions he set, he would then help them grow by using his special privilege.
“Consider why you should help them, and if they’re worth helping.” Chi-Hyun continued, “Were it me, I would prioritize trust level. You’re only able to activate that function after exceeding a certain percentage in the first place, right?”
Chi-Woo listened quietly, his eyes suddenly brightening. “What about you?”
“What?”
“You’re helping me. Did I meet some kind of condition you set?”
Chi-Hyun snorted. There was no way that would be the case; the only condition Chi-Woo met was that he was his brother.
“Don’t worry. I’ll quickly grow stronger and help you out.” Chi-Woo puffed out his chest and confidently spoke without knowing what his brother was thinking.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Chi-Hyun’s voice quickly deepened. “I told you before not to do anything.”
Chi-Woo faltered. The atmosphere had been good until a few seconds ago, but it became scary as Chi-Hyun’s face stiffened.
“No… Then why did you do all this?” Chi-Woo said while looking at his surroundings.
Chi-Hyun, who had been staring at Chi-Woo for a while, slowly said, “I know by commonsense that it’s impossible for you to never encounter danger in a place like Liber.” He softly continued, “That’s why I want you to build up enough strength to protect yourself in case of an emergency. I didn’t create this s.p.a.ce for you to step forward and do something.”
“…”
A heavy silence enveloped them, awkward and uncomfortable. Of course, Chi-Woo was disheartened; he had thought his brother’s mind might have changed a little while they stayed together here.
‘…He’s the same.’ His brother hadn’t changed his mind in the least, and he was extremely firm about his decision, as if this was the one thing he could never back down from.
Soon after, Chi-Hyun sighed and looked away. “…Go to sleep.”
Chi-Woo quietly stood up; neither of them was in the mood to talk anymore.
* * *
That night, Chi-Woo didn’t fall asleep. He couldn’t, so he sat on his sleeping bag and stared at the campfire.
–…You know.
Philip, who had been stealing furtive glances towards him, quietly approached and talked to him.
–There’s something I’ve been curious about. Can I ask you a question?
Chi-Woo slightly lifted his shoulder.
–You know what your brother said to you before…
Philip continued cautiously, keeping a close eye on Chi-Woo’s expression.
–About…how you should have never been born.
Chi-woo blinked.
–What if he didn’t mean it literally, but something entirely different?
“…”
–What do you think he meant?
Chi-Woo finally opened his mouth, “It’s nothing much but...”
–What is it?
“Just…” Chi-Woo smacked his lips a few times and buried his face in his knees. He became lost in thought as he stared at the burning flames. He should have never been born—the first time he heard the same words was when he met his mentor.
[It’s my first time seeing a chilseong gongjullike yours. Your strings of fate have been severely twisted and tangled up.]
[You weren’t supposed to have been born, but were forced to be born. What kind of family were you born into…]
Chilseongjul was the fate of a soul born under the spirit of the Big Dipper. As a star’s seed, the soul was planted in a human body and born among humans to help humans. It was one of the most divine fates bestowed to humans. As someone born with divine protection, a person born under a chilseongjul produced superior results compared to a person born under a normal fate. Then was it a good thing? Would such individuals be able to live happily? No, that was not the case. In exchange for the help they received, those born under this fate must pay a price for their birth. The stronger the fate, the heavier and bigger the responsibility the heavens entrusted such individuals with.
His mentor had also told him that he’d have to do great things for the world for him to live a peaceful life. At that time, Chi-Woo had thought his mentor was telling him to volunteer for the good of the society; he had no idea that it meant going to a different world to save it. Looking back, there were things that now made sense. After entering Liber, everything he did worked out well in the end, to the point that even he thought it was strange. His success was too frequent and coincidental to simply dismiss as luck. He was not so dense that he wouldn’t realize how strange it was.
–Hey? Why aren’t you saying anything?
When Chi-Woo remained silent for a long time, Philip waved his hand in front of Chi-Woo’s face.
–Cat got your tongue?
“…I’ve read a book before.” Chi-Woo pulled himself out of his thoughts and said in a slightly hoa.r.s.e voice. “There was…a phrase that left a deep impression on me.” He fixed his eyes on the campfire and continued in a daze.
–A book? What phrase?
Chi-Woo nodded. Then quietly said, “Every search begins with beginner’s luck.”
–…
“And…” Chi-Woo trailed off. Every search ended with…