The Cursed Wizard: A Game Made Real

"Do you want the power of the other half?" 

He is a wizard who survived against Croken of Pandemonium. 

The fact that he had escaped the clutches of that cruel war mercenary was enough to make many people ask Jenny about Leo's personal history, so the reputation of Bokmajeon was strong in this world. 

"Not only is his ability great, but his personality is also perfect. Have you ever seen a wizard who can communicate so well while working alone?" 

"… ..I know what you mean." 

To be frank, it's not like there aren't any wizards in this world who are better than Leo right now. 

However, wizards with such outstanding or powerful abilities are most likely affiliated with organizations or groups, and are treated as extremely valuable forces. 

There are some wizards who reject scouts or offers and work as freelancers like Leo, but most of them are either useless characters or boast astronomical salaries. 

It was not easy to establish a cooperative relationship with the magician, who was considered the most specialized and situational responsive among all the professions in the Balkans. 

Like Leo now, the chances of meeting a wizard who has only recently come down to the city after training are even rarer. 

Jordan nodded, understanding Jenny's words without difficulty. 

"Ultimately, all we can do is arrange for a job that suits you well and pays well. If we try to encroach on anything beyond that, it could actually have negative consequences." 

"Fuck, I know." 

As she said that, Jenny turned on her computer and connected to the network. 

I started looking for a commission that would suit Leo. 

"Wouldn't it be better to recommend mainly the requests that come from the corporate side? That way, the aftermath is usually cleaner." 

Sweet Home 

Jordan clicked his tongue at her words and poured some whiskey into his glass. 

"Do you think Ban will still think that way after what happened?" 

"Ah… I see." 

For the time being, I'm glad I don't have to worry about seeing any reptiles or getting into trouble. 

"For the time being, I would not recommend commissioning from corporations or syndicates. Since they have such a huge financial power, something could happen in an instant, like hiring Croken. It would be better to look into the work of gangs or mercenaries." 

A gang that lives and breathes in the 50s district, and a mercenary who works as a freelancer in the 40s district. 

Although the commission fee is relatively low compared to other companies, there are quite a few commissions that can be helpful to Leo as they are closely related to the physiology of this field. 

Where would be a good place to look for a job or posting that pays a decent amount but isn't too risky? 

Gangs are simple but dirty, mercenaries are clean but brutal. 

The worries were quickly over. 

"Gangs… are a bit like that, mercenaries would be better. You can blend in a bit. I'll try contacting the relatively gentle guys." 

A mercenary office will never be short on manpower, but it's a different story if those manpower is magician. 

Any organization would be receptive to Leo's suggestion to hire an outside force simply because he is a wizard. 

Just by establishing connections with hired wizards, it is a profitable business for the organization, and if the wizard is skilled, it is possible to hire him as an exclusive employee while providing high treatment. 

Leo also has less aversion to the mercenary profession since he has worked with skilled people like Dylan. 

Jordan let out a small sigh as he watched Jenny pick up the phone. 

"I'm helping you with your business at Kaise's request, but keep in mind that I can't always look after you. You're smart and perceptive, but you have a short temper and tend to skip over other options." 

"Hello? Dray, it's me." 

Jenny winked as if she understood and immediately began talking to the person on the other end of the phone. 

Jordan shook his head silently, picked up a towel, and began to wipe the glass. 

It was almost time for the bar to open. It was time to start preparing to welcome customers. 

# 

An unknown franchise hamburger restaurant. 

Leo ordered a hamburger combo, opened the package right away, and took a bite. 

It has the familiar hamburger shape of a thick meat patty between buns, but the sauce flavor and burger name are completely different. 

Even in a world where magic exists, does the fast food people want boil down to bread and meat? 

Leo thought about it for a moment, but quickly forgot about it and became absorbed in his newly opened cell phone. 

"hmm." 

If I think about it, I've been living for almost two months without even paying attention to my cell phone. 

When I was engrossed in games on Earth, I always had my phone by my side, but as I was contemplating various things to survive and focusing on studying magic, I completely forgot about it. 

Since the option to use the network function as well as calling was added when activating the cell phone, Leo was able to search for various things with the same feeling as he had when touching a smartphone on Earth. 

News, society, sports, economy, magic engineering, research… Leo's fingers, which had been moving slowly through a variety of unfamiliar words, suddenly stopped. 

[Charlotte company struggles to launch new product due to explosion at manufacturing plant in District 42… Evacuation order issued for residents within 2km radius, but no significant damage reported] 

"… … .." 

Leo clicked on the news article to get more details, but it only said that an explosion had occurred due to an unknown gas leak. 

