Chapter 26 – Magic Boy (4)
“Shaman…?”
“Lawyer isn’t my aptitude. You know that, right?”
“…”
“I’m not a ghost.”
“It’s a misunderstanding that shamans only deal with ghosts.”
“…I can’t listen to this anymore. Ha! A dream? Is there such a vivid dream? If it’s a dream, how do I wake up?”
“That’s…”
I don’t know.
I don’t even know how I got here, so how would I know how to get out?
“If this is a dream, wake me up right now.”
“…”
“You can’t, can you?”
“You’re right. I can’t.”
I admitted honestly.
“And you expect me to believe you?”
“I know it sounds forced. But you must know too. Your powers are unrealistic.”
“You’re talking nonsense. I’m not Magic Boy.”
“Hm…”
His firm denial made me waver.
‘Is he really not?’
Despite clear evidence and my conviction that he’s Magic Boy, I faltered for a moment.
“I’ll ask again. What am I?”
“My answer’s the same. You’re definitely Magic Boy.”
“…”
“Bro, snap out of it. It’s impossible for a person to fly without equipment.”
“That’s offensive. Don’t treat me like everyone else. I’m special.”
Song Sun-young said something similar.
That she was special.
“Are you saying you got those powers because you’re more special than others?”
“It’s not just powers—it’s magic.”
“…So you gained magic?”
“Yes.”
After dodging all this time, Choi Kang-min finally admitted his identity.
A special human.
Magic Boy.
“What makes you special? Bloodline? Birth? If so, Choi Kang-hoon’s the same.”
“How am I the same as him? We came from different mothers.”
His tone sharpened, feeling compared to his half-brother with a different mother.
“Not just Kang-hoon. Doesn’t everyone come from a woman’s womb?”
“Don’t play word games.”
“Does this sound like a word game?”
“…This conversation is a meaningless waste of time.”
Swish.
Choi Kang-min turned away, as if hiding a face full of turmoil.
“Bro, don’t forget. If you don’t wake up in 100 days, you’ll die!”
“…”
Ignoring my warning, he fled the scene.
***
At the top of the world’s tallest building.
Choi Kang-min gazed down at the world below the clouds, spread out like mist beyond the transparent window.
No,
“Kang Moon-soo… How…?”
He was observing a man in a taxi, bewildered.
He was certain Kang Moon-soo died 15 years ago!
It was none other than himself who infiltrated the hospital and took out the troublesome lawyer Kang Moon-soo.
‘How could I forget?’
He was a rival who stood in the way of his success, protecting his half-brother, Choi Kang-hoon.
But if that was all, he wouldn’t have remembered him among the many similar people.
“Lawyer Kang Moon-soo…”
To save Choi Kang-hoon, Kang Moon-soo became a lawyer and achieved something unbelievable.
Overcoming biased media and all odds, he won against top lawyers!
‘Back then, he wounded my pride.’
Transcending his aptitude, Kang Moon-soo became a celebrity overnight.
For a few days, he even surpassed the ever-popular Magic Boy.
That was the reason.
The real reason he killed Kang Moon-soo.
Not because he helped his half-brother. Choi Kang-hoon, who lost his support and foundation in prison, was no longer a rival.
“Ha! A dream?”
What an utterly ridiculous joke.
Beep-
(Chairman, are you busy?)
His secretary, who’d been assisting him since he took over the family business, asked through the work receiver.
“No. What’s up?”
Choi Kang-min’s question carried multiple meanings.
(It’s peaceful.)
Not just the company.
Earth, humanity.
Choi Kang-min couldn’t always keep up with the latest news, so he needed people to be the “eyes and ears” of Magic Boy.
His secretary was one of them.
One of the few close confidants who knew that Choi Kang-min, the greatest supporter of Magic Boy and a global businessman, was Magic Boy himself.
“Then what’s the matter?”
(Your wife called, worried because she couldn’t reach you.)
“If something happened to me, it’d be after the world ended.”
(It seems she’s even more worried because someone as safe as you isn’t answering.)
A needless worry because she didn’t know her husband’s secret identity.
“Why didn’t you make up an excuse like last time?”
(She seems to want to talk directly about your son’s issue.)
“…He caused trouble again.”
How lamentable.
The father is an apostle of justice protecting the world, yet his son is causing problems at school…
(From the tone of her voice, your guess is probably right.)
“Hm. Tell her I’ll call her in an hour. I have a lot on my mind right now.”
(Understood.)
Beep-
As the secretary’s voice faded, the top floor returned to silence.
‘Thoughts? Is this worth mulling over?’
Was it funny that he’d just said it himself?
With a smirk, Choi Kang-min gazed down at Kang Moon-soo, crawling like a bug on the ground below the clouds through the window.
‘To think I’m wasting time on a guy like that…’
His personal phone, tossed carelessly on the plush sofa, had three missed calls.
From his wife, a world-famous actress.
His son, who took after his arrogant mother!
They weren’t quite worthy of being the wife and son of the righteous Magic Boy, but they were his beloved family. If this world were a dream, all his connections with them would be a lie.
“Utter nonsense.”
Absolutely ridiculous.
Does it even make sense for a dream to last 20 years?
Choi Kang-min, excluding the “powers” Kang Moon-soo pointed out, judged rationally.
Which made it even more,
‘Unacceptable.’
