Magic is indeed a strange study.
It’s the oldest power yet the most unorganized.
Even though it’s been used the most, it’s also the most incomprehensible power, they say.
Always… this mysterious study, which may have been in use since the origin of humanity, has records so absurdly few for a study, and is far too familiar to humanity to be discarded as just a study. Like a mirage blooming in the desert, there is undoubtedly a tangible existence somewhere, but it is unreachable, and if you do manage to approach, it crumbles away like heat haze at your fingertips.
What’s certain, however, is that this bizarre study has fascinated countless people.
With faces of good, faces of evil, and the most familiar faces, it hides behind the name of a cult and has enchanted people again and again, coexisting with humanity.
Thus, Jinseong became captivated by magic.
Perhaps this magic was the very purpose of his existence, the center of all aspects of his life.
Back in middle school, when he was bullied by the other kids, he stumbled upon a curse magic on the internet, which drew him into the world of magic—a world that was more captivating and beautiful than anything else in this world.
He would carve vegetables to make a doll shaped like a person, then smear the target of the curse’s blood on it, followed by a simple ritual.
But the curse he saw online was far too rudimentary and unstructured to be called “magic.”
It seemed to be something a person who loved urban legends hastily concocted in about 30 minutes!
Jinseong chuckled it off, but being exhausted from the bullying, he ultimately decided to try out this magic.
He mustered the courage to punch the bully’s nose, causing it to bleed, and smeared the blood on the doll.
Naturally, his first act of courage that involved using magic ended in failure.
Regardless of how fantastical the study of magic may be, it’s hard for a hastily concocted spell to bear any fruit.
That urban legend, as most guessed, was just a spell thrown together by some individual, and this fake spell, which was supposed to “mess with someone you hate,” left Jinseong with a deep sense of frustration, unable to bring about any effects.
Yet that frustration summoned Jinseong to action.
For the first time in what felt like forever, perhaps the first time since he was born, he struck out in courageous defiance, hitting the bully hard enough to collapse his nose.
As a consequence, he faced a hefty beating, turning his body black and blue, and ended up with a hairline fracture in his left leg.
Did he really pay such a heavy price to discover that he had been using fake magic?
Could he really accept that?
After that incident, Jinseong began to scavenge the internet for everything that could be labeled as “magic.” From silly necromancy to all sorts of sinister spells used in Japan, tales of curses, and even juvenile magic such as text skills…
Countless stories that floated around the internet filled Jinseong’s mind.
At that point, he became able to utilize true curses. Among the tales spreading under the name of urban legend, there were, albeit rarely, some genuine ones, and naturally, Jinseong’s keen senses began to discern the real from the fake to some extent.
True magic was similar to those fake spells that wandered around for amusement, yet it was distinctly different.
While rituals were still required, they were astonishingly simple.
The materials didn’t need to consist of dolls made of vegetables or straw, but rather a mere store-bought doll would suffice.
No blood from the target of the curse was necessary, nor was any from the caster.
50,000 won.
Jinseong cast magic at the mere cost of 50,000 won without any effort whatsoever.
He purchased a doll, bought some ink, and selected some well-prepared pork.
The total amount spent was merely 50,000 won.
That was… simply it.
The doll, covered in pork, was tossed somewhere in the mountains and rotted alone.
Strangely enough, however, no insects dared approach the rotting pork.
The maggots that should have swarmed were nowhere to be found, and though flies caught the scent of the decaying flesh, they couldn’t bring themselves to approach, only circling around like satellites.
The flies, enticed by the smell, could only salivate in vain over the meat right before their eyes, eventually falling in dehydration one by one to the ground.
The fallen flies piled up, forming a shape…
Thus, the moment a black circle was drawn around the rotting meat doll.
Too deformed to be called a circle, yet connected and lacking edges, this black shape became a barrier, imprisoning the rotting doll, which continued to decay within the protected enclosure.
As time passed, when everything but the area marked by the curse script turned black, and only that part retained a peculiar red hue, the curse was activated.
One.
The bully leader had an accident and tumbled down some stairs.
It was a common accident that often happened to kids, and while he didn’t endure serious wounds, he was hospitalized due to a hairline fracture in his leg.
However, something went wrong; the area with the fracture developed severe inflammation.
Despite being the leader of a group that tormented others mercilessly, he reacted more sensitively to his own pain than anyone else.
