004 – What Magicians Do
004 - What Magicians Do
Wiiiing─.
Nothing is as annoying as summer mosquitoes.
I wanted to swat them away, but my body felt heavy.
It felt like my consciousness was sinking into a deep ocean.
Did I have sleep paralysis?
The unpleasant feeling lasted only a moment-.
Sallang-sallang─.
Something tickled my face, and I snapped awake.
It's morning.
The cold air from the AC that had been running all night made me shiver.
I turned my head and saw the imp Boribori curled up in the corner, its tail sticking straight up like an antenna, waving back and forth.
There were dead mosquitoes on the tip of its tail, which Boribori nonchalantly brushed off with its hand.
I didn't need to wonder what had tickled my face to wake me up.
'It wasn't a dream!'
Honestly, until last night, I had secretly hoped Boribori was just a hallucination.
But expectations usually betray you.
My morning was undeniable reality.
Reality... As that thought hit me, the events of last night came flooding back.
The Thai woman living across the hall, Ming-ssi, had come to my place.
And how Boribori, who had drawn the 'Sealing' magic circle, chased her away by threatening her like a vicious barking dog.
It was all real.
Splash, splash-.
I splashed cold water on my face to shake off the dazed feeling and left the house.
Right then, unit 302 across the hall was wide open like a ripe clam, and the landlady was standing in front of the door, holding her phone and talking to someone.
"Ah! I'm telling you! This crazy bitch left the door open and vanished! She's not picking up the phone! Ugh, just hang up!"
What on earth is going on─.
Noticing my presence, the landlady spoke to me first.
"Yuseong-chonggak! Do you happen to know Ming-ssi who lives across the hall?"
"Uh... why?"
My heart sank.
The events of the past rushed into my head, and tension coursed through my veins.
"The rent is days overdue and she's not answering! She left the door wide open and just disappeared! Did something happen to her?"
"...Something happen?"
Drip, drip-.
Whether from the summer heat or the tension, cold sweat ran down my back.
Perhaps misinterpreting my awkward demeanor, the landlady glanced around, leaned in toward me, and said in a hushed voice.
"You know, that foreign girl kept bringing men over. Different men every time. There were tons of guys with tattoos, too. It wouldn't be strange if something happened."
"Ah...."
"In that regard, you don't seem to bring any women over, which is great! So wholesome!"
"...That's a compliment, right?"
"Of course!"
Does the landlady know?
That I brought something that might be a 'Demon' into my house, let alone a wholesome woman.
It's still behind me right now.
Anyway, the landlady went into unit 302, Ming-ssi's place.
A foreign woman who lived a free-spirited life and vanished, leaving her door open.
She said that as the owner, she would look around in case some 'incident' had occurred.
Though she might just be looking for valuables in Ming-ssi's place to cover the overdue rent in case she skipped town.
I followed the landlady into Ming-ssi's place.
Honestly, I had a personal curiosity to 'check if the place was still covered in blood'.
Unit 302, which I saw last night, was a complete bloodbath.
I secretly wondered how the landlady would react if she saw that-.
Ming-ssi's place was surprisingly clean.
Of course, it was a bit messy, but compared to the 'fucked-up place' from yesterday, it was clean as a palace.
No blood, no nauseating smell.
As if nothing had happened.
Only the sense of daily life that 'a young woman lived here' remained.
It's like everything was a dream.
Well, damn.
As I was leaving unit 302.
The imp Boribori, who was walking a few steps behind me, said.
"Phi Pop."
Phi─what?
Come to think of it, it said that yesterday too.
What on earth does that mean?
I went to the convenience store and then turned on the internet.
And I did a quick search for what Boribori had said.
「Phi Pop is a representative supernatural entity in Thai folklore and a deadly evil spirit. It frequently appears in horror movies, and in the folklore of the Isan region of Thailand, it is described as eating the raw meat and entrails of humans and animals.」
「The evil spirits appearing in director Asandeya Nihongjin's movie 'The Medium' are also a type of Phi Pop.」
━Yes, I'm from Isan. Have you heard of it? It's famous for its food.
Ming-ssi's voice, which had tickled my ears last night, overlapped.
A Thai evil spirit from the Isan region, Phi Pop.
"Boribori, is this the Phi Pop you were talking about?"
I looked at Boribori with the heart of an elementary school student who wanted to check the answer key after solving a difficult problem.
But Boribori was just curled up in the corner, looking at me with its red eyes full of wariness.
Ming-ssi, who looked ominous like a ghost yesterday.
And the Thai ghost 'Phi Pop'.
Would it be an over-interpretation to believe the word from Boribori's mouth and make a connection between the two?
If it were me a few days ago, I would have said, "Where would ghosts exist in this world─".
Sallang-sallang─.
Boribori is probably a demon.
If demons exist, why wouldn't ghosts!
Let's be honest.
I was targeted by a Thai evil spirit last night!
Why would an evil spirit target me?
━I could suck on some yolk for a change.
Come to think of it, she also said she would suck my yolk.
Where would I have a yolk? It probably meant she was going to eat my soul or entrails.
Tap, tap-.
So I searched again.
Then Thai slang came up.
「Eating the yolk: A macho expression. Used for when a man takes a woman's virginity, etc.」
"...Uh?"
What the hell is this?
Thai slang used when a man takes a woman.