Kang Moon-soo’s existence, denying his hard-earned life entirely, was an irritant.
And when something’s irritating?
“Time for the apostle of justice to step in.”
My judgment is justice.
***
I was lucky enough to meet the big-shot Choi Kang-min, but having failed to convince him, I immediately took a taxi.
“Where to, sir?”
“Elmolance Hospital, please.”
“Got it.”
There wasn’t much to do if I returned to the hospital early, but I couldn’t think of any plans or things I wanted to do.
‘What now…?’
Vice Director Seo said Choi Kang-min had less than 100 days left.
Should I just wait until he dies naturally?
Considering time flows faster here than in reality, I’d only need to endure a year.
…Would that really work?
I wasn’t certain that Choi Kang-min’s death would free me from this dream.
By the way…
“It’s jammed.”
The taxi, stuck in the middle of the road, showed no sign of moving forward.
Wouldn’t walking be faster?
“Driver.”
“Yes?”
“I’m new to this area. Is it always this congested?”
“No way. If it were always like this, the GPS wouldn’t have guided me here. I’d have avoided it too. It’s purely because of an accident.”
“An accident…”
Is my luck that bad?
I felt an uneasy chill.
The driver, taking his hands off the wheel, said,
“There was a big traffic accident up ahead just a moment ago.”
“Can’t we take a detour?”
“Look around. That’s not really possible.”
“Hm…”
Buses and cars were packed tightly all around, leaving the taxi no room to move.
So I waited…
“What the hell!”
“I’m in a hurry!”
“This is ridiculous!”
Like me, frustrated drivers kicked open their doors and stepped onto the road to see what was happening.
Curious, I asked a driver who returned.
“What’s going on?”
“A huge rock fell in the middle of the road.”
“A rock…?”
Not a chunk of concrete, but a rock in the middle of a city?
It didn’t feel real.
“They collided trying to avoid it.”
“You don’t seem surprised at all.”
“It’s not like an alien spaceship crashed, right?”
“Haha! Now that you mention it, true.”
The driver’s familiarity with disasters tugged at my heart.
There was another person nearby used to such things.
“Sir, it’ll take a while for the road to clear, so you’d be better off taking the subway. No charge.”
“Thank you.”
Click.
I got out of the taxi and ran down the street like I was fleeing.
Why?
‘Danger!’
Ever since I heard about a massive rock falling in the middle of the road, my survival instincts were screaming.
Be careful.
For now, I had to avoid dark, narrow alleys with few people—
“Argh?!”
Following the driver’s advice and heading to the nearest subway, my body suddenly lifted off the ground.
Grab!
By the time I realized I’d been snatched like a field mouse carried off by an owl, I was already,
“Ugh…!”
Roughly thrown down in a deserted park.
And before me,
“I am the Magic Boy, protector of world peace and aptitude—”
“Choi Kang-min…!”
“…My face is cloaked by magic to prevent recognition.”
“What are you doing?!”
“I dismissed it as coincidence when you recognized me instantly in my transformed state at the hospital, but it seems my magic doesn’t work on you. How strange.”
“Answer my question!”
“Over the past 20 years, many have doubted me, but they all fell for my magic.”
Flap~
Transformed into a youthful boy, Choi Kang-min approached, his red cape fluttering.
“You asked a question? I already answered. I’m the Magic Boy, protector of world peace and aptitude.”
“I asked what you’re doing!”
“That’s my answer. You’re a threat to this world’s peace.”
“That’s absurd…!”
“You, claiming to be Kang Moon-soo, what’s your true identity? Even the progenitor of magic couldn’t fully counter my magic.”
“Choi Kang-min, curious about my identity?”
A great question!
“…Yes.”
“A dream can’t affect a real human. My very existence proves this is a dream!”
“…”
“Still going on about dreams?”
“Snap out of it!”
“Whatever. Whether you’re the real Kang Moon-soo or not doesn’t matter. This time, I’ll make sure you can’t come back—or even if you do, you’ll never show up in front of me again. I’ll thoroughly educate you.”
“Educate? What do you—Arghhh?!”
In the blink of an eye, my right arm vanished!
“Indeed… as you said, as long as it’s not mind-affecting magic, it doesn’t matter.”
Twirl~
Choi Kang-min spun a toy-like wand, grandly designed for kids, with a grin. The orb at its tip shimmered with rainbow light.
Proof he’d done something so fast I couldn’t even perceive it.
“Arghhh…!”
The pain from my severed right shoulder clouded my mind.
‘It hurts! It hurts! It’s a dream, but it hurts! Is this not a dream?!’
I couldn’t think rationally.
“Next…”
“Please, spare me! Look over here! Magic Boy’s gone mad…!”
“Haha! Calling for help is useless. This space is separated by magic. Next, here.”
“What?!”
Stagger!
Ignoring his explanation and trying to flee with my back turned, I collapsed forward.
Tripped over my feet?
No.
My left leg, following my right arm, had silently vanished.
Thud!
‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it…!’
I couldn’t resist or even react to Choi Kang-min.
“Crying?”
“Yeah…!”
Powerless and pathetic, I was so frustrated and angry that tears fell.
“Haha! Pathetic!”
“That’s my line! Feeling proud strutting around in a dream, you idiot…!”
“Still on that?”
“No matter how many times—Argh?!”
“Forget dying easily. I’ve got a lot to teach you.”
And then I tasted hell.