There was no mention of Leo or Croken anywhere, or of the unidentified attackers. 

Although the article does not provide any facts or details, Leo was able to easily guess the conflicts of interest behind the incident from the gaps. 

A silent expression of intent by those involved in the factory to dismiss the explosion as a mere accident. 

A huge amount of money from the city government that supported the construction of the factory has gone up in smoke, but since the incident has been covered up like this, no one will dig up the truth about this matter. 

'Is this how it's always like to work with a company?' 

Even though he orders them to do something reckless like blow up a factory, he makes sure they are compensated and dealt with properly when they succeed. 

I don't know if other companies are like this, or if it's a characteristic of Balitz that entrusted the work to this company, but if it's neat, it's neat, and if it's thorough, it's thorough. 

'I like the fact that I don't have to worry about it anymore, but…' 

It doesn't feel entirely comfortable to know that additional incidents are being investigated in places he doesn't know about. 

While it may not be a problem to work with a half-face on, there is no guarantee that it will continue to be that way in the future. 

It was also like suddenly encountering a monster like Croken… If I ever have to work with a company in the future, I think I need to approach it more cautiously. 

I throw away the hamburger I finished eating and walk out of the store. 

The part-timer standing at the counter looked at him as if he had something to say, but he ignored him. 

Leo took out a cigarette and chewed it as he walked down the street. 

Since I created my identity with Jenny's help yesterday, there were a few things I had to take care of. 

"Welcome. What brings you here?" 

"I came to see the room." 

Get out of the cramped hotel room and have your own space. 

Until now, I had no status or money, so I was content to stay in cheap hotels paying a daily rate, but now I can easily afford to pay monthly rent. 

Leo, who had studied Balkan real estate to some extent using his cell phone in advance, was fortunately able to view several rooms without any trouble talking to real estate agents. 

I don't expect anything big when I don't have much. I can be satisfied with a studio apartment with basic sanitation, running water, and a kitchen for now. 

Public safety... .. I wish I could care about it, but if it's burdensome, I can give it up. That's a problem that can be solved to some extent with magic. 

After looking around several studio apartments introduced by the broker, Leo chose a studio apartment on a street near the hotel where he was originally staying and signed a contract. 

Monthly rent of 350,000 won and a deposit of 5 million won. The monthly rent is paid directly to the landlord, and the deposit is paid directly to the city government. 

Since the room was empty and he didn't have much luggage, Leo was able to move in with just a few clothes, groceries, a notebook, and various medicine bags that he had left in the hotel room. 

"Phew… ." 

A dimly lit, swaying ceiling and creaking wooden floor. 

It's a small studio apartment on the third floor of a shabby villa, but it's the first time in this world that I've had my own home. 

In fact, the hotel and the scenery itself were not that different, but Leo was satisfied with this for the time being. 

I check to see if the fridge is on and put in the remaining food. 

Leo, who had cleaned up the dusty room, sat down in the middle of the room and closed his eyes. 

Phew!! 

Increase your magical power and focus your mind to maximize your senses. 

Through the darkness beyond my eyelids, the tiny one-room space seemed close enough to touch. 

A sphere made of magical power is drawn around this small space, and security magic is placed on the surface of the sphere. 

Normally, it would have been necessary to draw a magic circle and perform an elaborate ritual to create a barrier, but Leo succeeded in giving magic to the space itself by simply concentrating his ritual without much effort. 

When he realized that a simple barrier magic belonging to public magic had succeeded in one go, Leo did not stop there and immediately added various defensive techniques. 

He also devised a method to set up traps that would activate 14 bolt spells when any other intruder entered, or to activate gravity bind to tie and tighten the intruder's limbs. 

In hotels, I lived with only the bare minimum of preparation because I didn't know when I would have to check out, but since I got my own space for a monthly rent, I was definitely taking precautions against intrusions. 

Sizzle! 

I tear up a few pages from a notebook I bought at a nearby stationery store and stick them on the wall. 

Leo picked up a pen and began to write something on a piece of paper. 

"I need to get some work from Jenny and look into it, and cook my own meals. I also need to order some nutritional supplements and vitamins… I was planning on digging deeper into the auxiliary magic category, but there's still a long way to go. What else was there?" 

Even though he mutters like that, his hands move without stopping. 

His extraordinary memory allows him to retrieve even the slightest inspiration from the depths of his consciousness and turn it into a plausible goal. 

Even without having to go this far, Leo's head is already filled with everything he needs to do, but writing it down by hand and checking it with his own eyes gives him a different feeling. 

It could be said that it was a ritual in which Leo himself went beyond remembering his motivation and goals to make sure of the process and determination. 