Though a thorn jammed into his own finger didn’t compare to someone else’s terminal illness, this bully leader was exaggeratedly dramatic about it, and his parents, unable to deal with his childish tantrums, ensured through pain relief spells and medication that he didn’t feel pain.
That very consideration backfired.
Because the bully leader couldn’t feel pain, he was oblivious to the inflammation, and given it was a mere minor injury, he didn’t even think to observe the affected area closely.
Strangely, the inflammation didn’t display any symptoms until it grew severe, almost like a cancer…
Thus, the leader would undergo a significant surgery to scrape out the inflammation directly from the bone.
And it was crystal clear that due to his young age, he would inevitably be left with aftereffects, making this nothing short of perfect karmic retribution.
Two.
The bully leader had accomplices.
The accomplice group, consisting of three boys and one girl, bullied Jinseong, who was already dejected from losing his parents at a young age, in a sinister yet violent manner, which was more than enough to breed resentment within him.
The boys suffered food poisoning.
After eating their school lunch, they displayed strange symptoms and were rushed away, but strangely, they were the only three affected out of all the students.
Those taken to the hospital writhed in agony, and when they couldn’t withstand their churning stomachs, they vomited out horrific things like spiders and worms.
They suffered.
Starved constantly, they couldn’t eat proper food, relying instead on nutrients wired into their veins, forced to endure such torture until they recovered from their illnesses.
To make matters worse, each time they attempted to eat, visions of the insects they vomited plagued their minds, leading them to develop eating disorders.
This was also karmic retribution.
Three.
Mental torture can sometimes be even tougher than physical.
The girl also faced her own equal share of the curse.
The curse that struck her came under the guise of hormonal imbalance, destroying her social circles.
With an excess of testosterone, hair began to sprout from her face, her shoulders broadened, and her face peppered with acne.
Thick, curly hair grew on her legs, and later on, she became the target of ridicule, labeled a “hairy beast.”
The power of hormones was astounding, granting her superior physical abilities, yet for a girl who enjoyed pulling others along with her in sinister affairs rather than achieving anything, it was undoubtedly the most horrendous turn of events.
Thus, every process faced a fitting price, returning as a blade of retribution called a curse.
And finally.
Jinseong paid a hefty price for magic by losing half of his stomach.
The tragedy arose from his ignorance that curses required a sacrifice of such magnitude, especially in the case of curse magic, where one must consider both the cost and countereffects of paying the price.
Yet despite having to endure half his stomach rotting away and undergoing surgery to remove it, Jinseong could not break free from the allure of magic.
Perhaps the necessity of cutting out half his stomach only served to entrap him further.
At a glance, the sacrifice for magic resembled gambling, which made it all the more enticing.
“To cause pain to five for merely losing half my stomach, I have truly been fortunate.”
In poker terms, it felt like a full house; in lottery terms, it felt like second place.
Especially considering that despite having cast a curse without a second thought, he paid only that much, there weren’t enough words to express just how incredibly fortuitous that felt.
Even simple curses often bounce back and kill the caster; it was typically the case that one ends up paying back several times over for the price of a curse.
Moreover, luck was on his side.
When such events occur, people often conduct inquiries into whether it might be a retaliation from a special ability.
Five children were hurt, all of whom were interconnected with Jinseong, naturally leading him to be made a suspect and subjected to an investigation.
However, luck smiled upon him as the magic he utilized bore no traces.
Unlike other curses that leave resonances and lingering effects, this spell merely inflicted minor injuries and trauma on the children, leaving most of the evidence faded away.
The low-level public officials, lacking zeal for the case, simply deemed it a coincidence, choosing to wrap up the incident.
What happened to the bully leader was uncommon, yet it wasn’t entirely unheard of, and the same could be said for the girl; both occurrences were rare but not nonexistent.
Even among the female athletes competing in the Olympics, aren’t there many who exhibit elevated levels of testosterone?
As for the boys who were taken, given that they were known to be into drinking, smoking, and even glue, whispers circulated that they might have ingested something strange.
Later on, when Jinseong was hospitalized, rumors arose questioning whether it was indeed due to curse magic; however, the small price he paid and Jinseong’s immense stress from being bullied further cemented the case as being due to stress-related illness.
In every aspect, it was pure luck.
As if magic itself was trying to draw Jinseong in.
“Everyone who binds themselves to magic must be like this. No, all karma in the world approaches like this, and connects, which is why I call it a profession.”
