At 5:47 p.m., a man dressed in tattered, charred clothing walked along the entrance of Syrp Road No. 2 in Forgenate District, Moran City.
At first, the man had intended to rest earlier that afternoon, but his circumstances forced him to keep running despite his battered body and blurred vision.
He was not angry. He regretted everything, but he did not drown himself in sorrow.
At the moment when his body reached its very limit, Karl Vairanz remembered that nightmare once again.
....
Fifteen years earlier. Year 1528 according to the Star Calendar, June 1.
It was a Saturday afternoon, a day when life moved at a gentler pace than usual.
Children's laughter echoed throughout the park for what felt like forever. Their parents watched from a distance, quietly keeping an eye on them, finding a rare sense of peace as the burdens of life were washed away by the sound of their children's laughter.
Among that group of children, a teenage boy played with his four friends, unconcerned that one of them was in a grade above his own.
A black-haired teenager with his straight hair tied back laughed joyfully as he played with his friends.
"Come on, come on! Catch me!" he shouted excitedly.
The brown-haired teenager snorted as he stumbled again and again, holding back his laughter because he simply couldn't catch the other boy.
"Ah... where do you think you're running? Get back here! I'll catch you!"
A game of tag was extremely popular in Ninesorals, in its southernmost region near the border with Vinohoshi, in Adcen County of Naine City, specifically in Sarana.
The game was simple and required at least three players to make it fun.
The objective was to catch the one infected with the "virus." The chaser had to catch the "virus" before it managed to infect the other players who had stopped running or could no longer keep up, turning them into allies with a single touch.
Since the only way to move again after being infected was to be touched by the chaser, the other three teenagers could do nothing but cheer the chaser on from a distance, occasionally making the game even more intense.
Naturally, the black-haired teenager possessed far greater stamina than the brown-haired one. Although he was nearly caught because of the latter's speed, the black-haired teenager escaped "defeat" thanks to his endurance and clever use of the surroundings.
The brown-haired teenager finally stopped chasing him, standing five meters away from his three friends as he wiped his mouth after catching his breath.
"I give up. Don't you ever get tired of running all over the place?" the brown-haired youth asked as he let himself collapse onto the ground.
The four of them hurried over to the exhausted young man, their footsteps carrying a mixture of concern and admiration.
"Did Vairanz finally give up?" asked the black-haired, blue-eyed youth as he approached. His expression turned serious the moment their eyes met.
"Nice job, Karl," the blond-haired youth said with a thumbs-up.
The pale blond-haired youth nodded.
"Well done. But you'll have to be quicker. Speed alone isn't enough to catch Eonin," he said in a tone that sounded almost like a coach's.
The young man beside him let out a sigh. "If I'd been the one chasing him, I would've caught Eonin much faster than you."
Young Karl offered a faint smile before replying hesitantly, "Yeah... I suppose so. I couldn't catch him. I couldn't even touch him."
"Oh? Shouldn't we take a break first?" the black-haired, gray-eyed youth suggested with a sigh.
The four of them had just been about to sit down when a group of children playing throughout the spacious Houding Park ran past them, creating an opportunity too good to miss.
Touch.
Young Karl managed to tag Eonin, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
Seeing that, one of them, the black-haired, blue-eyed youth, stepped forward and joined young Karl Vairanz in surrounding Eonin.
Eonin turned around, only to be tackled hard as the two charged at him, pinning both of his arms behind his back while pressing firmly against his spine.
The young man nearly shouted as the surrounding children and the other two teenagers turned toward them.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" he protested through a grimace.
Young Karl smiled.
"Well, I won. That's all that matters, right?"
He glanced at his expressionless friend before adding, "Michelle Elmer."
Elmer nodded indifferently as he released Eonin's arm.
"Sorry you lost," he said with a mischievous grin.
The two exchanged playful pats on the back before helping Eonin to his feet.
The blond-haired youth burst into laughter while clutching his stomach.
