Archive of Our Own

Asagiri Gen never truly believed in anyone. Not even to his own parents. Like they ever gave a crap about him in the first place. The only thing he learned from them was to be paranoid of everyone around him. So he grew up never having any belief in anyone around him. Not even his teachers, the police, even little old grannies that would find him adorable.

Even when he became a famous celebrity, he never fully trusted his manager, assistants, and even the cameraman.

There really were just no one he could put his faith in. There was no point for him to put any kind of faith in anyone other than himself. 

Belief? Only to himself. 

Faith? Definitely only to himself.

And thus why the Great Magician/Mentalist, Asagiri Gen never really trusted anyone other than himself.

"I thought I've seen you somewhere before…" Senku finally spoke, “You’re Asagiri Gen right?”

Gen knew how to deduce someone's personality from just their dialogue. His mentalism training had earned him that skill. He realized that Senku spoke with no hint of hesitation nor fear. Instead this man spoke with confidence and pride, it was odd to the mentalist, but he of course didn’t show any of that.

When Senku called him a “trashy magician” though...

“Read my work, have you? How wonderful!” Gen finally spoke to him with relief on his tone, this was a mix of truth and lies. “But that “trashy magician” barb was cruel…”

“Please, call me a mentalist.”

He honestly preferred to be called a mentalist. It looked and sounded more professional to him.

“Look, I apologize for taking the ramen without asking. So please, will you be so kind as to lower your weapons?” Gen went to work on his “stage” as he observed the three still have their weapons pointed at him. Not like he had anything to fear from the two spearmen. He knew that the blonde warrior girl was a bigger threat. She was the only one who could fight with Tsukasa after all.

“My arms and legs are trembling in fear.” He spoke ever so sweetly as he moved the bowl of ramen towards shorter blonde spearman, Ginro was his name as he heard earlier. He also heard earlier about him wanting some. “And I’m worried I may spill this heavenly bowl…”

The spearman quickly dropped his spear and reached out to the bowl of ramen, incredibly eager to hold it for him.

Gen then began telling his wonderful story, and it was all filled with lies, of course. He didn't want these fierce villagers to think he's a threat. He wove the tale with a relaxed composure and filled his words with sounds of relief and joy. It was easy as breathing for him. Though, he did notice that the blonde warrior girl didn't seem a tiny bit convinced. He would commend her for her keen senses if it wasn't for the fact that he needed to keep his persona on all the time.

The fact that everyone else except for her and seemingly Senku as well, had bought his tale, that was already enough for the Mentalist.

"Yeah sure… whatever you say, man…" Senku responded. It was obvious now that he didn't buy any word of what Gen had just said. "But still… there's no such thing as a free lunch…"

His words got everyone's attention.

"Everyone else who ate the ramen… has got some work to do…"

Asagiri Gen was impressed by Senku's wit and cunning. So now he knew who he was dealing with. He would like to delve into more, but the mention of work has got him feeling that he was going to regret everything he's done today.

And he was right.

His arms felt like they're about to fall off.

He along with three others were pushed into, what he guessed is a furnace made for melting iron, (yet another thing added to the list of what Gen was impressed about Senku) and was told to blow air into it using an odd contraption that he needed to simultaneously move up and down repeatedly until Senku tells them to stop.

That was about three hours ago….

And he hasn't told them to stop at all.

One of the girls had already given up and fainted and was quickly replaced by the blonde warrior girl from earlier.

Gen was practically dead at this point.

He knew that making iron manually was hard work, but he didn't know it was this hard…

"Question for ya Gen…" Senku approached the mentalist, "How are Taiju and Yuzuriha doing these days?"

It seems Gen had underestimated Senku way more than he thought.

"Oh… so that's your game, yeah?" If Gen could chuckle right now he would, "Work me into a state of exhaustion, and fool me into feeding up?"

It was an effective, yet laughable technique to Gen. How many fools have pulled this on him, he'd already lost count. And he was still only nineteen after all. Though, he really should have seen that coming a mile away.