Why would Phi Pop Ming say that to me... In the first place, Ming-ssi was a woman... Wait, what is Thailand famous for....
Argh, fuck!
Suddenly, I felt a chill all over my body, as if cold wind was seeping into the gaps between my bones.
Ding-.
It took a few minutes after turning off the AC for the chill to finally subside.
Once I calmed down a bit, I finally grasped the situation properly.
I had almost been attacked in various ways by an evil spirit from abroad, and somehow survived.
And that 'Boribori' had probably helped me.
# # #
Demons and ghosts, honestly, I thought they were made-up stories.
But before I could deny it, the 'imp Boribori' was clearly there.
I grilled the last remaining oyster blade steak in the fridge, and it ate it so deliciously.
Since it's visible, since it exists in front of me, there was no need to believe or not believe.
Whether I deny it or affirm it.
The fact that it exists doesn't change.
Just like how even if pheasants are startled by gunfire and bury their heads in the ground, the hunter doesn't disappear.
Everything was clear.
That my 'daily life' had completely changed.
Honestly, it was chilling.
Thump-thump-thump-.
My heart was pounding wildly, unable to calm down, like someone who had run a few laps around the neighborhood.
It's scary, strange, and somehow thrilling.
Should I say I'm excited!
Ghosts! Demons!
For the past few days, no, few months, I'd been rolling around at home, feeling like I was becoming worthless.
Right now, I felt more special than anyone else.
So what should I do now?
I thought about what I could do in this situation.
Then, the 'Sealing' magic circle popped into my head.
"Yes!"
I approached the screen door.
Because I remembered drawing the magic circle there.
Buzz-buzz-buzz-.
But the magic circle I had drawn was nowhere to be seen, and mosquitoes were flying in and out.
Come to think of it, mosquitoes attacked my ears this morning too.
"What? Was I imagining it?"
Half nervous, half expectant, I drew the Sealing magic circle small on the white frame of the screen door.
The material is a water-based pen that erases easily.
Wiiiing-.
Then, the mosquitoes couldn't get inside the screen door with holes.
It worked well.
And at this moment, I felt like I had figured out the limits of this strange 'magic'.
"Ah! It has a duration!"
Probably about half a day to a day.
Though I'll have to experiment in various ways for more detailed effects.
For instance, how much the 'Sealing' actually blocks.
The magic circle drawn on the screen door blocked bugs like mosquitoes, but it didn't seem to block the wind, as the wind came through just fine.
Maybe if it rains, raindrops will also come through the holes.
What is the standard and principle of what it blocks?
It was fascinating, curious, and I wanted to find out.
"Boribori, do you know any more drawings like that?"
I turned my head and asked Boribori.
But Boribori, having finished its meal, was curled up in the corner again, busy looking at me with wary eyes.
It broke into my house, ate the food I prepared, is wearing my clothes, and yet it's wary of me?
Truly ungrateful.
Demon-like attitude!
That's why it's a demon!
A being that even chases away the Thai evil spirit Phi Pop with a growling sound!
The target of exorcism in movies or games!
But, that guy helped me last night.
That's an undeniable fact.
And originally, becoming close to anything requires 'time'.
Suddenly, I remembered 'Bori', the Border Collie mix I picked up from a box when I was in elementary school.
It had conjunctivitis and all sorts of skin diseases.
「Surgery cost: 6,074,000 won」
For the hospital bills, my younger sister and I had to empty out all the New Year's money we had saved up.
"Why did you pick up a stray dog and waste so much money─."
How much everyone had to say about it.
Back then, Dad had said.
─Yuseong, good deeds usually cost a lot of money.─
Good deeds cost money.
Things you want to do even if you have to pay for them are 'good deeds'....
"Money, huh."
「Balance: 114,000」
Tsk, this is a real problem.
Because of Boribori, my food expenses have doubled, and I'm barely scraping by for rent.
If I don't pay rent, the landlady might break into my place this time.
There was only one answer.
Making money.
The more, the better.
Thinking about the money that needs to go out immediately, it would be right to cover urgent utility bills with a high-paying daily job and look for long-term work.
Expectation welled up more than I thought.
If my bank account gets full, I'll have the leeway to learn about this strange 'magic', right?
Maybe I'll be able to earn even more money using the magic I've trained and learned.
With the money earned like that, I'll learn even more amazing magic, and earn even more money─.
Truly the completion of a perpetual motion machine.
'Have I ever had my brain working this fast lately?'
It seems that becoming a 'Magician' made me smarter too.
Because in games, magicians are generally INT characters.
I went into Hobak Market on my phone for a short-term part-time job.
Since I was a college student, I used to find work here sometimes when I needed pocket money.
「Please catch the bugs in my houseㅜㅜ Hourly wage 10,000 won」
「Moving job part-time, hourly wage negotiable on the day」
It's like this.
But today, there were many job postings with formats I had never seen before.
[Urgent/Same-day payment] Overnight building security Eosureum class Daily wage 220,000.
Let's attach doll eyes together ^^ Ritual World welcome Hourly wage 12,000
Buying Magician's Juice in bulk, 20s-30s welcome
**The words inside the table are unfamiliar.
Eosureum? Ritual World? Magician's Juice?
Thinking about what these words could possibly be, I clicked on one of the posts as if possessed.