3
Chapter 3
Passion is always rewarded.
Thanks to my desire to become a mage, I was able to get out of night watch duty.
But right before my consultation with First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi ended, I asked a question I absolutely couldn't ignore.
"But is it really okay to just teach magic like this?"
Just so you know, South Korea on January 6, 2028, is a perfectly normal and sensible place.
So there are no traditional Western witches flying around on broomsticks, shamans don't suddenly get possessed and become Shaman Kings, and there are no weirdos grinding people up with magic circles or alchemy.
It's not like some web novel or anime where aliens or beings from the Otherworld suddenly invade and people awaken as Hunters.
At least, not as far as I know.
And finally, through First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi, the truth of the world began to reveal itself.
"Mr. Baek Jemin. What do you think magic is?"
"Huh? Well, I suppose..."
"If you were imagining things like flying through the sky or shooting fire from your hands, I suggest you let go of those expectations."
With a completely serious expression, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi handed me another booklet.
Taking the booklet in a daze, I immediately frowned at the title.
"2028 Limited Sharing of Linguistic Knowledge Pursuant to the Reservist Mobilization Declaration?"
"We call it magic for convenience because it's easier to understand, but the military and public institutions refer to it as localized invasive structural alteration rather than using the term magic. This was hastily shared from above following this mobilization declaration."
"So is there like a secret society of mages hidden away in the world?"
It felt like the countless shadowy masterminds of conspiracy theories were flickering before my eyes.
However, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi waved his hands dismissively with a stiff expression.
"From here on out, this is classified. It's not top-secret, but it is important. You confirmed the rules of engagement, right? Number five: secure any acquirable knowledge on-site as a top priority. Please turn the page."
When I reluctantly flipped through the booklet, a large, crooked symbol was drawn on each page. Beside it, something was densely written.
It looked like someone had overlapped a triangle and a square, mashed them together like dough, and smashed them, leaving behind a strangely geometric character. Since it's an overlap of a triangle and a square, I'll call it a heptagon for convenience.
As I stared at this crude character, with no symmetry and lines of completely different lengths, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi kindly pointed to the next page with his hand.
Pointing to a page that was filled to the brim, almost like a punishment assignment.
"This is a symbol discovered within the restricted travel zone in Seoul. It's presumed to be a character."
"How do you know it's a character?"
"There were people who read it after discovering it. What's written on the next page is the content of what they read from the character."
Only then did I look closely and realize what was densely written next to the heptagon.
The font was so damn small it showed a clear intent to save paper, which annoyed me, but I soon became even more annoyed by the content.
"But everyone's saying completely different things here."
That was it. Written there were the claims of the people who had read the character, each insisting on what it meant. The problem was that they each claimed entirely different meanings.
[First Discoverer: Restoration], [Staff Sergeant Kim XX: Severance], [Shaman: Despair], [12-Year-Old Child: Growth]...
If the meanings were somewhat similar or overlapped, I could at least make a guess, but every single one said something entirely different, leaving me completely baffled.
"Isn't this just graffiti?"
"No, it's not. We've confirmed that it actually has an effect, and judging that it would play the most important role in this current incident, it was made classified, bracing for confusion and unrest. To find people who can read and write it."
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi let out a deep sigh, then opened his mouth after smacking his dry lips as if his throat was parched.
"You're the only one who needs to know this, Reservist Baek Jemin."
A shadow fell over First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi's face.
"The government doesn't even know whether a secret society exists or not. These characters were only discovered within the restricted travel zones, and after confirming they had negative psychological effects on people, they were classified as top-secret for two months. Then, when the possibility was raised that there might be a secret society that knows these characters, it was downgraded to classified. They're revealing it like this to find people who can read them."
"Uh, so you're saying..."
"They deliberately use the term 'magic' to draw out anyone who might know about it. This part isn't classified, but nothing good comes from it getting out, so please keep it to yourself."
***
Back in the small lecture hall, I idly fiddled with the booklet I'd been handed.
The wait was long.
A mobilization order had been declared, but not everyone had gathered, and the atmosphere was dazed since people couldn't fully grasp the situation.
An ominous silence lasted for about two hours.
Checking the time on my phone, it was 3:58.
Aside from ten men in combat uniforms showing up at the small lecture hall after the mobilization declaration, receiving firearms and military gear, and slumping into chairs, nothing had changed.
Nobody was really making phone calls, and Kang Daniel, the horn-rimmed glasses romanticist, was just frantically tapping away at his phone, clearly anxious about something.
