Chapter 112: S-Rank Talent Fragment
Min Gahee spoke calmly, laying out her story.
Instead of answering hastily, Seo Juhwan listened to her words attentively, nodding occasionally.
Min Gahee's mother was a soprano who had made a name for herself overseas, and her father was a famous domestic singer. People whose names alone would make anyone exclaim with recognition.
"You must have received a lot of attention from a young age."
Because of this, she had grown up receiving expectations from birth. The people around her were even more fussy than her own parents.
"Yes. I learned anything quickly, so it was even worse."
She had talent, so she had been absorbed in music since childhood. She was so confident, feeling more joy than pressure from the pouring attention.
Song and instruments both.
She learned and mastered them more easily than others.
As a child prodigy, she had even appeared on broadcasts.
But talent always has limits that even one cannot define.
The plateau came suddenly.
"At some point, my skills stopped improving. Of course, I wasn't completely stagnant, but…."
She felt hints of it around middle school. So she practiced even harder, honing her skills.
But after entering high school and attending arts high school.
"Everything caught up to me in an instant, and I fell behind."
Min Gahee had rapidly developed her talents under her outstanding mother and father, always maintaining skills superior to her peers.
But the moment she stagnated, being caught up was instantaneous.
"I was clearly better before, but seeing myself fall behind in real time was frustrating. No, very frustrating. Most of all, I felt sorry for Seulgi. We promised to debut together…."
There was a faint smile on Min Gahee's lips as she spoke.
'Then that's what happened in the bar….'
Now he understood Yoon Seulgi's reaction. Her friend, who had promised to debut with her, was eating and singing while drunk—of course she felt frustrated and worried.
'It must have been hard.'
He could understand, at least somewhat, what Min Gahee had felt.
What would it be like to grow up hearing you're a genius and then later realize you're not?
The daughter of a famous soprano.
The daughter of a famous singer.
Because of her parents' fame, she was compared even more. Someone who had envied her might have mocked her behind her back.
Her words echoed in his mind: 'Sometimes it's more comfortable pretending not to notice.' It was just a guess, but perhaps that tendency was born from not hearing the whispers behind her back.
"Hehe. Thanks to you, I feel a bit better."
After finishing her story, Min Gahee showed her usual bubbly smile.
Seo Juhwan stroked her blue hair gently.
"You worked hard."
He felt both pride and admiration at how hard she had worked.
Someone might say that at just twenty-one years old, with such a short life, what's all the fuss about? But for the person involved, that moment is always the most important.
"Thank you."
Min Gahee laughed again and enjoyed his touch, bumping her head against his hand like a puppy.
Seo Juhwan stroked her hair and spoke.
"Gahee."
"Yes?"
"You still love music, right?"
"…Yes."
The answer came late, but her head nodded without hesitation. She hadn't given up despite feeling the wall because, as he said, she loved music.
Seo Juhwan wanted to open up possibilities for her. He couldn't do anything great, but…
"What about trying composition?"
He could subtly show her a path forward.
*
The next day.
Seo Juhwan saw Min Gahee off and rode the subway back home.
'Ah, I'm tired.'
Even in the afternoon, there were no seats available. He had planned to sleep on the way back, but it seemed unlikely.
'Should I buy a car?'
Before regression, he had only gotten his license after graduating from university. To buy a car right now, he would first need to pass the driving test.
'Buying a car. What's so good about it?'
Before regression, even after getting his license, he never bought a car. Apart from the money, it was because of the anxiety that he might get into an accident due to bad luck.
But now, luck is abundant, not misfortune.
Even if the period of blessings ends soon, things won't be the same as before. He should think about buying a car while living a bit longer.
- This is Line 1 Transfer Station. Passengers wishing to transfer…
'Oh. There are seats.'
Fortunately, there were many seats on the transfer train.
He sat down and thought about the Desire System.
'Talent. That's the real blessing.'
He felt that the system's performance itself was more real than the two blessings that would end soon.
He could see talent, acquire the talents of others, and could quickly raise grades with points.
There were restrictions based on level, but even considering that, it was an incredible privilege.
Speaking of talent, Min Gahee's S-rank composition talent came to mind—she was probably heading home now.
'What should I do?'
He had already shown her the path.
At the time, Min Gahee had looked confused about suddenly mentioning composition, but… what path she would take was something she had to choose herself.
'She'll figure it out.'
Even if the talent was a waste, standing right next to her and pushing her to compose would be overstepping. Since they had exchanged numbers, if she ends up composing later, he would be able to hear about it.
Seo Juhwan decided not to worry further and checked the messages that had accumulated overnight.
'First, 10,000 LP as quest rewards. No additional achievements this time.'
