1. The Watch
I am lazy.
I lack perseverance, and my will is weak. In short, I'm feeble-willed. Even so, there was a lot I wanted to do.
I wanted to study well, earn a lot of money, and have a beautiful girlfriend. And a cool car, a house with a yard, and... and... ah.
Good Lord. Thinking about each thing I wanted, there was no end to it. But what have I done all this time? Just bummed around.
And I didn't even do that properly. I simply loafed. So I ended up at a mediocre university, never properly dated a girlfriend, and never really earned any money.
On top of that, I'm lying in bed thinking these thoughts right now, instead of studying for an exam.
"Fuck."
A curse escapes my lips. No, maybe this is an illness too. If I go to the hospital and take medicine, won't my weak willpower disappear and I'll become diligent?
"As if."
Tomorrow is the exam... I should study... I thought. But first, I felt like eating something might dispel this gloomy mood.
"I should buy something at the convenience store and eat while I study."
I quickly threw on some clothes and left the house.
The convenience store was near my house, so even at a leisurely pace, it only took a few minutes. I put a few snacks and three bags of bread into a large plastic bag and came out.
"This is ten thousand won."
I grumbled at the unexpectedly high price as I headed home.
Somehow, I ended up buying more food than I thought. Still, if I steadily munched on snacks, I probably wouldn't even think about lunch and could study well.
'Since I'm eating anyway, I should watch TV. What's a fun variety show these days?'
While searching for variety shows on my phone as I walked, I bumped into something with a thud.
It was some old man.
Messy hair with sparse white patches, shabby clothes. He looked like a homeless person no matter how you looked at him. His eyes were cloudy too, as if he were sick.
"Uuugh."
The old man groaned, as if his body wasn't well.
I couldn't tell if it was because I bumped into him or not, but feeling pity and guilt, I spoke to him.
"Mister, are you alright?"
The old man stared at me fixedly.
Our eyes met. His eyes seemed to sparkle. A creepy feeling came over me.
"Student."
"Yes."
"I'm hungry, could you give me something?"
The old man pointed at the bag I was holding.
'Oh my, my lunch. I had a feeling this would happen.'
I felt reluctant, but since we'd already started talking, I figured I should just give him a bread and be done with it.
Alright. Let's consider it saving a starving grandpa. That's right, you have to save people's lives.
I took out a bread from the bag. Since nothing particularly appealed to me, I'd chosen red bean bread. Though old people like this kind of thing, don't they?
"Here."
"Thank you."
The old man quickly accepted the bread.
I tried to leave immediately. The old man's eyes were gleaming like a hungry beast that had found prey.
"Hey there."
The old man called me to a stop.
I gulped. Surely he wasn't asking for another bread? I'm hungry too.
"Take this."
The old man held out a watch. It was black and shabby. It had no common patterns or decorations whatsoever.
"What is this?"
"It's a watch."
No, who doesn't know that?
"No, I know it's a watch, but I'm asking why you're giving me something like this."
Then the old man cackled.
It was a creepy laugh. Like he'd had too much to drink or wasn't in his right mind, or if neither, it was a laugh that seemed even scarier.
"Hehehe, that's the important part. This watch is no ordinary watch. So I can't just give it to anyone."
"...."
"Take it first. I'm really doing this because I'm grateful."
I didn't want to talk with the old man anymore. I also wanted to avoid struggling not to take the watch.
"Yes, I'll use it well."
I took the watch and hurried home as if fleeing. The old man's shout came from behind.
"The watch will grant your wish. Be careful!"
What nonsense. He really is a crazy old man. What's a wish and what's with being careful.
When I got home, Mom was waiting in the living room.
"Where did you go?"
Mom was watching TV.
Come to think of it, tomorrow wasn't just the exam day, it was Monday. Today is Sunday. It's time for Mom to rest at home, yeah.
"I stopped by the convenience store for a bit. Is anything interesting on?"
"You go to your room and study. When will you ever get a scholarship? You know my friend Sook, right? Her son, you see."
"Ah, yes. I'll study."
I escaped to my room before Mom's words could fully launch. Her nagging was so long and tedious that I thought studying would be easier more than twenty times.
I quickly entered the room, closed the door, and grumbled quietly.
"Ah, I was going to watch a movie."
Because of Mom's watchful eyes, I pretended to study for a moment, then sat on the floor and tore open snacks. I turned on an internet stream on my phone.
While giggling quietly so Mom wouldn't hear and looking at my phone, I remembered the watch the old man had given me. Since I thought of it, I took it out of the bag and examined it this way and that.
"Hmm... I think it's broken."
It was an ordinary digital watch. Black background with white numbers. But now, whether broken or not, the time was wrong.
"The texture is nice though."
I didn't know what leather it was made of, but it was soft, and the fit wasn't bad. No, it was very good.
Click.
It fit my wrist perfectly too. The simple design looked unimpressive at first, but wearing it on my wrist, I rather liked that aspect.
"The time isn't changing."
What a shame. It would be hard to find time to get it fixed separately.
Then.
The numbers on the watch suddenly started moving. The second hand rose rapidly, the minutes and hours changed, and the time adjusted instantly.
1:12:21. When I checked my phone, it was exactly the same as the watch time.
"What!"
A shout burst out of me without realizing. And with it, a strange voice rang from somewhere in my head. It was a deep, thick, gentlemanly male voice.
[#!#!*^%#.]
It was an exotic language. I had never heard it before, but it seemed similar to Spanish or Greek.
"Huh? Huh?"
While I was bewildered, that voice introduced itself in Korean.
[Greetings. I am an assistant who will help with your wish.]
'Huh?'
[You may not understand now, but you will come to understand gradually.]
Is this an auditory hallucination?
[It is not an auditory hallucination.]
