Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 64

Neo Seoul stood tall like an island in the midst of the desert sea.

Just like Las Vegas from a long time ago, Neo Seoul existed right in the middle of the desert.

What made Neo Seoul special was the presence of mountains.

For some reason, the Bukhansan Mountains, which used to act as the lungs of old Seoul, were fully intact.

Thanks to this, the citizens living inside Neo Seoul could fully enjoy the lush greenery and fresh air of the Bukhansan Mountains.

To the north, the Bukhansan Mountains acted as a barrier, while to the south, a massive wall was erected to protect the city.

In such a stable environment, Neo Seoul developed rapidly.

With the fusion of magic and science, skyscrapers hundreds of stories high, which were unimaginable in the past, stood everywhere.

This was an inevitable choice for Neo Seoul.

Safe land was limited, yet the population continued to grow. Survivors of the great catastrophe flocked to Neo Seoul in search of safety.

To accommodate them, space was expanded underground, and buildings were endlessly raised towards the sky. Yet there was still a limit to accommodating people.

Eventually, Neo Seoul closed its doors.

It was judged that the city could not be sustained if more people were allowed in.

Thus, Neo Seoul was closed off, but survivors continued to gather. They established dwellings beneath the walls of Neo Seoul.

At first, it was no more than the size of a village, but over time, it grew to a size comparable to Neo Seoul itself.

Existing houses were stacked upon, then expanded upon again, transforming the slums into something resembling the Kowloon Walled City of Hong Kong.

With mazes reminiscent of ant colonies and buildings piled up haphazardly, sunlight scarcely reached the streets even during the day.

For some reason, monsters never came in the vicinity of Neo Seoul, and as a result, the slums grew to a size comparable to Neo Seoul over the course of more than a century.

To enter Neo Seoul, one had to pass through the road that pierced the heart of the slums.

The denizens of the slums called this road the Road to Paradise.

Because it was the only path into Neo Seoul. However, the Road to Paradise was anything but beautiful or glamorous.

Rather, it was harsh and gloomy.

Everyone who attempted to enter Neo Seoul through the Road to Paradise met a miserable end.

Only a few, who were either citizens of Neo Seoul or had been granted passage, could enter Neo Seoul through the Road to Paradise.

All others would be attacked upon approaching the gates.

Creak!

A heavily armored bus, torn apart like a rag, emerged on the Road to Paradise.

Grind!

The engine of the heavily damaged bus wheezed as if on its last breath.

Onlookers near the Road to Paradise glanced curiously at the bus.

It had been a long time since a bus had returned damaged to this extent.

At that moment, the bus stopped, and someone got off.

He was a man dressed in a crimson robe.

After exchanging a few words with someone inside the bus, the man turned around.

As the bus departed for Neo Seoul, the man left alone, leaving the Road to Paradise and entering the slums.

“What’s with that guy?”

“Do you think we could get some money out of him if we mug him?”

Men gathered on one side of the slums exchanged glances with sinister expressions.

They approached the man who had gotten off the bus, with menacing vibes.

“Hey!”

“Wanna have a little chat?”

The men created an atmosphere of intimidation, though it was more like a threat than a conversation.

“What’s the matter? I have no intention of conversing with any of you.”

“So arrogant. You returned from the Magic Stone Mine, right? How much did you earn?”

“If you hand over all your money, I might let you go. Hehe!”

The men drew their knives and pointed them at the robbed figure.

Then the robbed figure, who got off the bus, flipped back the hat he was wearing. As a result, his face was revealed.

Long hair reaching his shoulders, sun-browned skin. He was a man with a fairly handsome appearance, sporting a refreshing smile.

But what stood out the most were his deep black eyes, like black jewels embedded in his face.

He was none other than Zeon.

With a smile, Zeon spoke.

“Receiving such a warm welcome upon returning to my hometown. Indeed, there’s no place like home.”

“What did he say?”

“Is this bastard shot in the head or something?”

The men’s expressions twisted fiercely.

While it might be a significant threat to an ordinary person, it didn’t faze Zeon at all.

In fact, he felt rather pleased to be back in his true hometown.

The slums where Zeon was born and raised were such a place.

There was no law, no order.

The strong took everything, and the weak had no place to complain even when everything was taken from them unjustly.

It was a barbaric world where the strong possessed everything.

The slums were such a place.

A long time ago, Zeon was at the bottom of this place.

He couldn’t even breathe freely, let alone appear in front of the strong. He lived like a rat here for eighteen years.

At that time, this place couldn’t feel as hellish as it did now. But returning after a long time and receiving such a warm welcome, he couldn’t help but laugh.

The men holding knives looked even more impressive.

“Does this bastard think he’s invincible?”

“Let’s just kill him and take everything.”

The men proceeded to thrust their knives towards Zeon’s abdomen.

They were skilled at wielding knives, not amateurs. However, their knives couldn’t leave a single scratch on Zeon’s body.

The blades were blocked by his robe.

“What the? An item?”

“An… Awakened?”

The men’s pupils shook.

No matter how fearless they were in their bottom-of-the-barrel lives, they knew the terror of an Awakened.

Even the lowest-rank, F-rank Awakeneds could wipe them out with just one finger.

‘Shit! We’re screwed.’

‘Let’s get out of here!’

As the men exchanged glances,Zeon slightly kicked the shin of the man in front of him. But the aftermath was far from light.

Crack!

“Arggghh!”

The man’s shin broke, twisting in a grotesque direction.

Seeing this, the other men fled in different directions.

