MEMELAND

The forest changed.

Kai didn't notice it at first.

The towering trees became smaller.

The undergrowth thinned.

The air felt...

Drier.

He continued walking.

There was no reason to stop.

The abandoned laboratory had given him more questions than answers.

Subject 46.

Mana circuits.

Half-drifters.

Experiments.

The mysterious figure inside the white void.

And...

The slime.

"..."

Kai scratched his head.

"I really got swallowed by a slime..."

"...Andre's never going to let me live that down."

He laughed quietly.

The laughter quickly faded.

His thoughts drifted back to the laboratory.

The language.

At first...

He couldn't understand a single word.

Then the headache came.

Afterward...

Everything became readable.

"...Memory fragments..."

He muttered.

"They're becoming stronger."

Not complete.

Still incomplete.

But stronger.

Almost as if...

Something inside him had started waking up.

Kai raised his hand.

He concentrated.

Nothing happened.

He sighed.

Then remembered the crater from his dream.

The fire.

The strange sensation.

He tried copying that feeling.

Slowly...

A tiny spark appeared above his fingertip.

Barely larger than a candle flame.

Kai's eyes widened.

"...It worked."

The tiny flame danced for only a second before disappearing.

"..."

"...I used magic."

He looked around.

Nobody.

No audience.

No one to confirm what had just happened.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

A third attempt—

Another tiny flame.

This time it lasted slightly longer.

Kai smiled.

"...Looks like I wasn't imagining it."

He wasn't a mage.

Not yet.

He couldn't cast spells.

Couldn't create magic circles.

Couldn't even maintain a tiny flame consistently.

Still...

It was proof.

Something had changed.

He resumed walking.

The trees became fewer.

Sunlight finally reached the ground.

The smell of grass slowly disappeared.

Replaced by something else.

Dry earth.

Dust.

Wind.

Kai stopped.

The forest ended.

Abruptly.

There wasn't even a gradual transition.

One more step.

And the green world behind him gave way to an endless sea of golden sand.

"..."

"...What?"

He blinked repeatedly.

Behind him—

The Forest.

Ahead—

A desert stretching as far as the eye could see.

The contrast was almost unnatural.

"It's like..."

"...someone drew a line."

Kai cautiously stepped forward.

His boots sank into warm sand.

The wind immediately greeted him.

Dry.

Hot.

Completely different from the cool forest air.

He turned around.

The forest still stood behind him.

Dense.

Dark.

Almost impossible to see through.

It looked less like a forest...

And more like a giant wall of trees.

Kai scratched his cheek.

"I've officially gotten lost."

He sighed.

"Well..."

"No point going back."

He adjusted the small pack he'd made from whatever supplies remained.

The desert wind blew steadily.

The farther he walked—

The less he could see behind him.

Soon...

The forest disappeared beneath shimmering heat.

Only sand remained.

Hours passed.

The sun climbed higher.

Kai regretted not finding more water.

"...I hate deserts."

His boots crunched softly against the dunes.

Nothing moved.

No monsters.

No birds.

No insects.

Only endless sand.

Until—

He stopped.

Far ahead.

Something moved.

A silhouette.

Human.

"...Someone?"

Kai waved.

"HEY!"

The figure stopped.

Then another silhouette appeared beside it.

Then another.

Then another.

Kai slowly lowered his hand.

"..."

"...That's not good."

Within seconds—

More silhouettes emerged from behind the dunes.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

They weren't wandering.

They were surrounding him.

Kai instinctively stepped backward.

"...I think..."

"...I messed up."

The nearest silhouette suddenly moved.

Fast.

Far too fast.

It wasn't running.

It floated.

About a foot above the sand.

A strange board hovered beneath its feet, gliding effortlessly over the desert.

"What the—"

Another came from his left.

Another from his right.

Then behind him.

Kai turned and ran.

Sand slowed every step.

His pursuers skimmed across the dunes as if gravity barely affected them.

"WHY ARE THEY FASTER?!"

A voice echoed across the desert.

"Don't let him escape!"

Kai looked back.

Big mistake.

His foot caught a buried rock.

He stumbled.

Rolled down a dune.

Before he could stand—

Several ropes wrapped tightly around his arms.

Another around his legs.

Kai hit the sand face-first.

"...Ow."

Someone calmly walked toward him.

Heavy boots.

Desert robes.

A face hidden beneath a turban.

Only a pair of black sunglasses reflected the blazing sun.

The man crouched.

Studied Kai.

Then calmly spoke.

"...Well."

"You're definitely not from around here."

Kai forced a smile.

"...Hi?"

The man adjusted his sunglasses.

Behind him...

Dozens of similarly dressed people gathered.

Some carried rifles.

Others swords.

Several held strange metallic objects Kai couldn't identify.

One of them wore a massive radio on his back.

The antenna swayed with the desert wind.

He looked toward the man in sunglasses.

"...Found another drifter?"

The man simply smiled.

"...Maybe."

Kai swallowed.

"...This..."

"...might become a problem."