How a Wizard Survives on a Deserted Island

Only the person at the front had changed; it still didn't seem like we'd find anything.

You think the jungle's a joke?!

Maybe I should say that lovely fruity smell must have been coming from here all along~ and compliment Assistant Manager on her chest?

Fuck, like that'd work.

I'd get chewed out for half an hour standing right here. Maybe if I walked a little farther and wore her out, her mouth and tongue would stop working?

Not wanting to hear her nag, I sharpened my senses.

The problem was that I'd been trying to search like an ordinary person in the first place.

I'm a wizard.

I needed to find something other people couldn't sense, something only I could.

"Why did you suddenly stop?"

"Shh."

I closed my eyes and focused.

Ever since I'd arrived here, the island's air had felt as if it were alive.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't the air itself.

If I had to give it a name, I'd call it mana.

I focused on sensing how mana circulated through the southern forest.

A current winding inward through the southern forest, between the leaves and across the sand, carrying the scent of damp earth.

I knew instinctively that I mustn't interfere with that flow.

All I had to do was let my consciousness rest lightly upon it.

Then lines appeared in the darkness.

"!"

I could see.

I could see even with my eyes closed.

I could tell which way each blade of grass was leaning. I could even feel the difference between a leaf that had been stepped on and one that was still alive.

Thin roots spread beneath the damp soil like the lines on a palm, and tiny paths made by ants stretched away like threads.

The cracks in the tree bark.

A drop of water clinging to the tip of a leaf.

The cross-section of a broken branch.

The boundary where sand blended into soil.

All of it flooded into my mind at once.

'It was like scanning──no, should I call it a detection spell?'

No matter how complicated the map was, having a scan function changed everything.

It was like playing an open-world game where the interaction markers were clearly visible.

I could tell where to go and even what I might find there.

'Food.'

I didn't know where this magic had come from, but…

Maybe I could find something nutritious, too?

I turned the three-dimensional map this way and that, searching for places where mana gathered especially densely.

'Found it.'

There was something with a dense concentration of mana high up in a certain tree.

This had to be it.

"Hey! Say something. You've just been standing there with your eyes closed…"

"Assistant Manager, over there!"

"Ah……!"

I took Assistant Manager's hand and led her along.

Not many steps away, we found a tree bearing bright red, plump-looking fruit.

"There really is fruit here…"

"Did you think I was lying?"

"No."

Seoyoon said, turning her eyes away as if embarrassed.

"Well, you can be pretty useful at the crucial moment, Mr. Woojin."

"Haha."

Phew, I'm saved.

My instinctive desire to avoid being nagged had taken me one step closer to becoming a wizard.

Thanks, Assistant Manager.

"It doesn't look spoiled. Do you think it's safe to eat?"

Well, probably.

The tree and its fruit were safe. If she asked me why, all I could say was that pure mana was swirling around them,

which probably wouldn't sound very convincing to her.

I could sense it. Nothing about this tree or its fruit clashed with my own energy.

This fruit was perfectly ripe.

Crunch.

When I plucked one without hesitation and bit into it, Seoyoon grabbed me and shook me, trying to stop me.

"Are you crazy? You can't just eat whatever you find lying around! What if it makes you sick?"

Crunch, crunch…

I chewed the fruit in silence.

Seoyoon stared as if entranced, following the movement of my jaw.

We hadn't had a proper meal even once since we'd been stranded.

All we'd put in our mouths were snacks and energy bars, things that could give us a quick sugar boost.

Though she said it was dangerous, Seoyoon was leaning toward me. She clearly wanted some.

She didn't even seem to care that her cleavage was showing.

Her eyes, her slightly parted lips—Assistant Manager seemed to be saying with her whole body, 'Give me some, too.'

The sweet aroma and burst of juice when I bit into the fruit must have been hard to resist.

Delicious.

It was plenty sweet, with a refreshing tartness mixed in. It tasted just like a really good apple.

Haaah…

I never realized how happy the simple act of chewing something with my teeth could make me.

The energy I'd just replenished mingled with my mana and spread throughout my body, into my muscles and flesh.

