Surviving as a Sorcerer in Seoul - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The World of Sorcery Is Complicated (3)

TL: DDTL

Before taking on the job, I wondered whether I should change my nickname on Principles of Sorcery first.

Why?

“Because what if they remember my ID from last time and come after me to cover the building?”

That Heo Do guy said I could just walk away.

Said the building owner would be pleased.

But there’s no telling with people.

What if they changed their tune later and hit me with a repair bill?

I’d be in deep trouble then.

Made 7 million won only to end up owing 70 million won.

Right, time to launder my identity first.

Thankfully, when I dug into the settings menu on the [Principles of Sorcery] site, nickname changes were completely unrestricted.

No cooldown either.

Isn’t this basically begging to be abused?

Anyone could just shit all over the forum and then change their nickname infinitely.

Still, at least it works.

“What should I go with instead of Jubaek?”

Something as inconspicuous as possible. But not tacky, either.

“Baek-gi?”

Yeah, Baek-gi it is.

Reverse my name, Ju Gi-baek.

Then drop the family name, ‘Ju’.

Crude and simple, but whatever. The sound of it isn’t bad.

Plus I had the Transformation Talisman on me, so surely nobody would connect me to the old Jubaek. Last time I looked in the mirror, my face and body features had been completely transformed.

Taller, eyes sharper.

Even my voice sounded a touch deeper.

At this level, nobody could possibly recognize me.

With a satisfied smile, I pressed the nickname change button.

[Your nickname has been changed to ‘Baek-gi’.]

Good, preparations complete.

I went back to the job board and clicked on the [Bukcheon Office] commission post.

[Bukcheon Office] – Rank 6 Commission | Payment 10,000,000 | Inquiries welcome.

I hit the Private Message button.

Once again, my concept was the chic professional.

[ Baek-gi ] : Inquiring.

Send.

As if by magic, the reply came back instantly.

Ding!

[Bukcheon Office] : 113-5743 Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Two-story detached house. Intermediary on standby at the site. Cash payment upon verification of completed work. Deadline is 11 PM tomorrow night.

“……Damn, that reply was fast.”

Do these people sit in front of a monitor all day? Or are they running some kind of macro?

Either way, the terms weren’t bad.

Pyeongchang-dong, huh. That’s a rich neighborhood, isn’t it?

Last time was a commercial building, and this time a detached house.

Figures, the pricier the commission, the more upscale the location.

The deadline was 11 PM tomorrow.

Still over a day to spare.

Which gave me plenty of breathing room. And that was when a thought suddenly struck me.

“Haven’t I been putting all my focus on offense?”

It’s like game characters, isn’t it?

Dump every stat point into attack power, leave defense at styrofoam, and a single graze spells death.

Especially since this was reality, where there was no reset button.

Last time I wiped out those demons because I got the first strike in.

But what if they’d ambushed me first?

My body was just ordinary human meat, so if one of those razor claws had even grazed me…

It was horrifying just to think about.

I needed to consider this more seriously.

Shouldn’t I equip at least some kind of defensive gear? One death and it’s over.

“Time to search again…….”

I immediately logged into the [Principles of Sorcery] site.

Threw keywords like ‘defense’, ‘protection’, ‘armor’ into the search bar.

And sure enough, results came up.

|Author| Newbie Lover

[Title]

Must-Read for Newbies: Armor Crafting Guide

[Content]

Barrier Talismans for protection are not recommended-yo.

Every time they block, the Talisman itself burns up, so they’re basically consumables-yo. You can’t exactly swap them out one by one mid-combat-yo.

It’s way more efficient to embed a defensive technique into a coat you wear every day-yo. Think of it like an enchantment-yo.

Materials:

Coarse salt (for purification)

Dried mugwort (for warding off evil)

Charcoal powder (for blocking yin energy)

One bottle of makgeolli (Spiritual Power medium)

Method:

Throw the above ingredients into a big basin and mix with water-yo.

Soak the coat in the mixture-yo.

The important part: while it’s soaking, you have to keep chanting ‘become tough’ or channeling Spiritual Power into it-yo.

Then take it out, let it dry, and you’re done!

Effects:

Basic physical impact absorption, plus demon claws and teeth won’t sink in as easily-yo.

