Chapter 14
The man became happier and happier.
At work, everyone treated him intimately.
Women saw him as an attractive person.
The food he ate every day became more delicious.
As if his luck had opened up, money started rolling in.
This amazing happiness grew stronger the more he visited the strange person and received magic.
Everything was going well.
But... something felt off.
The man had such a feeling.
A strange sensation.
A peculiar feeling as if his instinct was whispering that something was wrong...
But what was the problem?
Everything was going well, so what could possibly be wrong?
Perhaps to shake off this sense of discomfort, or to dispel the fear that constantly whispered crisis from somewhere in his heart, he kept telling everyone around him about meeting the sorcerer.
The story of meeting the sorcerer while going out for a smoke.
How the suddenly appearing sorcerer cast a luck-opening spell on him, and thanks to that, everything has been going smoothly for him lately.
People who heard his story all reacted saying he was lucky, or "Come on, there's no such thing."
But one of the man's friends said this:
"Hey. Isn't that a scam?"
It was a concern stemming from remembering the man's school days when he was gullible and often deceived.
The man was momentarily angry at his friend for treating the sorcerer who cast magic on him as a scammer, but realizing it was a question coming from concern, he seriously considered it.
"No. The magic that that sorcerer cast was real."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Isn't he deceiving you with some half-baked magic?"
South Korea was a country overflowing with scammers.
A country with overwhelmingly high fraud crimes even compared to other countries.
And among the numerous scammers, there were many who approached pretending to be spiritually powerful.
Like those who claimed to be priests serving some unheard-of minor deity and saying they'll give divine blessings if you offered money, or those who said they were shamans contracted with spirits and could write talismans if you gave them a hefty offering.
People pretending to be sorcerers could also be seen occasionally, because people's perception of the sorcerer profession was that of an 'eccentric'. An eccentric who made people believe even when giving vague answers when asked for reasons.
It often appears in old stories too. A passing sorcerer uses magic to protect and help, things like that.
In old stories, there were many plots where problems were solved with the help of a 'passing sorcerer'.
Stories like a sorcerer taking pity on a scholar troubled by evil spirits and exorcising them with magic, or giving a talisman to someone caught by a monster to help them escape.
Perhaps because it was such a familiar existence?
Scammers sometimes approached disguised as sorcerers. The efforts of these scammers to swindle people's money were truly astounding, making people who had only encountered sorcerers through media like TV or books easily deceived.
Moreover, due to the nature of sorcery, low-level magic was easily accessible and used, and unless they were powerful ability users, there was almost no conflict at the level of ordinary people or weak ability users, so it was easy to deceive using somewhat plausible magic.
Additionally, people often fell for it hook, line, and sinker when someone just said, "I'm going to perform a grand magical ritual," and did something that looked somewhat convincing. Especially in modern times, with flawless magic tricks and magical engineering items available, it was even easier to deceive.
"You think today's scammers are just regular guys? It's a world where some even deceive government agencies. Think about it carefully, will you?"
The gullible man started to have doubts due to his friend's words.
What if what he saw was just an illusion magic or something created by fraud?
But soon the man chuckled.
Surely there aren't such guys these days.
Scammers pretending to be sorcerers certainly existed.
But scammers who continuously pretended to be sorcerers did not exist.
Because sorcerers never turned a blind eye to those who went around impersonating them and committing crimes.
The sorcerers with their impressions of being eccentrics, folk-like and traditional, commoner-friendly, or wise men who repeatedly undergo asceticism or training, might seem at first glance like harmless pushovers.
In reality, there actually were many pushover-like sorcerers.
Sorcerers who lived helping people or harmless sorcerers who shut themselves away in remote areas or deep in the mountains to train.
But conversely, there were certainly sorcerers who seemed like they would appear in horror movies or thrillers. In South America, there was a case where a crazy sorcerer going around performing human sacrifices was shot dead, and in Europe, there was a sorcerer who ruled like a king, leading wolves around.
