Chapter 1
At midnight, like any other night, I left home for my part-time job and frowned when I saw a delivery box by the door.
“……What is this?”
I didn't remember ordering anything, yet there was a rather heavy-looking box sitting there all by itself.
Thinking I might have mixed up the house, I tried to check the tracking number, but for some reason there was nothing attached to the box.
‘Could this be an illegal delivery?’
I didn't know. But I was sure it wasn't something I had ordered, so I carefully set the box down in front of the neighboring door and moved on.
It was better to avoid it than to stick my nose in and risk getting tangled up in something.
Not long after, I arrived at the convenience store. After getting all sorts of notes from the part-timer before me, I put on my vest and sat down at the counter.
“……Phew.”
The convenience store's heater, running for winter, was warmer than my home. It was a little dry, but that was better than being cold.
I sat dazed for a moment, checked the stock, and returned to the counter.
I restocked the empty cigarette shelf. As for the cigarettes I smoked, I paid for a separate pack and kept it aside.
Cigarettes these days cost insane money, but I still couldn't quit.
‘If I get the chance, maybe I will quit.’
It seemed like that chance still hadn't come yet. I let out a little snort of laughter and pulled out my phone to pass the time until a customer came in.
I filled myself with dopamine by watching Shorts, then went onto the community and skimmed through the posts.
The gallery I usually browsed was the 'Mystery Gallery.' It was a place to share rumors and information about all kinds of mysterious occurrences, and since most of the stories were unrealistic, it was strangely entertaining if you read it like a novel.
Aliens, monsters, and the like. The methods for dealing with them when you encountered such things actually sounded plausible when you read them.
[Title: How to Exterminate Aliens]
[Anon]
If our Shinbungs happen to meet hostile aliens, what should they do?
The answer is to stab them with wood. Wood is a rare resource in space, so if you pierce them with wood, there are many cases where they can't move and just die.
So our good Shinbungs should keep this fact in mind and use it when they meet aliens.
(frog thumbs-up meme)
[Comments]
-Wow, that's really useful. If I meet an alien that looks like your damn kid, I'll definitely stab it with wood!
ㄴAn alien that looks like me would be so handsome it absolutely has to leave descendants... please spare me....
ㄴ(Then die meme)
[Title: How to Become a Wizard]
[Serious Magic Addict]
To become a wizard, you must either become an apprentice to a wizard or obtain a grimoire.
Grimoires are divided into two types: one written directly by a wizard, and the other written by a Foreign God.
The difference is hard to tell with the naked eye. A wizard could probably tell at a glance, but otherwise you have to actually read the contents inside—and if it's a grimoire of the Foreign God's, exposure to the Foreign God's knowledge will fry your mind. Once that happens, there's no turning back. You're stuck becoming a mad wizard.
If you think you've picked up a grimoire, make sure to leave me a comment first. I'll check it and tell you.
[Comments]
-I think I picked up a grimoire? Please check this
ㄴSerious Magic Addict:
Send the photo there.
ㄴSent.
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: You fucking idiot, isn't this low-grade BL smut? Are you so desperate to die?
ㄴ(You fell for that?)
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Don't let me see you again.
I burst out laughing at the conversation in the comments.
Tap-tap-tap.
I tapped the screen and left a comment too.
-How do you know whether you picked up a grimoire or not?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: At first glance, the cover is unusual. A normal person could tell this isn't an ordinary book. Basically, it gives off the vibe of an ancient tome.
In the case of grimoires, because they choose their own owners, they suddenly appear before that owner. So if a book you haven't seen before suddenly appears around you, that's a grimoire.
“Nice, they've really thought the setting through.”
I was about to send a reply when a customer suddenly came in, so I put my phone down and stood up.
After that, I didn't have the leisure to use the community again. Just dealing with the troublemakers had drained me completely.
The overnight shift at the convenience store had its good points, but dealing with drunk customers was such a headache. There weren't many customers to begin with, yet a few people ate up all my time, so somehow the fatigue felt even worse.
If it were up to me, I'd quit, but this was the only place nearby where I could work part-time, so I had no choice.
I still had to earn my living somehow. I just had to grit my teeth and endure it.
“Thank you.”
I sent the customer off with a business smile.
By now, the dark sky was starting to brighten again. I finished up what I had to do and waited for the next shift worker to arrive.
A woman with her hood pulled low entered the convenience store a little later. She let out a yawn while blatantly showing how tired she was and looked over at me.
“Any unusual incidents?”
