Hermit Wizard
Chapter 4

Common Day of Unemployed Wizard (1)

We will start the noon news on May 3, 20XX.

It’s a cloudless spring sky, but today downtown Seoul is covered with fine dust. Citizens who have been out for a long time are also confused. The metropolitan area and the Gyeonggi area maintained the ‘bad’ stage for 38 consecutive days this year. Seoul citizens have even said that they did not know when the last time they saw the clear sky…

I closed the front door with one hand, holding the paper bag in another hand. I could hear the news from the hallway, and the anchor’s voice was flowing out with the TV turned on in an empty living room. It seemed that when I left, I forgot to turn it off. That was what I thought when I was taking off my shoes. Actually no, about 30 minutes ago, I was lying on the sofa and using the TV remote. After repeatedly pressing the buttons, the TV was finally turned off, so I left the house while muttering that I had to buy batteries while shopping.

“Oh, batteries! Damn it. I forgot it again. That’s why I have to write it down right away when I think of it.”

I talked to myself. Still, it was bothersome to go out again today. While I thought that I should buy it next week, I opened my mouth.

“Why would I watch TV?”

The answer came back bluntly.

[Battery.]

“…I forgot.”

I took the oranges out of the paper bag and piled them on the refrigerator shelf, making excuses.

“But it still has power. You only need to press hard…”

[You went out, and I pressed the power button on this damn thing six times. I barely turned it on. And you said you were going to buy batteries.]

“No, I didn’t mean to tell you…anyway, your ears are sharp.”

It was the remote that I threw out on the living room floor before going out. A robot toy was standing on top of it and pressing a button hard with its foot to turn the channel. I looked at him warily. The robot toy, which tried a few more times, burst out angrily because it didn’t work.

[Oh shit! Someday, I will fully understand this machine, so I will freely turn on the power and turn channels without a remote like this!]

“The principle is, well, it’s just a simple infrared signal, so the technique isn’t that complicated. Don’t you think you’ll be able to make the spell right away if you want? It’s hard for me to control it with such precision, but if it’s you…”

[I wasn’t doing it because it’s easier to turn the channel with you than to spell out one by one all the infrared patterns for each function.]

[The most convenient remote control in the world is the human, right? Yes, yes.]

I placed the empty paper bag on the Irish table with a sigh and began to fold it finely.

“Okay, why didn’t you wait for me to come? Why did you struggle to turn on the TV alone? Master?”

Even with those sarcastic words, Parvache’s response didn’t come immediately. After some time, he replied—the toy robot which was the length of a human forearm. He looked at me with green plastic eyes, devoid of pupils.

[I think I need to watch some news.]

“Why?”

While conversing with Parvache, I felt a vibration from the phone in my back pocket; I took out my smartphone and unlocked it.

[What happened?]

He asked me curiously. As I said it, my mind was half-absent. My eyes were fixed on the unpleasant text that just flew over my cell phone.

Yoon Min-joon is scheduled to join the army on June XX, 20XX. Please send a text reply to 010-XXXX-XXXX by writing (Name/Confirmation of Enrollment) if the designated temporary enrollment is possible (Name/Delay Schedule or Service Recruitment or Re-physical Examination) if you are planning to postpone enlistment due to illness. – Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration

Again, this time I will make some reason to delay the enlistment date. Now, the excuse of supporting other forces didn’t seem to work. What kind of national examination documents should I submit? Because I have to stay at home as much as possible, acting through college entrance was difficult. These days, there were many s for Korea Communications College in newspapers; was that not acceptable? While thinking about finding out about it, Parvache spoke in a more cautious voice.

[It’s not like something happened or anything… it just feels weird.]

I lifted my eyes off my phone and looked up at Parvache, “Intuition?” I asked him. Parvache nodded mechanically. Now, that gesture was also quite natural for me.

“Something seems to break out, I’d rather miss a priest’s prophecy, but your intuition is never wrong.”

Parvache nodded.

