Possessing Nothing

“You’re unique.”

Mush muttered. Sungmin didn’t hear anything, but Mush was different. Sungmin stopped and turned around. Mush was crouching and looking at Sungmin.

“It’s been a year and a half. You’re going to need another penalty.”

Time passed fast. Sungmin swung away his hair. What should he get this time.

He had 6 right now. That was unique. There were many people who stopped here, but not many people succeeded and left.

“You’re the first out of any No Classes here.”

That was true. No normal No Classes would be like this. Then what about martial artists and magicians?

“They don’t do this either.”

Mush laughed. Most people didn’t try to train in this mountain. No, if they did, they wouldn’t have survived. That was true for a lot of people. People needed desperation in this place. If they didn’t have that, they wouldn’t be able to survive here.

“If I was being honest, I thought you wouldn’t have survived half a year.”

Yes. Sungmin bitterly smiled. If it weren’t for Sogo, he wouldn’t have survived half a year.

“Maybe it was because you died already. What do you want to get that you’re working this hard?”

Mush wondered that seriously. She had seen many things as a God in this mountain, but there was no one like Sungmin. He died and came back to life. That wasn’t common.

A better life

Sungmin mouthed.

A goal to surpass

And continued.

I want to see the end.

And he answered that. Everyone said that. It was more of a longing than a goal. End. Mush muttered.

“The end of what?”

Martial arts.

“You’re a human so what are you wanting to see. Humans don’t have that long to live. You’re going to have to become an immortal if you want that.”

Mush muttered. Therefore, it was impossible. It wasn’t easy to surpass the principle of death. It was possible, however.

“There’s always a chance, but that’s only just a chance. Usually the ones who do have talent, and those people are called geniuses. There are only a few geniuses that surpass death. There could be one person out of thousands of years. Do you think you can do that?”

I don’t know.

He didn’t say that he couldn’t.

Sungmin changed. Humans change. Like Wijihoyun said, Sungmin changed. He knew that he had no talent, but he didn’t want to feel failed.

He hated effort.

Now he liked it a bit.

“...You’re unique.”

Mush muttered. She came closer to Sunmin.

“Gods are unpredictable. That is true for all Gods.Yes, this is only my unpredictability. I’m not saying that.”

Mush muttered something unknown. Sungmin stopped swinging. He suddenly felt strange feeling at the words Mush muttered

“And I’m talking to myself.”

It was like an excuse to someone. Mush narrowed her eyes and looked at Sungmin.

“There is no coincidence. At least, not in Eria.”

What?

Sungmin asked. Mush turned around. It was to not see Sungmin’s question.

“Eria summoned humans randomly from places. There are unique people. Eria doesn’t ask anything of them. Just to live. That is all.”

That… he knew. The unfairness of this world. But why? He tilted his head and looked around.

“That is the same for all otherworlders. ‘Skill.’ That makes it easy to learn something. There is a reason for why that exists.”

What is she saying? Sungmin wondered but couldn’t ask. Looking at her, she didn’t seem like she would answer him anyway.

“Yes. There is a purpose. Like there is a purpose for your soul to defy the principle, there must be a reason for why you came back. Even though it might be just a well wrapped coincidence.”

There was something. Sungmin shut his mouth .Mush wasn’t looking at her. Like she said, she was talking to herself.

“There must be something important that would occur if you came back. If you came back, you must prepare. To be the person that you were fated to be.”

Yes. That is it. Mush muttered. She stopped but didn’t turn around. She instead looked up at the sky.

“Stop. This is my territory. If you don’t want to disappear together, then don’t come here.”

Mush warned. There… was a cold feeling. Sungmin held his breath. When she turned around, Sungmin lost that feeling.

“When you leave this mountain. Go to Dremur and say to the God of time Denis that Mush sent you there.”

God of time? What is that?

Sungmin asked. He had memories, but he didn’t have any memory of a Time God. Mush laughed and pointed at him.

“Well, humans wouldn’t know.”

Sungmin’s mind brightened up. He quickly put his hand towards his head. A memory that he didn’t have stuck deeply in his mind. Sungmin didn’t know where Dremur was, but he now knew of it. And then, he knew of the existence of the God that was living there.

Why?

Sungmin asked. Mush laughed at that.

“Didn’t I say. I’m unpredictable. Just unpredictability. I wanted to say things to myself.”

She crouched down again.

“You’re a unique and funny fellow. It seems like there is no chance of it… why did you come back? There might have been a mistake. But i know there are no coincidences in this world… and also, you survived my tests.”

Test?

Living in this mountain? Sungmin tilted his head. Yes. That was a test by itself. The penalties got harder everyday he was here.

“Plam.”

She opened her mouth.

“Plam is the test from Mush.”

He didn’t understand straight away.

Plam. The trainee that lived here for the longest time. Sogo as well as Bejun said. Don’t meet up with Plam. You will fall into despair. That was true. When he first met Plam, Sungmin fell into despair. The disparity in talent. The talent that a true genius had.

“Plam exists to make people fall into despair. The human that doesn’t fall into despair tries to move forward for the possibility. You… did better than I expected. You tried to push yourself harder for your lack of talent. That’s wasn’t the right choice and was a stupid one. But it wasn’t a wrong choice as well. I actually like your stupid choice.”

He sort of had an idea.

There was no one that he knew of named Plam in his past life. It was a strange thing. With the talent of Plam’s, he would have succeeded in spreading his name easily. But why did he not hear anything about him. Why was he here. And even as he was here for a long time, why did he not seem to have any penalties.

It was a simple answer. He didn’t exist. It was the test of Mush. That was the purpose of Plam. That… was always true. Plam tried to make you feel hopeless every time he was here.

He laughed at Sungmin’s effort. He laughed at Sungmin's training. Don’t do this because you have no talent. You can’t do anything no matter how hard you work. That arrogant idiot only wanted to see Sungmin feel hopeless.

I … see.

Sungmin answered. He knew. Plam was for that purpose. Only another test. He noticed for a while, Plam didn’t come anymore.

It was when he started to not feel hopeless anymore.

“You did well.”

Mush laughed.

“That thing I told you…is a reward for passing my test. What you get out of it is, of course, up to you.”

Mush lifted herself up.

“Sogo. Don’t tell that mute girl about Plam. If you do, i’ll have to kick you both out of this mountain..”

Mush left after that. Sungmin stood there trying to think. There was no coincidence. The otherworlders. There must be reason for their summoning. For the same reason.

There was a reason that he came back.

‘Me?’

Sungmin blankly stared down at his hands.

A second rate martial artist. C rank mercenary. A No Class who had nothing. 13 years of nothing.

There was a reason that I came back?

One thing came out of this chaos.

If you came back, you must prepare. To be the person that you were fated to be.

The words were stuck in his head. Sungmin picked up his spear in silence.

Even if he couldn't be the person that he was fated to be.

There was an end that he wanted to see.