Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Grimoire
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Name: Ian.
- nimnimnim
The moment he realized he'd picked up a grimoire calling itself the "Hand of Recreation," he immediately opened the gallery and left a comment on a post by the user Serious Magic Addict.
Serious Magic Addict.
Abbreviated as "SeriousMagAddict," she responded right away to his reply.
-Serious Magic Addict: What's up?
ㄴSuddenly a book appeared in my house. Looks like a grimoire no matter how I check it. Can you appraise it?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Take a picture and send it to [email protected].
He did just that.
A little while later, a reply came.
-Serious Magic Addict: Did you read the contents inside by any chance?
ㄴJust the intro page.
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: You're fucked.
A blunt response. Ian scowled.
-Fucked how?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: You saw the intro, so you know. This book's a grimoire written by an Outer God. A pretty high-level one at that.
She was talking about the Recomposer of All Things.
Ian tossed the grimoire he'd left nearby into the bathroom and stared at his phone.
-Serious Magic Addict: No one's ever found this grimoire before, so nobody knows its contents, but there are records of its appearance, so it's not hard to identify. Nostradamus prophesied it as a dangerous grimoire, so it's fairly well-known.
ㄴNostradamus was a mage too?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Famous one. His book of prophecies is basically a grimoire.
That was new information. Ian groaned and tapped out a reply.
-That's not the point. So what do I do now?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Once you've become the owner of a grimoire, there are no other options. Especially not for one written by an Outer God.
ㄴSo what the hell are you telling me to do?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Simple. Become a mage before Madness sets in.
Not simple at all. Ian glanced at the grimoire that had somehow teleported right next to him and swallowed hard.
-What's Madness? I feel fine right now.
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: No Madness? No headaches, strange mutterings, or sensation of bugs crawling in your brain?
ㄴNo
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: That's weird then. But don't let your guard down. It could hit anytime.
SeriousMagAddict paused for a bit before continuing.
-Serious Magic Addict: For now, become a proper mage. Once you can control the grimoire's power, you should be able to manage the Madness too.
ㄴGot it. Any separate communities for mages?
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: Leave your email. I'll send it. But you're on your own getting in. I can't help.
Ian let out a breath and left his email in the comments. No more replies came after that. Instead, a URL arrived in his email.
With trembling hands, he clicked the link.
The site loaded. Ian waited patiently until it finished.
Ding!
Once loading completed.
A cheerful sound rang out, and at the top was a pure white question box.
[Q. Explain the three elements that make up magic.]
A question he had no clue about, right from the start. Ian tried to hop back to the gallery to comment, but his account had long been banned.
[31-day ban]
[Reason: Clanning]
[Moderator: Joodak]
"Fuck."
Ian spat a curse and closed his phone.
'Clanning... fair enough. Exchanging emails and sharing contact info is basically the same thing.'
His head heated up for a moment, but he poured cold reason over it. That let him clear useless thoughts and assess his situation.
'Can't contact via the gallery. Emailing to ask what the three elements are won't work either. She said she couldn't help.'
He had to figure it out alone. The answer was probably in this grimoire.
"Hoo..."
A grimoire had appeared, thrusting the goal of becoming a mage upon him out of nowhere, but time had passed, and his mind wasn't as jumbled as he'd expected. His heart still pounded, but the initial shock and fear had mostly faded.
He rubbed his dry face and stared at the approaching grimoire.
A pure white, ornate grimoire.
To fully control it and avoid losing himself to madness, he had to become a mage. And to join their community, he needed to grasp the three elements of magic as a mage.
Either way, becoming a mage was top priority.
'Fuck it, let's give it a shot.'
Ian washed his face in the bathroom, sat on the bed, and carefully opened the grimoire.
The thick book opened without resistance. It wasn't written in Korean, but for some reason, Ian could understand the text perfectly.
He exhaled and slowly began reading.
[Don't panic if Madness hasn't struck. It's not you who's strange—everyone else is. With 100% compatibility to this grimoire, it won't cause its owner any Madness or harm.]
It read like an explanation. Ian pondered whether to believe it as he turned the page.
[It's true.]
Huge letters filled both pages. Startled, Ian coughed and turned the page again.
[Everything written in this grimoire is true. The grimoire's owner and great Recomposer of All Things holds immense interest and favor toward the human who has finally appeared with 100% compatibility. She despises lies and mockery more than anyone, so she makes it clear she speaks no falsehoods herself.]
...She.
Outer Gods apparently had genders too.
And the way it responded in real-time to his thoughts suggested the grimoire had a sense of self.
Maybe the author and original owner, the Outer God, was speaking through the book.
To know for sure, he'd have to read more.
Ian took a sip of water and skipped past the greeting-like page to the preface.
[This grimoire contains three magics.]
[First, Alchemy.]
[Second, various convenient spells.]
[Third, Recreation.]
[To use these magics, first master the basics of magic. The basics are on page 785 of this grimoire. If this book's owner is still 'human,' it is recommended to master magic quickly and become a mage.]
"'Recommended to become a mage'..."
Another surprise. Ian groaned and slowly turned the pages.
From what he'd heard so far, becoming a mage was the way to escape the grimoire's Madness.
If that was true, it benefited the grimoire more if its owner stayed a normal human forever.
Then it could control and manipulate the owner through Madness. Yet this grimoire was encouraging him to become a mage.
'Did SeriousMagAddict give bad info? Or is everything in this grimoire true?'
Or maybe both the mage and the grimoire were telling the truth. His suspicion might just be blinding him, making him distrust both.
"Tricky..."
Ian sighed deeply and opened to page 785.
[0. Mastering the Basics of Magic.]
He confirmed the title at the top and read downward.
[To become a mage, you must first deeply understand the components of magic.]
[The most important are the four elements that make up this world: Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Accumulate experience with each element in your body.]
[The stages are as follows.]
[1. For one week, eat only earth for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Consume no other food. This establishes the framework for using magic.]
[2. For one week, meditate facing the wind every morning and evening. This lets you sense the principles of all things in the world—the most vital resource for magic, 'Merlin's Flesh,' hereafter ether.]
[3. For one week, drink only water for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This purges bodily waste and teaches flow, allowing direct handling of ether.]
[4. For one week, every noon, light a fire and meditate before it. This infuses heat into your completed body, shedding human flesh for a mage's body.]
"...Everything but the last stage is rough."
A sigh escaped him, but there was no choice.
The moment he'd picked up the grimoire, his peaceful daily life was over. To survive the abnormal, he had to become a mage.
Ian gave a wry smile, stuffed the grimoire in his bag, left the house, and bought a heap of dirt from a nearby flower shop.
Back home, he scooped up a handful and shoved it in his mouth.
"Ugh!"
A horrific taste filled his mouth, but Ian endured the nausea with iron will. Thoughts of parasites, bacteria, and microbes flashed through his mind, but he pushed them aside and kept eating dirt.
They'd be no issue once he became a mage.
Surely the grimoire wouldn't tell him to eat dirt without accounting for microbes and germs.
Ian held back tears and crammed in about a bowl's worth of dirt. Dry heaves came, but he powered through.
After the "meal," Ian rinsed his mouth with water and collapsed onto the bed.
'Do this crap for a whole week?'
Just imagining it made his head spin, but he exhaled his dirt-scented breath and slapped his cheeks hard.
Once resolved, there was no turning back. He had to see it through.
Ian brainwashed himself like that and shoveled dirt for lunch and dinner too.
Exactly one week later.
"...Oh?"
Ian noticed the changes in his body.