WHOOOOOSH.
20XX, Seoul.
Cars flew through the sky, defying gravity, while street signs glowed with neon light powered by Mana. It was a remarkable achievement, accomplished a hundred years after humanity had chosen 'Mana Stones' as its energy source instead of petroleum.
Before the 1900s, magic had been a distant mystery to ordinary people. After all, mages were a tiny minority, accounting for less than one percent of the world's population.
They began attracting attention when something called 'Mana Stones' was discovered in Antarctica.
Mana Stones were the 'energy of dreams,' boasting efficiency far superior to petroleum. Simply processing and using them yielded efficiency that far surpassed conventional oil.
And when a mage used a Mana Stone—
KABOOOOOM—!
It was discovered that even the most basic magic could generate enormous amounts of energy.
Efficiency that far exceeded anyone's expectations.
People called it the 'Energy Revolution.'
Following the Energy Revolution led by mages, magical engineering emerged, integrating magic into every industry.
A hundred years later.
The world had developed at a dazzling pace, but that light did not shine everywhere.
Magic. In modern society, it was no longer a mystery or a miracle, but a qualification and a mark of social class. Those born with Mana Sensitivity, those capable of engraving more Mana Circles upon their hearts, became first-class citizens who monopolized wealth and power.
But Cheon Do-hyeon was different.
"Hey, Zero-Circle! You gonna get out of the way or what?"
"Ah, shit! I can smell the Unawakened!"
"Hang around Cheon Do-hyeon, and your Mana levels might start dropping."
He had been born with a constitution that made it impossible to engrave Circles upon his heart.
Someone incapable of becoming a mage in a world ruled by mages.
Because of that, he had endured relentless bullying and social exclusion throughout his school years.
And today, as usual, a group of delinquents had grabbed him and dragged him into the school courtyard.
THUD! CRASH!
Do-hyeon tumbled awkwardly across the ground.
"Hey, you useless bastard. Didn't I tell you to stay out of my sight?"
A male student wearing his shirt loosely unbuttoned threatened him.
Of course, his demand was impossible for Do-hyeon to fulfill.
"Byeong-hak, we're in the same class. How am I supposed to stay out of your sight...?"
"Ah! I hadn't thought of that!"
"Yeah, seriously, Byeong-hak! How could you not realize that?"
"You think that's what I'd say, you bastard?! Either stop coming to school or keep your head down and stay out of my way! Figure it out yourself!"
BANG—!
Kim Byeong-hak raised his foot high, preparing to stomp down mercilessly.
It was a vicious attack. If he brought his full weight down on Do-hyeon, it could cause serious injuries.
However, just as Cheon Do-hyeon had been born with an unusual constitution, he also possessed an extraordinary background.
From childhood, he had learned every martial art that could be performed with the human body from his grandfather, Cheon Woo-hyeok.
As the stomp descended—
Cheon Do-hyeon's body sprang upward like a coiled spring.
SWISH—!
He effortlessly dodged the first incoming kick.
It was all thanks to the intense training he had endured every single day.
However, his opponent was a notorious delinquent at school.
He clearly wasn't someone who had beaten up only one or two people before. The speed at which he retracted his leg after missing the kick was impressive.
"You little—!"
As Kim Byeong-hak prepared his follow-up attack, Cheon Do-hyeon didn't remain idle either.
'Do-hyeon, highly advanced physical force is practically indistinguishable from magic. Mages are human too. Punch them hard enough, and their skulls will crack.'
Recalling his grandfather's teachings, Cheon Do-hyeon moved.
He charged straight into Kim Byeong-hak's reach as the delinquent prepared to throw a punch.
As expected, the bastard was no ordinary fighter.
When the distance between them suddenly closed, he hurriedly planted his supporting foot and attempted to switch to a kick.
'What are you going to do about this, then?'
SWISH, SWISH—!
Cheon Do-hyeon swayed his body from side to side, throwing a feint.
The delinquent hesitated, unable to extend his leg recklessly.
Seizing that opening, Do-hyeon lowered his stance and lunged forward.
A double-leg takedown!
THUNK—!
However, before Cheon Do-hyeon could grab the delinquent's legs, his body collided with a solid wall.
'This is...!'
Slowly raising his head, he saw Kim Byeong-hak shouting triumphantly.
"Shield!"
It was Shield, one of the basic spells used by mages.
And one of the reasons Cheon Do-hyeon could never defeat mages, no matter how much he trained.