Not quite bulletproof-vest level, but you get about the defensive power of leather armor-yo.

“What’s with sticking a ‘-yo’ onto every damn sentence?”

Content itself was useful, though.

And the materials were easier to find than I expected.

Salt, mugwort, charcoal, makgeolli.

All stuff lying around at any mart or market.

Okay. Decided.

I had to buy a bunch of ingredients anyway.

While I was at it, I figured I’d pick up a sturdy coat too.

The tracksuit I was wearing now was too thin for comfort.

And so, while the evening was still young, I headed out to shop.

It wasn’t even 9 PM yet, so department stores should still be open.

I flagged down a taxi and headed for a downtown department store.

Just in case, I shoved the Transformation Talisman into my pocket and chanted the incantation.

“The World Department Store, please.”

“Sure thing~.”

The taxi pulled away.

But I could feel the driver kept sneaking glances at my face through the rearview mirror. At red lights, around corners, our eyes kept meeting.

What’s going on? Something on my face?

The driver finally cracked and spoke up.

“Hey, young man. You a model or something?”

“Huh? No, I’m just unemployed.”

“Oh come on, don’t lie. You’ve got that celebrity vibe, obvious at a glance. Tall, good-looking. Better than those kids you see on TV these days.”

“Ah, thanks…….”

Apparently the effect was stronger than I’d thought.

Never in my life had I heard anything like that.

My original face wasn’t bad, sure. But being told I looked like a model was a first.

This Transformation Talisman, it really was the real deal.

Anyway, I arrived at the department store.

The moment I pushed through the revolving doors and stepped into the lobby, I felt stares coming at me from every direction.

The staff and customers in the perfume and cosmetics section on the first floor kept sneaking looks in particular.

“Hey, check out that guy.”

“….Who is he? A celebrity?”

“Wow, look at those proportions.”

I could hear the whispering.

‘This is too much.’

I was flustered. Seriously flustered.

I’d disguised myself so I wouldn’t draw attention, and now I was drawing even more attention.

Wasn’t this the opposite of what I wanted?

I was genuinely considering making a new Transformation Talisman on the spot.

Maybe next time I should go with some plain middle-aged guy’s face.

I’d figure it out later.

For now, I hopped on the escalator to buy a jacket.

Headed up to the men’s section on the fourth floor.

Since it was fall, the mannequins were dressed in the new jacket arrivals.

I looked for the most practical one among them.

Leather jacket, too heavy and flashy: pass. Down jacket, still too warm and restrictive: pass.

What caught my eye was a plain black field jacket.

The fabric looked sturdy, and more importantly, it had tons of pockets, which I really liked.

If I was going to carry multiple types of talismans on me, storage space was a must.

I flipped over the price tag.

[380,000 won]

‘Damn, that price is brutal.’

I’d never bought clothes at a department store before.

The brand premium was real.

Same thing at the market and it’d be 50,000 won, easy.

But this time, it was gear my life depended on. No point being stingy. Besides, it looked pretty good.

“Excuse me, can I try this on?”

I called over a staff member.

The female employee who’d been tidying up looked up, then visibly flinched at the sight of me.

“Ah, yes! Of course! What size do you need?”

“I think 105 should fit.”

“One moment!”

The staff member scrambled off and came back with the jacket.

I tried it on in front of the mirror.

The shoulder line sat just right, the length was perfect. I swung my arms around and there was no discomfort.

“How is it? Your figure is so good, sir, the fit is a work of art.”

“Yeah, it’s nice.”

The staff member clapped beside me like a trained seal, gushing.

Her eyes scanning me up and down were practically dripping with honey.

“Wow…… You really do look like a model, sir. First time I’ve seen this jacket hang this well on anyone.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

“If it’s not too much to ask, would it be all right if we posted just one photo of you on our store’s Instagram?”

“No, that’s a bit…….”

I waved her off.

Watching the staff member’s genuinely disappointed face, I made up my mind.

First thing I’d do when I got home was remake the Transformation Talisman.

* * *

“Phew. That’s more like it.”

Another complete success, thankfully.

I took in the effect of the newly made Transformation Talisman in the mirror.

