Chapter 12
What was an ordinary day for someone could be the worst day for another.
The man was deeply aware of this fact.
『 You rice maggot! How can you eat with so many delinquents around?! 』
"Damn~ These asshole customers not paying their debts and blaming me..."
The loan shark business was a profession with high returns but equally high risks. Many people saw it as easy money with 30% interest rates, but in reality, it was a job that inevitably involved a lot of suffering for the lender as well.
Malicious debtors.
Among loan sharks, there were many people called delinquents, or shameless bastards.
People who borrowed from loan sharks were naturally those who couldn't borrow from banks, or those who needed money despite having borrowed as much as they could.
In other words, people who had nowhere lower to fall.
Of course, there are people who diligently repay their debts, but the loan shark business was full of people who came out saying, "My life is already screwed, so to hell with it." Some really harmed themselves, some fled to foreign countries, and many cases of people taking quick loans and going into hiding.
Among them, the truly worst of the worst acted as if they had iron plates on their faces. Since it was obvious that if they died, the debt would float away and the lender wouldn't even recover the principal, they shamelessly spouted nonsense like saying the lender should treat them well so they could repay the debt.
What was more infuriating was that from the loan shark's perspective, that statement wasn't entirely wrong.
If they seemed completely unable to pay, you could at least sell them off somewhere, but they had the ability and did pay somewhat. Despite this, they came out so shamelessly that you wanted to beat them to death, but every time, they read the atmosphere impeccably.
They were masters of push and pull, making you wonder if they had amazing dating experiences in their youth.
"If you're going to do that push and pull, do it with someone you're fucking, why do it with a loan shark, you bastard!"
The man kept uttering "shit" and "damn" as he moved towards a dark alley.
"Damn, what a shitty workplace. Why don't these gangster bastards smoke..."
He wasn't trying to do anything that shouldn't be seen by people.
He was just coming out of the building to smoke, heading to a damp, cockroach-smelling back alley.
"With all that money, would it kill them to make a smoking room, damn it..."
A hellish collaboration created by a loan company that cares nothing for welfare and an environment with no smokers at all. But what could he do? The godly big brothers didn't smoke, and the great boss who pays the salary had no intention of spending money on welfare.
The man sighed and dragged his slippers. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled cigarette pack.
"Damn, it's the last one..."
The man sighed.
Still, having even one was something.
He'd like to chain-smoke as usual, but he had to be satisfied with just one cigarette, which was regrettable.
Cigarette prices have gone up lately, making it tough.
Whoo.
The man felt a sense of stability in his body that grew languid with each inhalation of smoke.
I wish money would come from somewhere. Lottery... No, damn it, even if it's not the lottery, I wish there was some corner where money could come out.
But if money could be earned that easily, would he be living like this, scraping by?
This damn loser life.
Loser.
F*cking loser life.
Life loser.
Life dropout.
As he watched the cigarette length visibly decrease with each deep breath, the man thought it resembled him.
A life that was only consumed without earning.
A life that didn't seem to see the light no matter how much you struggled and tried.
Whether doing cryptocurrency, sports betting, or buying lottery tickets.
No matter what he did, money didn't accumulate.
The money coming in as salary melted away instantly, being called out to the big brothers' drinking parties and trying to save face in front of the younger ones. Every time he saw his bank account emptying, he felt a sense of crisis, but the get-rich-quick opportunities he bought always missed the mark.
He didn't even hope for the first prize in the lottery. He was prepared to rejoice all day if he even got second place, but he's never even won fourth place. In sports betting, even following the advice of self-proclaimed experts on the internet always missed, and when he got heated and wanted to curse at the players, he held back thinking he might get sued.
Cryptocurrencies that had steadily risen plummeted the moment he bought them, and when he thought about trying stocks, his eyes spun at words he'd never heard before and terms he couldn't understand even after hearing them, and that thought disappeared completely.
Yeah.
The man was just... one of the many people in society hoping for a windfall.
Only unique in that he worked in the loan shark business, albeit at the bottom rung.
The big brothers seem to get good information and grease their bellies, I wonder when I'll hear something like that...
