Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Mage
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Primate Slayer Knife.
Contrary to its rather vicious name, all the ingredients could be gathered right away.
Ian rummaged through the house, steadily collecting the necessary materials on his desk.
‘First, salt.’
The required amount was 100g. Ian promptly placed the salt on the scale bit by bit, measuring exactly 100g before transferring it to a bowl.
Next was silver, but no precise quantity was specified.
It was vaguely described as a small amount, so Ian pulled out a silver ring he had stashed in a drawer.
It was a ring he had made with another kid from the orphanage long ago. He personally didn’t like jewelry and hadn’t worn it. Fortunately, it had found its use.
Ian nodded in satisfaction and plucked out a single strand of his hair.
Now all that remained were ether and the insect corpse.
Ether already filled the space, so there was no need to seek it out.
For the insect corpse, he stepped out, searched the hallway, and barely managed to find one.
‘It’s a bit small, but there was no specific mention of size.’
Salt was the only ingredient with an exact quantity listed.
Was salt’s role in magic surprisingly significant?
He wasn’t sure. Perhaps because it was used as an ingredient in holy water, it had many applications. It seemed to appear frequently in other alchemies too.
‘I should stock up on some in advance.’
With that trivial thought, he carefully placed the gathered materials on the desk.
Sizzle.
He tore a sheet from the notebook and drew the magic circle recorded in the grimoire on it.
A circular magic circle filled with all sorts of geometric patterns. He placed a fairly long kitchen knife at its center and arranged the materials one by one at the edges.
He didn’t touch the ether.
The moment the magic circle was drawn, the ether seemed to know its place on its own and settled into position. No need to handle it separately.
With that, the preparations for alchemy were complete. Ian exhaled once in tension, gripped the grimoire in his left hand, and quietly chanted.
“What is desired is murderous intent. Murderous intent toward intelligent beings.”
The instant he spoke, the magic circle on the notebook paper glowed faintly.
Proof that the magic had activated.
Magic he was seeing for the first time in his life.
But rather than getting excited or joyful, Ian maintained a calm mindset and continued reading the incantation from the grimoire.
The meditation he had practiced for days had granted him formidable mental strength and patience.
“How can a mere beast dream of glory and wealth in broad daylight? It is laughable. Repulsive. Beasts must remain beasts forever. Thus, evolution is forbidden. Upon those already evolved, cast the shadow named death.”
It felt ambiguous reciting a primate-slaying incantation as a primate himself, but Ian calmly finished the final words.
“Thus, only ignorant insects shall remain in the world. I shall re-create you.”
The moment he finished speaking.
Rustle.
The materials atop the magic circle all turned to ash and scattered. Only the kitchen knife remained, exuding an eerie aura in its place.
‘Success.’
The knife showed no visible change, but Ian instinctively knew the alchemy had succeeded.
The month of eating dirt, drinking only water, and meditating had paid off.
He nodded in satisfaction, then snapped a photo of the knife on the desk with his phone camera.
As stated, the magic had succeeded. And there was only one place to brag about it.
Ian wrapped the kitchen knife in bandages for safekeeping, sat on the bed, and accessed the link Serious Magic Addict had sent him.
[Q. Explain the three elements that constitute magic.]
The same question as before appeared.
Previously, he had snapped in irritation about how he was supposed to know, but not now. Ian typed his answer without hesitation.
[They are the Four Elements, ether, and soul. The Four Elements constitute the mage’s body and are essential for sensing ether, ether is the essence of magic itself, and the soul is the most crucial element and material that allows a mage to truly be a mage. It is delicate, so handle with care.]
Click.
He pressed send.
[Please wait, the Key of Solomon is verifying your answer.]
A new message appeared, followed by a loading screen. Moments later, the screen went pitch black, revealing the image of a hooded woman.
Only her lower face was visible. The rest was clad in black and gold as she slowly parted her red lips.
[Please tell us your name. It must be your real name.]
No keyboard appeared. Instead, he realized some magical incantation had been cast on his phone.
‘So this is how it works.’
Ian let out a small chuckle and stated his name.
“Shin Ian.”
[Welcome to the society of mages, Mr. Shin Ian. May the blessings of Merlin and Solomon be with you.]
The message appeared, and within a second, he entered an entirely different site.
