The sizzling sound came from the piece of meat being flipped by Van over the grill. The aroma of the meat mixed with the smell of burning pierced his nose and the old man’s nose, who was only watching.
Van glanced at the old man while pressing the piece of meat repeatedly. A warm breeze blew together with the orange light of the never-ending sunset.
"Oi, old man..."
The old man shifted his gaze from the meat that was releasing grease while Van pointed at the never-ending sunset with his chin.
"Can’t you change the time? I mean, I feel like I’m starting to lose my sense of time..."
The old man didn’t listen to Van. He simply ate piece after piece of meat straight from the grill. He didn’t even care about the heat.
"What’s the problem? This is still my space. I’ll do whatever I want."
Van narrowed his eyes while pressing the meat harder, imagining the old man beneath his feet as he stomped on him.
The old man opened a can of beer and immediately gulped it down.
"Grill more, hurry... why are you only pressing one piece of meat?"
The old man ate the piece of meat that Van had been pressing until it was almost burnt.
The old man let out a hot breath into the air.
"There’s something more important than that sunset..."
The old man pointed at Van with the tongs.
"...and that’s your lousy fighting ability."
Van let out a sigh while placing fresh pieces of meat onto the grill.
"Good grief, you crazy old man. I’ve only been learning for a few months after previously doing nothing but typing for eight hours a day... what do you expect, you crazy old man?"
The old man picked the meat fibers stuck between his teeth. His blue eyes looked serious as he searched every gap between them.
"Didn’t I already show you that kid’s story... he was free after his family left him. He cooked whatever he wanted, he watched whatever he wanted, he did everything he wanted."
The old man swallowed the meat fibers caught in his teeth.
"That’s why his power is his own space, you idiot. Express anything in there! Don’t just make some random blocks!"
Van clenched his teeth. He took the piece of meat the old man had been aiming for and immediately devoured it.
Unfortunately, his mouth was burned because of it.
He gulped down beer greedily as if it were plain water.
The old man almost chuckled at the sight before devouring another piece of meat.
"Imagine something more creative... if your block gets deflected, immediately change its shape and attack from the opposite direction."
Van’s eyebrow twitched. He rubbed his swollen lips, a faint smile forming on his lips that still felt hot.
In an instant, an invisible block slammed down on the old man from above. The block was halted by slowed time.
Van then created millions of branches from the block that instantly surrounded the old man.
Unfortunately, all of them were once again halted by slowed time.
The old man stared at Van in disbelief before punching him on the head until a bump formed there.
Van groaned in pain as he rolled across the sand. Since he wasn’t wearing a shirt, the sand clung to his skin the moment it touched it.
The old man clicked his tongue.
"You crazy brat."
"Your imagination is decent... vary it more creatively, like you conducting humpback whales and orcas as if it were an orchestra performance."
Van frowned while holding the bump on his head.
"Huh? What? Humpback whales? Orcas? Orchestra?"
Van picked up a cold can of beer to compress the bump on his head.
"What do you mean? There aren’t any animals here. That’s why I can’t learn the will to protect part."
Van clenched his teeth and pointed at the old man.
"What is this?! What am I missing, you damn old man?! Did you create humpback whales and orcas?! Where are they, huh?"
Van pointed toward the sea where the waves crashed against the shore.
"Are they in that ocean?!"
The old man scratched his golden hair.
’Right... I rewound time just now.’
The old man clicked his tongue.
"Do you know the story behind that potential to talk with animals?"
Van’s expression turned serious.
"Damn... you’re hiding something again. That’s such a weird question, you crazy old man."
"How would I know? You never told me!!"
The old man scratched the back of his neck while gulping down a can of beer. He then wiped his mouth.
"That’s why I’m going to tell you, you idiot."
The old man swallowed.
’Yeah... for who knows how many times.’
The old man stroked his chin.
"That potential came from a zookeeper... he loved animals, of course. But the zoo went bankrupt..."
Van accompanied the old man’s story with the crisp sizzling sound of the meat he was grilling.
"...In the end, that zookeeper sold all of his inherited possessions and worked hard to buy the zoo... eventually, he died, and he and they were never separated."
The old man ate another piece of meat. He spoke while chewing the hot meat.
"You did a pretty good job with it... I mean, making it like an orchestra."
Van shook his head while blowing on the meat. He opened his mouth but didn’t put the meat in. He ended up speaking first.
"I don’t understand what you’re talking about. But an orchestra? That sounds interesting..."
