Chapter 519

Suddenly, I became curious.

What exactly is the criterion that divides common sense from what is not?

René Descartes believed that common sense is an element that allows humans to establish self-esteem.

Because every human is convinced that they are a person of sound common sense.

Therefore, it is necessary for us to reflect on ourselves at least once.

Just like Luo’an, who did not realize that mentioning someone else’s mom was not appropriate for ice-breaking,

I was somewhat ignorant about the Chinese martial arts sects.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t know anything at all. I’ve picked up some bits from movies and dramas.”

“Nona-me, then I will name a sect one by one, and you tell me the image that comes to your mind.”

“Sure.”

“Shaolin Temple.”

“Bald head.”

“Hua Shan Sect.”

“Volcano.”

“Demon Subduing Sect.”

“Georges Seurat.”

“Who’s that?”

“Uh… a notable figure of Post-Impressionism who developed pointillism… You don’t know this much from art history?”

“I-I don’t know…? And hold on, you don’t know either!”

I, too, had become a person with insufficient common sense by Chinese standards.

“Common sense is hard.”

Honestly, what does it matter if I’m not interested?

Do I really need to know about the Chinese martial arts sects in my life?

— Volcano hahahaha

— The group of ‘Mootdakk’ members wails

— How can you know Georges Seurat but not the Demon Subduing Sect, haha

— The most common one on TikTok is still Demon Subduing Sect

— Nona-me doesn’t use TikTok

— Is it really okay to broadcast this? Hahaha

Surprisingly, the reaction from Chinese viewers was quite good.

— The Volcano Sect is conventionally built on a volcano, is there a problem?

— The Demon Subduing Sect: they just run around poking with swift swords.

— Does the Shaolin Temple use hair loss shampoo? Hahahaha

Since only ill feelings about each other remained, it seemed they were more accustomed to using derogatory terms.

One could say that the Korean professional baseball team has taken control of politics, economics, society, and culture all together.

How terrible.

I shook my body and made a blue sound with my lips.

“Let’s stop the ice-breaking here. What did you want to ask me?”

“Shall we review the sparring from today together? In our Wudang Sect, we review the sparring for hours or days.”

“That sounds difficult. We’re still in the midst of the national exchange championship.”

“Then just one thing. I won’t ask about sparring afterward.”

“Call me ‘Daehyup’.”

“Nona-me Daehyup! I beg you!”

“Oh. It feels different when a native Chinese person says it. Right, everyone?”

[‘KittyLoveIsBest’ donated 100,000 won!]

— The young hero specialty! Obsesses over titles!

“Damn it, seriously. Shut up.”

— Nona-me’s true nature comes out dd

— There’s Nona-me, a petty thug, on top of a running thug.

— Thug duo hahaha

— How can you call her a thug? Nona-me is wronged…!

— The one who should feel wronged is actually Luo’an, right?

— Model student (full-body tattoo)

— Nona-me (school violence perpetrator)

— It’s dizzying…

In the midst of all this, ten minutes had already passed.

Of course, I wouldn’t stoop to being petty and counting the time like a small-minded person…

Ah, this is really bothering me.

Anyway, Luo’an downloaded and showed me the match video.

“Let’s take a look. Where should we start?”

“From 14 minutes and 15 seconds to halftime.”

“Oh?”

I thought Luo’an would point to the eight minutes in the second half that led to her loss.

However, she was actually asking me about the process of how I completed the Adele magic circle.

I became interested and sat properly in my chair.

“This is a technique from Taijihye Geom called Yin-Yang Harmony. It’s a sword technique that maximizes the principles of Yin and Yang.”

Listening to Luo’an’s explanation, I nodded.

“Can you all see it? Luo-an’s bizarre footwork is conveyed about 70% through the video. Watching her perform real double jumps and double dashes makes me think of human Mario… No, human forkball.”

— Nona-me is blushing hahaha

— It looks like a bugged character

— Instead of feeling like I have to fight back, it feels more like I have to avoid it

— Nona-me, forkball isn’t even human in the first place haha

From this point on, I analyzed it frame by frame.

“But here, you spotted the opening and stabbed with the sword, right? Honestly, I was surprised here, too.”