The man threw away the burnt-out cigarette butt on the ground and got up. Then he was about to stop by a nearby convenience store to buy cigarettes and return.
"Do you want to suc-ceed?"
Flinch.
That was what would have happened if someone's voice hadn't been heard behind the man at that moment.
The man turned around, startled by the voice that sounded like it was coming from a pit leading to hell.
"Aaagh! Shit!"
And as soon as he turned around, he fell on his backside, nearly fainting in surprise.
This was because what was behind him was a strange person who could hardly be thought of as human.
A hunchback covered in black armor as if going to some battlefield. His back was so curved it reminded one of a camel's hump, and the black shiny hump evoked the image of some disgusting creature's egg.
The hands not covered by armor were mottled white and gray as if afflicted with some serious disease, reminiscent of a mannequin, and the tattered rags hanging on his body even caused an illusion that a monster might be imitating a human.
The most frightening thing was the face.
The black mask reminiscent of a disgusting insect really looked like a giant bug.
No, if this strange person hadn't spoken to the man, he would have thought a real monster had appeared.
"Kh-he, success. You, want success. Don't you?"
The strange person made an odd breathing sound as if wearing a gas mask inside out. Moreover, as if breathing was uncomfortable, his speech was broken in places, and perhaps due to the mask, his voice echoed strangely, sounding like a machine imitating a human rather than a person speaking.
But perhaps because of this bizarreness.
The man thought the person before his eyes was extraordinary.
A demon.
No, perhaps something similar to a demon.
"I want... No, I would like it."
Thud.
Thud.
The strange person approached the man with a dazed expression.
With footsteps too light for his hunched and seemingly heavy body.
Damn, it’s like an actual bug.
The man silently recalled a bug crawling on the floor without sound, seeing those footsteps.
And the moment he thought of bugs, he felt the hair all over his body stand on end and goosebumps rise on his arms.
"You are a lucky one."
The strange person looked at the man's face, mixed with fear and expectation.
"Great magic. Your fortune and, kh-he. Your desire caught my eye. Ah-am. Indeed..."
Saying this, the strange person grabbed the man's hair and pulled out a clump.
Rip!
"Aaagh! What are you doing!"
The man glared at the strange person, shedding tears from the sudden pain, but soon lowered his eyes again, overwhelmed by the strange person's terrible mask and bizarre atmosphere.
"You are, lucky. And, and. Hm-. Kh-he. You'll become even luckier."
Whoosh.
Flames rose from the strange person's hand. A small flame that appeared in the pitch-black palm as if there had been an unextinguished ember began to burn the hair in his hand, swaying gently in the wind, and with the disgusting smell of burning protein, the man's dyed hair turned into a handful of ashes.
The strange person dipped his finger in the ashes and smeared it, then poked a corner of the man's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Then, as if getting a tattoo, a black dot was firmly embedded in the man's abdomen. The dot tried to spread like ink bleeding, and when it became a bumpy circular shape, it slowly disappeared from the skin as if evaporating.
"What, what is this?"
Sorcery.
And proper sorcery at that.
The man realized that what was in front of him was a sorcerer.
A being treated as an eccentric even among ability users, but at the same time regarded as special.
The man instinctively felt that he had obtained the luck he had always wanted.
He felt with his instinct, not reason, that this encounter with the sorcerer would be a turning point that would completely change his life.
Therefore, the man's attitude couldn't help but become polite.
"L-luck, you said luck would improve. So is this magic to improve luck?"
The strange person smiled, looking at the man's face now full of expectation instead of fear.
"Kh-he. Seeing is believing. Experiencing it, yourself would be right."
A shiny bug face.
Eyes like glass beads.
Plaster-like skin visible through the gaps in the mask.
"Hehehe, thank you!"
But now that appearance was no longer frightening.
The man grinned and thanked him, and seeing him bowing repeatedly, the strange person said,
"Feel the power of great magic. I'll be around here for a while. If you need more luck, come find me."
Only next time, I'll receive a small price-
Saying this, the strange person disappeared into the back alley.