The Cursed Wizard: A Game Made Real

As Leo was thinking about this and picking up a submachine gun to examine it, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard approached him and spoke to him. 

"You have a good eye. That's a good one. It's made with steel produced by an Achilles affiliate to increase durability, and it has a balance stone embedded in it so there's no need for separate zero-point adjustment." 

He naturally took the gun from Leo, loaded it with skillful skill, and aimed it into the air. 

Crunch. 

I pulled the trigger but nothing happened with the gun having an empty magazine. 

The man burst into laughter, patting his protruding belly. 

"If I had to go to war right now, I think I would choose this Pistok-4." 

Instead of answering, Leo looked at the price tags hanging on the shelves. It didn't take long for him to think about it. 

"I'd like to check out other products as well." 

"Really? Well, maybe you don't like SMGs. Then how about something like this?" 

The man rummaged through the display case and took out a rifle that was much longer than the submachine gun he had been holding earlier. 

"Sightglass-992. The most demanding and sensitive of the assault rifles, but a work of art perfectly tuned for accuracy and hit rate. It is the perfect fit for use in urban areas like this." 

Leo stared at the price tag silently and shook his head. The assault rifle the man was holding was five times more expensive than the Pistok submachine gun he had just seen. 

What Leo wants now is only the potential of the shooting combo strengthened through auxiliary magic. 

Up until now I've been getting by just fine with a cheap pistol, so there was no reason to use something expensive for testing. 

Above all, those pieces of equipment are too heavy for Leo's meager strength to carry. 

He would have to carry a gun all day while working, and guns with heavy barrels were still a burden to him. 

It would be nice to be able to carry a gun with a permanent weight reduction enchantment, but I haven't researched common magic to that extent yet. 

When Leo politely declined, the man licked his lips in disappointment, but did not urge him on. 

"You're a difficult customer. But that's the kind of attitude you need when handling a gun. When you find a product you like, come to the counter. I'll personally calculate the appropriate ammunition for you." 

He patted Leo on the back and walked briskly out to find another guest. 

Leo looked at the man's back as he rubbed his cold back. His hands were so strong that it wouldn't have been strange if the barrier had been activated. 

Ignoring the man walking away, I take a closer look at the guns hanging on the display case. 

Fortunately, Leo isn't completely ignorant about guns. 

From my experience playing the Musketeers, I was able to roughly guess what each gun had and what its strengths and weaknesses were. 

Before picking out the guns, Leo once again reviewed the characteristics he considered most important. 

'It has to be durable enough that it won't break if you pour magic into it. If not, it has to be made of metal with good magic conductivity.' 

I still vividly remember firing four auxiliary spells in succession into the Overseer's pistol, only to have the gun completely destroyed with a single shot. 

At least you should avoid having the gun break in one shot by using the shooting combo magic. 

'I'd like to become a speaker, but for now, I'd like a gun that's designed primarily for single shots.' 

Although Leo's magical power has increased beyond comparison to when he first awakened his magical power, it is still not enough to use magic freely. 

Even though auxiliary magic consumes relatively less magic power compared to other magic, if you cast it multiple times with a single shot, your magic power will quickly run out. 

It would be burdensome to apply magic to each bullet that pours out dozens of rounds per second, so it was right to choose a firearm that requires single-shot shooting and apply auxiliary magic to it. 

'If you think about guns that are portable and don't cost too much... there are only two types.' 

A pistol and a sawed-off shotgun. 

Narrowing his choices down to two candidates, Leo hesitated for a moment before picking up his revolver. 

Although the single shot has strong power, it takes a long time to reload, but that can be covered to some extent with auxiliary magic. 

It's not that you can expect much quality for its inexpensive price, but it's definitely better than the cheap pistol I stole from the supervisor's office. 

Leo picked up a revolver with the words "Sinox" written on it and headed straight to the counter. 

The man, who had checked the guns in Leo's hands, said with a grin. 

"You chose something that is reasonably cheap but sturdy. Sinox is a brand that boasts overwhelming recognition among low-priced products." 

As he spoke, the man rummaged around behind the counter for a bit before placing a handful of ammunition on the counter. 

"The ammunition for the Sinox is 500 cells per shot. Including the cost of the bullets, I'll give you 300,000 cells. What do you think?" 

