"Come on... I’m ready. Even if you tell me to take off my pants, I’m ready."
"As long as I get the supermarkets."
A warm breeze blew, brushing against Van’s skin that was no longer covered by a shirt. The orange light reflected off his skin, which was not particularly smooth. His slightly protruding belly rose and fell with his breathing, while the fat on his arms was more noticeable than any muscle.
Van smiled foolishly.
"Come on! You told me to take off my shirt, and now you’re just staying silent."
The old man let out a sigh. His expression showed restrained annoyance. He pulled back the sleeve of his jacket. His index and middle fingers came together, and he pointed them at the center of Van’s chest.
Their skin touched. Van, who had been smiling foolishly, now swallowed because of his own nervousness.
The old man looked at Van with his sharp blue eyes.
"Awakening someone’s potential is an easy thing... fundamentally, everyone has potential. But not everyone has the strong will necessary to awaken it."
Van’s brows furrowed. He stroked his chin while nodding several times.
"That’s actually pretty good as a novel power system..."
The old man did not hear Van’s words. He drew something cold out from the center of his own chest toward the fingers touching the center of Van’s chest.
Van, who had already begun guessing the direction of the old man’s power, now felt something cold. At first, it was only a tiny point, but little by little, it felt as though all the blood flowing through his body now carried that coldness.
Van grabbed both of his knees. His grip tightened more and more. His body began to stiffen, and his teeth unconsciously chattered together as a strained sound escaped him.
"Ack..."
Van’s body, which had previously stood upright with confidence, now bent forward. The old man had to support Van’s body with his other hand while his fingers continued touching the center of Van’s chest.
Cold sweat began soaking Van’s body and the old man’s hand gripping his shoulder. Van’s body twitched slightly. His restrained cries finally became audible. Hot steam escaped from the pores of his body, only to be dispersed by the warm breeze and the orange sunlight.
The old man grabbed Van by the hair and lifted his head. Van’s black eyes had disappeared.
The old man chuckled at the sight.
"Hahaha... this is the reaction I was waiting for."
"Good grief... I haven’t even explained the seven major branches of will yet."
The old man withdrew his index and middle fingers. He stepped back slightly and let Van collapse face down onto the ground.
Van did not move for some time until his body finally seemed to come back to life.
Van lifted his head. The sand where he had been lying was wet with his sweat, while millions of grains of sand clung to his cheeks and body.
Van frowned as he scratched his throat.
"Water... water."
The old man threw him an opened can of beer. Van caught it and immediately drank it as though it were plain water.
Not long afterward, a spray of liquid shot out of his mouth like a whale blowing through its blowhole.
Van, who had been only half-conscious, was now completely awake. He slammed the unfinished beer can onto the ground.
"Why beer?! Isn’t there any water?!"
The old man shrugged both shoulders while chewing crunchy potato chips.
"Who told you to bring only beer? By the way... congratulations on becoming the first human to awaken potential."
Van grabbed his hair. He looked toward the cliff where the row of supermarkets stood. He hesitated to go there because he was exhausted.
In the end, he simply brushed the sand off his body while drinking the beer that was no longer cold.
"I... I don’t want to do that ever again."
Van’s breathing was ragged.
The old man threw away the empty potato chip bag and opened another one.
"Yeah... you won’t have to do it again as long as you stay alive. But you need to remember the process."
The old man pointed at the center of Van’s chest with fingers stained yellow by the potato chip seasoning.
"You already have your own will energy... you can awaken other people’s potential if you want."
"Of course, only if they have a strong enough will during the process."
Van lowered his head and held the center of his chest while the old man continued speaking.
"There are seven major branches of will..."
Van scratched his forehead.
"So... the name of the power is potential? Everyone has it, but not everyone can awaken it because it depends on having a strong will during the awakening?"
The old man whistled as he bit into a potato chip.
"You understand quite well, even though you look like an idiot."
Van took a bag of potato chips and opened it.
"Good grief... I’ve read a lot of novels."
"So... there are only seven types of power based on those seven major branches of will? That seems a bit lacking in variety..."
The old man interrupted Van. He then pointed toward the trolley on the sand that was still filled with potato chips of many different flavors.
"Do you think humanity is divided into only seven groups? They’re more diverse than the flavors of potato chips."
The old man rotated his wrist.
"No two humans are the same... each of them has their own specific story."