To them, there was no such a thing as loyalty among comrades.

Before they could even take a few steps, they were all caught by Zeon.

In an instant, Zeon caught up with them like he had used a teleportation technique and delivered a single blow.

“Argh!”

“Keuk!”

The men’s screams echoed through the streets. But no one came out to see what was happening.

The men writhed on the ground, clutching their broken limbs.

Zeon squatted down in front of one of them. Then the man forgot his pain and begged.

“Ugh! P-Please spare me.”

“It’s my first day back home, I can’t just go around killing people recklessly.”

“Thank you.”

“In return, hand over everything you have.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Hand over everything you have.”

Under Zeon’s threat, the man stared blankly, forgetting his pain.

“Don’t bother hiding anything. If I find out later, I’ll break your other arm too.”

“Ugh!”

Eventually, the man, shedding tears and mucus, handed over everything he had to Zeon.

Zeon proceeded to extract everything from the other men in the same manner.

There was no guilt in his actions.

In this place, it was just a natural occurrence.

Being reckless and not assessing the other’s capabilities properly, there was nothing to say even if they died.

Nevertheless, their lives were spared, and they would figure out how to live on their own.

Zeon left the men behind and moved on.

The slum remained unchanged.

It was as if time had stopped, with the same old scenes of densely packed buildings and powerless individuals traversing the streets.

Due to the lack of electricity, most houses were dark.

Zeon felt the gaze of those peeking through the windows of darkened houses.

The residents of the slum had a knack for detecting those different from themselves, almost like ghosts smelling a different scent.

Zeon was one of those people who didn’t quite fit into the slum.

Someone who didn’t belong in the slum.

That’s why they were wary of him.

Zeon knew this fact well, but he didn’t care.

He had expected this outcome.

Zeon enjoyed the atmosphere of his hometown as he walked.

His destination was Sinchon, the western district of the slum.

In Neo Seoul, there were many areas that retained the names of old Seoul, and Sinchon was one of them.

However, the old Sinchon was nowhere to be found.

Another name for Sinchon was “Ant Colony.”

Ant Colony was one of the worst areas in the slum.

Because it was where the most wretched individuals of the slum gathered.

As a result, even the residents of the slum avoided this place.

This was Zeon’s hometown.

He couldn’t recall being born here, but he had always lived here since he could remember.

Zeon stopped in front of a shabby building.

It was a tall building, over thirty stories high.

Regardless of how many times it had been expanded, the exterior of the building resembled a pile of junk.

It was an old building from the early days of Neo Seoul, and no one knew when it might collapse. This was where Zeon used to live.

Zeon looked up at the building for a moment and went inside.

There was no elevator in a building over thirty floors high.

Zeon climbed the stairs.

Step by step, he ascended until he reached his destination on the eighteenth floor.

He used to swear a lot while walking up these stairs. But now, he was not even breathing heavily.

Zeon finally arrived at his intended floor and walked to the room at the end of the hallway.

Room 1820.

It was where Zeon used to live.

It was here that Zeon had obtained a Mana Stone by chance.

After killing a neighbor who had intruded in for the Mana Stone, he had to flee to the Mana Stone Mine.

He had no choice but to abandon it, but the fact remained that this was Zeon’s home.

Zeon turned the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge.

It was locked from the inside.

He had no choice but to knock on the door.

Bang! Bang!

“What? Who the hell is it?”

After a moment, someone inside unlocked the door and opened it.

It was a man with tattoos covering his muscular body.

He stared at Zeon menacingly.

“What do you want, knocking on someone else’s door like that?”

“Then what are you doing in someone else’s house?”

“What?”

“This is my house.”

“You crazy? What nonsense is that? What your house in Ant Colony? If there’s an empty house, just move in.”

The man showed hostility.

He had taken over this house just three years ago.

The previous resident had been killed while dealing drugs.

Since then, the man had been living here comfortably.

Zeon chuckled and said.

“I understand that. But now that the landlord has returned, I hope you can vacate as soon as possible.”

“This bastard…”

The man’s expression changed suddenly.

He had an innocent smile on his lips, and there was a lascivious gleam in his eyes.

“You look pretty good. Okay, just come in.”

“Do you mean you’re vacating the house?”

“Just come in for now.”

The man grabbed Zeon’s hand and led him inside before locking the door.

Blocking the doorway, he said.

“Hehe! Take off your pants and turn around. Then I’ll let you live.”

“Tsk! I guess I’ll have to fix the door.”

“What?”

Bang!

At that moment, Zeon’s fist struck the man’s abdomen.

The man couldn’t even scream as he was thrown outside.

As a result, the latch broke, and the door swung open precariously.

Zeon was relieved that the door didn’t completely break.

Clutching his stomach, the man vomited out everything inside him.

As his breathing eased, the man wiped his mouth and stood up.

“You’re dead. Do you know who I am?”

As the man approached, Zeon’s figure disappeared from his sight.

He reappeared right beside the man.

It was an incredible speed that the man couldn’t follow with his eyes.

Zeon grabbed the man’s head and slammed it into the wall.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the wall shook, and debris scattered everywhere.

“Gaah!”

The man couldn’t even scream in immense pain, only groaning.

Zeon spoke quietly.

“I don’t care about your identity at all. All I want is for you to vacate this house.”

“Ugh!”

“Answer!”

“Yes!”

Only then did Zeon release the man.

Zeon seemed to like the man’s answer and turned around with a smile.

Zeon muttered as he closed the precariously hanging door.

“I’m finally back home.”