“Well, the opening was visible. But I think Luo’an handled it well.”

“I deflected Nona-me’s sword here. Very precisely and neatly.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But why didn’t you fall into an unguarded state?”

“What do you mean? My sword was far away just now. My stance is open. I’m completely unguarded, right?”

“Right after that, I tried to insert a disruption circuit, and Nona-me, you instantly recalled your sword with dual auras. You must have known I would deflect the sword in that direction beforehand. But how? Luck? That couldn’t possibly be!”

“Wow, you’re smart. Did you realize this on your own?”

“Well, I figured it out while reviewing it with my master… He considered it a draw. But I can’t come to terms with that.”

“Why?”

“Winning before losing. You only bet on winning matches.”

We were almost at the answer, and I had a grasp of the last clue, but ultimately, I was one step short.

“I’m regretting it. I was so close. Just think a little more.”

With a feeling of regret, I grabbed Luo’an’s wrist and shook it.

I made a few deductions, but ultimately failed to get it right.

I should give an easier example.

“Luo’an, let’s play rock-paper-scissors. Rock, paper, scissors!”

I threw scissors, and Luo’an threw rock, so she won.

“If there are no special tricks, my sister and I have a one in three chance of winning. Right? That’s the domain of luck.”

“Yeah.”

“Now I’ll tell you something interesting. Our human bodies have rare faulty codes implanted. And most people are unaware of this. Taking rock-paper-scissors as an example? According to the rules of rock-paper-scissors, we always start with rock before saying ‘paper,’ but what happens if I start with scissors? Would the one-third probability still hold?”

“It’s the same. It’s an independent event.”

“If it were a machine, yes. If it’s human, no. Rock-paper-scissors!”

I called out rock-paper-scissors while throwing down scissors.

Luo’an threw rock, and I switched to paper at the same time.

Luo’an’s eyes widened.

“Did you see that? Luo’an unconsciously threw rock just now. At this moment, the command to throw something before you say ‘paper’ is overruled by the command that states you must throw rock to beat scissors.”

This is a theory about human instinctual irrationality.

Evolution for survival can have unfair effects in certain situations.

“I think I kinda understand, but not entirely…”

“Our Luo’an sister won’t get it because she’s a girl, but now let’s explain to the viewers, especially male viewers. Imagine I’m about to kick someone in the groin. Then, everyone would instinctively pull back.”

— Oh my!

— That analogy is terrifying.

— Pedochan Repelling Kick!

— That’s just a guy’s instinct, so it can’t be helped.

— Nona-me, be gentleㅠㅠ

“But now, let’s say there’s a stone wall behind her, and there are sharp nails stuck in the wall. What would it mean to be kicked with my unpowered kick? It wouldn’t be much pain. Just about 10 minutes of moaning. But if you pull back your waist, your spine would get punctured.”

“Okay, I get it! Nona, you had the nails set up beforehand and kicked me.”

“It’s a bit of a stretch, but… kinda matches.”

“Oh, oh! If I were placed back in that situation, would I throw the sword in the same direction again?”

“It’s highly unlikely. Unless you have good learning capabilities.”

Depending on the angle of the stab, most will throw in a matching angle.

It’s a principle learned naturally while dealing with thousands of knights charging at you.

Once the principle is understood, it can be applied.

From there, Luo’an and I exchanged questions about the directional point of our auras, confirming each other’s intentions.

“Here, ‘heavy’ (重) pierced through ‘black’ (黑), so I ‘revolved’ (環) around to ‘light’ (輕) with ‘white’ (白).”

“Aren’t you being too passive? If it were me, I’d just go for it.”

“I still don’t quite understand the boundary radius of your aura.”

“It’s smaller than my sister’s.”

To roughly interpret, my act of wielding the sword while containing my aura passed through her defensive posture, preparing for the inevitable collision that would follow by spreading my aura widely to restrict my secondary movements.

After all, language cannot adequately describe aura and is merely an incidental element.

I infer the intentions embedded within and reflect on the situation.

From the middle of the broadcast, it became evident the viewership was rapidly declining.

[‘RainWhenWeMeet’ donated 10,000 won!]

— Is this what conversations among geniuses sound like? My heart is soaring.

Then Luo’an began to stubbornly insist on something odd.