[If you’re thinking of watching the news, at least it’s a national-level case.]

“It is.”

[By any chance… just… in case…]

Parvache looked at me as if indicating me to continue talking.

“Well, maybe… that case isn’t something that could affect this barrier that I built with my own blood, right?”

He shook his head.

[I don’t feel like that. And what do you mean? What blood did you make this kind of barrier with?]

“What did you say?!”

I flew up in a fit of rage and fired at Parvache.

“I’ve worked so hard to make this! If the energy cluster exploded, I’d go blind! The core is overworked, and the magical power circuit burst, too, causing four heart attacks! While trying to use the power of “Guardian of the Marsh” without a proper offering, I was cursed for guilt and died of visceral necrosis twice!”

Parvache gave a cold answer.

[Ah, did you?]

“Aside from that, I can’t count my blood due to overheating of the magic power circuit! The energy cluster exploded again, and I lost my lower body! Before I settled the barrier, I was caught by a security guard and erased his memory. The after-effects caused me to become mentally contaminated, so I lived in my room for a month! This isn’t an analogy. It was really shit! You saw it, too!”

[Oh, really, that was well worth seeing.]

The unpleasant laughter of Parvache echoed in my mind. I groaned and began to unpack the new toothbrush I had placed on the table. I was very displeased. After recovering from mental ‘pollution,’ I suddenly woke up one day and found myself incapable of opening anything.

‘Oh, why can’t this be opened today?!’

No matter how hard my fingernails squeezed, nothing seemed to open, especially the toothpaste pack in particular. Even after struggling insanely, it just got wrinkled, crumpled but remained uncut and unopened. Out of the realm of thought, I quickly combined the formulas at my reflexes’ speed. Then they mixed with my magical power, and sharp intangible energy gathered at the tip of my fingertips. I swiped the top of the pack and blew it over the end of the toothbrush package.

Woosh!

The packaging was cut sharply, and I took out the new toothbrush in it, went into the bathroom, and replaced the old toothbrush with it. Parvache fluttered as if he recalled a fun memory. Regardless of his physical distance, his will resonated right into my head.

[It was a rare sight to see. If it hadn’t happened, the barrier would have been completed in two months.]

“Yeah, I guess you like it.”

[But I helped a lot every time you got into an accident. If it wasn’t for me, you’d already been found out. Aren’t you still alive? When you pass out, I take over and hide you in the house, and while I’m controlling you, I do my best to save you because I can’t even use magic because of this cheap totem.]

He was a smooth talker. I grumbled openly.

“If you care for me that much, why have you been watching me shit for over a month until I recover by myself when I’m mentally contaminated?”

[I can’t help it. If you’re just unconscious as usual, I can infiltrate your body through the cold and take control of your body. Still, if I permeate it while your mind is contaminated, I’m at risk of contamination as well. You know well that it’s dangerous and fatal enough for a spirit like me, right?]

That guy’s spirit.

[Of course, I understand that there were many ups and downs. But in the future, if the dimensional leap magic gets on the track in earnest, and you start practicing the transfer of the body, not the avatar, suffering from the barrier will be a nostalgic memory. Fufufu.]

Damn it! I glanced at myself in the bathroom mirror, struggling with Parvache’s wickedness. Since I didn’t have a social life, I didn’t care about my appearance. Bangs that hadn’t been cut in a long time had grown to the point where I was afraid they would cover my eyes. I didn’t even care for my beard for a few weeks, so it grew to an eye-catching extent. I looked nothing but a young crook. Thinking that I would get my hair cut and take a walk in the sun, I answered Parvache.

“Yes, yes, I will study hard, Master.”

I looked a little further down. All the optic nerve’s magical circuits were already opened long ago, and now a blue crack that was clearly visible to my eyes was drawn across my chest. It was the passage where Parvache had been summoned through in the first place. It was also why I left my family in the provinces and came up to Seoul, alone to live in a magical barrier and with Parvache, my only companion in solitude.

This was my Channel.