The Talisman That Created an Alpha Male

The talisman. "PK?" No way. Did you seriously bring me here just to PK other guilds? I was dumbfounded, completely at a loss. Then it hit me—the current PK scene was an absolute mess. I had no idea how to break the news.

"It probably won't work. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"These days PK runs rampant, so people stash their end-game items in storage instead of their inventory..."

This was from bitter experience. In the three hours I'd spent PKing earlier, the only thing I'd gotten was a Beginner's Wooden Club.

But the guild master of Mishikhoe didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"......?"

In the heart of the village, the two guilds famous as the ultimate rivals in the current Last Magic server faced off. Mishikhoe, ranked number one on the previous server. Jeongsanghoe, ranked number three on the previous server. The members gathered in the square, three from each guild.

At first, things hadn't been this hostile. The sharp decline in their relationship stemmed from a certain incident three years ago.

A strange tension crackled between the guild members. As rumors spread that the two guilds were about to throw down, countless users swarmed into the square. Among them, the apparent leader of Jeongsanghoe sent a whisper to his people.

Just look at the users encircling them. They were obviously just monkeys gathered to see who would win. Backing down now would mean a storm of jeers and a brutal scolding from their guild master. That had to be avoided at all costs.

The moment Jeongsanghoe reached for the items in their storage, a massive meteor crashed down.

From the roof of the giant clock tower, the woman holding a staff let out a long sigh.

"Hoo... I feel like I've been scammed somehow."

Well, they did say they'd share the guild rewards, so she wasn't too upset.

"Yeah, seriously."

I completely agreed. If it was going to be like this, I might as well not have joined at all. I'd have to have a proper talk with them later.

A message popped up in the guild group chat saying they'd obtained a decent item. At least that was helpful.

"Now, slowly..."

'Tsk!' This is exactly why I hate sharp-eyed viewers.

"Come on, everyone. Five hours is plenty, don't you think?"

"......"

There was no reason to entertain that kind of nonsense. Before I knew it, my finger had already pressed the end-stream button. I removed the VR headset with an exhausted body and pushed my chair back, stretching.

"Ughhh! Streaming for five hours really is tough."

The biggest problem was my stamina. It was already terrible; if it got any worse, I'd be in real trouble.

'Maybe I should start working out?'

There were plenty of gyms near the house. I could just pick any one and—

Creak.

Someone opened the door to the soundproof booth without knocking. No manners whatsoever. And there was only one person in our house who ate manners for breakfast.

"Knock next time. What do you want?"

"Hehe, sorry. By the way, bro, you said you were taking the GED, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's do a simple practice test or something."

Ha-im smiled awkwardly and unfolded the test papers. Korean, Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Korean History—in that order. I frowned the moment I saw them.

"Do I really have to?"

"Of course! It's good to pass the GED at least once!"

She wasn't wrong, but wasn't she making way too big a deal out of it?

"I'll handle it myself, so leave me alone."

"T-then at least solve a few problems! It might help!"

Ha-im left the seemingly useless test papers on the floor and walked out. There were more important things to worry about. I lay down on the floor for a moment.

'What should I do tomorrow?'

Tomorrow I'd have to turn the stream on again, but nothing interesting came to mind.

'If I start streaming without any content, I'll get flamed 100% for sure, right?'

It was obvious. That left only one option.

"Maybe I should just take a break?"

After closing my eyes and thinking it over, my head automatically shook side to side.

'Streaming really is hard.'

I'd thought it would be easy at first, but it only got harder with each passing day. Coming up with content, managing the fan cafe—there were too many things to juggle.

When I still couldn't come up with anything after thinking for a long time, my eyes fell on the test paper lying on the floor. The GED practice test she'd left behind, telling me to solve some problems.

"......!"

A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

At ten o'clock that night, I turned on the stream like usual.

"What's wrong with my title?"

Is it really that strange? I only wrote the truth.

"So if you could guess the lottery numbers with only a 10% chance, you wouldn't do it?"

Everyone's just full of greed.

"That's not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what I..."

I trailed off. I couldn't repeat the same mistake as last time.

"I can't say for sure there isn't. Any minors here, raise your hands!"

"......"

Wait, for real? Then the content I prepared so carefully...

"See? There is a minor here."

"What's wrong with it? Hey friend, ignore weird chats like that. Got any questions? Want me to pick your CSAT numbers?"

"Third mock?"

It was already time for high school seniors to take their third mock exams. Time really flies.

"Hey, why would you bring that up?!"

I don't know why they always dig up my painful memories. It was just bad luck that time—the fortune was terrible, so of course everything failed. Normally it would've been average.

'I should've held back a little longer...'

After that the viewers started teasing me nonstop, which only made me more irritated.

"I'm different today! Alright, I'll pick the numbers for your third mock exam!"

The memo pad contained numbers for Korean, Math, English, and Korean History. Using only ten percent of my ability, I barely scraped by with a ten-percent accuracy rate. But this alone wasn't enough.

"Since we have a minor friend here, shall we try a special trick?"

"Yes, of course there is."

There weren't many minor viewers, so I wanted to give her something extra.

"Hey friend, want me to make you a talisman?"

"Everyone always dismisses talismans, but they're surprisingly powerful."

If I added up everyone in the other world who'd begged me to make them talismans, I could have built my own country. The viewers had no idea just how effective they really were.

But the viewers still didn't believe me.

"Your opinions don't matter. So what do you want to do? Should I make you a passing talisman?"

A reply soon came from the minor viewer.

She understood the importance of talismans. I liked that.

"Just wait a moment. I'll make it right away."

I headed straight to the kitchen, secretly pulled out the talisman paper Mrs. Kim had hidden in the cupboard, and bit my fingertip. Just as I was about to write the passing talisman, a question occurred to me.

'How much should I use?'

The potency and duration varied wildly depending on blood concentration and handwriting. Since this was my first time making an exam talisman, I wasn't sure what the right amount was.

'...That's it! Let's go all out this time for our high school senior friend!'

She probably couldn't even sleep properly. I had to help her properly.

I poured every possible effect into the talisman: increased luck, enhanced stamina, reduced fatigue, improved motor skills, better appearance, sharper brain activity, increased affinity, and finally—the effect of gaining a girlfriend!

'This should be enough, right?'

I'd included every effect a high school senior could possibly need, with strong potency and long duration. She should be satisfied.

After finishing the talisman, I showed it off to the viewers.

"What do you think, everyone?"

I held the handmade talisman up to the camera.

"Hmph! Even if you begged me, I wouldn't make one for any of you!"

I was a little angry that people who didn't even know the first thing about talismans were criticizing mine.

'After all the suffering I went through learning talisman techniques from that master...!'

I'd poured so many effects and rules into those simple characters for "passing wish," yet all they did was laugh. Even if they begged later, I wouldn't make one for them.

"Alright, friend. Send me your address on Discord. I'll mail it to you."

"Oh, one more thing. Talismans are very sensitive, so take good care of it. Even the slightest damage will weaken its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠effect."

"Good, good. Put it inside your pillow when you sleep, okay?"

A week passed just like that. I continued streaming without knowing anything, while a strange post began circulating on one of the community sites.