After the flickering of the lights, the two swapped places. Yasoke found himself sitting next to a mysterious man, while Jhony had been transported to a carriage occupied by three soldiers from Lutherking, identifiable by their attire and the kingdom's crest: a golden lion devouring a silver dragon.
In Jhony's mind, at the exact moment of the teleportation, there was only resentment and the realization of just how unlucky someone would have to be to face such a situation.
Meanwhile, Yasoke is startled by the mysterious man, who leaps from his armchair onto the table in front of the youth, crouching and staring at him fixedly. Visibly uncomfortable, Yasoke can only watch.
"Forgive me, I shall introduce myself. My name is Yuji, a master of Macogo."
Yasoke observes a muscular man with fair skin, wearing a tight shirt that highlighted his physique, along with baggy pants and boots. His hair was black and short, and his eyes, a shimmering blue, were locked onto the boy. His appearance was extremely harmonious, but Yasoke could only formulate one thought:
"Man, this is so gay!"
Yuji hears the comment and executes a backflip, settling into the armchair across from Yasoke. As the man sips tea, the youth wonders where that drink could have possibly come from.
"I believe you're confused—like, the lights blinked and your friend disappeared," Yuji takes a sip of tea and continues with the explanation. "Look, the train works in an interesting way; to house more passengers, the train is divided into dimensions. Let's say you and your friend entered together; when the light flickered, your friend went to another dimension where this train resides."
"So that's what happen—!"
Yuji cuts Yasoke off and continues:
"Exactly. But, like, this train doesn't just house humans; it houses other types of magical beings, like elves, orcs, goblins, mythical beasts, demons, angels, and maybe even unknown creatures. You just have to hope your friend is lucky and doesn't get a 'gift' from the devil!"
Upon receiving this information, Yasoke shows hesitation; after all, Jhony was known for his extreme bad luck.
Once, Yasoke and Jhony were competing to see who could throw objects the farthest. Jhony launched a piece of metal so far that he celebrated his victory prematurely; however, the object hit and shattered the window of a man's house. Infuriated, the individual threw the metal back, hitting another neighbor. The situation escalated quickly into a general brawl, requiring the intervention of the Northrot police in the junkyard.
"This is your fault, you know!" Yasoke exclaimed while enjoying an ice cream.
Besides Jhony questioning how that metal fragment had caused such a mess, he also wondered about the origin of Yasoke's ice cream.
"I stole it from some guys over there," Yasoke replied nonchalantly. Jhony inquired about the victims' descriptions, and Yasoke described them as burly men who looked like bikers. "They kept saying a bunch of blah blah, saying this ice cream is expensive. I ignored it all and stole it, hehehe."
Jhony remained stunned, but there was no time for reflection. The men located them and began a pursuit.
"RUN YASOKE, YOU SCREWED UP!!"
Yasoke nodded. Jhony led the race while Yasoke followed, still eating the ice cream. They managed to escape. After losing their pursuers, Jhony asked for a bit of the treat, and Yasoke handed him the bowl.
"Finally, a little ice cream to end this horrible day."
The moment Jhony tried to eat, the container sprang a leak and the ice cream fell to the ground. Instantly, a horde of rats appeared and began to chase them.
"RUN YASOKE, I SCREWED UP!"
Yasoke agreed and followed his friend. After avoiding the rodents, Jhony headed to his hideout, despondent, accompanied by Yasoke.
"At least I'll be able to end this horrible day."
Upon entering the "shack," they encountered dogs that had destroyed Jhony's mattress and immediately began to chase them. Once again, they took flight.
"RUN YASOKE, THIS TIME NO ONE DID ANYTHING!"
Yasoke concurred. That day was etched into both their memories as the pinnacle of Jhony's bad luck, ending with the two of them in a makeshift shelter.
"Look, Mr. Yuji, depending on my friend's luck, he's..."
Yasoke punches his fist into his palm, and Yuji laughs. The youth then formulates another question:
"So, you said you're a master of some 'thing.' What is that?"
Yuji smiles, takes a sip of tea, and spits it toward Yasoke's face. When the youth tries to shield himself, the liquid freezes in mid-air, shrouded in a bluish aura.
"The name for this is Simple Macogo. Usually bluish in color, I can theoretically do whatever I want to manipulate it. It's like clay that you model—let's say you want to make a lightning bolt, with Simple Macogo, you can do it."
Yuji molds a small blue platform with the Simple Macogo and rests his cup on it.
"As we can see, the liquid is stationary because the Simple Macogo is keeping it still. But if I deactivate it..."
The liquid falls onto the table. Yasoke watches, fascinated, though wary of staining his jacket.
"The Simple Macogo didn't stop time—after all, the liquid stayed in motion—it just prevented the liquid from hitting you, as if it had hit a wall." Yuji picks up the cup and sips more.
"That is so cool!"
Yasoke is impressed by the demonstration, but a doubt arises: if that tea might be infinite.
"One question, Mr. Yuji, where does this power come from?"
Yuji spits the tea against the window and responds:
"Not 'Mr.', I'm only 36 years young—just a growing boy. But answering your question, Simple Macogo comes from within you, but to awaken it, you have to go through harsh training."
He drinks again and realizes the cup is empty. Yasoke waits for Yuji to turn Macogo into tea, but the master clarifies:
"One side note: Simple Macogo cannot create organic things, like liquids and food."
With that explanation, Yasoke concludes that either Yuji consumes the drink with extreme slowness, or that cup has an unusual depth.
Meanwhile, in another dimension of the carriage, Jhony faces the three soldiers of Lutherking.