The Awakening of Magic

On the fourth day, Leo's face started to look pale due to insomnia and physical fatigue. 

Now, other workers were also reluctant to approach Leo. 

The supervisor deliberately placed Leo in a corner of the parts room where he couldn't be seen and completely ignored him. 

It seemed as if the body, which could die at any moment, was collapsing and was designed to prevent work hours from being interrupted. 

For Leo, who had been intentionally causing a commotion to get himself out, it was actually a good opportunity. 

After fiddling with the parts, he got up from his seat and moved toward the hallway. 

In the meantime, he made eye contact with a worker who was working with a blank expression, but the worker just turned his head as if he saw something he shouldn't have seen and didn't say anything. 

Leo quickly ran out of the parts room while the supervisor, his face flushed red, swung his whip. 

As the stuffy air cleared and a cool breeze blew, Leo felt like it was easier to breathe. 

If he stayed still like this, it was only a matter of time before he got caught. 

Leo staggered along the hallway wall, walking stealthily. 

Old picture frames and broken window frames hung here and there in the hallway. A dirty wooden floor and a ventilator spinning noisily on one side… It didn't look like anything special, but that's what made it even stranger. 

This is because the game world that Leo was playing was a typical medieval fantasy world view up until version 2.0. 

If this world was different from the world view that Leo knew, the situation became more complicated. 

If it became impossible to utilize the game's knowledge, then one of Leo's hopes would be lost. 

It made him sad to think about it, but now that he thought about it, there was no other way. 

Leo shook his head forcefully and continued walking down the dirty hallway, trying to remember the way. 

Fortunately, Leo's memory was far beyond ordinary levels, so it was not difficult for him to recall the route he had taken. 

Beyond simply remembering, it was also easy to accurately gauge the moment the hallway turned and adjust the distance to construct a three-dimensional space in his head. 

Just by looking at the way the hallways branched off, Leo could predict direction and space, and estimate the scale of the factory. 

Leo didn't walk very far, but just by leaving the parts room and wandering down the hallway, a map of the factory was forming in his head. 

As he continued walking down the hallway, at some point, a pungent smell hit his nose. 

Unlike a simple bad smell, it was a scent that strongly stimulated the sense of smell and the brain just by smelling it. 

The scent of highly addictive cigarettes, or a suitable luxury item. 

As Leo moved a little further, muffling his footsteps, the space at the end of the hallway opened up and a small side door leading out of the factory became visible. 

A faint sound of voices and acrid smoke was leaking out through the slightly open door. 

Leo found a vague viewing angle that wouldn't be immediately visible even if the door swung open, and sat down to listen to the voices coming from within. 

"The guys who came in this time are so slow. I don't know if we'll be able to deliver on time." 

"What can you do if you're using the abandoned guys from the city? You have to beat them up to make them go faster. If you don't make it in time, the chief might burn your forehead with a lit cigarette." 

"Fuck… I absolutely can't stand that. I shed tears because it hurt so much last time." 

The man's thick curses erupted into raucous laughter. 

From the sounds of conversation Leo could hear, it seemed like the people chattering on the other side of the door were the overseers, some kind of hairy giant. 

"Why are the union members so picky about time? Every time they come and start harassing us, the number of times the superintendent starts harassing us increases." 

"Haven't you heard yet? The items made here are taken to the Guild and sold to the Warlocks." 

"What? Why would someone who's a wizard need a crusher?" 

Was that a crusher that he was making here? Leo, who had been stuck in the parts room all day, didn't even know what he was making. 

'By the way, it seems that magic exists in this world too. That's fortunate.' 

In an already unfamiliar world, if there had been no magic, Leo's talent would have had no meaning. 

Leo sighed in relief and listened to the supervisors' conversation again. 

Another voice answered the man's absurd voice, lowering its volume considerably. 

"If a warlock buys a shredder, isn't it obvious? He… .. uses it on corpses." 

"Fuck… I suddenly feel sick. I need to smoke another one." 

"Put it in your mouth. I'll light it for you." 

A thick hand holding a lighter was visible through the crack in the door. 

"That's a nice lighter, but how much is it?" 

"I recently bought this at Calvin & Cubs. It's supposedly powered by magic." 

With that, he pulled his thumb, and a blue flame burst out from the tip of the lighter. 

And as he watched this series of events, a huge upheaval occurred within Leo. 

A shock as if someone had pulled a trigger in his head. It was a phenomenon that occurred in the blink of an eye as a new sensation he had never felt before stimulated his body and mind. 

It was a sixth sense beyond the five, a third eye, and a second self. 

