Chapter 18
[People Heading to Seoul to See Badger Guild's <Pilgrim> Statue!]
["Pilgrim Syndrome," Social Wave Sparked by S-Class Crafter. "We Need Comfort."]
[Badger Street Real Estate Boom. One Sculpture Creates Economic Impact Worth Over 10 Billion Won!]
Just as I'd expected, the <Pilgrim> statue held the attention of the viewers drawn in by the names Badger Guild and S-Class crafter.
People who were deeply moved by the sculpture, which looked as if it had been born from the night sky itself, brought in even more viewers.
Day after day, the area in front of Badger Guild became packed with people.
Those who had criticized the installation site, claiming that constant accidents would happen if so many people gathered there, quickly went quiet.
Despite the enormous crowds, the area in front of Badger Guild carried a solemn and serious atmosphere.
There were plenty of people, yet very few incidents.
Those who gathered enthusiastically didn't become excited once they stood before the sculpture.
In broad daylight, the street had begun to resemble the quiet of a museum.
Instead, people poured their passion into the internet.
-I still can't forget December of XX year. A Gate opened right in front of our house and...
-I went to see the <Pilgrim> statue everyone's been talking about today. Honestly, when I left home, I thought I was just following a trend, but...
-A night sky created through exquisite sculpting. Crafter Do Hwa-in has appeared before the public first not as a "crafter," but as a "sculptor." His next move will...
Dozens of posts titled Review appeared every day.
It was the same no matter which social media platform I opened.
But there was something else that made me understand the true popularity of <Pilgrim> even more clearly than all those reviews.
It happened exactly one day after I first heard that crowds were gathering in front of Badger Guild every day.
[You have deeply moved 10,000 viewers!
A mysterious power settles within your body.
Aura +1]
[Name: Do Hwa-in
Title: -
Achievements: -
Skill: Pygmalion (S)
Stats:
Stamina 10 (+16)
Agility 10
Strength 10 (+23)
Mana 9 (+11)
*Aura 8]
"Ten thousand..."
The status-window notification shocked me more than all the articles talking about some Pilgrim Syndrome.
A number I'd never imagined would come specifically to see my sculpture suddenly appeared right in front of me.
I found it so hard to believe that I even logged into my old SNS account, which I'd long since made private, and reread the three comments that had once been left there.
It was my attempt to regain some sense of reality.
In the end, I simply gave up and let myself be happy.
People are looking at my work... and talking about it.
The first thing that came to mind wasn't the profit <Pilgrim> might bring me.
Fame.
Wealth.
Honor.
Social influence.
None of that felt especially important at that moment.
It was different from when I scrutinized contracts with burning eyes to make sure my value wasn't being undercut.
Someone once said that art was a language without borders.
If so, then before this, I'd been nothing more than a poor storyteller rambling into an empty room.
To anyone watching from the side, I probably looked insane.
A storyteller speaking endlessly when no one was listening.
Continuing despite the fact that nobody cared.
But now...
Ten thousand people were listening to my story.
Ten thousand people who could understand it, or at least wanted to hear it, had gathered in front of the storyteller.
I'd always believed I was making art.
Yet now, I felt like a child showing his first creation to people for the first time.
Or perhaps a performer hearing applause for the first time.
I opened and closed my status window again and again.
The additional stats from my items appeared in parentheses beside each stat.
And Aura had already climbed to 8.
Only two more until 10.
It felt as though I'd boarded a ship that had finally caught the wind.
The rush was fresh and exhilarating.
A pure sense of accomplishment.
The world knew me as an S-Class crafter.
And this was the moment I openly declared that my true identity was sculptor.
Seol Ga-hyeon sat on the bench behind the enormous tree in the first-floor lobby again today.
In the past, sitting here had made her mind go blank.
Every time the doors opened and closed, the protesters' slogans outside grew louder.
Guild members passed by while quietly venting their irritation.
That harsh noise contrasted strangely with the warm and peaceful interior.
It had made her stop wanting to think at all.
Looking back now, she thought she'd been both punishing herself and running away at the same time.
Keeping her ears open had been self-punishment.
Emptying her mind because she didn't want to think had been avoidance.
And she'd continued hurting herself in both ways.
None of it had helped her.
Still, I think I can look at myself a little more objectively now. ...Doesn't that mean I'm getting better?
It was all thanks to the statue standing in front of the main entrance.
Seol Ga-hyeon stretched her neck and peeked through the glass toward it.
A flower crown now hung from the hand reaching toward the sky.
Flower petals covered the ground around its feet.
Countless hands had touched the sculpture before moving on.
The people who came to see it treated it almost like an object of reverence.
They had even named it <Pilgrim>.
Seol Ga-hyeon also felt like crying whenever she looked at it.
Though perhaps for a slightly different reason than everyone else.
About a month earlier, after Do Hwa-in had gone silent for quite some time, he'd suddenly called her first.
He had openly explained that her circumstances had completed the inspiration for his work.
Then he asked for permission.
He wanted to make it slightly obvious where part of his inspiration had come from.
Since she'd already wanted to repay him for all the help he'd given her, she'd readily agreed.
I never imagined the sculpture would actually look a little like me.
She also hadn't expected people to notice the resemblance and still call it <Pilgrim>.
Because of that, every time someone spoke the sculpture's name, it felt as though they were somehow calling her a pilgrim too.
What exactly was that feeling?
One thing was certain.
She was gradually becoming okay.
A life where nobody cursed her to her face anymore felt funny at times.
Sometimes relieving.
Sometimes strangely empty.
But in the end, she was okay.
And she would keep becoming more okay.
Just like the future where the other guild members were starting to talk and laugh more energetically.
What did they say? Public opinion about the guild is changing?
The disappearance of the protesters alone made that obvious.
Thanks to that, not only the outside atmosphere but the mood inside the guild was moving in a better direction too.
Of course, installing a single sculpture hadn't magically solved every problem.
But things were changing.
Gradually.
Clearly.
Getting better.
That alone was enough.
It was more than comfort.
It felt like a gift.
Seol Ga-hyeon was feeling so good that she unconsciously stepped out from behind the tree.
Then she noticed someone entering the guild from a distance.
