Chapter 55
One of the things people often misunderstand is the idea that it never rains in the desert.
But that’s only half the truth.
It does rain in the desert.
It’s just that the rain pours down in an instant and then quickly disappears into the sand, leaving no trace behind.
Sometimes it falls as if it might swallow the entire world, even turning the area into a flood. But as if nothing ever happened, it vanishes into the sand just as quickly.
Even in the desert, there are terrains where water tends to gather.
Places where rain collects like puddles or small ponds.
Of course, the water disappears quickly—but in those places, Ghost Hairworms lie dormant.
When the sand is bone-dry, they sleep as if dead. But when rain falls and water gathers, they awaken as if by magic—parasitic lifeforms.
By ranking, they wouldn’t even qualify as F-grade—insignificant creatures.
In fact, in Neo Seoul, people don’t even know such magical beasts exist. That’s why they’re not listed in the painstakingly compiled bestiary.
A parasite-like magical beast that doesn’t even reach F-grade.
But its danger far exceeds imagination.
Once it enters a host’s body, even the strongest magical beast will wander in search of water and eventually die of dehydration.
Unless one can protect their entire body with a barrier, there is no escaping the tentacles of the Ghost Hairworm.
The same applies to Awakeners.
Once it invades the body, there’s no way to drive it out.
Zeon learned this fact by chance.
It rained where he happened to be passing. At that moment, Ghost Hairworms awakened from a puddle, and a massive magical beast came to drink water. Zeon then watched as the beast became nothing more than a puppet under their control.
From that point on, Zeon became interested in Ghost Hairworms. But obtaining them was not as easy as he thought.
First of all, there weren’t many terrains suitable for them.
They didn’t exist in regions where it never rained. And in deserts, places where rain could gather—even briefly—were rare.
Lastly, even after finding them with great difficulty, capturing them was not easy.
Because of that, Zeon failed several times to obtain Ghost Hairworms. But through repeated failures, he eventually found a way to capture them.
Zeon pulled out a small glass bottle from inside his robe.
On the surface of the bottle were engraved mysterious characters whose meaning was unknown.
Flap!
As soon as Zeon reached the puddle, the Ghost Hairworms sensed him and began writhing violently.
They twisted their wire-like bodies and rushed toward him.
With no limbs, their grotesquely coiling, wire-like forms approaching him naturally evoked fear.
“What is that?”
“Ah!”
Mandy and Kim Sang-sik, watching from afar, widened their eyes in shock.
The bodies of the Ghost Hairworms suddenly turned transparent and shot toward Zeon like missiles.
At that moment, Zeon held out the glass bottle in his hand.
Then, at a speed too fast to see, three Ghost Hairworms flew straight into the bottle.
It looked as if they had entered the bottle of their own accord—but Mandy knew that wasn’t the case.
Zeon had clearly used some kind of method.
Now that he had obtained the ones he wanted, the rest were unnecessary.
Whoosh!
In an instant, blazing flames erupted around Zeon’s body.
The crimson fire burned the remaining Ghost Hairworms to ashes in the blink of an eye. After dealing with them, Zeon scooped up sand from beneath his feet and filled the glass bottle.
This was the key.
Putting the sand from where the Ghost Hairworms had been sleeping into a magically treated bottle.
Then, as if by magic, the Ghost Hairworms would fall asleep.
The ones that had grown over a meter long when attacking Zeon shrank to smaller than a finger and entered a dormant state.
Zeon closed the lid of the bottle and hummed.
“Hmm-hmm!”
A mischievous smile spread across his face.
He stored the bottle containing the Ghost Hairworms inside his robe. In reality, he had placed it into a subspace, but to Mandy and Kim Sang-sik, it looked like he had simply tucked it away.
At that moment, as if it were a lie, the torrential rain stopped, and bright sunlight poured down.
Mandy and Kim Sang-sik blinked in disbelief.
Too many things had happened in such a short time—it left them dazed.
This was something they could never experience in Neo Seoul.
The two came down from the sand dune and approached Zeon.
Mandy cautiously asked,
“What are you planning to do with those Ghost Hairworms?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying they seem useful in many ways. If you bring them to Neo Seoul, they could be researched and turned into something beneficial for many people.”