"That's right. Unique magic… It's not enough to just study common magic." 

Leo, who had been busy writing with his pen, rested his chin on his hand with a serious expression and looked lost in thought. 

Leo did not doubt the talent he had created himself, but he was slightly dissatisfied with the public magic he used with that talent. 

Common magic has overwhelming universality that encompasses all attributes and classes, but when it comes to deep expertise or power for a given class, it is inevitably inferior to unique magic. 

For example, the lightning magic used as a common magic was limited to simply summoning lightning, but if it reached the end of the lightning series with its own magic, it was possible to do things like completely changing the weather in the sky and summoning a thunder dragon. 

However, since he thought that the general usability of common magic was enough to function as a wizard, he planned to postpone learning his own magic as much as possible… but his meeting with Croken changed Leo's thoughts a little. 

'There's no guarantee that we won't encounter such a monster again.' 

His current deck is too meager to wait until he gets the Time Series' unique magic. 

Even if you can't defeat such a monster head-on, you should develop your magical abilities to a level where you can escape with your life. 

And the fastest way to grow as a wizard was to learn the unique magic system and open up a new path. 

'Learning other unique magic doesn't mean you can't learn time-based unique magic. But… .' 

In order to learn a new unique magic, you must first see the end of the unique magic system you have learned. 

Even if you acquire time-based unique magic later, it may take a long time to learn it because of the unique magic you learned first. 

'I can't help it.' 

Even if you don't learn the unique magic, it's not like there's no way. 

If you take the time to increase your magical power and steadily develop your magical control and casting abilities, there will come a time when you will not be lacking in power or combat with just common magic. 

If you hit your opponent with [Thunder Calling] 4 times in a row with quadruple casting, bind them with 2 [Gravity Bind] shots, and repeatedly freeze and thaw them with ice and fire magic, and then hit them with shock magic, what could you not break through? 

Considering Leo's magical talent, it was by no means an unattainable level. Rather, Leo was confident that he could raise his magical ability to a level where such a one-sided bombing would be possible within a few years. 

The talent he possesses is truly the seed of a transcendent being who has reached the limit set by this world. 

But the problem is that even those few years are an absurdly long time for Leo now. 

What are the chances that Leo, who has been crawling into the Balkan underworld to earn money to maintain his health, will not encounter a monster like Croken for several years? 

It was an optimistic assumption that was not very realistic for him, who faced the criminal organization called Pandemonium only two months after starting work. 

"… … ." 

In order to increase the chances of survival even a little, you must use various means, not just magic. 

Leo put down his pen, put on his clothes with a determined look on his face, and left the room. 

District 29. 

At the end of a busy street with numerous shops. A lively and friendly street, completely different from the 40s district where Leo works. 

A place with bright lights that illuminate the evening glow as darkness falls. A huge store with loud rock music piercing your ears. 

Gun & Barrel. The most famous and high-quality gun shop in the area was there. 

Request for designation 

In a space larger than that of a typical supermarket, all kinds of guns and bullets were densely displayed, and quite a few customers, including Leo, were looking around the store and carefully selecting products. 

A world where buying and selling guns and bullets is not considered strange at all. 

It may be a somewhat unfamiliar sight to Leo, but it must have been a sight that existed on the Earth where he lived. 

Tata tata tata tata tang!! 

People testing out products on one side of the store amid piercing rock music. 

"This product has a magazine that is too big. It feels uncomfortable around the collarbone when worn." 

"The muzzle heats up too quickly. Recommend me something a little more durable." 

"The spray is too strong. The zero point isn't adjusted properly." 

Even customers who complain and use all sorts of terms. 

Leo also joined in and began to look around at the products on display. 

Just a moment ago, he had been seriously contemplating the development of magical abilities, but he had come to the gunsmith, but Leo had an idea. 

A shooting combo magic used by the Musketeer in a possessed state when cornered during the fight with Croken. 

With the shooting ability strengthened by using auxiliary magic, Leo was able to confirm the possibility of a different direction than now. 

'I made that monster react with four auxiliary spells on a cheap pistol. If I dig a little deeper, I might get some good results.' 

No matter how great Leo's talent is, the amount of magical power itself is limited, and it takes a lot of time to increase it. 

However, in the case of auxiliary magic, since its use is very limited compared to regular common magic, the amount of magical power required is also small. 

If you add a shooting assistance spell to a decent gun, you can greatly increase the firepower that can be emitted even with a small amount of magic power. 

Of course, since his talent is focused on magic rather than shooting, he must be careful not to get the order of things reversed… . 

There was no denying that it was an attractive option for Leo at the moment.