Van devoured the meat that had been waiting for him to chew.
"Sure, as long as you create some animals, you stingy old man!!"
The old man ignored Van’s words. He simply kept eating every piece of meat on the grill until none remained.
"Grill more..."
Van clicked his tongue but still placed the pieces of meat onto the grill one by one from the cart filled with meat and beer.
"Help me cook, will you? All you do is eat, you crazy old man?! Don’t you have a partner, huh?! I feel sorry for your partner."
The old man stared at Van with a blank expression.
Then he burst into laughter, causing Van to freeze.
He had never seen the old man laugh so heartil.
’Good grief... there must be something interesting!’
Van waited for the old man to finish laughing.
"Woah... looks like there’s something. Tell me about your partner. Now I want to hear your love story."
The old man shook his head in disbelief.
"Why would I share my story?"
The old man crossed his arms.
"But among the potentials you’ve learned, there’s one related to a partner... that’s the Will to Destroy."
One of Van’s eyebrows rose as he pressed the meat.
"The ice ability?"
The old man nodded once.
"It came from the story of a woman who loved her partner very much..."
"But it turned out her partner had feelings for another woman. After that, she changed from warm to cold... she became cold to take revenge? Or maybe that was her form of revenge? Something like that."
Van’s expression became strange.
"That really does sound like a soap opera."
The old man clicked his tongue. He wanted to hit Van on the head again but held himself back.
"I already told you not to belittle other people’s stories."
Van shrugged both shoulders.
"I’m not belittling her story. I’ve never had a partner, so I wouldn’t know."
The old man blinked several times before pointing at Van.
"Ah... that’s the problem. No wonder your ice feels ticklish."
Van turned his face away.
’Ticklish, he says? I think if someone else got hit by it, they’d die instantly...’
The old man spoke to Van again. This time, he restrained himself from devouring another piece of meat.
"Try feeling what it’s like to be betrayed... freeze yourself... feel the bitterness."
The old man kept talking until Van raised a hand to signal him to stop.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... you’re explaining it like, freeze your heart, feel the bitterness, and be betrayed? I already told you I’ve never had a partner... maybe later? Yeah, that’s something for later."
The old man simply nodded several times with a faint smile on his face.
They kept eating meat without stopping beneath the never-ending orange sunset.
Van glanced at the old man.
"By the way... isn’t Beluga kind of strange?"
The old man fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"What now?"
Van swallowed.
"If you look at his appearance, he looks richer than me... I mean, is that normal?"
The old man stared at Van in disbelief.
"Are you crazy? You’re jealous of a beluga whale?"
The old man let out a sigh before finally telling the story behind Beluga’s jewelry.
He also continued telling other stories before Van once again went off on different topics.
Van simply nodded once, his mouth hanging open after hearing stories he had never known.
He remained silent for quite a while, imagining the many things that could be applied.
Van licked his lips, an evil smile forming on his face.
"Hey, old man, I think I’ve found my ultimate move."
Van stretched his body.
"I think this time I can beat the hell out of you."
The old man looked at Van expressionlessly before nodding once.
"Come at me... don’t blame me if your head gets cut off."
Hearing the old man’s words, Van’s shoulders slumped. He went back to flipping the pieces of meat that were starting to burn.
"Good grief... you really can’t take a joke, huh?"
The old man didn’t respond to Van’s words. He simply looked around, deciding which piece of meat he would eat next.
"The stories you tell sound very real and specific... I mean, they feel like real people."
The old man chewed his meat.
"They are... they’re people from the future. They were compiled by my friend."
Van fell silent for a moment before flipping the meat again.
"A friend? Woah... so you have a friend too besides a partner?"
The old man looked at Van with his blue eyes. He didn’t say anything while Van spoke again, this time in a quieter voice that blended with the sound of the meat sizzling on the grill.
"If you have a friend and a partner... then why didn’t you have them do the task you gave me? I mean, you’re amazing... the people around you are amazing too."
Van looked at the old man with curious black eyes.
The old man blinked several times as he crossed his arms.
"First... I don’t have a partner. Second, my friends are already dead."
Van nodded several times while the old man continued speaking.
"Third, I’ve already told you the reason. You are a canvas that is always blank..."
The old man chuckled. At first, his laughter was quiet, until it became loud enough to make the warm orange light seem to tremble.
"Right now, I’m carrying out my duty. Training you and sending you back to the past is my duty."
One of Van’s eyebrows rose. His expression became strange.
"Huh?"