“They’re not very stable or durable,” Shinji replied, letting the net dissolve into thin air. “The bigger the structure, the weaker it becomes. I guess I did it without thinking.”

Satoshi clapped his hands, proud of his friend. “See? I told you you’ve got more potential than you realize!”

“Potential?” Shinji scoffed, shaking his head. “It’s not exactly a great power, though.”

Satoshi smirked. “Hey, you could always become a supermodel.”

“Are you serious? You think I’m that attractive?” Shinji asked, half-joking as he gazed at the sunset, brushing his hair out of his eyes and taking off his glasses. For a moment, the evening light caught his features perfectly—his black, agate-like eyes glinting with a soft orange hue, his smooth skin glowing in the golden rays.

“He’s gorgeous,” one of the girls nearby whispered to her friend. “Should I ask for his number?”

Satoshi shot a sharp glance at them, his warm demeanor suddenly gone. “Fuck off.”

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Shinji, cleaning his glasses with his shirt, glanced up. “What was that for?”

“I was just… making sure you’re safe,” Satoshi muttered, his tone more serious. “Last time I wasn’t there for you, you had a stalker.”

“That was a one-off,” Shinji said, shrugging as he put his glasses back on and ruffled his hair over his face again. “Not happening twice.”

They eventually made their way back home, but Shinji’s house was barely standing—an old, crumbling place that had seen better days. It was almost empty now, most of the furniture sold to pay off his father’s debts. He curled up on the small bed, his blanket too short to keep him warm as the flickering lights overhead reminded him of the overdue bills.

“I need a job,” Shinji mumbled to himself, staring at the ceiling as sleep slowly crept over him. “I can’t keep making Satoshi cover for me.”

His last thought before drifting off was a replay of Satoshi’s words: You’ve got potential.

The next morning, those words echoed in his mind as he stood outside the adventurer’s association—a tall, imposing building that loomed over the street, gleaming in the sunlight. He stopped, staring at its massive glass doors before finally pushing them open.

“I want to take the adventurer’s exam,” he told the receptionist, the same girl from last time.

“Sign here,” she said, handing him a contract. He had three attempts. If he failed all three, his dream of becoming an adventurer would be over.

With a deep breath, Shinji stepped into the exam room, joining over a hundred other hopefuls. His heart pounded as he was paired with three strangers, each looking as uncertain as him.

In an instant, the floor beneath them lit up, and they were transported into the heart of a dense jungle.

“Are you kidding me? No way the examiners expect me to survive in the wild”.

A woman came behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, what’s your ability”.

He thought to himself that if he had revealed his power, he would be taken out by his teammates.

“Creation, I have the ability to create anything out of thin air”.