The Man Everyone Covets

In Star Calendar Year 3072, the New Humans made up two-thirds of the human population. As the Old Humans gradually neared death, the New Humans stood at death's other end as well.

Thousands of years ago, an anomaly in the universe's magnetic field triggered a massive biological evolution on ancient Earth, the planet that had sustained humanity. But in this great evolutionary leap, humanity suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.

The scorching sun, mutated plants and animals, air so thick it was impossible to breathe, and even water that was no longer fit for human consumption: it was as if this great evolution had left humanity behind.

With no other choice, humanity resorted to unconventional methods to spur its own evolution, bringing human experimentation out into the open.

As gene-modification agents infused with the genes of various monsters were injected into selected, powerful individuals, the New Humans gradually took the stage amid great upheaval.

The New Humans were powerful. They could survive beneath the mutated sun without any protection and stand against monsters barely harmed by artillery, giving humanity a chance to catch its breath.

But they were fragile, too. Their frenzied genes affected their appearance, reason, and emotions, ultimately driving them into madness and death.

The only thing that could ease their genetic disease was the pure human genes in Old Human blood. But Old Humans were not as powerful as the New Humans. They were fragile, and even in the interstellar age, air evolved over millions of generations still made them feel unwell.

Milo was a relic from an earlier era, an unexpected creation from an abandoned laboratory at the Third Base. He had a fatal allure for mutated monsters, including the New Humans.

His blood could restore the sanity of frenzied New Humans. His existence could give monsters intelligence. He was the cure that let the New Humans keep their minds, the poison that lured monsters to their deaths, and the most precious tool in the hands of the Third Base.

In the end, he died in the monsters' embrace, like Elpis, trapped inside Pandora's box along with the monsters' misfortune when the lid was shut.

When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in the interstellar age, more than three thousand years later. People mistook him for a pure-blooded Old Human, and he now had an older brother.

The sudden arrival of a brother fulfilled Milo's long-held dream of having a family. Though his brother was a sickly man with a pale face, he treasured this hard-won family member.

After looking up plenty of information, Mia carefully wrote a plan for how to take care of his brother in a little notebook, then set out to earn money.

But his good fortune didn't last. After an accident, his brother was sent to a prison called Tana.

The prison was unusual. It stood on a small artificial planet, and everyone sent there was sentenced to life imprisonment. But in fact, you could get anyone you wanted released by paying enough ransom.

Milo looked at the long string of zeroes and changed the note in his little book from “earn money to treat my brother's illness” to “earn money to ransom my brother.”

As he tried to earn money, he inevitably came to the attention of the New Humans. More and more covetous eyes fell on him, and attempts to seize him began in secret, without his knowledge.

Theme: Take the initiative and head toward a place where the sun shines