"I'll calculate it." 

"good!" 

The man laughed heartily and quickly put the gun into a long case, wrapped it with ammunition, and handed it over. 

The man who received the card from Leo and finally checked Leo's ID handed him the packaged product, and Leo naturally carried it on his back and returned to his room. 

When I got home and checked my phone, there was a text message. 

There was only one place I could contact anyway. It was Jenny. 

[I got some good work. The period is half a day. The pay is 20 million cells. It's a request to nominate a wizard. Come by tomorrow if you're interested.] 

"20 million?" 

The salary offered by a dinosaur company like Balitz was 50 million, which is clearly a very expensive amount for a mere mercenary agency to offer. 

Maybe it was because it was a wizard-designated request. Either way, it seemed worth going and hearing the story. 

"We need to start researching auxiliary magic quickly so we can test it out in this case." 

Leo replied to Jenny that he understood, then immediately opened the case, took out the revolver, and placed it on the floor. 

Pick up the revolver and Sinox and carefully infuse them with magic. 

The first thing you need to do is figure out the most effective and powerful secondary magic combo for this pistol. 

The gun barrels held in both hands began to glow blue with Leo's magic. 

The blue magical light leaking out from Leo's studio apartment disappeared only after dusk and into the early morning. 

# 

"This is a request from the Cream Gall Mercenary Office. They are planning to retake a building, but they need fire support from the wizards." 

"Is that why the conservatives are strong?" 

Jenny nodded at Leo's question. 

"The commissions that were commissioned from Balitz were not limited to any job category, so they were consistently paid 50 million cells. It is customary to raise the compensation significantly when placing a designation against a magician. There is always an overflow of demand, but supply is always insufficient." 

Leo sipped his drink and became lost in thought at Jenny's crooked smile. 

A mercenary office… If we were to get entangled again, I thought it would be the Antares office where Dylan is, but I didn't know I would be working with another office so quickly. 

"I want to hear more details. Which building exactly do you want to retake?" 

"The scavengers are said to have taken over the shared office that was currently being used for financial consulting purposes and are illegally using the power generation facilities. The company was said to have been kicked out without being able to turn off the circuit breaker for fear that all transaction information would be reset. Krimgal will take on the consulting firm's request and launch a recapture operation." 

"The mercenaries hired by the consulting firm want to hire me separately." 

"That's right. Among the private offices that have set up business here, Creamgaldo is doing quite well, so I know they originally had one or two magicians on staff. But since they're looking for additional magicians, it looks like they've run into some trouble there too." 

"Can you tell me exactly what you mean by fire support?" 

Jenny shrugged. 

"It's not that hard. Magicians like you are actually quite helpful in street fighting. Just follow the mercenaries and cast some magic. It's much easier than infiltrating a cosmetics manufacturing company's factory and destroying it entirely." 

"hmm….." 

Leo looked troubled, but he had already made up his mind after hearing her words. 

Seeing Jenny say this, it seems clear that the difficulty of the work is not that high compared to the generous compensation. 

Besides, if it was something that could be done by simply projecting firepower from behind instead of directly engaging the enemy, wouldn't it be a great opportunity to try out the auxiliary magic he had begun researching? 

Jenny stared blankly at Leo, then calmly held out another file in front of him. 

"If you don't want to get involved with mercenaries, there are other things to do. They're all things I've asked you to do. It seems like the story of the wizard who survived Croken's attack has become somewhat famous in these parts." 

"… … ." 

If Evelyn wasn't there, I would have been dead, so what's the point? 

Jenny continued cheerfully, unable to see Leo's eyes calming down. 

"There's plenty of time. It's okay to take your time deciding. But I personally think that the Krimgal side is the best. Mercenaries are very sensitive about money, so they don't often embezzle or rip off promised money." 

"Does that happen a lot here?" 

"Are there just a few thugs and trash on this floor? How many guys are there who just do their business and cleanly cut off their hands and feet?" 

"… … .." 

"That's why people like us take a cut of the commissions and live off of them. We sell trust and security. For both clients and freelancers." 

Every time I meet her, I feel that one word is truly a flowing river. 

The human resources office. To put it bluntly, she was not at all intimidated and looked confident while doing the work that sucked the blood out of people by arranging work. 

Leo chuckled and nodded. 

