Kim Do-hyun didn't just love fantasy; he was consumed by it. His passion went far beyond mere enjoyment, tipping into the realm of obsession. It drove him to spend entire paychecks not just on novels, but on dense histories and ancient mythologies, searching for the thinnest thread of truth in the worlds he so desperately wanted to believe in. All of this study fueled a single, constant wish. He yearned to be taken to a fantasy world, a world of wonder and magic. But Kim Do-hyun was not a man to simply dream. He quit his job and set off on a pilgrimage. For years, he chased the world’s mysteries, venturing into forgotten corners and desolate lands where others feared to tread. He scaled the world’s highest peaks and journeyed to the planet's southernmost reaches. He descended into the deepest chasms, as if trying to reach the very heart of the Terra itself. But of course, nothing came of it. Reality remained stubbornly real, the very antithesis of fantasy. Despair was a constant temptation, but Kim Do-hyun could not bring himself to surrender. Every night, he prayed. He prayed to every god on Terra and to any that might listen from beyond the stars, begging that he might wake up in the midst of a fantasy world. And then one day, his prayers were answered. Just not in the way he had hoped. “…This isn’t what I wished for.” A sigh escaped him. His breath instantly crystallized in the frigid air, a cloud of glittering dust that drifted toward the frozen ground. He lifted his head, his face a mask of utter despondence. Before him stretched a bleak, endless expanse, a wasteland of ice and wind-scoured stone under a pale, merciless sky.

Chapter 1: The final desperate prayer