I wasn't exactly fine either.
The words First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi had left behind were still swirling in my head.
I had listened in a daze, but the conclusion was this.
1. Localized Invasive Structural Alteration, so-called 'magic', is real.
2. We don't know when magic first existed or where it originated.
3. Currently, the South Korean government is sharing knowledge about this language with the USA and using various data centers and AI language models to decipher the characters. However, when attempting to decode them, unexplained sudden overloads occur in the language models and hardware, causing difficulties in interpretation.
And the most important part was something else entirely.
'I'm asking you this on the off-chance that you actually know these characters, Mr. Baek Jemin. Mr. Baek Jemin, the situation is dire. About 40% of the military units deployed in Seoul are isolated or out of contact, and even the units deployed on the outskirts are failing to properly contain the chaos among civilians in Seoul, so a proper lockdown hasn't been achieved. If you have even an ounce of selflessness and love for your country, please cooperate.'
Knowing how heavy those words were, I actually felt guilty.
Baek Jemin. Age 28, currently unemployed young man.
All I knew were some paper-thin bits of knowledge and the fact that my company went bankrupt two months ago. No interest in politics or current affairs, no professional expertise—a wasted life. Hearing such words from a soldier with such a respectable bearing was utterly embarrassing.
And onto someone like me, heavy information and truths came pouring down.
The moment I heard that 40% of Seoul's deployed military units were isolated or out of contact, my first thought was: there must be other people unaffected by these characters, right?
Sure enough.
A scruffy-bearded man, who had been hunched over his phone tapping away in the tense atmosphere, suddenly shouted as if screaming.
"What the hell. 30% of Seoul's military units already wiped out?"
Screaming or agreeing out loud here was amateur hour.
The reservist men buried in their phones and even the Local Reserve Commander making calls—everyone in the small lecture hall turned their attention to the scruffy-bearded man.
Pierced by those stares, the scruffy-bearded man sensed the mood, bowed his head apologetically, and went quiet again.
But it was clear that one sentence had left a deep turmoil in all our hearts.
Although it was a different figure from what I'd heard, whatever article that scruffy-bearded man had seen contained the core truth.
I just couldn't process it as reality.
Fog had started rolling into Seoul around late November 2027, and then a mobilization order was declared right after the new year? And magic exists? And 40% of the military units deployed in Seoul—or to exaggerate slightly, half of them—are already in crisis?
Anyone who could process all this information at once would have to be crazy.
Besides, I hadn't seen any of it with my own eyes.
So this is why conspiracy theorists never believe anything they haven't seen themselves. I couldn't believe it either, damn it.
But this ominous silence couldn't last forever.
The Local Reserve Commander with his drooping eyes seemed to decide that no one else was coming, or perhaps that running from reality was futile, as he finally started organizing the squads.
"Out of 43 total members, only 25 responded to the mobilization order. The country's running smoothly, huh?"
Sighing, the Local Reserve Commander called over his active-duty soldiers and began handing out armbands and IFF bands.
Suddenly left holding the bag, the 25 of us just waited with dark expressions.
That was when the Local Reserve Commander unveiled his surprise New Year's gift.
"We'll divide the 25 of you into four squads of six. Two will guard the Community Center and the roads, while the other two will go fetch the comrades who haven't shown up despite the mobilization order. I'll issue live ammunition, but do not chamber a round. Just take two magazines each."
At that, Kim Myeong-sin, a sharp-eyed man who had volunteered to wear an armband, glared.
"Commander, I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff. Can I go drag them here?"
"Well, 'drag them here' is a bit much... Just persuade them to come in today, and I'll put in a good word so they don't get prosecuted or get a red mark on their record. Tell them they need to show up before the Military Police get involved."
"Tsk. Yes, sir."
"Alright, alright. I'll tell each squad what to do, so please get ready. Since a mobilization order has been declared, we are now in a wartime state. I'll stop using honorifics here, so don't take it personally. Now... Squads, fall out!"
Whether by bad luck or good fortune, I ended up in the road guard squad instead of the manhunter squad.
The good part was that I wouldn't have to wear out my shoes chasing people down, but the bad part was that I'd have to personally set up obstacles on the road.
The weird part was that the Squad Leader for our road guard squad was Kang Daniel, the hopeless romantic with the horn-rimmed glasses.
As soon as he put on the armband, Kang Daniel clasped his hands together, bowed his head, and began muttering with an extremely polite and desperate attitude.
