I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 10
I Think I Can Use Magic
A wolf stood a short distance away, framed between the trees. It was massive. It looked like a Siberian Husky scaled up three or four times.
Juhwan couldn’t tell if wolves were naturally this large or if the wolves of this world were particularly giant. Regardless, it was nothing like a dog. In both size and sheer presence, it was leagues apart from any domesticated animal.
The wolf glared straight at Juhwan. It showed no fear of humans. Its eyes didn’t see him as the master of all creation.
It saw him as prey.
Keeping his face toward the wolf, Juhwan quickly scanned his surroundings with his eyes. No others were in sight.
He recalled a documentary stating that male wolves sometimes leave the pack to live independently once they reach a certain age.
Such wolves wander alone until they can join another pack or find a mate to start their own. Perhaps this creature was one of those loners.
He wished he had something that could serve as a weapon, but he had nothing.
Unfortunately, the thought that he might need one hadn’t even crossed his mind. Despite his attempts at caution, his mindset, shaped by modern life, was still dangerously naive.
The wolf’s nose twitched, and its lips peeled back. Its teeth were bared.
It didn’t make a sound, but it was clearly snarling.
Juhwan slowly lowered his body while keeping his torso upright. Just as he reached down to grab a fallen branch near the spring, the wolf began to make a sound.
Grrrrr.
A low, threatening growl spread across the ground like heavy fog. It was only one animal, yet it felt as though the entire forest was growling.
The sound grew louder and harsher, as if the creature had a furnace in its throat, and then—the wolf moved.
The massive body lunged straight for Juhwan.
Almost at the same instant the wolf moved, Juhwan sprang up.
He gripped a thick branch in his left hand and balled his right hand into a fist.
Stepping back with one foot, he lowered his center of gravity and took a stance.
As the wolf leaped into the air to bite him, Juhwan shoved the branch into its open maw with his left hand and brought his right fist down hard on its head.
Thump. The impact vibrated through his fist.
Simultaneously, the branch snapped with a loud crack. He couldn’t tell if it was a rotten piece of wood that only looked sturdy, if it was too dry, or if the wolf’s strength was simply that immense.
The wolf bared its teeth again, snapping wildly at him. His fist was grazed by a tooth, and blood began to flow. Saliva and wood splinters sprayed from the wolf’s mouth.
The wolf lunged again with a savage sound. The pungent, musky scent of a wild beast stung his nose.
His plan had been to jam the branch into its mouth and use the opening to beat it down. But reality was nothing like his imagination. He felt like a boy who had learned to fight from comic books only to get pummeled by a real thug.
“Damn it!”
Panic set in. In a world like this, a wolf bite couldn’t be treated properly. If things went wrong, he could die from a simple infection.
“Don’t make me laugh!”
He had finally gained a family; he wasn’t about to die now.
Juhwan hammered his fist against the wolf’s head again.
However, as they became entangled, his left arm was caught in the wolf’s jaws in an instant.
The wolf clamped down and thrashed its head. The pain was so blinding he felt his consciousness flickering.
Juhwan gritted his teeth and raised his right hand high. He rained down punch after punch.
But the wolf wouldn’t let go. Instead, it bit down even harder.
His vision blurred with flashes of white light. The strength began to drain from his striking fist.
He let out a pained groan despite himself, but he clenched his bitten arm into a fist to keep his muscles taut, desperate to survive. He felt that if he relaxed, the teeth would sink deep enough to snap the bone.
It was then. Suddenly, the wolf let out a sharp yelp and released his arm.
“Huh!”
Juhwan’s eyes went wide. His left arm was blazing with fire. His entire arm was engulfed in flames.
But there was no time to think or be surprised.
Juhwan immediately lunged at the wolf and mounted it. He pinned it down, using the strength of his legs to ensure it couldn’t escape.
He began to pummel the beast’s head with his fists. Once, twice—as he struck frantically, the wolf’s body went limp. Its skull felt completely crushed under his repeated blows.