"Cream Gal. Okay. What date and location?" 

"Area 53. Tomorrow at 11 AM. I'll send you the exact location via comms." 

Mercenary Office 

"It's time to come…" 

Dray Krimgal, the head of the Krimgal mercenary office, swallowed nervously as he looked down at his wristwatch. 

Although they are basically called mercenaries, strictly speaking they are part of a private military company (PMC). 

The service provided is forceful, and the solution can also be said to be somewhat radical. 

Moreover, the Krimgal mercenary agency he runs himself is not a large-scale agency that has grown into a franchise like Antares or Plato and has become widely known, but a new agency that has just started to find its place. 

The mercenary group is already a job that magicians are known to avoid, and since its size is not that large, the opportunities that come to him are bound to be limited. 

Even if you work hard to hire one or two people, they will soon be scouted by another organization or leave because they are tired of the difficult job of being a mercenary. 

I've been trying to minimize the gap in my magical power by consistently hiring at least two magicians, but the situation just blew up right when I took on this commission. 

"I never thought the two wizards I hired this quarter would join hands and leave…." 

Wayan, the young man who was relaxing next to Dray's sigh, smiled brightly. 

"That's why I told you not to be so hard on yourself from the beginning, Captain." 

"I didn't ask you to do anything hard. I asked you to just hold out for this quarter while listening to those guys from start to finish, and now you're hitting me in the back of the head like this!" 

"I guess it was too harsh for the young gentlemen." 

"That's right, let's not worry about what's already happened!" 

A bespectacled woman holding a long gun, a balding giant with thick arms and a kidel. 

He let out a weak laugh as he saw a dozen or so mercenaries surrounding Dray and chattering noisily. 

"Alright. I got confirmation from Jenny, so I think I can get a proper wizard for this job. After I'm done, I'll go back and try to seduce some chicks." 

"Is the wizard coming this time a good guy?" 

"I heard he's a very skilled lightning magician. He'll be of great help in this operation. That poisonous woman was the one who insisted on receiving 20 million cells even if she died soon." 

Elemental magician. Especially, if you are a lightning magician who can spread ranged attacks, your value is indescribable. 

Especially in a case like this where the entire mercenary corps had to be mobilized, the stability would be incomparable to that of other forces. 

That was why Dray decided to pay 20 million cells. 

"I don't think he lacks ability… I don't know what his personality is like though." 

It's not the first time that I've grown tired of the rotten nature and wickedness of wizards, Dray thought as he raised his head. 

Someone came out from one side of the alley with a slow gait. 

A calm-looking young man wearing a shirt. He holds a sandwich in one hand and slowly looks around while munching on it. 

"… … " 

The moment Dray and the young man's eyes met, he immediately stopped walking. 

The mercenaries who had been watching everything behind him groaned. 

"no way." 

"Captain, right?" 

Before Dray can answer, the young man stops in front of them. 

"Leo said, munching on his sandwich. 

"krimgal Mercenary Office?" 

"… ..Half-wizard?" 

"That's right." 

Leo finished off the rest of his sandwich and stuffed the remaining plastic into his bag. 

The paprika sandwich he created himself for his health. Ironically, paprika was paprika in this world. 

Although it was terrible and tasteless, Leo endured many things for the sake of his own health. 

"Are you going to smoke a cigarette before you go into action?" 

Kidel snapped at Leo, who took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but Leo responded without even blinking. 

"It is necessary." 

He has no intention of making them understand why he smokes. 

In fact, I had already taken a pill while catching my breath on the way here, but I took another pill just to be prepared. 

Since the Cream Gall Mercenary Office had put up a considerable amount of money, Leo also had no intention of sparing any effort. 

Dray looked at Leo silently, then opened his mouth. 

"We paid 20 million cells just to hire you." 

"… … ." 

"I hope nothing holds you back during your mission." 

"Do your best." 

Unlike his shocking first appearance, which made it hard to believe that he was going on an operation with mercenaries, Dray nodded and turned his back to Leo's calm answer. 

"Now that the wizard has arrived, let's begin the final briefing." 

As he said that, he took out his laptop from the bag he had placed on the floor and opened it up. 

After a few presses of the button, a bright blue light emitted from the lens on the top of the laptop, creating a holographic shape. 

It was a schematic drawing of a three-story, single-story building.