As a supervisor dispatched from Neo Seoul, Mandy showed interest in this new type of magical beast. But Zeon firmly cut her off.
“I’m sorry. I got them for my personal curiosity. If you want them, catch them yourself.”
“Ah! That’s not what I meant…”
Mandy stammered in embarrassment.
Right now, her life depended on Zeon. This wasn’t the time to upset him.
“I’m sorry. I got greedy.”
“It’s fine. That happens. Just don’t do it next time.”
Zeon smiled gently at her apology.
But Mandy couldn’t smile.
For some reason, his smile felt chilling.
Only then did Mandy realize what kind of person Zeon was.
He was someone strong and experienced enough to roam the desert alone.
‘Judging by the skill he used earlier, he’s likely a magic-type fire Awakener.’
Even in a torrential downpour, he had burned the Ghost Hairworms instantly—clearly a high-level ability.
‘At least C-rank… possibly B-rank.’
At that level, he would be highly valued even in Neo Seoul.
Mandy resolved to be even more careful.
After the commotion ended, the three resumed their journey.
Once Kim Sang-sik had recovered some stamina, he switched places with Mandy.
“Haa…”
Sitting atop the Bactrian camel, Mandy let out a sigh of relief.
No matter how strong an Awakener was, walking on sand all day drained stamina immensely.
Even half a day was enough to leave one gasping for breath, with the scorching air feeling like it would burn the throat.
Zeon spoke to Mandy,
“If you get thirsty, squeeze your wet clothes and drink the water.”
“That’s…”
“After a little more time passes, even that will evaporate, and you won’t have anything left to drink.”
At his words, Mandy hurriedly took off her outer clothing and wrung it.
Water trickled out.
She hastily drank the dripping water.
Kim Sang-sik followed her example.
Zeon waited for them to drink enough.
In truth, Zeon had quite a lot of water stored in his subspace.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he shared the water.
But if they only received things so easily, they would never survive in the desert.
They had to find water themselves and hunt for food.
If they wanted to make it back safely to Neo Seoul, they needed to develop those habits starting now.
Zeon led the group without showing a single sign of fatigue.
Kim Sang-sik and Mandy took turns riding the Bactrian camel to recover their stamina. Meanwhile, they kept observing Zeon.
Even after walking all day, Zeon showed no signs of exhaustion.
He wasn’t even sweating, nor was his breathing labored.
Mandy and Kim Sang-sik couldn’t understand him.
‘How is that even possible?’
‘He looks like someone who’s lived in the desert his entire life. No—even then, is this really possible?’
The more they watched him, the more questions piled up. But Zeon had no intention of talking about himself and simply continued walking in silence.
“Hm.”
After walking for a long time, Zeon suddenly stopped.
He knelt on one knee and brushed away the sand with his hand. Something buried beneath it was revealed.
What Zeon uncovered from the sand was, unexpectedly, a corpse.
It was completely dried out like a mummy, all moisture gone from the body.
He asked the two,
“Do you recognize who this is?”
“This person… he’s an Awakener from Team 3.”
Mandy immediately recognized the identity of the corpse.
He was the Awakener who had fled first when the Cyclops attacked. Since he escaped first, they had assumed he would survive. They couldn’t understand why he was dead here.
Zeon fully pulled the body out, revealing a wound on its back.
“It looks like he was attacked from directly behind. Judging by the size and shape of the wound… it seems like a blade.”
At Zeon’s words, Mandy’s eyes wavered.
When the Cyclops attacked, they had escaped by teams. That meant this man had been with his teammates.
If so, the one who ambushed and killed him from behind must have been someone from Team 3.
Zeon continued,
“He has no belongings. It looks like everything he had was taken.”
“So… he was looted?”
“Yes.”
“Ha…”
“When people are stranded in the desert, their true nature comes out. It’s not that surprising.”
Zeon spoke as if it were nothing unusual.
A companion one day becoming an enemy the next was not uncommon.
Maybe there had been grudges from before. Or maybe someone had coveted the items the dead man carried.
When people are isolated in a harsh environment like the desert, the nature they’ve kept hidden finally emerges.