One bite was enough to tell how wonderful it was.

Gulp.

Seoyoon grabbed my sleeve and shook it like a child begging for something.

"Is it good?"

"I even tasted it to check, and it seems fine. This fruit is edible."

"I want some, too… Mr. Woojin, me too!"

Seoyoon was cute when she clung to me so earnestly.

Up close, Seoyoon's scent was even stronger.

"I found it, though…"

I could indulge a little, couldn't I?

I let the suspense hang, as if nothing came free. Seoyoon swallowed hard.

"Thank you. Thank you for finding it. So let me try some, too!"

All that over one piece of fruit?

If a girlfriend like Assistant Manager begged me like that, I'd buy her a hundred bowls of malatang.

"Mr. Woojin~!"

"All right, all right. Here."

I gave in to Seoyoon's coaxing.

She carefully took it and bit into it, then……

Started eating in a frenzy.

She happily melted away, sucking up the fruit's rich moisture and sweetness.

"Hwaap, hwoop, hwaap…!"

Watching her, I realized how I could make it through this island.

So what if I didn't know anything about survival?

I had magic.

"Mmm… mmm."

Even after eating the whole fruit by herself, Seoyoon still looked unsatisfied.

If I hadn't been there, she looked ready to lick my palm clean.

Once her rampaging appetite finally subsided and her reason returned, Seoyoon belatedly realized what she'd done and blushed.

Did the fruit come with a blushing effect? Haha.

"Was it good?"

"I'm sorry I ate the whole thing by myself…!!"

Seoyoon didn't know where to look.

If Kang Seoyoon were back in society, this was exactly the kind of behavior she'd have hated most. No wonder she was embarrassed.

She clasped her hands together, looking ready to beg for forgiveness at any moment.

"It's fine. You must have been really hungry."

At times like this, it was more fun to be magnanimous and let it go.

I could find as much more as I wanted, anyway.

"Ugh…"

Seoyoon lowered her head, as if regretting her childish behavior.

"I'm getting to see a whole new side of you, Assistant Manager Kang Seoyoon."

"Ah, I'm really sorry…! I mean it! Next time we find something, it's all yours, Mr. Woojin!"

With that, Seoyoon started walking ahead.

That's not the way.

I enjoyed watching her hurriedly walk off for a moment, but caught her arm before she got any farther.

"It's this way."

Seoyoon followed me at a quick trot, her cheeks bright red.

Soon, I found another tree where mana had gathered.

This was magic. A map hack.

Although its range wasn't enough to scan the entire southern forest, finding food was easy.

Seoyoon went to pick the fruit right away, then scrubbed it clean with a fresh cloth from her bag and handed it to me.

"Here."

Grrrrr.

Just then, Seoyoon's stomach growled again, as if asking for something tasty.

"Ah, seriously──."

Seoyoon stamped her feet.

Surviving in the wilderness really wasn't easy.

Seoyoon's carefully maintained image and social dignity were in tatters.

Once unleashed, Seoyoon's appetite kept demanding food, and there was no stopping a physical response like that just by being careful.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a bodily function."

"It was just so loud…"

Seoyoon stroked her stomach, which had betrayed her, and swallowed down her embarrassment.

"You can have that one, too."

"Mr. Woojin, I do have a conscience, you know."

"That's not what I meant. There are more behind you. I think I've got enough for myself."

Only then did Seoyoon notice the five fruits growing higher up. She gave a delighted little jump.

"Eek!"

"You can take some to Manager Han, too."

"Let's hurry and pick them before anyone sees!"

She strained to reach up toward the high branches, but she was too short to reach them.

"I'll give you a boost. Can you grab them?"

"Leave it to me!"

I knelt on one knee and made a foothold for Seoyoon with my palm.

She hesitated a little before climbing onto my shoulders, but…

Here she comes!!

Hooooo…

The assistant manager's thick, warm, soft thighs, wrapped in coffee-colored stockings that had been aging for three days!!

Closed around the back of my neck.

The strongest scent yet made my head spin.

Haaaah!!

This is pure bliss!

"No sniffing…!"

"Why would I sniff your funky smell?"

