Chapter 1

The Sand Sorcerer of the Burnt Desert

"My name is Zeon. My weapon is the entire desert."

Earth had been terraformed.

As a side effect of that terraforming, the oceans evaporated, and the land turned into sand.

Zeon—the only sand sorcerer left on the desertified Earth.

The world calls him the Sand Ghost.

Chapter 1

Tick!

In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, a faint sound—like a thread snapping—traveled through the air.

In that instant, the boy's eyes snapped open.

Like a cat, he rose silently and stared at the iron door.

A tiny room, just big enough to be filled if two adults lay down.

With no windows, the only exit was a small iron door.

The boy held his breath and fixed his gaze on the door handle.

Click. Click.

Someone was turning the handle.

Whoever it was tried to be quiet, but to the boy—already awake—it sounded as loud as thunder.

Clunk!

At last, the lock disengaged, and the door opened. Someone peeked through the gap.

In the man's hand was a dagger as thick as an adult's forearm.

Still not used to the darkness, the man fumbled his way cautiously into the room.

The boy watched everything without making a sound.

Unaware, the intruder stepped further inside.

That was the moment—

Tick!

A snapping sound came from beneath the man's feet.

It was a trap the boy had set in advance.

Thud!

"Gah!"

A dull impact and the man's scream rang out at the same time.

A small dagger had lodged itself into the man's side.

The boy had designed it so that the blade would fire the moment the string snapped.

Ignorant of the trap, the man had paid a brutal price for breaking in.

"Ughhh! What the hell?!"

The man rolled on the floor, screaming.

That's when the boy—who had been crouched silently until now—moved.

Tap!

He kicked off the ground, mounted the man's chest, snatched away his dagger, and pressed it to his throat.

The man stared at the boy in disbelief.

"Ugh! You little brat…"

"So it was you, huh? I was wondering who was sneaking in like a stray cat—the guy from next door."

He meant it literally.

The man lived in the room right beside his.

They had even crossed paths the night before.

The man's unpleasant face—and the vicious look in his eyes—had made him unforgettable.

The boy lightly slapped the man's cheek.

"Hey, mister. We're neighbors. Isn't it a bit much to rob me?"

"In an ant hole like this, who cares about that, you little punk? You'd better let me go. Do you even know who my brother is?"

"How would I know that, mister?"

The boy looked genuinely dumbfounded. The man beneath him snapped angrily.

"He's an Awakened. One who uses magic."

"Make your lies believable, at least. That's ridiculous. And the brother of an Awakened is living in a dump like this?"

"It's true. I've got my reasons—just staying here for a while."

"Then you should've kept your head down instead of sneaking in to steal pocket change from a kid."

"Ha! Damn it—if you saw a magic stone right in front of you, would you just leave it?"

"So you did see it."

The boy clicked his tongue.

By chance, he had obtained a small magic stone.

Since it was his first time having one, he'd been fascinated and handled it a few times.

Apparently, the man next door had seen that.

The boy cursed his own carelessness.

This slum—called the Ant Hole, or sometimes the Demon Pit—

was where the poor, who couldn't enter Neo Seoul Colony, gathered to survive.

There were no rules. No manners.

The strong crushed the weak and took everything they had.

Weakness was a sin. Strength was absolution.

The boy—Zeon—knew these rules better than anyone.

Because he had been born and raised here.

His earliest memories were of a beggar's den.

The moment he learned to walk, he was used for begging.

There were no good memories from that place.

He was beaten for bringing back too little.

Beaten for eating too much.

So when he got a little older, he broke free from the den.

Not that he simply walked out.

He stabbed the gang leader in his sleep and fled.

Because of that, the leader was still searching for him.

Even the name "Zeon" was one he chose for himself.

He needed something to prove his identity.

It didn't mean anything.

It just sounded cool.

And he was quite satisfied with it.

To survive, he had done almost everything.

Pickpocketing, theft—everything except killing.

In the slums, letting your guard down meant death.

That's why he had set traps in his room.

That meticulousness was what kept him alive.

Zeon paused, considering what to do with the man beneath him.

If the man's brother really was an Awakened, it could be dangerous.

At that moment, the man's eyes gleamed cunningly.

Slide…

A hidden dagger slipped out from his sleeve.

A backup weapon.

"Die, you little brat!"

The man roared and slashed.

Zeon quickly jumped back.

The man lunged after him, eyes filled with killing intent.

Determined to kill Zeon and take the magic stone, he swung wildly.

"Ugh!"

Zeon grappled with him, the two struggling fiercely.

Stab!

Moments later, the sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.

"Gah!"

The man screamed and collapsed to the ground.

A dagger was embedded in his chest.

He stared at Zeon in disbelief, his body trembling—

then his breath stopped.

"Damn it…"

Zeon collapsed onto the floor.

He had done almost everything to survive—but this was the first time he had ever killed someone.

The chilling sensation of the dagger piercing the man's chest still lingered vividly.

"Damn it… you should've just stayed out instead of sneaking in…"

Zeon stared at the man's corpse.

He had always known that one day he might have to kill someone. In the Ant Hole, it was inevitable if you wanted to survive without being crushed.

But he never imagined that day would be today.

Zeon forced himself to his senses.

If the dead man's brother really was an Awakened, then he was in serious danger.

There was no way to perfectly dispose of the body. Corpses of the poor were scattered all over the streets. Moving one without being seen was nearly impossible.

It would be better to leave the body here and hide as quickly as possible.

The moment he made his decision, Zeon acted.

He tightly locked the door to the room with the corpse and stepped outside.

Before him stretched a street reminiscent of Kowloon Walled City from old Hong Kong.