Of course, these two examples were extreme, and in reality, most sorcerers were neither good nor evil. There were countless who lived cutting off interest in worldly affairs if it wasn't their business, and many were absorbed in their training.
That was why scammers thought like this:
『 It would be quite profitable to go around scamming as a sorcerer, wouldn't it? 』
They knew there were occasionally violent sorcerers.
But if you argued that way, wasn't it the same with criminals?
Out of 1,000 people, there could be assaulters and murderers.
But most people lived normally, didn't they?
If you didn't get caught, that was it.
If you got caught, you could just say it was bad luck.
So scammers fearlessly impersonated sorcerers.
And they inevitably failed.
Not just fail, but fail horribly.
"Who goes around impersonating sorcerers these days? You'll be socially dead, I tell you."
With the advancement of science, the treatment of ability users changed from the past.
Magicians, once preciously used and treated by kings and nobles, became the elite class by advancing into fields like engineering, military, and special occupations.
Martial artists, once the core force protecting the country, advanced into professions like soldiers, bodyguards, and mercenaries.
Contractors, who caused upheavals in history every time they appeared, were now treated as slightly stronger and promising ability users, and witches, once persecuted, extended their reach into the entertainment and beauty industries, becoming objects of envy.
Even summoners, who were killed whenever caught for summoning demons or magical beasts, now appeared on TV every day boasting about their summons. Cute animals were a cheat key for raising viewership ratings.
But sorcerers hadn't changed much from the past.
In the past, sorcerers held power and honor because they could predict the future and wield magic-like powers.
Kings and nobles had sorcerers cast divinations whenever important matters arose, and when the country faced famine or had to go to war, they had them perform rituals for blessing.
Numerous people with money and power frequented sorcerers' homes, bringing loads of wealth to gain blessings, wearing out their thresholds.
But sorcerers weren't the exclusive property of the powerful.
Sorcerers' abilities were not just limited to divination but were versatile.
In times when medicine wasn't systematically organized, sorcerers were also doctors, and counselors who listened to and solved people's hardships.
They were also godfathers praying for blessings for newborn children, and experts in feng shui who determined good locations through terrain and mountain formations. They were even used as a regular material in various old stories, interfering when they saw difficulties while passing by.
Sorcerers were ability users who had been with humans since ancient times, familiar yet objects of reverence.
This aspect continued into modern times.
Kings and nobles disappeared, and capitalism took root in the world.
But as long as society existed, wealth and power would always exist.
Therefore, the ruling class reappeared, just with different names.
The king became the president.
The nobles became congressmen and the rich.
In the world where a new order had taken root, the reborn persons of power, like the old ones of the past, yearned to have their future predicted and to draw blessings to themselves.
Therefore, skilled sorcerers often had connections with the powerful, and they used these connections to deal with fearless scammers who went around impersonating them.
Powerful people who wanted to become close to sorcerers dealt with them without a shred of mercy according to the sorcerers' wishes, and widely publicized the fate of scammers through various media, shouting "This is what happens if you impersonate a sorcerer." As this was repeated several times, a formula was created: 'Impersonating a sorcerer = Social death'.
Punishing one to warn a hundred.
This was also the will of sorcerers to set an example and prevent others from messing with them again.
But even so, it was inevitable that fearless imposters would occasionally pop up.
Those who aimed to swindle the rich for a big score and then hide somewhere to live were just such types.
"Besides, would fearless crazy bastards target a loser like me? They'd target the rich people over in Gangnam."
The man dismissed his friend's words like that.
But perhaps due to the sense of discomfort he had been feeling lately and his friend's words, he couldn't help but feel his heart waver.
That was why when he met the strange person again, he blurted out these words.
Impulsively.
Instinctively.
"Um, Sorcerer. Besides that fortune... Can you cast other magic too?"
The strange person smiled.
"Of course."
As if waiting for that answer.