It meant he had successfully joined the mages’ community. Ian took a sip of coffee and narrowed his eyes, quickly scanning the community.
[Grandmother, can’t you hear me…… again…… I shit myself……]
[Magic idiot caught some ghouls today and ate them sashimi-style. Tastes like absolute shit, but master says he won’t teach me magic unless I eat it. Fuck that bald bastard……]
[Went to the sea today to gather magic ingredients and locked eyes with a shark. Proof pic attached.]
For some reason, the community’s atmosphere felt oddly familiar.
***
Serious Magic Addict, Lee Seo-ah, was browsing the community again today during her school break.
No one approached her.
Having grown up as a voluntary orphan since childhood, and after becoming a mage, her affinity was completely shattered, so it was a natural outcome. Even if someone mustered the courage to approach, the response was always the same.
-G-G-Ghost!!! Aaaah!!!
Their description wasn’t wrong. Ghosts or incomprehensible entities always lingered around Lee Seo-ah.
She had become a mage through necromancy and commanded ghosts, so there was no helping it.
She couldn’t yet control them freely, but she could at least station a guardian spirit nearby.
That was the root of the problem.
The souls summoned not through simple occult necromancy but through magic were visible to the naked eye if they had even a shred of power.
Thanks to that, her nickname from elementary and middle school carried over even now as a high schooler: shaman.
She had become a mage because she hated being called a shaman grandma, yet life was full of twists.
‘It’s fine. Mages are lone wolves by nature anyway. It’s normal for me to be lonely.’
It wasn’t normal at all, but Lee Seo-ah hypnotized herself like that. She swallowed the tears welling up and slowly scrolled down her phone.
‘Still not here.’
She didn’t usually visit the mage community often. She barely checked the regular galleries once a week.
The reason she was scouring the community lately was one mage who had contacted her a month ago.
The owner of a grimoire written by an Outer God—famous enough that even she, with shallow knowledge of grimoires, knew of it.
If he had become a mage by now, he should be showing up in the community soon.
He might have forgotten the community existed, but she didn’t even imagine such a dismal future. If his memory was that poor, he wouldn’t have been chosen by the grimoire in the first place.
Being chosen by an Outer God’s grimoire was a bit concerning, but since he said he wasn’t suffering from madness, it seemed safe to watch for a few more weeks.
If he still didn’t appear after that…… regrettably, she’d have to give up.
It was just as Lee Seo-ah refreshed the page with that thought.
At the top of the board, usually filled with trash posts, a new one with zero views had just gone up.
[Newbie Mage Succeeded in Alchemy]
Newbie. Mage.
It was a post with all the words she’d been waiting for.
Normally, Lee Seo-ah would never click on something like that.
She had clicked similar titles a few times before and seen photos of ghouls and zombies playing trains. After that, she never, ever touched obvious bait posts.
But today was different.
Her intuition was telling her.
This one was real.
“…….”
She swallowed and cautiously clicked the post.
In case a weird photo appeared, her guardian spirit behind her reached out a hand to cover her eyes.
But the guardian spirit never had to cover her eyes.
[Title: Newbie Mage Succeeded in Alchemy]
[Anonymous]
(Photo of a kitchen knife on a magic circle)
Picked up a grimoire a month ago and used magic for the first time today. Succeeded in alchemy using only easy-to-get ingredients. Is this good stuff?
Apparently kills all primates in one hit lol;;
Lee Seo-ah burst into clear laughter after reading it. After a moment’s thought, she wrote what she considered a cool reply.
-Serious Magic Addict: Aren’t we acquainted by any chance?
The reply came immediately.
ㄴAnonymous: Oh lol long time no see. Thanks to the info you gave back then, I became a mage. Thanks.
“Ehehe. It wasn’t really for praiseee…….”
Lee Seo-ah grinned sloppily at Ian’s reply. At that moment, the teacher who had come to class tapped her desk lightly.
“Hiek!”
Startled, she quickly pocketed her phone and looked up. Her gaze met the kindly math teacher’s in midair.
The teacher spoke first.
“Lee Seo-ah, you can’t use your phone during class.”
“S-Sorry…….”
Lee Seo-ah immediately shrank back and pulled out her textbook.
Even as a necromancy-using mage, the teacher’s stern gaze was still intimidating.