A Wizard’s Dream

I sat motionless in the center of the room, my eyes fixed on the clock resting on the small table before me. It’s 11:55 p.m. and I was just five minutes away from turning thirty. I’d been eagerly anticipating this moment, not for any extravagant gifts or celebratory gatherings, but simply because it marked the beginning of a new decade in my life.

A quick glance around the sparsely furnished room made me realize that I was alone. I hadn’t received any birthday messages or invitations, and I didn’t have anyone to share this moment with. Despite this, my excitement continued to build.

As each second ticked by, my anticipation grew stronger, and I felt more and more restless. Finally, when the clock struck midnight, all the alarms on my phone and clock went off simultaneously, accompanied by a cheerful tune. I leapt to my feet, my fists raised in triumph.

“I did it! Happy 30th birthday to me!” I exclaimed.

Taking a moment to look around the room again, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment. The bookshelf filled with fantasy novels and commentaries was the only thing that adorned the space. Despite being thirty years old, I was still enamored with the idea of magic and sorcery, and the possibility that it could be real. Everyone has daydreamed about casting spells, flying through the air, and wielding magical powers.

As I gazed up at the ceiling, my emotions began to take hold of me.

“A man who turns thirty and is still a virgin can become a wizard. The time has finally come to prove it!” I exclaimed.

I took a deep breath, fully aware that this urban legend was most likely false. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel curious. After all, every great inventor in history had been doubted and ridiculed at first.

With a mixture of excitement and skepticism, I held out my hand and tried to chant a spell. “Fireball!” I exclaimed, but the room fell silent. Only my voice echoed. I tried again, this time with “Thunderbolt! Wind Blast! Ice Storm!” But it didn’t work.

Undeterred, I continued to chant, this time with a serious face. “O shapeless one, born of the abyss and the mingling of darkness and light. Appear!” Of course, there wouldn’t be any demons or summoned beasts appearing, but I had to try. I went on to chant every technique and spell name I could think of, referring to games, manga, and even my old middle school notebook, but nothing happened.

After banging on the wall in frustration, I slumped down. “It…didn’t work,” I muttered. I had a vague feeling that I couldn’t become a wizard even at the age of thirty as a virgin. Maybe fairies would be visible to me, but I couldn’t see such things. My hope had been dashed, and with it, my hope for living had also disappeared.

This reality is boring, I thought to myself. There won’t be any surprising events. There’s no magic. There’s no sorcery. This world is just ordinary. “…Boring.”

“I’d better go to sleep, I gotta work tomorrow,” I said to myself on the weekday evening. But as the night grew late, I felt a sense of loneliness and disappointment that left me feeling hollow. Resigned to my fate, I made my way towards my bed.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted within my chest. It was a searing, intense agony that seemed to paralyze my entire body. I convulsed and collapsed to the floor, bewildered and frightened by the inexplicable sensation.

I’d never experienced anything like it before. Throughout my life, I’d always been healthy and free from serious illness or injury. And yet, here I was, writhing in agony and completely unable to comprehend what’s happening.

The pain continued to grow, and my anxiety along with it. I was terrified – could this be it? Was I dying?

As the pain intensified, my heartbeat pounded in my eardrums, which began to feel like they were trembling with every beat. My vision started to distort, adding to my growing sense of panic and disorientation.

And then, without warning, I lost consciousness, succumbing to the overwhelming and inexplicable sensations that had overtaken me.

●○●○

As I woke up, my vision was still blurry and I wondered if this was how people with poor eyesight saw the world. I could see something that looked like a ceiling and feel warmth, and then I realized that I was still alive. I felt relieved and wondered if I was in a hospital, or if someone had called an ambulance for me. Even though I didn’t know who it was, I was grateful for whoever had helped me. Perhaps it was my neighbor, as I’d been shouting and hitting the wall last night. The pain and sense of loss were so overwhelming that just thinking about it made me shudder.

As I lay there, I realized that someone was next to me. I opened my mouth, wondering if it’s the person who helped me, and said, “Da…”. But it wasn’t my voice, or at least not the voice I was used to. It was high-pitched and sounded like a baby’s cry. Confused, I spoke again, “Da…?” and realized that it was indeed my own voice.

Suddenly, I heard a woman’s voice from above saying, “Oh dear, what’s wrong, little Theon?” Although I couldn’t see very well, I could barely make out a figure of a huge woman holding me with both hands. I started to panic, trying to look down at my own body, but my neck wouldn’t move properly. However, I could move my gaze and saw a pair of small hands, so tiny that I began to realize what was happening. I didn’t want to believe it, but the fact that I had become a baby was slowly sinking in.

“Daa, auu, daa!” I continued to cry out in my high-pitched voice. “Hmm? Are you hungry or do you need a change?” the woman asked. Her voice was gentle, but it sounded like it was coming from underwater. I could hear it, but it’s hard to concentrate and make out what she was saying. However, it was clear that if I were a baby, this woman would be my nurse or my mother.

The thought suddenly hit me – could this be reincarnation? Had I died from that heart pain and been reborn in another world? It seemed impossible, but the scenario was so familiar. As I looked around, I could only see the woman’s face shape, hair color, and the scenery of the room, which clearly wasn’t in Japan. Even if it was a foreign country, the clothing and interior of the room seemed strangely old-fashioned. Moreover, the woman spoke Japanese and called me Theon, which is clearly a foreign name.

All of these things led me to believe that the possibility of being in another world was high. And then it hit me – if it was another world, there was certainly something that existed there. Monsters? Fairies? Spirits? Heroes? Demon kings? No, it was something even more exciting – magic!

Excitement flooded through me as I realized that there’s bound to be magic or sorcery in this other world. Perhaps God had given me this blessing because of my intense curiosity about magic. I couldn’t help but thank God, even though I didn’t know if God existed or not.

However, my excitement was cut short as I realized that my body wouldn’t move. As a baby, I couldn’t even speak, so there’s nothing I could do. To make matters worse, I was starting to get terribly sleepy. I wondered if I was just overthinking things. After all, my body was that of a baby, but my mind was that of an adult.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me – what if this was all just a dream? The idea was scary, and I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to go back to my boring reality. Here, in this world, I’d have the chance to use magic.

As I drifted off to sleep, a warm sensation of intense happiness enveloped me.