“I can’t agree.”

“I was actually anticipating that Luo’an would come out aggressively here.”

“Nona, I expected you to expect that I would come out aggressively!”

“Then I’m expecting your expectation of expectation.”

“In fact, I also expected your expectation of expectation!”

“I’m expecting the expectation of your expectation of expectation—”

[‘RainWhenWeMeet’ donated 10,000 won!]

— Is this what genius conversations are…? My chest is tightening…

[‘qpwoei’ donated 20,000 won!]

— Young hero specialty. Risking life for a verbal fight.

— They’re both incredibly childish hahaha

— Haha when did it morph into a juvenile squabble from a moot debate?

— To be precise, they’re both acting like juveniles, right?

— Please do preserve the image, Nona-me!

— It’s cute and nice, but why hahaha

— These kids must have fought fiercely while digging up the stadium floor.

— Turns out athletes are more meticulous than expected and also surprisingly sloppy.

— Before: Every action contains the tremendous intention of a spar. After: It’s a rather leave-it-to-chance outcome.

— What is this, hahaha

Ultimately, our differences in opinion didn’t converge, but the review of that section ended.

Honestly, I thought the conversation was rather unfruitful, but Luo’an seemed satisfied.

We had been spiraling around the Paris Peripheral Road and had somehow made it to the other side of Paris.

We still had another 30 minutes to go until we reached our accommodation.

I should be lying on a hotel bed and relaxing by now.

As the tension in my body and mind relaxed, drowsiness naturally overcame me.

Within the vehicle, everything quieted down in an instant.

As I dozed off nodding my head, Luo’an offered her shoulder.

“Luo’an, I appreciate the kindness, but your shoulder bone is too hard and uncomfortable…”

It would probably be better to just lean against the window and sleep.

“Oh! Do you want to lie down here?”

“Huh?”

Offering a knee pillow on our first meeting, she truly was a generous girl.

Without pushing back, I took up all three seats and lay down.

“What will you do when you return to China?”

While pondering the reason why the national exchange competition is held only for those under 16,

I believe there’s a clear intention not to waste a child’s life on fighting.

In fact, in Russia and some Middle Eastern countries, there have been many children raised solely for combat from birth.

“I plan to go back to school and study.”

“Study?”

“Yeah. Can I turn off the broadcast microphone for a moment?”

“I’ve done so for both.”

After a moment of hesitation, Luo’an looked down, rolling her window down to gaze at the night sky.

“Becoming an astrophysicist was my dream.”

“Oh! You must really love stars?”

“There are so many different stars in the world, but why did our ancestors say everything is made of Yin and Yang? I’ve been curious about that since I was little. Of course, I understand it in my head. I was born as a Taegukji figure.”

It seems to refer to a user of dual auras.

“If that was your dream, you should have gone to school instead of joining the Wudang Sect.”

“I couldn’t do that. If I fail to develop the talent bestowed by the heavens, it would be an insult to those without talent despite having a dream.”

“You’re too kind-hearted.”

“That’s what I say outside, heh. The real reason is simple. I just couldn’t adapt to public education. Do you want to see a photo of me from back then?”

Luo’an showed me a picture from elementary school on her phone.

“How old were you in this picture?”

“Nine years old.”

“Huh? You look exactly the same now.”

“Oh…! This side is me. This person is just a scary older girl from my rural neighborhood.”

She was an ordinary girl with long hair and round glasses.

Perhaps because she was young, there was truly nothing special about her looks; if I had to pick a feature, she looked like a model student.

In contrast, Luo’an’s current appearance closely resembled the delinquent in the photo.

The girl unfolded her past like she was telling a fairy tale.

Luo’an, born into a family where her mother had passed away and her father was an alcoholic, was raised by the older brothers and sisters in the gang.

The scary-looking woman with tattoos in the photo was the leader of the gang.

However, she was one who immediately recognized Luo’an’s talent.

She took Luo’an to the Wudang Sect, threw her there harshly, and disappeared without a sound.

“I wish I had risen just a bit higher… so my face could reflect in that girl’s eyes.”

She spoke in a voice heavily tinged with regret and sorrow.

“That person was indeed a great hero.”

“She was a great hero.”