Her name was Lee Yubin.
She was my replacement. I took off the vest I'd been wearing and stretched my arms before answering.
“Nothing. A delivery's supposed to come in soon, so just receive that.”
“Ugh, I hate heavy stuff. Could you help me?”
“Yes.”
“That answer was too fast~”
Yubin giggled and took the vest I was wearing. After giving her a quick 'good luck,' I smoked a cigarette and walked home.
The streets were crowded with people greeting the morning. Cars began to fill the roads, and people in suits or school uniforms started to appear one by one. I watched them for a moment before heading back to my one-room apartment.
'Come to think of it, had he said it was a grimoire?'
By the time I got to the top of the stairs, the post I had seen in the Mystery Gallery suddenly popped into my head.
If you get a grimoire, you can become a wizard.
It was a very fantasy-like post.
If everything he said was true, then there were quite a few people in the world who became wizards by chance. That would also mean Foreign Gods really existed.
'I wonder if Foreign Gods all look like Cthulhu.'
Thinking those pointless thoughts, I stood in front of my one-room apartment door.
The delivery box I had seen before heading to work wasn't anywhere nearby. It must have been picked up by its owner.
I thought nothing of it, opened the door, and went inside. I turned on the light in the dark living room, roughly took off the puffer jacket I was wearing, and tossed it onto the bed.
At that moment, I felt as if our eyes met.
“…….”
On the bed stood a beautiful book with a pure white cover and what looked like silver embroidery.
Nearby, a box torn to shreds was strewn about. If I wasn't mistaken, it was definitely the delivery box I had seen at midnight.
“This is fucking insane.”
Cold sweat ran down my spine as I immediately checked the window locks.
Nothing was open. There wasn't even a trace of it being broken.
The door was the same. There was no sign whatsoever that someone had forced it open. The steel door, tightly shut, looked no different from when I first came to this room.
It was enough to make a ghost weep.
There were no traces of anyone entering the room, yet the box I had definitely left in front of the neighboring door was found in my room? Torn open too, with only an unfamiliar book left sitting there?
The more I thought about it, the more dizzy I became. For now, I ignored the book on the bed and checked whether anything in the house had gone missing.
But nothing seemed to be missing.
There wasn't much worth taking to begin with, but still, after going to the trouble of breaking into my room, there was no way they'd leave without taking anything. Then what was the point of all that hassle getting in?
But even after searching the room for a long while, I couldn't find a single oddity. There wasn't even any sign of an intruder; all that remained was the torn-up box and the ornate book.
At this point, I had no choice but to admit it.
“……It teleported itself here?”
I muttered, glaring at the book on the bed.
I knew very well that it was absurd.
It was impossible by common sense.
Even if you brought in world-class scientists, they'd just click their tongues and say they couldn't do this, but to me, this seemed the most plausible.
Otherwise, there was simply no explanation.
“What are you?”
Just in case, I brought over a back scratcher and tapped the book.
The next moment, instead of falling over backward, the book burst into a blinding glow, scattering pure white light all around.
“Holy shit.”
I watched the scene without even thinking of running away. The incomprehensible mystery seemed to paralyze my ability to think for an instant.
Where the light vanished, the book was still sitting there.
The book with the pure white cover and silver embroidery.
It was as thick as a philosophy textbook or a law book. Yet the scent coming off it wasn't the smell of paper; it was closer to the fragrance of flowers.
An alluring fragrance. I absentmindedly reached for the book, then froze when a thought suddenly surfaced.
The post I had seen in the gallery flashed through my brain.
‘An unusual cover. A feeling like an ancient tome. Suddenly appearing before its owner. If a book you've never seen before suddenly turns up around you.
It's a grimoire.
The instant the thought crossed my mind that this was impossible, that it was nothing more than a story from a novel, the book rose lightly into the air as if agreeing with me.
Then it drifted up to right in front of my eyes and flipped its pages with a rustle.
The pure white book opened, and at last the title and the author's name were revealed.
[The Touch of Re-creation]
[Author: Reconstruction of All Things]
[This grimoire was written by the Foreign God 'Reconstruction of All Things,' hereafter ■■■■, and contains methods for recreating inanimate objects and living beings. It also records various alchemy and magic. Since there was no previous owner, the memories cannot be viewed. So rejoice. You are the first owner of this book.]
“Ah.”
Without realizing it, I picked up the book, which for some reason I could read in Korean, and sat on the bed, clutching my head.
Apparently, the post I had read in the gallery was true.