"To Almighty God, the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever... Keep us from falling into temptation and the snares of the devil... But deliver us from the grasp of the evil one, that we may only follow You..."
I subtly turned my head to look at the other squad members.
The road guard squad was an even mix of Army, Navy, and Air Force veterans, and we all seemed to share the same thought, frowning or looking utterly dumbfounded.
Since I was standing closest to him, it seemed better if I was the one to speak up.
"Uh, Squad Leader."
"May Your power remain upon this land..."
"Mr. Kang Daniel, we need to block the road. Hello?"
"Yes, yes. Let's just pray and go. Pray."
"No. Let's block the road and pray. Huh? I'm telling you we have to go right now."
If he were a true lunatic, he would have shouted, 'How dare you interrupt the sacred testimony I am offering to the Lord, you servant of the devil!'
Fortunately, Kang Daniel was a normal person with just a very deep faith.
Pushing his glasses up in front of our bewildered stares, he frantically inspected his firearm and military gear, then took the lead.
***
"Let's go set up the sandbags and vehicle barriers. One person will manage traffic on the road, one will rest and keep watch on the surroundings, and the remaining four will carry things. The ones on watch and traffic duty will switch out every 15 minutes. Once we're done setting up, we'll assign new positions."
Mr. Kang Daniel was actually someone who did a proper job when you gave him an armband.
"Heavenly Father, please let me fulfill my role completely in this time of tribulation..."
He would have been a great Squad Leader if it weren't for him constantly clasping his hands together to communicate with God.
Our road guard squad was assigned to an intersection in town, positioned at the junction leading to the Community Center to bolster security.
A truck originally used by the Community Center for garbage collection or volunteer work for the elderly brought in the sandbags and vehicle barriers, and we repeatedly unloaded them and laid them out on the road.
Even the locals, who hadn't fully grasped the reality of the mobilization order, started to sense a shift in the atmosphere as they watched soldiers in combat uniforms setting things up on the roads.
Of course, there were some oblivious drivers who sped along, only to stick their heads out the window when they saw us blocking the road.
"What the? Why are you blocking it off?"
At that, a friendly-faced squad member who happened to be setting down a barrier made of tied iron bars replied.
"A mobilization order was issued, so we're ordered to block this intersection. Please turn around."
"Hey, you little punks... Are you gonna pay for my gas? Huh? Move it. I'm just gonna drive right through. What gives you the right to block the road?"
"Sir, we aren't doing this because we want to, either."
"If you aren't doing it because you want to, then don't! How is that even an excuse..."
It was a maddening moment where the squad member was sighing and the driver was losing his temper.
I could see the people on the sidewalk, pretending not to care while stealing glances at the soldiers, focusing their attention on the commotion.
It was then that a squad member, who had his combat uniform collar popped up to cover his neck, raised an eyebrow at Kang Daniel.
"Squad Leader, what should we do?"
"Persuasion is the best option, but... hold on a second. Let me contact the Local Reserve Commander and get some orders."
That was when I stepped up.
"Hold on. I have a good idea."
"Huh? Wait... Mr. Baek Jemin?"
Baek Jemin, a 28-year-old unemployed young man.
I, who dreams of coasting through life and believes that the absence of pain is the pinnacle of rationality, had found the golden path to perfectly solve this problem.
I could see Kang Daniel sweating over what to do, but it seemed he was secretly hoping I wouldn't try to stop the guy and just let him pass.
If that was what he expected, then I had to meet those expectations.
"Mister."
"Hey, who are you calling 'mister' with that ugly face? I bet you I'd pull more girls at a club than you, punk."
"Take a look at this."
"What the fuc..."
I whipped out the booklet I had kept tucked away—its real title was too long, so I decided to just call it the Magic Special Lecture—and shoved that crooked character right in his face.
At first, the driver didn't seem to react at all.
For about one second, that is.
"Urk... h-hurk."
"Look at it closely, mister."
"You little...! Ugh. Urk!"
Unable to hold back his gag reflex while staring at the character, the driver finally slammed his face into the steering wheel and...
"Bllleeeghh..."
...began to throw up a massive amount of puke.
Judging by the sour smell and the huge chunks he was spewing up, it seemed he had a bit of indigestion.
With a triumphant attitude, I shoved the Magic Special Lecture back into my inner pocket and returned to the squad members.
"He says he's going to park."
"...."
Thinking you can't use magic just because you can't read it is amateur hour.
My very first magic: Vomit Induction.
End