"You've got guts…" Gen told the truth this time. He was indeed impressed by Senku. He could tell that this man was, if not, the bravest man he's met over the years he's lived. "Trying to pull a trick like that on a renowned Mentalist…."

Gen then decides to start his plan. If this Senku really is all what Tsukasa talked about then…

"Don't worry though… Taiju-chan's strength is seemingly without end…. But you know that.. Right? Senku-chan?"

Gen turned to face the Scientist with his trademarked heinous crafty smile.

'Prove it, Senku-chan… prove to me that you are the one who did that carving…'

"He's definitely with that long haired man!" The warrior girl, Kohaku, he remembered her name, "Should I kill him?"

'Ah… Kohaku-chan is so naive… so, so naive…'

"Wait. You fool." Senku stopped Kohaku from doing anything drastic to Gen, it was to be expected, but still a big relief to him, "All right, Gen. You ten billion percent knew, I was trying to make you talk. So why'd you suddenly slip that you're working for Tsukasa?"

'Ten billion percent? Your catchphrase I presume? Though, it does tell me that you're not the one to rely on luck. That, you're the kind of person that would make sure everything was in "ten billion percent" certainty. How interesting…'

"Well, because once I saw all of this…." Gen turned his expression to the most realistic fake smile he could produce, “The tides’ turned as they say…”

Senku didn’t say anymore, and he left the mentalist to continue his job. 

Gen was still incredibly skeptical of Senku. Why? Because, anyone could eventually reinvent iron making. It wouldn’t take a genius to do that. Even the biggest dolts he’s ever met could do it. He looked at Senku, who would spend most of his free time just staring up at the stars. He quickly saw the desire and admiration at his trained eyes. Gen knew that Senku was an idealistic dreamer, just from that expression alone. So much for being a logical bastard.

It’s not like Gen would admit that he was kind of like that, despite knowing way too much on psychology.

He suddenly felt thirsty for a cola. He quickly tried to shake that feeling off. As there was no way to make any kind of cola in this world.

There was absolutely no way for Senku to beat Tsukasa…. Not even, as Senku himself said, a single millimeter of a chance. None of the villagers he has seen could even come close in strength to even the goons that Tsukasa has awakened. Let alone, Shishio Tsukasa, The Strongest Primate Highschooler. It would have been a simple landslide victory, to take over this village, honestly. But to see them making Iron….

“I have a simple task, and that is to confirm your death beyond any doubt.” Gen and Senku talked just outside the vicinity of the “Kingdom of Science” as Senku puts it. Senku had a complete stoic expression as he faced the Mentalist.

“Tsukasa-chan! Senku is still alive!” Gen spoke in his convincing distressed tone, then magically turned back to this smug tone, “One little phrase, and your fate will be sealed. That was my initial plan…”

Gen was honestly surprised to see that Senku didn’t even once flinch at his words.

“But if you are able to finish forging weapons made of iron. There’s no telling who’d come out on top.”

The villagers celebrated their victory as the full fledged iron bar was finally made. Gen was… surprised so to speak. 

“All I found, was a tiny primitive village! It seems Senku is no more” Gen then spoke in his convincing lamenting tone, “One fraudulent report would spare your life. Does that sound good to you?”

The Mentalist has never met Senku before. He’s only heard of him from Tsukasa and everyone else. Taiju and Yuzuriha, who were the supposed best friends of this Senku only spoke of grief for him. All he heard else was science and that he’s the most intelligent man alive. They were right. He had little to no stamina. They were right. He only wants to revive everyone no matter what. They were right…

His mind went to that date on the tree.

Considering everyone he had talked to at the Empire of Might, it seemed he was the only one who’ve even seen it. Let alone be aware of it.

Gen thought to himself, if that was the sole reason why he’s even bothered to offer Senku this proposition. This chance, for him to lie in front of the Emperor of Might, Shishio Tsukasa to save the King of Science, Senku…

He wondered to himself, why did he ever bother to even consider that option.