'Eek!?'
I couldn't understand what was going on. What the hell is this situation?
[To repeat, I am an assistant who grants your wishes.]
'A wish?'
[That is correct.]
I fell into thought for a while. And I recalled what the old man who gave me the watch had said when parting.
'Don't tell me that was true?'
[That is correct.]
'So you grant any wish?'
[That is correct.]
'Without any restrictions?'
[That is correct.]
For a moment, I thought 'Isn't this a hidden camera?' But this voice ringing in my head was something I'd never heard before.
It felt like sound was being poured directly into my brain. Such a ridiculous situation couldn't be a simple prank. Moreover, it was reading my thoughts perfectly.
I swallowed hard.
I needed to test something.
Whether I was sane, whether this was a dream, or what the hell this was.
What was urgent right now?
The book spread open on the desk caught my eye. A Statics textbook. Tomorrow's exam was the Statics midterm.
'Let me get a perfect score on tomorrow's exam.'
[Are you referring to the Statics midterm written exam?]
Oh, I'm getting more convinced. This is real. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something special.
'Yeah!'
[Understood. Calculating probability. ― Currently, the probability of Master getting a perfect score on tomorrow's exam is 0.00001%.]
This is too realistic, it feels bad.
[My role is to raise the probability of Master getting a perfect score to a certain level while providing infinite opportunities.]
Oh! Yes, yes. I don't know what it means, but go ahead.
[Adjusting probability ― Complete. The probability of Master getting a perfect score on tomorrow's exam has now risen to 1.2%.]
What?
'Hey! You said you'd grant wishes! So doesn't that mean knowledge pops into my head, or I get 100 points even if I bomb the exam, or something like that?'
[No. My role is merely to help the Master achieve their wish.]
'Fine. Let's say that's true. Then what the hell did you help with!'
[Please wait a moment.]
My thoughts still couldn't catch up to the situation. I had no idea what to do.
'Ah, I don't know. I should sleep on it first.'
I lay down on the bed. My head was complicated enough to give me a headache, but spacing out, drowsiness soon poured over me.
Mmm, feels good.
"Hyomin!"
Mom shouted loudly.
I startled and sprang up from the bed, sitting at the desk. I quickly wiped the saliva dribbling from the corner of my mouth.
Bang.
Mom flung the door wide open and came in.
"Hyomin, you know the guy next door?"
I acted like a student whose studying was interrupted. As naturally as possible, yet annoyed and cheekily, I replied.
"Ah, what is it. I'm studying."
"The guy next door, well, he's apparently a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering at that famous S University."
"So?"
I became curious at this point. Was there such a smart person next door? Someone who studies roughly 300 times better than me.
"He said he can help since you have a Statics exam tomorrow. He had plans but they got canceled. See, doesn't helping out with food come back around like this?"
Mom was excited and kept boasting about her achievements. The content was that various things my brother and I had criticized as useless had now turned out to be rewarding, so respect Mom now or something like that.
More important than that was the speculation that this might not be Mom's virtue but the watch's doing.
'Hey. Did you do this?'
[That is correct.]
Oh, amazing? But can't that amazing ability just help me directly? Huh? I'm a bit sleepy.
[That is impossible. I am forbidden from exerting direct force on the Master's affairs.]
'Well, nothing to be done then.'
"So he's coming over to tutor now. Hurry up and get ready. Put on proper clothes and wash your face!"
"Yes, Mom."
I grumbled as I washed my face and changed clothes.
Once roughly ready, the man living next door came to the house. We'd passed each other on the street sometimes, but weren't acquainted so had kept a polite distance.
According to Mom, he was thirty now. I'm twenty, so he's exactly ten years older. Ah, and his name is Gang Insu.
"Hello."
"Oh, hello. So you're Hyomin."
Unlike awkward me, Gang Insu smiled brightly. After exchanging a few words with Mom, he came to my room and skimmed through the book once.
"The scope goes up to structural analysis. Not much different from the book I have."
Gang Insu took out the book he'd brought and showed it. The publisher was the same. Mine was 13th edition, his was 8th.
Gang Insu first tested my skills with a few questions.
"Can you do truss analysis?"
"How many particle equilibrium problems have you solved?"
"Do you know structural analysis?"
I answered with silence.
No, I don't! I said I don't!
Then Gang Insu let out a big sigh.
"Hoo... this might be a bit tough."
And so Gang Insu's tutoring began.
Gang Insu covered key concepts and representative problem-solving for roughly 4 hours. Truly befitting an S University mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate, there were no hitches in his solutions and explanations.
'Right. It's perfect except for the fact that I can't understand it properly!'
I let out such admiration inwardly.
"Let's stop here. If you review even half of what we did today, you'll get some right. Make sure to review."
Gang Insu said goodbye to Mom and left.
'Hey. What's my probability of a perfect score now?'
[1.1%.]
Damn it, why did it drop?
Ah, but I'm so sleepy. If I sleep for a bit and wake up early to study, it'll be fine. I have this excellent watch anyway, somehow I'll get a perfect score.
I lay down on the bed. When I pulled the covers over me, drowsiness crept in softly. Ah, feels good. My eyes slowly closed.
* * *
"Oh, hello. So you're Hyomin."
What?
Until just now, I was definitely lying in bed. Moreover, Gang Insu, who had left just a moment ago, was standing in front of me with a bright smile.
"Huh? Ah, yes. Hello...?"
"Yeah. Let's study hard today."
Gang Insu approached Mom and talked, like déjà vu.
Something clicked about this situation.
'Hey. Was this you?'
[That is correct. I provide the Master with infinite opportunities.]
'Until it works?'
[Yes.]
The old man's words to be careful came to mind.
Ah... damn. So that's why he told me to be careful.