Zeon had seen scenes like this countless times, so he wasn’t surprised—but Mandy and Kim Sang-sik were too shocked to say anything.
Zeon stood up and said,
“Let’s go. Magical beasts will soon come, drawn by the scent.”
If they wasted time tending to the corpse, they would only become targets themselves.
The best choice was to leave before the beasts arrived.
Fortunately, both Mandy and Kim Sang-sik followed Zeon’s words without protest.
To them, the dead man was just a fellow dispatched member.
They had no personal connection, so they could leave him behind coldly.
After walking for some time—
“Ghk! Stay back! Aaaah!”
From far away, the faint, desperate scream of someone reached them.
Zeon led the group toward the direction of the voice.
“Tsk.”
Zeon suddenly clicked his tongue.
Mandy carefully asked,
“What is it?”
She still couldn’t see anything, so she didn’t understand what Zeon was reacting to.
Zeon pointed toward the sky.
“A wyvern pack.”
“Wyverns?”
Only then did Mandy look up.
Far in the sky, a group of wyverns was circling.
As they moved closer, they saw an Awakener desperately fighting them.
He swung his spear and attacked the wyverns, but his strikes couldn’t reach them.
The wyverns toyed with him like a cat playing with a mouse.
Each time, new wounds appeared on the Awakener’s body.
Even though he wore protective gear from Neo Seoul, it was useless against the wyverns’ sharp claws.
Slash!
Their claws tore through his armor like rags.
The Awakener being attacked was named Kriard.
He belonged to Team 3—the same team as the corpse Zeon’s group had found earlier.
He had killed his teammate and stolen his water and items.
He had no choice—he was running out of water. The items were just a bonus. After all, the dead had no need for possessions.
After killing his teammate, he crossed the desert alone.
At that time, he had been confident he could survive.
No matter how dangerous the desert was, he believed he could overcome it.
But it took less than half a day for him to realize how foolish that thought was.
Kraaah!
Under the relentless assault of the wyverns’ fangs and claws from above, he was completely helpless.
“Aaagh!”
In the end, Kriard’s neck was caught in a wyvern’s jaws, and his life was cut short.
As soon as he died, the wyverns swarmed in to feast.
The scene resembled a flock of crows.
“Ugh…”
Seeing Kriard’s body being torn apart, Kim Sang-sik turned his head away.
Disgust and fear were written all over his face.
Mandy felt the same, but as an Awakener, she forced herself to calmly assess the situation.
Among the wyverns, one particularly large one caught her eye.
While the others greedily devoured Kriard’s corpse, it stood apart, watching the surroundings with indifference.
It was at least twice the size of the others, with a sleek black body.
At a glance, it was clearly the leader.
A faint red aura rippled around its massive body.
Mandy immediately recognized what it was.
“A barrier? Then that means… at least a B-rank beast?”
Only magical beasts of at least B-rank—or dungeon bosses—could possess a barrier.
Sparks flickered around the black barrier.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when a barrier was extremely powerful—something seen only in A-rank beasts.
In other words, the black wyvern was an A-rank magical beast.
“Gasp!”
Mandy involuntarily let out a gasp.
Because the black wyvern’s gaze met hers.
It was clearly looking straight at her.
“Hic!”
An overwhelming fear gripped her, making her hiccup involuntarily.
There was no way that savage wyvern pack would leave them alone.
They would never tolerate other lifeforms entering their territory.
Mandy braced herself for the wyverns to descend and attack—but strangely, no matter how much time passed, they didn’t move.
The massive black wyvern, in particular, turned its attention elsewhere.
As if there was something here it shouldn’t be seeing.
‘Could it be because of him…?’
Mandy quickly glanced at Zeon.
Zeon smiled and said,
“Looks like the wyvern pack is full. They don’t seem interested in us. But we don’t know when they might change their minds, so let’s move.”
Without waiting for her reply, he started walking.
“W-wait for us!”
“Ugh!”
Mandy and Kim Sang-sik hurried after him without a second thought.
Once Zeon’s group disappeared from view, the black wyvern slowly turned its head back.
In its eyes, as it watched Zeon’s retreating figure, there was a faint trace of fear.