The left arm that had been blazing just moments ago had returned to normal before he realized it.
The sleeve of his shirt was tattered where the wolf had bitten him. Beneath the fabric, the flesh was gouged deep enough to reveal bone.
Yet, there were no burn marks on the clothes. They were perfectly fine. Even though his arm had clearly been on fire, there wasn’t a single singe mark on the sleeve that had covered it.
‘This definitely isn’t a dream.’
Or was it?
Staring blankly at his arm, Juhwan realized that the blood had stopped flowing.
There were bloodstains, yes. But the bleeding had ceased.
It was as if an invisible hand had applied gauze and performed emergency first aid.
In any normal situation, this was impossible. He had been bitten deep enough to see bone by those massive teeth…
The wolf had shaken its head while biting down so hard he could feel the teeth shifting inside his flesh. It was normal for the wound to be deep, the flesh and veins shredded, and for a pool of blood to form on the ground.
‘Was it because of that fire?’
As he thought that, a realization struck him. Wait, could it be…?
“….”
Since magic had come to this world, perhaps it was only natural to develop such abilities. Isn’t it a common trope in novels to become an “awakened” or a “user” after being transported to another world?
Juhwan thrust his arm out into the air. He hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say, then pushed past his embarrassment and shouted.
“Fireball!”
There was no reaction. Not even a puff of smoke, let alone fire.
“Fire Wall!”
The same. Nothing happened.
“Fire Magic!”
“Fire Storm!”
“Fire!”
“Flame!”
“Magic!”
“Spirit of the vast earth, arise!”
“Fairy of fire, lend me your strength!”
“Summon Salamander!”
“Dragon Breath!”
It was useless. Nothing came from his palm.
He tried shouting while recalling the sense of crisis he’d just felt, and he tried recollecting the most urgent moments of his life. The fire refused to appear.
Juhwan looked down at his arm for a moment and took a deep breath.
‘It wasn’t an illusion. Fire definitely rose from my arm. And it’s true that it stopped the bleeding and healed the wound to some extent.’
If it was something he could use, he desperately wanted that power. He didn’t mind living as a simple mountain hunter, but for someone supporting a wife and daughter, that power would undoubtedly be a help.
He could provide a better environment, better food, and make them a little happier.
He didn’t know much, but in a place like this, illnesses couldn’t be treated properly. He would likely have to go to a large city to find a doctor. He had heard that medieval medicine was quite nonsense, but it was still better than nothing. Perhaps there were magicians with the power to heal.
And perhaps, by mastering it himself, he would find a way to heal his family. Just as his arm had been treated, some unknown force might be at work.
“….”
It had been the same when he moved to his grandfather’s house after his parents died.
As if he carried death with him, his grandfather passed away while they lived together. Though he was old, the man had been healthy, only to leave this world in a senseless accident.
After that, Juhwan was treated like a plague of death among his relatives.
They spoke openly in front of him, then a middle schooler, wondering if they would die too if they lived with him.
If death repeated, surely magic could repeat as well. Juhwan stared quietly at the deep teeth marks on his arm before turning his head. His arm throbbed with pain, but there was no time to rest. He had more work to do.
He had to clear away the wolf before other beasts arrived, drawn by the scent of blood. It would be best to drain the blood before moving it if he had a knife, but unfortunately, he didn’t have one on him.
‘I can’t process the hide properly, but I should at least be able to skin it.’
His grandfather had often slaughtered the chickens and rabbits they raised. Even in the countryside, it was rare for people to slaughter animals at home these days, but his grandfather was a man of the old world. He handled chickens and rabbits in the shed behind the old house.
Juhwan had never actually lent a hand, but he used to sit nearby and watch quietly. He had been worried that his grandfather might cut a finger or that something might fall and kill him.
Even though he had watched over him like that, his grandfather had still passed away suddenly. At the time, Juhwan—already larger and stronger than most adults—thought things would be okay as long as he was there.