The moment Leo realized this, he recognized that this was the fundamental force that made up this world, the driving force that defined existence. 

That it had always been flowing throughout the world, and he had just been unaware of it until now. 

The previous Leo had never even thought that he had such a talent, and his mind was suppressed by despair and pain from the long time he spent in the factory. 

But the current Leo was a completely different person, fully aware of the magical power and mental talent contained within his body. 

All it took was a tiny trigger, like the flame on that lighter. 

In the shock of awakening to magical power, Leo stopped all thoughts and savored the moment of awakening in a daze. 

The power flowing through this fragile body was his most important asset, weapon, and hope. 

Leo whispered softly, holding his thumb and index finger together. 

"Light." 

Paat-! 

The magical power that gained the spirit window overlaps with the image that appeared in Leo's mind, breaking through the realm of ideals and concepts and appearing in reality. 

It was magic. 

Hurrah! 

Leo shivered faintly as he saw the blue flames blooming in his hand. 

A flame, identical to the one from the lighter shining through the crack in the door, danced on his fingers. 

Everything around him had changed, but the magic of the world he knew had not changed. 

For some reason, that fact alone seemed to provide Leo with a small sense of comfort. 

Leo continued to eavesdrop on the supervisors' conversation, but before he could be caught, he escaped and returned to the parts room. 

The parts room supervisor noticed he was missing and went on a rampage, but luckily he only got hit a few times. 

Listening to what the workers around him were saying, it seemed like there were ominous rumors going around that he was now looking for a place to die. 

Leo ate the dry porridge in one gulp and lay down, lost in thought. 

'There are three days left until the union comes to collect the products.' 

The supervisors continued to chat for a long time after lighting each other's cigarettes, and Leo was able to glean useful information from it. 

'If union members come to the factory, the supervisors' supervision will naturally weaken... That's the only chance.' 

If they delay any longer than that, Leo's weak body will not be able to withstand it. 

Even in such a harsh environment, he was able to maintain his sanity thanks to the mental abilities of Leo, in whom he invested. 

However, no one knew whether he would be able to maintain the same judgment and reasoning as he did now even after his body was completely destroyed. 

Time was not on his side, but that didn't mean there were no breakthroughs. 

Leo carefully pulled the blanket over his head, turned toward the wall, and crouched down. 

As he did before, he put his two fingers together and the moment he recalled the blue flame, a small light appeared and began to softly illuminate the inside of the blanket. 

"… … …" 

Maybe it was because he had used it once before. Now he didn't even need to cast spells to use magic. 

Leo stared silently into the magical light, trying to bridge the gap between his magical knowledge and reality. 

In fact, Leo knew nothing about the sense of moving magical power or the tricks of using magic. 

The Musketeer character he played simply used magic by reciting the spell as instructed from beyond the monitor, forming a seal, and then shooting the gun at a designated point of impact. 

The magic that Leo was now able to create with only his will, without the use of a spell or a shield, was something he had never experienced before. 

Only one possibility came to mind. It could be because he pushed his magic-related abilities to the limit when creating his character. 

If his guess was correct, Leo was actually implementing the magic that vaguely remained in his head into reality with only his talent. 

A talent that allowed one to use magic without having to know anything about water and magic. 

Leo realized how ridiculous and extraordinary this was. 

If he could properly combine this talent with the various game knowledge he had, it would not be impossible for him to grow rapidly in a short period of time. 

However, there was one problem: even if the magic system of this world and the magic system of the game were the same, did that mean that the magical knowledge that Leo knew was only half-assed? 

This was because the character played in version 2.0 was limited by the profession of a Musketeer and could only use the common magic system called 'Dexter' among the magics. 

He'd only heard rumors about the unique magic system 'Sinister' used by real wizards, similar to what other players had heard. 

But for now, that was enough. There were plenty of useful magics in the public magic 'Dexter'. 

'The true value of magic lies not in its flashiness or destructive power.' 

If he hadn't awakened his magical powers, he might have had to think a little more, but once you can use even a small amount of magic, the difference is clear. 

All that's left is to start making the preparations Leo had been thinking about starting tomorrow. 

Leo clenched his fists to extinguish the flames, straightened his body, and closed his eyes. 

Severe insomnia still plagued him, and he had been falling asleep and waking up repeatedly for four days. 

He'd already given up on getting a good night's sleep without leaving this room, with its soft snoring and foul smell. 

Leo, who had stayed up most of the night, continued to practice using his magic, manipulating his magical powers until the other workers woke up. 

If Leo couldn't get used to this feeling, there was no future for him. 

He had been given only one runway, and no other possibilities were even conceivable. 

And it was he who made Leo like that.