Van accidentally scratched his eyebrow with a finger covered in potato chip seasoning.
"So...? Even if their will is the same, their abilities are different? And what does that have to do with their stories?"
The old man remained silent for a few moments.
"Because the manifestation of their power comes from their story, which is categorized under one of the seven major branches of will..."
The old man raised his index finger. Van followed it toward the orange sky.
The orange sky transformed into a clean white canvas. Upon that blank canvas, a small black figure and several other black figures were gradually painted.
They appeared to be one family consisting of a father, a mother, and three children.
Van blinked several times while the old man spoke, still looking at the sky.
"What you’re seeing now is one story from one of the seven major branches of will..."
"Will for Freedom."
The painting changed into another painting that showed the loneliness of the youngest child while gathered together with his family. Van could not hear any sound. All he saw were the paintings that kept changing. Yet it was as if he could hear the voices of the child’s father and mother comparing him to his older siblings from their gestures.
Van blinked several times while the old man spoke again.
"He is a quiet child... there is nothing special about him compared to his siblings. But..."
The paintings changed again and showed the youngest child being left alone at home by his own family.
The youngest child, who had once been quiet, now began exploring the entire house with greater confidence. He cooked what he liked, watched what he liked, and relaxed wherever he wanted.
Van shifted his gaze to the old man, while the sky turned white like a blank canvas once more before the orange-colored sky was painted again.
"So that child felt free when he was left alone?"
The old man nodded once and picked his nose.
"His potential is... a personal space. He can create an invisible space whose boundaries are known only to himself..."
"Inside that space, he can express himself freely... of course, there is a limit to how long he can manifest that space." The old man shrugged both shoulders. "Just like how his family will return after their trip."
Van nodded several times with a frown on his forehead. His eyes moved as he tried to connect everything the old man had said, until finally his eyes lit up.
"Then, what is my potential? Which story of mine becomes my power? Which major branch do I belong to? It must be something amazing, right? I mean, someone as incredible as you came all the way to find me."
The old man fell silent. He looked at Van with a flat expression.
"You don’t belong to any of them."
Van’s eyes, which had been shining like a field of stars, dimmed once again like a night sky hidden beneath pollution.
Van picked at both of his ears. He stepped closer to the old man, his face filled with questions.
"What?"
The old man, still wearing the same expressionless face, leaned back slightly as Van approached.
"You have no potential... I awakened your potential by trading something."
Van’s face twitched.
"What?!"
The old man let out a sigh. He was about to explain the same thing again, but Van cut him off with a shout.
"What do you mean?! Then what was that pain I went through earlier?! Why am I here if I don’t have any potential?!"
Van stood up and pointed at the old man while shouting.
"Why did you go through all the trouble of awakening my potential by trading something?! Just find someone who actually has potential!!"
Van’s lips trembled. His legs trembled as well. His strength left him, causing him to collapse onto the sand and repeatedly pound it with his fists.
"Damn it... so... so my life has no meaning? Even a kid who likes being left alone can have potential..."
"I’ve been alone for the past few years too. I’ve been lonely too."
The old man let out another sigh and tossed a handful of sand onto Van’s head.
"You can’t belittle someone else’s story... everyone has their own standards. Everyone has their own way of expressing freedom."
Van raised his head and looked at the old man. He did not brush the sand out of his hair.
The old man brushed back his golden hair, his expression remaining flat.
"Yes, to be honest, you really don’t have any potential. None of your wills stand out."
Van let out a sigh. He tried to accept himself while the old man continued.
"But, you are a strange person."
The old man lit his cigar. He took a puff and blew the smoke into Van’s face.
"You do not obtain power. You study power, then obtain it."
The old man brushed the back of his head while clicking his tongue. His voice, which had always sounded rough, now sounded gentler, making Van look at him more seriously.
"If I were to compare it to something, you are merely a canvas that always returns blank no matter how many times it is painted."
The old man raised his hand toward the orange sky once more, causing the orange sky to become like an unpainted canvas again.
Gradually, paintings appeared across the sky. This time, they displayed various paintings, including the painting of the child whose family had left him alone earlier.
"I traded something to awaken your potential..."
"Your potential is to see, study, use, master, and perhaps uncover the true potential."
The old man let out a breath, while Van could only stare at the sky with his mouth hanging open as he looked at the seven different paintings displaying their various powers.
"So, you will study those seven potentials until you can at least use them before you leave for two million years in the past."