“Actually, its music to my ears, and I’d really appreciate you doing that.” Senku chuckled. He was happy to hear that from the mentalist.

Quite frankly, Gen felt insulted by those words.

“Now, don’t go thinking I’ve got some moral compass!” Gen doesn’t. No, not even close. He learned way before, once he got to feel his way into show business that having morals was the biggest taboo of all. “I’m unbelievably shallow! Give me a life surrounded by hot girls, and I’m as happy as a clam!”

Asagiri Gen convinced himself that he was shallowest man alive. The most superficial man on earth! He only wanted anything just because he wanted to. No more, no less. Any kind of idealistic thoughts or dramatic bull that he’s heard was nothing more than light feathery fluff of words. Words that he used as a weapon to tossle even the most fearsome of human beings. 

“I couldn’t care less if you and that primate Tsukasa-chan, live or die…” He really doesn’t. Like he gave any kind of care in general to anyone but himself. He was taught in the old world that it was a survival of the fittest after all. 

At least… that's what he kept telling himself.

“I’ll be on the winning side. No matter what I have to do."

Gen thought he would say this naturally. But somehow he felt himself forcing those words and that tone out of his mouth. So to brush it off, he continued to speak as he described the pros and cons of the two kingdoms. The science, the food, the labour, the chance of reviving pretty ladies…. Well honestly, he just said that to keep up the shallow facade, harems were a lot of work after all. And with a man like Gen who doesn't even trust his own flesh and blood family, what more could he do with a group of ogling women?

He had to make sure the cute little melon girl, Suika that Gen admits has taken a liking to, wouldn't know what a harem really is. He can't hurt the poor thing now. 

Of course she brought up about ramen still being better.

On a balmy day like this, he would honestly prefer an ice cold cola.

And there goes the warrior girl ready to slit his throat open…. Gen respected her and her spirit and all, but damn she was scary as all hell.

"No. If he doesn't go back and give his report, Tsukasa will come looking for him and we'll all be screwed." Gen was once again impressed by Senku's deductions. He was right. The mentalist had become an important piece in the board whether anyone liked it or not. 

Asagiri Gen lived without seeing those blades for another day.

He raised an eyebrow at Senku's confidence. It seems if he saw what the Kingdom of Science was going to make with the iron that there was a "ten billion percent" chance that he'll join him. 

"Oh? What's that?" Gen spoke mockingly at the young scientist. As if he could impress the Mentalist, "Think you can sway me with a sword?"

Shishio Tsukasa could break any kind of iron weapons easily. What could Senku even bring to the table of negotiations that could even slightly convince Gen to join his side?

"How 'bout a Generator?"

Asagiri Gen thinks he has actually overestimated Senku.

"A GENERATOR??!!" Gen let his facade break just for a bit. He could not even comprehend that… that… what the hell was Senku doing??!! "Are you freaking kidding me?! No way you can pull that off!!"

And he was completely ignored. 

Gen was left behind, as he trembled in place. He just could not understand why Senku said that. He couldn't get it. How in the holy hell did Senku jumped from iron making to making a Generator?! A Generator! Somehow Senku was just going to make electricity out of thin air! Gen was supposed to be the magician here!

He's tried to comprehend Senku's train of thought when he heard about copper and lightning. 

It looks like the Gods have spoken because it was suddenly storming.

Everyone else except Senku thought it was a lucky break, but it seemed the scientist quickly put everyone to work. 

"The Generator will run on lightning?" He threw the question as a joke.

"No. That's ridiculous…" Senku shot it down quickly.

"Of course it is…" Gen chuckled to himself knowing he'd get that answer. 

Then Senku started mumbling something about magnets. And needing some to make the generator.

Everything else just went as a blur, Gen couldn't keep up with that and the labour he was forced to do again, and the many other things that Senku and the other three did on their own. So he just stood by and watched closely as he tried to understand they were doing. Gen was both impressed by what Senku, and he was still just as confused. He didn't understand it at first. But he felt himself get invested at this generator project. He wanted to see what the outcome would be. After all, he put in a ton of hard work on this himself. 