As soon as I said that, she tightened her thighs around my neck.

Cough, cough!! Cough!! Fuck, I'm dying of happiness!

"I don't smell bad, okay? Have you even smelled me?"

"Should I take a sniff?"

"Eek!! Don't! Don't smell me!"

Her thighs squeezed even tighter.

"Okay, okay. I'll hold my breath…"

"I never said you smelled bad, so don't get the wrong idea."

I knew that.

I was already breathing it in deeply.

Seoyoon tightly wrapped her thighs around the back of my neck to keep her balance.

"Bear with it for a bit, even if it's uncomfortable."

"You'd better hold on tight and not drop me, Assistant Manager."

"Of course. I'll focus. I won't let a single one fall."

Assistant Manager really was good at her job.

She was meticulous and focused, and collected every single fruit without dropping one.

Her hands were definitely more nimble than mine.

Honestly, if you set magic aside, Seoyoon probably had me beat in every stat except strength.

She came down with her arms full of fruit.

"Let's eat them one at a time!"

"Sounds good."

We chose a flat rock, sat down, and took a short break while filling our stomachs.

"They're delicious. How did you find these?"

"Ah… how should I put it? I could sense them. Maybe these fruits have a particularly strong fragrance."

"Mm-hmm… You're right. They really do smell lovely. I don't think I've ever smelled anything quite like it. I wonder if it could be made into perfume…"

Was this woman seriously a workaholic?

She was thinking about that even on an island…

"All right, let's gather as much as we can before sunset!"

I'd kind of like to head back soon…

"Come on. I'm counting on you, Mr. Woojin."

Seoyoon's energy was being forcibly sucked into me. Gahhh.

She'd been like this at the company, too.

She was always throwing things at me to do, even though I had no passion or motivation.

Sometimes I'd found it a real pain, but now…

It felt like we were walking toward the same goal.

"Are you getting tired?"

I smiled at her when she turned the question around and worried about me.

"No. Let's go."

We kept looking for more fruit until the sun began to set.

We found enough to fill a travel bag.

The power of magic really was incredible.

With a little exaggeration, I could live on this island…

What would I do with this when I got back to Korea? Make bottled water?

"Mr. Woojin, did you grow up in the countryside…?"

"It's luck."

"That definitely doesn't seem like luck. I searched for hours in the direction I went, and…"

The good thing about detection magic was that it filtered out things we shouldn't eat, too.

"Oh, what about that mushroom?"

"That one's no good."

"Oh…"

Watching me find fruit so easily, she must have thought I knew how to tell what was safe to eat.

She accepted it without protest and backed away from the mushroom.

We barely made it out of the hot, humid jungle.

As we left the forest, Manager Han Jia greeted us.

"Assistant Manager Kang, Mr. Woojin! Are you all right? I was worried when you didn't come back even as the sun started setting."

"Thanks to the lipstick marks, we didn't get lost. The red stood out really well."

When we returned to camp, something seemed off about the other survivor groups.

"There are fewer people around."

"More people seem to have gone into the jungle to explore. They must be looking for food…"

I see.

So we weren't the only ones who'd realized we needed to search now.

Everyone was desperately trying to survive.

"So… did you find anything?"

Heh.

Assistant Manager and I exchanged glances and grinned.

"You're in for a surprise."

I turned the bag upside down over a clean cloth and spilled out the fruit.

Rumble, rumble.

"Oh my…!"

"If we ration it, we should have enough to last until tomorrow, maybe even three days."

We couldn't refrigerate it, so any more than that would just spoil.

"Mr. Kim Woojin has a knack for finding fruit, Manager."

"I see…"

"Assistant Manager helped me pick it."

I could still clearly remember the scent of her thighs.

Kang Seoyoon gave an embarrassed little cough.

"Today was nice, Mr. Woojin."

Seoyoon held out her hand.

I guess she meant to shake hands.

"It was nothing."

We clasped hands and shook.

And so, while waiting for the rescue team, our spark of hope was rekindled, but

a thought crossed my mind after going into the jungle today.

──────Could this be an uninhabited island where nobody lives?

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