Cramped buildings, packed with tiny rooms barely big enough for one person to lie down, were stacked together like chicken coops.

With no order to their construction, the streets were so tangled they resembled a maze.

Zeon slipped into that maze.

"Damn it! So he really was an Awakened. How can my luck be this bad?"

Zeon muttered inside an armored bus covered in metal plates.

The man he killed really did have an Awakened brother.

Not just any Awakened—but a B-rank.

Even an F-rank chasing him would mean certain death. But this… this was far worse.

Among the countless Awakened in Neo Seoul, only about a hundred were B-rank.

If Zeon was a commoner, then a B-rank was nobility.

If he got caught, death wouldn't be the end of it.

Driven by rage over his brother's death, the Awakened had begun hunting Zeon.

The fact that his brother had tried to rob Zeon first didn't matter to him.

Right or wrong, he was family.

And the thought that his brother had been killed by a mere brat like Zeon filled him with fury.

"Today I run like a dog… but I'll make you pay. Lee Ji-ryeong."

The Awakened chasing him was named Lee Ji-ryeong.

A lightning magic user.

Even among magic users, lightning magic was known for its destructive power.

He was one of the strongest among B-rank Awakened.

Like Zeon, Lee Ji-ryeong knew the slums well. Though he now lived in Neo Seoul, he too had once come from the slums.

He knew exactly where Zeon would hide and how he would try to escape.

Eventually, Zeon was cornered.

That's why he boarded the bus.

A bus heading to a magic stone mine outside Neo Seoul Colony.

Once he left the colony, even someone like Lee Ji-ryeong would have difficulty tracking him.

Never thought I'd end up getting on this bus myself…

Zeon bit his lip.

Outside Neo Seoul Colony lay the desert.

An endless expanse of red sand where not even a single blade of grass could grow.

That burning desert was filled with dangers.

Beneath the sand lurked underground demonic beasts like sandworms and armored sandfish.

Above ground roamed creatures like flame wolves and giant-horned hyenas.

And on top of that, scavenger bands hunted caravans traveling between colonies.

There was no safe place.

That was why even while living worse than animals, the poor clung to life near Neo Seoul Colony.

For some reason, demonic beasts avoided approaching the colony.

At the very least, staying near it meant not being killed by monsters.

That was why Zeon had stubbornly remained in the slums.

But now that Lee Ji-ryeong was after him, there was no place left for him there.

"Damn it… if only I had awakened too…"

A hundred years ago, Earth had turned into a desert.

Over ninety percent of humanity died.

The survivors built colonies on the sandy ruins and barely clung to life.

Those who contributed the most during that time were the Awakened.

As if it had been waiting, some survivors began to awaken mysterious powers.

Some gained enhanced bodies.

Others learned to use magic.

They were called the Awakened.

And they became the rulers of the new world.

Even low-ranking Awakened were treated with respect in Neo Seoul.

Compared to them, someone like Zeon was nothing more than a lowborn.

Even if he died, no one would care.

In the end, Zeon chose the bus bound for the magic stone mine.

The mine was located in a rocky mountain seventy kilometers from Neo Seoul.

All magic stones extracted there were sent to the colony.

The energy drawn from those stones powered the massive city of Neo Seoul.

But mining them required a huge workforce.

The tunnels were deep and narrow, forcing miners to dig by hand with pickaxes.

The environment was so harsh that countless miners died.

As a result, there was always a labor shortage.

Because of this, Neo Seoul didn't question the identities of those heading to the mine—they simply let them board the bus.

That's how Zeon managed to get on the armored transport.

No matter what, I'll survive in the mine… and I'll get my revenge on Lee Ji-ryeong.

As Zeon stared out the window, burning with determination, the bus quickly filled with people.

All miners.

"Hey, kid! You heading to the mine too?"

The man sitting next to him spoke.

He was large and looked strong—just like someone who had volunteered for the mines.

Zeon answered indifferently.

"What of it?"

"Tch. You've got some bite for a brat. Still, you better be careful once you get there."

"About what?"

"There are plenty of guys who'd love to get their hands on a pale little thing like you. Heh."

The man's lecherous gaze swept over Zeon's body.

You filthy bastard…

Zeon knew exactly what that look meant.

There were plenty of men in the slums who preyed on other men—and many of them had targeted him.

He had a slender build and a fairly handsome face.

If not for the dangerous edge in his expression, he could pass for a pretty boy.

Without his instincts and ruthlessness, he would have been victimized dozens of times already.

Zeon fingered the dagger hidden in his sleeve, wondering when to take the man beside him down.

Even if he didn't kill him, crippling him—tearing a ligament—would be enough to make others think twice.

That was one way to survive at the bottom.

But he didn't have time to act.

The armored bus started moving.

It soon left Neo Seoul Colony and entered the desert.

The endless waves of red sand outside the window overwhelmed everyone inside.

Even the man who had been eyeing Zeon couldn't take his eyes off the vast desert.

The bus was nothing more than a speck on the infinite sea of sand.

Zeon muttered,

"We'll make it to the mine safely… right?"

He regretted those words almost immediately.

His mouth had jinxed it.

Kuuuuuumble!

Behind the speeding bus, red sand rose violently into the air.

A massive sandworm was chasing them.

"Damn it! There shouldn't be sandworms around here—"

As if to deny his words outright, the enormous body of the sandworm burst out of the sand.

Then it came crashing down onto the armored bus like a meteor.

BOOOOM!

The entire scene unfolded before Zeon's eyes in vivid slow motion.

What the hell?! Since when do sandworms fly?!

CRASH!

A tremendous impact slammed into the armored bus.