If the previous talisman had given me idol-center-level looks, the new one was more back-alley fixer.

This time I’d also poured in the wish to hide my true self as much as possible.

A desire, so to speak, to conceal the everyday life of Ju Gi-baek.

As a result I got a moderately square jawline, sharp eyes, and even a faint scar running across the bridge of my nose.

On top of that, my build looked way more solid than before.

Shoulders broad enough that I looked like I could easily hit 500kg combined on the big three at the gym.

As for my overall impression, how to put it…

Like, speak to me and a fist would come flying. A menacing, heavy vibe radiating off me.

“The Transformation Talisman I made before was too eye-catching, that was the problem.”

When that department store employee asked to post my photo to Instagram, I nearly had a heart attack.

If I was going to operate as a Sorcerer, staying out of sight seemed like the whole point.

Getting spotlighted like some celebrity would be a disaster.

This level would pass with flying colors.

Sure, the impression was a little rough, but it was a hundred times better than drawing eyes by being too handsome.

Plus I probably wouldn’t get hassled walking around at night, either.

Reasonably satisfied, I turned around.

Planted smack in the middle of the living room was a red rubber basin.

The ingredients I’d picked up from the mart were scattered around it.

3 kg of coarse salt, a bag of dried mugwort, a tub of charcoal powder, and two bottles of makgeolli.

“Alright, time to start armor crafting.”

I fetched water from the bathroom.

Filled the basin halfway and dumped in all the ingredients without holding back.

Glug, glug, glug.

When I poured in the makgeolli, the water turned milky and spread. Then I shook in the charcoal powder, and the water instantly turned pitch black. Added mugwort and salt, gave it a stir, and the visual was unmistakably sewage water.

The smell was something else, too.

The mugwort and makgeolli mixed into a strangely earthy yet nauseating stench that filled the air.

“……Is this really right?”

I had my doubts for a second.

Still, I decided to trust [Principles of Sorcery]. It hadn’t failed me yet.

I ripped open the packaging on the 380,000-won field jacket from the department store.

Crisp jacket, still smelling like new.

It hurt my heart to soak this in that sewage, but my life mattered more.

“Sorry, jacket. Come back stronger.”

I boldly stuffed the jacket into the rubber basin.

Splash.

The black field jacket soaked up the murky water and sank.

“Good thing I went with black.”

If it had been white or beige, the charcoal powder would’ve left it so blotchy I couldn’t have worn it.

Truly, life is black.

Now I had to start chanting, as per the instructions.

Mutter ‘become tough’ over and over while channeling Spiritual Power.

I rolled up my sleeves and plunged my hands into the basin.

A cold sensation crept up my fingertips.

“Become tough, become tough, become tough…….”

Kneading the jacket like I was doing laundry, I chanted the incantation.

Like putting it under hypnosis.

You are no longer a piece of clothing.

You are steel armor.

You are mithril armor that deflects demon fangs.

You are an epic item.

.

.

.

.

.

“Become tough! Hyah!”

I clenched my fingers and pictured myself pouring Spiritual Power in.

And then something strange happened.

The fabric, which had been limp at first, started to feel stiffer and stiffer as time went on.

It wasn’t the heaviness from absorbing water. It was something different.

How should I put it? Like each individual fiber was tightening and packing in closer together.

“Ooh…….”

Looked like it was actually working.

After a solid near-thirty minutes of gibberish chants and hand-washing, I straightened up and stretched my back.

“Whew, exhausting.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

All that was left was drying it.

I lifted the now-heavy jacket out of the basin.

Sploosh.

Dark greenish water pattered down. With all the charcoal powder mixed in, the color was truly a work of art.

I wrung out what water I could, gave it a few hard shakes, and hung it on the drying rack on the veranda.

The field jacket drooped there.

It smelled, sure, but somehow it looked… reliable.

“It’ll dry by tomorrow, right?”

It was 11 PM now.

A full twenty-four hours until 11 PM tomorrow night. The weather had been dry lately, so it should dry in time.

Oh well. Even if it didn’t, I’d just have to wear it anyway.

A damp suit of armor was still better than no armor at all.

With a sense of accomplishment, I slid the veranda door shut.

Now I was kitted out with both offensive and defensive gear.