Hermit Wizard

1. Taking a Risk to be Safer (2)

I quickly realized as I walked outside the house how the neighborhood was different from yesterday. I went to the mart around this time yesterday, so only 24 hours had passed.

It was completely changed in only 24 hours.

There were no civilians on the street! I ran across a few cars, but I could hardly find anyone walking around. The only people I saw were soldiers wearing motley green combat uniforms. Looking at the military uniform, I suddenly recalled the unpleasant MMA text that I received yesterday. I completely forgot to find out about KNOU because it was so hectic. I walked for a few minutes and arrived at the large mart in the complex residential basement. There were no people on the roadside because all the people in this neighborhood were gathered here.

“Dear customers! Ramen is limited to only one box per customer!”

“Ma’am! Ahhhh! Please don’t push, Sir!”

The mart’s employees desperately tried to control the customers, but there was no use when they pushed each other. The global phenomena, including the Mapo Bridge incident that continued from yesterday, seemed to have planted tremendous anxiety in people’s minds. Every corner was full of people. It was the kind of hoarding I had only seen on TV before. A scene caught my eye when I finished shopping and dragged a much simpler cart compared to the others to the checkout counter.

“Huh? That girl?”

I guessed she was about six years old. A girl was grabbing and pulling a woman’s hem that appeared to be her mother.

“Mom! Ice cream! Ice Cream!”

“Choi Soo-jin! Really, stop pulling my clothes! Why did you follow me all the way here when I told you to stay home!”

“I can’t even go to kindergarten today! I’m bored at home!”

Around the girl’s body, there was a wave that only I could recognize. As mentioned earlier, it seemed that I was the only real wizard on this planet. At least as far as I could grasp, there was no knowledge to nurture wizards in this world. So, was I the only one on this planet with such a talent? The correct answer was no.

It wasn’t as much as I was when I was young, but still, children who have a wizards’ talent sometimes stood out. I have to emphasize it here, but I could see it once in a while sometimes. I had seen only three people in 2 years since I moved to this town. And the reason my gaze was now on that little girl was that the waves around her body were clearly stronger than when I saw her before. Anyway, I had never heard of her name. Was it Choi Soo-jin?

“Is there a reason for the sudden surge? Something must have happened in the meantime.”

I passed the mother and daughter’s side as I turned over. It was a talent that’s hard to see, but so what? Now I’m standing in front of her, and I’m like, ‘Oh, she’s got an amazing wizard talent. If she meets a good teacher, she’s going to be successful.’ Should I tell her that? She wouldn’t believe it anyway, and there’s no teacher in the world to teach her. I kept walking, but I had to stop again.

“Hey, what day is it today? Do all people in this neighborhood really gather at the mart?”

This time, I don’t remember his face, but waves were flowing all over his body, even a wave as big as the girl I had seen moments ago. This time, it was a boy. He looked like a junior high school student, or he was probably a prematurely developed elementary school student. Children with wizard talents would begin to age rapidly if they didn’t open the circuit before puberty.

Besides, if it was such a powerful wave, it was usually the power seen by five or six. I didn’t know what to say, but he was a genius, too.

“…Do you know me?”

Suddenly the boy looked at me, stopping and staring at him with strange eyes, and asked.

“Oh, no. You look like someone I know. But when I looked closely, you’re not.”

I looked around and rushed back. At this point, I started to feel uncomfortable. How many more steps had I taken? I arrived at the cash register and took out what was in the cart. Then…

“Oh, shit. What’s going on here?”

I had no choice but to stiffen in place.

“Yes, Sir? I’ll help you with the payment. Sir?”

The female cashier standing in front of me looked at me, puzzled. She was probably in her late 20s or her early 30s. No matter how much I look, she didn’t seem under twenty. Even if she was born with a wizard’s talent, the circuit should have completely degenerated if it didn’t develop.

But there was a wave that was as powerful as the children I encountered today. It was a wizard’s talent that didn’t fit the age, twice in a row. I swallowed the curse that came up my throat.

Damn it, why was this world going crazy all of a sudden?