Magic.

Casting spells, enchantments, magic circles, and so on. Whether it's just conjuring a small flame or burning a hole in the sky, being able to bend the world's rules to your will is every kid's dream!

Ohhhhh, it would be fantastic if magic was real!

But it isn't.

I constantly find myself buried in light novels set in a magic/fantasy setting; I can't get enough of it.

"Whatcha reading?"

I looked up from my light novel. Did the girl sitting in front of me just turn around and ask me that? Why?! I've never talked to her before; I didn't even know her name!

"I-it's called 'I reincarnated as a noble magical prodigy."

"Is it any good?"

Was she interested in light novels? Well, I wouldn't recommend this one. The characters are bland, and the magic system in it is rather mediocre.

"N-not really."

She scrunched up her face a little. "Then why are you reading it?"

Because I wanna use magic. Of course, I would never say that out loud.

As I was thinking about how to answer her question, I noticed that she looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. I heard a couple of other classmates giggling as well. Just what was so funny…?

"Wow, did he really just say that? Is he like 5 or something?"

My stomach churned. Did I answer her question out loud? I tried to think back, but I couldn't remember if I did or not, even though it just happened.

I slowly lowered my gaze and buried my face in my light novel.

***

School was over, and I was still mulling over what I had said in class as I walked towards the bus stop on the corner.

I wasn't that close to any of my classmates, since I was always reading light novels in class. However, since no one knew me that well, their only impression of me now was some magic-obsessed child who never grew up.

It's not like that assumption's wrong though.

I sighed as I sat down in the far back corner of the bus, and I pulled out the novel I was reading earlier. Even though I said it wasn't good, it was engaging enough that I'd rather read it than not.

I had read almost all of the good novels already, so I just had to satisfy myself with scraps to pass the time.

KRRRRK!

It had gotten very dark all of the sudden and my head was throbbing. What's going on-

I cried out in pain. My entire lower half felt like it was on fire. It was worse than anything I'd ever felt before. I still couldn't see anything, so all I could focus on was the pain.

I could feel my breathing getting heavy. I was scared.

"Someone call 911! Quickly!"

"Is he gonna be ok?"

"If only he wasn't sitting back there…"

I could hear voices, but they were so muffled to the point that I couldn't understand what they were saying. I realized that my pain was starting to fade as well, and I was starting to feel extremely tired…

Was I dying…?

I then felt a hand on my shoulder, but I might have been imagining it. It felt the same as when my mom put her hand on my shoulder to comfort me when I was little.

"M-mom?" I croaked before passing out.

***

I sat straight up with a start. What happened? Last I remember, I was…

I shuddered as I remembered how painful that was. It must have been a car crash or something.

I was just glad that I was no longer in pain.

I took in my surroundings, assuming that I was most likely in a hospital. It only took a few seconds to realize that was not the case.

I was sitting on the floor of the most run-down shack I'd ever seen. It was just 4 walls, a ceiling, and a doorway; there wasn't even a floor, I was just sitting on 1 of 5 mats rolled out on caked dirt. To top it off, I was wearing rags so worn out that I wouldn't even call them clothes.

Where the hell am I?

"You're awake!"

I nearly had a heart attack. There was a giant of a man hunched down on my left, and he must be at least 8 feet tall standing up. I could have sworn he wasn't there a second ago.

"Here, drink some water."

It was bizarre; now that he had mentioned it, I felt severely dehydrated.

As I reached out for the water pouch, I realized that my hands were small enough to be a child's; this wasn't my body.

I tensed up. Waking up in a different body after a near-death experience? I had read so many isekai novels at this point that I couldn't help getting excited.

I immediately started probing.

"Where are we?"

"We're in the 12th district's medicine villa; you passed out 2 days ago from illness, so I brought you here for treatment. I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

Now that he mentioned it, I noticed bowls of different herbs spread out around me. So this was a hospital.

"Who are you?"

The words naturally left my mouth; I was curious as to who my savior was.

He smiled. "I'm Dae-sung."

"...Who am I?" I decided my best bet was faking amnesia; I had no recollection of this body's memories anyways.

Dae-sung's voice wavered slightly. "Did you lose your memories? Do you remember your name?"

"...I don't remember anything." I had almost answered 'Wyatt' but stopped myself.

I felt a tinge of guilt as I saw Dae-sung's expression turn solemn at my words. The giant crouched down a bit more before opening his mouth.

"My name is Dae-sung and I run an orphanage in this district. I'll do my best to answer any questions you have."

"What's today's date?"

"June 8th."

"...And the year?"

"It's the 22nd of the sexagenary cycle."

"..."

