Since I was a kid, I believed in magic.
Not the cheap kind you see in card tricks or stage performances.
I mean real magic.
The kind where someone raises their hand and the sky splits apart.
The kind where a person drinks some ridiculous glowing potion and suddenly becomes strong enough to punch a mountain.
The kind where you could open a door and step into another universe.
Yeah.
That kind of magic.
I wanted it.
Not because I wanted to become some legendary hero.
Well...
Maybe a little.
[So that I can beat up bad guys... Hehe.]
But more than that, I wanted to explore.
If magic were real, then there had to be more beyond what we knew.
Other worlds.
Other stars.
Other civilizations.
Maybe even an entire universe where the impossible was ordinary.
There was only one problem.
I couldn't use magic.
Not even a little.
No mana.
No magical talent.
Nothing.
Still, I refused to give up.
My grandfather always told me that magic wasn't something you could force.
«"Magic isn't only about power, son. It's about patience and discipline."»
I failed spectacularly at both.
I once spent six hours trying to summon a fireball.
I nearly set the curtains on fire.
Grandpa wasn't impressed.
But he laughed.
And somehow, that made me want to try again.
Then there was Mary.
My childhood friend.
She was one of the few people who never laughed when I talked about magic.
Whenever everyone else told me to grow up, she would simply listen.
Sometimes she'd even pretend to believe my ridiculous theories.
I think that's why I kept going.
Because as long as someone believed in me...
Maybe my dream wasn't completely stupid.
---
[Day 1 of Living as a Non-Magic Enthusiast]
I gave up.
At least, that's what I told myself.
I was sixteen now.
Sixteen.
Most people my age were thinking about school, careers, relationships, or whatever normal people thought about.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to invent spells.
So I decided enough was enough.
No more magic.
No more pretending.
No more ridiculous dreams.
I was going to live normally.
...
It lasted three days.
---
[Day 12]
Normal life wasn't terrible.
It was just...
Boring.
School.
Home.
Eat.
Sleep.
Repeat.
I started wondering why everyone was so comfortable with it.
Why did people accept the world exactly as it was?
Why couldn't someone try to change it?
Why couldn't someone leave a mark?
Why couldn't someone become a legend?
I didn't want to spend my entire life following a path someone else had already walked.
I wanted to see something nobody had seen.
I wanted to go somewhere nobody had gone.
I wanted to stretch my arms toward the sky and actually feel like the world belonged to me.
But wanting something didn't make it possible.
That was what Grandpa always reminded me of.
...
Grandpa.
I missed him.
More than I wanted to admit.
---
[Day 59]
I went to the river today.
The same place where Grandpa and Mary and I used to spend our afternoons.
The water hadn't changed.
The trees hadn't changed.
The wind still carried the same cold smell from the mountains.
But somehow...
It felt different.
Maybe the place wasn't different.
Maybe I was.
I sat beside the river for a while.
Then I looked at my hand.
"...If only my magic worked."
I laughed quietly.
"That would be funny, wouldn't it?"
No mana.
No talent.
No reason for any of this to work.
Still...
My hand moved.
A circular motion.
Just like I had practiced thousands of times.
I imagined a doorway.
A hole in space.
A passage to somewhere else.
Then I whispered the first words that came to mind.
"Alfheur..."
Nothing.
"Vouast..."
Nothing.
"Hoiusde..."
Still nothing.
I almost laughed.
"Open."
The world answered.
A circle of light appeared in front of me.
I froze.
"..."
The wind stopped.
The river seemed to disappear from my thoughts.
I stared.
Then my brain finally caught up.
"Wha—"
The portal suddenly pulled me forward.
"WAIT!"
My feet left the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
I grabbed at the grass.
It didn't help.
I was dragged closer and closer to the portal.
"NO, NO, NO—!"
Then I realized something.
I started laughing.
Not because I wasn't terrified.
I was.
I was absolutely terrified.
But after sixteen years...
After all the failed experiments...
After every person who told me I was wasting my time...
After every night wondering if Grandpa had been wrong...
I finally saw it.
Magic.
Real magic.
I threw my fist into the air.
"IT WORKS!!!"
The portal swallowed me.
---
[AUTO-APPRAISAL SYSTEM]
[CODE X DETECTED]
[SYSTEM ACCESS GRANTED]
[CODE X: PROVIDED BY THE OTHER HOST]
[Beginning automatic appraisal...]
[Please remain calm.]
"Remain calm?!"
[Current Host: Eulyseas Stronghold]
[Age: 16]
[Occupation: Unemployed]
"...Rude, I'm STILL A STUDEN!"
[Class: Magic Swordsman]
I blinked.
"Magic Swordsman?"
[Magic Attributes: None]
My smile disappeared.
"...None?"
[Magic Attributes must be learned.]
"Wait."
[Skills must be learned.]
"Wait."
[Stats must be developed.]
"WAIT."
[Current magical potential: Undetermined.]
I stared at the floating words.
Then slowly smiled.
"So..."
I clenched my fist.
"I really can learn magic."
The System continued.
[Special Condition Detected.]
[System 50/50]
[Permanent acquisition of the System's provided magic requires the following condition:]
[DEFEAT THE DEMON KING]
Silence.
I stared at it.
Then I grinned.
A ridiculous, uncontrollable grin.
"That's it?"
I looked toward the strange world beyond the portal.
A world filled with things I had only dreamed about.
Magic.
Monsters.
Unknown lands.
And somewhere out there...
A Demon King.
I had spent sixteen years waiting for this.
There was no way I was turning back now.
"I'm all in."
For the first time in my life...
I wasn't chasing magic anymore.
Magic had finally found me.