"You... hahaha... you fell for it again."
The pale blond-haired youth patted Eonin's shoulder.
"Congratulations on your defeat."
Eonin nearly frowned.
"You're kidding, right?" he asked, seeking confirmation.
Karl turned toward him and extended his hand.
"Good game. I couldn't beat you... well, at least not yet."
Watching Elmer Michelle walk away from the park, young Karl added,
"Which means tomorrow, you'll be the one doing the chasing."
The pale blond-haired youth pointed at himself.
"Ah... I knew this was coming," he sighed.
The blond-haired youth beside him laughed.
"Good luck, buddy."
After saying that, each of them headed home, waiting for dinner before going to bed.
Karl, however, lived on the streets, surviving on leftovers discarded by others and often eating stolen bread after the shops near the park had closed.
He was frequently bullied by adults there, forced to endure things no child his age ever should.
He was often forced to drink filthy wash water and eat food contaminated with dirt.
Despite all of that, young Karl continued living his life, searching for his purpose and the reason he had been born.
Karl regretted his circumstances, but he never wallowed in self-pity. He had parents, yet he chose to live on the streets.
Returning home meant facing the danger posed by his father, a heavy smoker and alcoholic who vented his rage on his wife and son.
Then that day finally came.
June 1.
Night fell, and everything that had been building finally reached its breaking point.
Their house burned down.
Karl discovered what had happened when he decided to return home, sneaking back in hopes of finding proper food and something to drink.
But unexpectedly, his mother, who should have been locked inside her room, unaware of the outside world or even the concept of light, emerged from the large house engulfed in flames, her body covered in bruises and both hands severely burned.
"Mom..."
Zisa Vairanz looked at her son, smiled, and said,
"Let's end all of this."
One of the firefighters rescued Zisa and carried her to safety, while the others worked to extinguish the blaze and keep it from spreading to the neighboring houses.
Several residents helped the two of them move farther from the fire until they reached a small hut overlooking the quietly flowing river that night.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" a man asked worriedly.
Karl calmly interrupted.
"Sir... do you know how the fire started?"
The man exchanged glances with the other three before the man in the fedora turned his attention toward Zisa Vairanz.
"I don't know how it started, but witnesses said they heard a piercing scream coming from the house before the flames erupted."
Once again, he looked at Zisa Vairanz, whose expression was blank and whose face had turned deathly pale.
"I'll let her explain that part. I'm going to help put out the fire," he said before preparing to leave.
Zisa Vairanz smiled strangely.
Karl shuddered at that smile, instinctively taking two steps back while clutching the hem of his dirty shirt.
The three men and one woman were stunned when they saw how drastically Zisa's expression had changed.
She rose from where she sat despite the injuries covering her body.
Using what little strength remained, Zisa smiled and said,
"Let the fire keep burning."
They fell silent as frantic screams echoed from across the street.
The man in the fedora stood there deep in thought.
'Of course I didn't know about any of this. I don't live here. But more importantly... did she cause all of this?'
Casting aside his doubts, the man set down his suitcase and joined the others in putting out the fire.
Only three people remained. Eventually, only one woman, a neighbor, stayed behind to offer her sympathy.
"Karl... do you know what happened?" she asked, hoping for an answer.
Judging by the smile his injured mother still wore, Karl had already reached a bitter conclusion.
"Yes, ma'am. Mother set the house on fire herself."
As he answered, he occasionally glanced at his mother's vacant expression and unsettling smile.
The woman's eyes widened.
'No wonder she told us not to put out the fire.'
She looked back toward the blazing inferno across the street.
The fire looked like a second sun in the middle of the night, illuminating everything while driving away the darkness around them.
Still, unwilling to involve herself any further for personal reasons, the woman quietly left, praying that the two of them would somehow find a better life after such a terrible ordeal.
Naturally, after that chaotic night of flames, sparks, and explosions, Karl and his mother were taken to the hospital to recover, both physically and mentally.
