What truly crushed Joseph wasn't failure.
It was the number.
Zero.
Zero.
Zero.
ZERO.
When Joseph showed Maria his stories, she was always bedazzled by the worlds he could create.
The childlike creativity to imagine griffins with knight riders.
Or how it would feel to be a vampire in the modern world!
Or what it would be like to become a Murim Sect Leader wielding the dao.
The child that was Joseph was deluded.
He thought he was destined for greatness.
If Maria said his stories were good...
Then surely everyone else would think so too, right?
So he showed his other friends.
They praised him too.
He showed his parents.
They were impressed as well.
Life was easy.
Life was fun.
That's how it was supposed to be... right?
So when he stopped going to school after finishing senior high...
His parents believed he could start earning from his writing.
Joseph believed it too.
He even promised them.
He was good at writing.
This would be easy.
Wrong.
First book?
Zero views.
Second book?
Zero views.
Third book?
He even tried advertising.
「Lol what's this? Must be scam.」
「Went and looked. It wasn't even worth mentioning.」
4 views...
No permanent readers...
Fourth book?
Zero.
Fifth.
Zero.
Tenth.
Zero.
Fiftieth.
Zero.
One hundredth...
Z...ero...
One hundred and first...
Or rather...
The first book as Angel.
"Oh Angel, I love it!"
Angel couldn't help but smile.
A genuine smile.
「Ah... so this is what being praised feels like...」
「I almost forgot.」
She told herself that.
Yet deep inside, her fragile heart continued to ache.
「Back to square one...」
She quietly bit her lip.
Just enough to feel the sting.
Hearing those words from Maria felt soothing...
But just as cruel.
So, she had to say it..
After telling Maria she never popped off, she had to say it.
"That's why I'm going to college.."
There..she said it!
Angel looker at Maria and her blue eyes widened seeing literal tears in Maria's eyes dripping
"Why? Are you going to stop writing too? Are you giving up? But your stories are good!"
Maria cried.
"Your kuya... he stopped showing me his stories once life got busy."
"I never got to tell him how much they meant to me..."
"You can't just give up, Angel. You can't."
"Trying... persevering... showing up even when the world doesn't seem to care..."
"That's how it should be."
Hearing Maria's words, Angel couldn't help but bite her lip.
"But... I'm just a nobody."
"Nobody would ever like a failure like me."
"You dummy!"
Seeing Maria raise her hand, Angel instinctively flinched, bracing herself for a slap.
Instead—
She was pulled into a hug.
"So what if you're a loser?"
"Have you ever heard of『The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere』?"
"Haru Urara?"
Angel shook her head.
"She was a racehorse that never won."
"Not once."
"She raced over a hundred times... and lost every single race."
"But people still loved her."
"Not because she kept losing."
"They loved her because no matter how many times she lost... she still ran."
"She kept showing up."
"And somewhere along the way..."
"She became a symbol that even if you fail again and again..."
"You can still keep moving forward."
Maria smiled softly.
"So don't call yourself a failure just because you haven't won yet."