A sprawling estate in the northern valley. Mid-afternoon. 39 degrees Celsius.
The April sun beat down on the concrete, heat radiating off the ground.
The air was thick and suffocating. Not a single breeze. Only the heavy heat rising from the dirt, and the deafening scream of cicada echoing through the valley.
A thousand cicadas hidden in the surrounding pine forest screeched in unison, forming a relentless wall of sound.
To normal people, it was the lively soundtrack of summer. But to a ten-year-old boy named Zen, it was the sound of an endless hell.
CRASH! A priceless vase shattered against a wall. The noise echoed through the heavy wooden doors of the ground-floor parlor. Followed immediately by his father's furious roars and his mother's pathetic wailing.
"You stupid bitch! How many times did I tell you not to meddle with that bastard half-brother of mine?!"
"Sob... I'm sorry... I just wanted to help..."
"Help?! You helped my inheritance slip right through my fingers!"