Recalling what he had seen then, Juhwan hoisted the wolf onto one shoulder. It was lighter than he expected. It looked large because of its fur, but it was incredibly gaunt.
There were bite marks on its front paw, perhaps from being driven out of a pack after a fight. That was likely why it couldn’t hunt and had been starving. Otherwise, it might not have been so bold as to attack a human on such a morning.
He realized that if the fire hadn’t flared up, and if this wolf had been properly fed and muscled, he might not have won. Wolves were more terrifying animals than he had imagined.
‘I’ll have to be better prepared from now on.’
He also understood now why the cabin was situated away from the water.
Beasts gather where there is water. There would be weak animals like birds and deer, but fierce ones like wolves, tigers, and boars would also come.
He only filled the water bucket halfway. Carrying a wolf and a full bucket of water was too much. Not only was it heavy, but the water would have spilled everywhere.
Juhwan walked quickly with the water bucket on one shoulder and the wolf on the other.
His injured left arm felt as if it were on fire. The wound had been closed by magic or whatever it was, but the pain hadn’t vanished. He might run a bit of a fever tonight.
‘But how do I train magic?’
Did he have to feel an internal energy like in martial arts novels?
Juhwan quickened his pace, forcing his thoughts away from the pain.
The house was empty, but a few items remained. If they searched the corners, they found a stray bowl or two, and as they wandered around the outside of the house, they found several items people had failed to take with them.
For a while, Lij and Dorothy busily gathered such things.
Dorothy moved with an enthusiasm she had never shown before. Her thin body flitted quickly from one spot to another.
In a remote village like this, children began helping with housework as soon as they were old enough to walk. They looked after younger siblings or pulled weeds.
At five years old, Dorothy was old enough to understand instructions and could do more work. She had to.
But during her time with Dorothy, Lij realized the child was different from other children. Dorothy rarely spoke and moved slowly. She would shrink away at the slightest loud noise. Sometimes, she would even wet herself.
Thinking of her dead husband, who had beaten Lij the moment they met, she could guess why. How much must the girl have been hit while living under such a man?
She felt the child was like her, only more unfortunate. Perhaps that was why her heart went out to Dorothy even more.
‘But the child now…’
It seemed to be because she had received a name. Apparently overjoyed to have a name of her own, she kept running around finding things to bring to Lij. Then she would stand and stare up at her.
Lij looked down at the object Dorothy had brought.
It was a large wooden shoe worn over regular footwear when climbing snowy mountains.
The shoe, made by bending branches into a circle, was half-broken. It was useless.
‘But…’
Lij saw the sparkle in Dorothy’s eyes and gave a small smile.
“Thank you, Dorothy.”
“….”
The child’s face scrunched up as if she were trying to suppress a grin. Quickly bowing her head to hide her expression, Dorothy ran off again.
Just to hear the name “Dorothy” once, the child kept bringing her things.
Somehow, the sight was so endearing that Lij found herself laughing.
Leaving the outside to Dorothy, Lij went indoors. She had to unpack and organize the belongings the Village Chief’s Wife had provided.
Lij pulled the sacks of flour and oats from the large bundle and dragged them to the kitchen. Then, she began checking the other items in the pack one by one.
Fortunately, the most important things were all there. Flint, a knife, a pot, rope, a bit of salt, a set of old men’s clothes, and…
As she moved the items to their new places, a scream suddenly erupted from outside.
“Aaaaaah!”
It was Dorothy’s voice.
Lij grabbed the knife and dashed outside.
Perhaps a wolf had come. It was rare for wolves to come down to human dwellings, but winter was a season when everything was hungry.
She had heard that a hungry wolf was the greatest threat on a winter mountain. In fact, her dead husband had been eaten by a wolf after going into the mountains.
Her whole body trembled. Fearing she might drop it, she gripped the knife with both hands.
“Dorothy!”
Just as she shouted and burst outside, she saw a massive wolf running through the trees in the distance.
My god, it’s a monster!
The wolf had human legs.