Young Karl didn't have to worry about the expenses because he had already taken control of what remained of his mother's wealth.
Standing beside the window and letting the gentle morning breeze wash over him, Karl realized that the incident had forced him to grow up.
He did not continue his mother's clothing business, which sold uniquely designed garments at affordable prices. Instead, he sold all of its assets for a considerable sum and kept one-third of the proceeds to cover his daily living expenses.
He handed the rest of the money over to his mother as she gradually recovered, both physically and mentally.
None of his friends knew any of this because carefree days had never existed in Karl Vairanz's life.
He never visited his mother personally. Instead, he hired someone else to care for her, an extraordinary decision for a boy who was only fifteen years old.
"Take good care of her. You'll be paid well, of course."
His words were calm and clear, yet there was an unmistakable force behind them that compelled the woman to reluctantly obey.
Day after day.
Month after month.
Year after year.
At the age of eighteen.
Together with Elmer Michelle, he took on bloody jobs eliminating thieves and joined an underground faction led by a Ninesorals noble, all in pursuit of bringing someone down.
Two years later, in June, an underworld organization known as "The Devil is Here" set its sights on a single target.
A young man named Karl Vairanz.
Deep within the dark forests north of Naine City, the two of them found themselves surrounded by several men and users of supernatural abilities.
Elmer Michelle, who had accompanied him throughout those missions, though for reasons of his own, found himself cornered by their arrival.
All of their other companions had vanished without a trace, leaving only the two of them behind in a place like this.
Led by Hagi, the group subdued Karl, who at the time was still nothing more than an ordinary human, within minutes.
'Is this the end of my life?'
He hissed through clenched teeth, glancing toward Elmer Michelle, who had also been cornered.
Everything happened so quickly, but just as Hagi was about to kill him, his companions unexpectedly gave Karl an opportunity he had never imagined possible.
From that moment onward, he transformed from a subordinate of an evil faction into a man determined to overthrow the nobles of Ninesorals, eventually being recruited into a group whose power far surpassed his own.
The days passed, and his search for the meaning of life continued to this very day.
Even after becoming a Receiver, Karl seemed to enjoy his life and gradually forgot his past.
Yet somehow...
Why was Karl Vairanz remembering all of it now?
"Ah... I know. It must be because that naïve kid likes helping people."
He realized that helping others in the hope that they would repay the favor was a foolish ideology.
Once again, selling off his mother's assets, which had been managed by his friend, became a satisfaction that words could never fully describe.
After that man took control of his mother's business assets, Karl was immediately left penniless, despite having previously hired someone to claim those assets as belonging to his family.
However, because of his connections and his age at the time, Karl cut ties with that man and demanded that both he and his family receive the punishment they deserved.
Afterward, Karl investigated how his father's life could have deteriorated so drastically in only two years.
Yes, because of his kindness and his inability to refuse others.
His father constantly gave away money or lent it to his business partners for free, yet whenever he tried to collect those debts, the debtors would intimidate him instead while he was working.
From the age of fifteen, after discovering that his family's life had collapsed because they had been exploited by someone close to them, Karl naturally couldn't remain silent.
Together with Elmer Michelle, Karl Vairanz searched tirelessly for that person, even swearing to pursue him to the ends of the earth.
Unfortunately, by the time they found the debtor, all three members of that family had already died, and Karl Vairanz once again lost his purpose in life.
'Damn it... why am I remembering all of this again?'
The Magician closed his eyes, unable to suppress the urge to scream.
In the early hours of Monday the 7th, Karl Vairanz met an old friend near the railway tracks at Pamlinov Station.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Obviously, I'm looking for the two of you," Hagi replied, sounding rather indifferent.
After a heavy silence settled between them, Hagi added,
"Go back and find that talkative woman."
The two exchanged glances before silently heading off in opposite directions to search for Narissa Herana.