What the hell is that?

"Where are we?" I realized immediately that I had already asked that question, but Dae-sung was able to infer that I meant it in a geographical sense.

"We're in the outskirts of the 12th district of the Wudang Sect."

Well… that didn't help me either.

I looked at Dae-sung's stature again. Since I had found out I was in the body of what I'm guessing is a 9-year-old, he probably wasn't 8 feet tall. However, he was still rather tall and super chiseled.

I wonder how strong he is…

As if to answer my question, a game-like window opened before me.

[Dae-sung]

[???]

My heart started racing. Even if I couldn't see his stats, this was undoubtedly a status screen of some sort.

A different body. A different place. A status screen. My excitement was burning a hole in my chest. I couldn't stop myself from asking even if I tried-

"Can you teach me magic?"

I had been obsessed with fantasy novels for so long, to the point that I could probably kill a person just to learn magic.

I was waiting for his response with bated breath.

However, Dae-sung looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Magic? Do you mean martial arts?"

That revelation hit me like a truck.

Districts. Sects. The weird-ass way they keep track of years. This wasn't your classic magic/fantasy setting; this was one of those Murim settings!

Shit!

I knew everything there was to know about medieval fantasy, and I'd be able to fit right in there. When it comes to novels set in Murim, however, I've only read 1 or 2 maybe? I didn't know jackshit about Murim or martial arts!

"Are you alright?"

My distress was probably showing on my face.

No, I'm not ok Dae-sung. I want to learn magic, not martial arts!

Before I could answer his question, I heard people shouting outside; it sounded like a fight was about to break out.

"Stay put; I'll be right back." Dae-sung rushed out of the hut.

I slowly got to my feet and followed Dae-sung out of the hut; I was too curious to not see what the shouting was about. As I left the hut, the voices got clearer.

***

"I dare you to say that again!"

"We're in the Wudang Sect, not the Flame Sect! You've got no power here!"

2 people were shouting in the middle of what seemed to be a dirt road; there were a bunch of wooden stalls and a few people here and there, but no one was doing anything besides watching it unfold or flat out ignoring the commotion.

The only outlier was Dae-sung, who was walking briskly towards the 2 of them. After a few observations, I had decided to stay near the hut for safety reasons; 1 of the 2 had drawn a sword.

The man with his sword drawn was wearing a pristine black uniform outlined in red, and the other guy was unarmed, wearing tattered clothes like mine.

"Please put away your sword; cutting down an unarmed man in the Wudang Sect is a bad look, no matter what he said."

Dae-Sung had spoken up. His voice was rather calm, but his presence had commanded the attention of both parties.

The man with his sword drawn hesitated. "W-what he said was still unforgivable! The least he could do is apologize."

Dae-sung turned towards the lone man opposing what I'm assuming is a member of the Flame Sect.

"Byung-ho, what did you say?"

"He called me an ass-kisser of the Wudang Sect!" The Flame Sect member shouted in protest.

However, Dae-sung ignored him while still facing Byung-ho, waiting for an answer.

"...I said that at least I'm not puckering up to others just to maintain good relations. I said that in response to being glared at and being called a peasant."

Dae-sung then gestured towards the lone Flame Sect member.

"Is it true that you instigated this?"

"T-that's…" Not being able to refute his response, he lowered his sword slightly.

Dae-sung turned back to Byung-ho. "Even so, Byung-ho, you should apologize. We can't afford to offend disciples of other sects in the alliance."

Byung-ho looked disgruntled but proceeded to apologize while lowering his head.

"I apologize for what I said regarding the Flame Sect. It was disrespectful and untrue, and it won't happen again."

The sword was lowered all the way to the ground.

"However, disciple of the Flame Sect, you instigated this by insulting Byung-ho, and you should apologize to him as well."

I thought that Dae-sung was doing a great job of diffusing the situation, but the Flame Sect disciple responded harshly.

"Why should I apologize to a peasant?"

At the same time, 6 people wearing similar black and red uniforms were approaching, presumably to aid the lone Flame Sect disciple, and Byung-ho looked like he was about to curse the Flame Sect into oblivion.

Before anything else unfolded, one of the approaching Flame Sect members rushed forward; she punched the lone disciple square in the back, knocking the sword out of his hand.

I stared in awe as flames erupted from her fist.

"Didn't I say not to draw your sword unless your life was threatened? And you drew it for a mere street argument?"

The martial arts she used, they were almost like magic…!

Even if I couldn't use magic here, if I put in enough effort I'd be able to use something here that resembles it. Once again, I couldn't stop myself.

I started running towards the road.

"Sister! Please teach me martial arts!"

***