"Ah, blocked again."
Cheon Do-hyeon scratched his head sheepishly.
The delinquent, meanwhile, was panting heavily as he stared at him.
He didn't even want to imagine what would've happened if he'd been a fraction of a second slower in deploying his Shield.
"Y-you arrogant, useless bastard!"
Finally losing his temper, the delinquent began gathering Mana to cast an offensive spell.
His friends hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.
"H-hey! You know what happens if you use offensive magic inside the school!"
"If you get caught one more time, you'll be expelled! Calm down, Byeong-hak!"
Watching the delinquents argue, Cheon Do-hyeon calmly brushed the dust off his clothes.
Then, as though nothing had happened, he turned around and headed back to his classroom.
"That son of a bitch! Just who does that useless bastard think he is?!"
Furious shouting echoed behind him, but he let it go in one ear and out the other.
He was far too accustomed to it.
"Oh, right. I should write this down too."
He pulled an old notebook from his pocket and briefly recorded what had just happened.
"Attempted a double-leg takedown while he was distracted by his attack, but got blocked. What if I'd grabbed his legs immediately without a feint and twisted his ankle? Hmm... I've still got a long way to go."
The scenery on his way home from school.
As he moved away from the bustling commercial district, the towering buildings gradually disappeared, giving way to a bleak industrial complex.
Beyond it stood Cheon Do-hyeon's home.
Naturally, residential areas for those without magical aptitude were situated on the outskirts of the city, in underdeveloped districts.
Mana smelters belched purple smoke into the air.
Mages whose skin had turned a sickly, blackish hue from using low-quality Mana Stones could be seen everywhere.
After getting off and walking a little farther, several homeless people staggered toward Cheon Do-hyeon.
"Student... Got any Blue Dust? Can you spare just a handful? Hmm? I used to work in the industrial complex, you know... Hey! Why are you ignoring me when an adult's talking to you?! Do you think I'm a joke too?!"
The world might have developed spectacularly following the Magical Engineering Revolution, but shadows existed everywhere.
And Cheon Do-hyeon, someone utterly incompatible with magic, lived in what could be considered the darkest of those places.
Even so, there was a reason he could endure each day and keep living.
His grandfather.
Turning into an alleyway, he came upon an old building constructed in the 1980s.
On its second floor hung a weathered wooden sign.
'Heavenly Martial Arts Hall.'
It was Do-hyeon's home.
Cheon Woo-hyeok noticed the traces his grandson had failed to completely remove from his clothes.
"Do-hyeon, did you get into another fight today?"
Dressed in a modified traditional Korean outfit, the man possessed such a robust physique that it was difficult to believe he was well over seventy years old.
"Yes, Grandpa. I tried a takedown today, but it got blocked. I guess I really can't give them any time to activate their magic."
He was the man responsible for making Cheon Do-hyeon who he was today.
At least among everyone Do-hyeon knew, he was convinced that nobody was stronger than his grandfather.
"Hmm. You used a feint, I assume?"
"Of course."
"Then let us recreate what happened."
To Do-hyeon, his grandfather was both the strongest person on Earth and the warmest.
Cheon Woo-hyeok had never once brushed aside anything Do-hyeon said.
He always considered his grandson's problems seriously, approaching them from the same perspective.
"Come now. Let us see how it went."
Cheon Do-hyeon still had much to learn from his grandfather.
He had never once defeated him in a sparring match.
And it wasn't as though he had ever come close to winning.
The difference between them was so overwhelming that he couldn't even see an opening for victory.
"Grandpa, you've got to live a long, long time! At least until I'm strong enough to beat you!"
"Hohoho! Thanks to my weakling of a grandson, it seems I shall live a very long life indeed."
And so began another conversation between their bodies.
Fierce fists collided, and sounds that seemed utterly out of place in this modern age thundered throughout the neighborhood.
BANG! KABOOM—!
And so, time passed.
Just as a forest once lush with foliage gradually saw its leaves turn a brilliant red with the passage of time,
Just as the trees, unable to bear their weight any longer, shed their abundant leaves upon the ground until nothing remained but bare branches,
And just as those fallen leaves became fertilizer, nourishing the growth of new life,
It seemed that Cheon Woo-hyeok's formidable vitality was being passed down, in its entirety, to Cheon Do-hyeon.
His grandson, Cheon Do-hyeon, grew stronger and more robust with each passing day.
While, in contrast, Cheon Woo-hyeok's body slowly withered away.