Besides that, he acquired 2,000 LP with an achievement called 『Club Girl Hunting』, and obtained 10,000 LP by collecting two intermediate fetishes.
'Ah, the talent is singing.'
Seo Juhwan felt regretful. It would have been nice to acquire the S-rank 『Composition』 talent, but he got the B-rank talent 『Singing』 instead.
'It's not bad though.'
He had been coveting talents in the arts and physical education fields anyway. It was a vague fantasy. Singers who were good had always seemed so cool to him.
When he checked the talent he had acquired and tried to close the window,
A phrase he had never seen before caught his eye.
[You have had a relationship with a female possessing an S-rank talent.]
[You have acquired an S-rank Talent Fragment.]
'S-rank Talent Fragment?'
The name alone seemed extraordinary.
Seo Juhwan called up the item description.
[S-Rank Talent Fragment]
▶ Effect 1: Can be sold at the shop to acquire 100,000 LP.
▶ Effect 2: By collecting 10 fragments, you can create an 『S-Rank Talent Stone』.
An overly simple explanation. There was no information about what the 『S-Rank Talent Stone』 was.
Seo Juhwan spoke to Lucy.
'Lucy, explain. What is an S-Rank Talent Stone?'
[It's a strengthening material needed to make a talent S-rank.]
'I thought you just needed to raise the level, didn't you?'
The talent and skill grade restrictions are unlocked as the system level increases. He had thought that was the case so far, but it seemed S-rank talents didn't work that way.
[The limit of grades you can raise with Desire Points (LP) is A+. To go higher, you need a Talent Stone. By the way, if you had obtained Min Gahee's Composition talent, it would have been registered as A+.]
'Tsk. So nothing's free. No, wait.'
Seo Juhwan inwardly shook his head. Even though he felt regretful, he didn't think it was something to complain about. A+ is a talent that's more than sufficient to succeed in the world. He had received so much that it would be ungrateful to complain about why S-rank wasn't just given.
'I should be grateful for what I already have.'
Of course, he wasn't planning to be satisfied with A+. Rather, now that there was a condition, he felt more motivated. Shouldn't he aim for the peak with this level of ability?
The only concern was…
'10 pieces. It's not impossible even if it takes my whole life, right?'
The question was whether it was even possible to meet ten people with S-rank talent—geniuses recognized worldwide.
Moreover, to obtain fragments, they all had to be women. Even if he met ten women, there was the additional difficulty that he had to have sexual relations with them.
'I probably won't even meet ten people…'
[That's not necessarily the case. S-rank talents are indeed rare, but you'll be able to see them more easily than you think.]
Lucy gave him hope.
'Really?'
[Yes. Such talents are precious, but they often go unnoticed because many people don't know they possess them.]
'Ah.'
He understood immediately.
Min Gahee had an S-rank composition talent but was pursuing a different path, hadn't she?
Perhaps it wouldn't take that long to collect them.
To him, full of hope, Lucy poured cold water.
[Of course, even so, it won't be easy.]
'Just say one encouraging thing.'
It wasn't even playing hard to get.
*
[The effect of the blessing, 『Dream Demon God's Blessing』 disappears.]
[The effect of the blessing, 『Gym Junkie's Blessing』 disappears.]
The day finally came.
"Nooo! Give me back my blessings!"
In fact, he didn't notice the changes on the day the blessings ended. But after three days, he realized how much of a great benefit he had been receiving.
First, 『Gym Junkie's Blessing』.
He did his usual exercise, and when he woke up after sleeping, unbearable muscle soreness covered his entire body—completely different from normal. His whole body creaked, and he had to skip the next day's workout.
After the blessing ended and he exercised, he realized just how unreasonable the intensity had been. Just as people say you don't know the value of what you have until you lose it, the severe reverse shock made his body helpless.
Eventually, he had to change the routine of destroying his entire body every day to normal exercises like everyone else.
But the real problem wasn't that.
『Dream Demon God's Blessing』 had provided Seo Juhwan with three effects up until now.
[Dream Demon God's Blessing]
▶ Effect 1: Luck related to sex greatly increases.
▶ Effect 2: When mastering something, you receive 200% additional effect.
▶ Effect 3: Stamina overflows abundantly.
As his luck with sex diminished, it became hard to even make eye contact with new women. Nothing happened to entangle him. But that was unavoidable since, apart from going to the gym, he was holed up at home.
The second effect was unfortunate for the same reason as 『Gym Junkie's Blessing』, but he could still let go of it.
But the third effect was different.
When the blessing disappeared, the illness from before regression came to mind, and anxiety overwhelmed him.
"Give me back my stamina, please!"
It felt like his testicles were completely empty.
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