"This is bad! It's Magma!" The young man who Gen assumed as Senku's young apprentice, Chrome exclaimed out loud.

The mentalist turned to the bridge and saw a large burly blond haired man and behind him were two other villagers. They all bore the look of deviousness and eagerness to fight. It was obvious to him who Magma was and who were his henchmen. He immediately deduced Magma's power as well, as even Kohaku was already prepared to fight them. While everyone else shook in fear of the incoming bully. Even Senku felt nervous at the possible confrontation.

As he observed the Kingdom's reactions to his arrival, he realized they were an honest bunch. Gen could only sigh. He immediately knew what kind of person this Magma was. When he saw Senku panic, that's when he knew what to do. 

"Well this won't do. I simply can't let myself get killed because of you lot." He turned to Suika and asked her nicely, "Fetch me some flowers, Suika-chan."

"Instead of war. Flowers."

He can't have this bully and his little goons mess up his work after all. There was already too much effort and manpower poured into this. After he observed them, their posture, expressions, walking patterns, and even the expressions of others. 

This… was gonna be a piece of cake.

After he received a bunch of daisies from the little melon girl, Gen made his way into the bridge to meet up with Magma and his goons. He put on his special "light hearted, happy-go-lucky" expression. A simple bright eyed, relaxed face and a big smile… He then presented to them the flowers as if he were holding a bouquet.

"What the hell is that guy holding flowers for?!" The taller henchmen yelled in disgust, "Doesn't he know we're looking for a fight?!"

One check on Gen's list of deductions.

"Yeah!" The little midget henchmen agreed with them.

"Were you the one who made the Gods so angry?" Magma asked him jokingly, already ready to kill Gen on the spot, "Stepping up to me, takes more balls than brains…"

And another check for Magma's obvious egotistical pride.

"Oh I'm sorry…" Gen replied in his pseudo apologetic tone, as he discreetly moved the flowers in between his fingers. "But were trying to use our sorcery to stop this wretched terror from above!"

"Quit talking out of your ass!" Magma accused him. Gen didn't think the meathead had it in him. But of course he needed to do what he needed to do.

"Allow me to show you." With swift talented fingers, Gen made the flowers seemingly disappear in front of the bullies. In truth it was just tucked in behind his hands and into his sleeves. 

"They disappeared! Did you see that?!" Magma was total disbelief, and so were his goons. They shook in fear as Gen waved his arms to show that there really was nothing. To them it really looked like Gen made the flowers disappear from his hands. When in reality it was just a simple backpalm technique, that even the most amateur magicians knew how to do it.

It truly was child's play for the magician. 

Further lightning strikes had scared the goons away and Magma followed suit. 

It seemed Magma, while strong, doesn't feel as confident without his buddies following him around.

After they had finished preparing the iron rods, they dashed up to a place called Bald Mountain. Quite an unfortunate name for a mountain. 

Senku mentioned about a scientist in NASA whose name Gen can't pronounce, that managed to make powerful magnets using lightning. And that's why they're climbing up to the mountain to do the exact same thing as he did...

Gen had no idea what possessed him to climb the mountain with them but it seems his deepening curiosity needed to be sated. Now he's bare handed with no ropes climbing up the little mountain. He stopped for a bit to breathe and realized that Senku was still far behind and was already exhausted.

'Is this really the guy that Tsukasa-chan is afraid of?!' Gen just can't believe at the sight of this Senku… 'He's not even in a quarter of the way up and he's panting like a dog. He has less stamina than me!'

Kohaku noticed it as well and just unceremoniously picked him up which also shocked Gen. Then she continued hopping along the mountain side while carrying Senku like a ragdoll.

'This girl is too strong to be human!'

He had to admit, Kohaku had a better chance of even hurting Tsukasa in a fight. 

'Senku-chan's only strength is his scientific prowess. It's useful and can be powerful to even against the world's strongest… but.. would that be enough?'

Gen wasn't referring to the weapons. He just saw Senku as nothing more than a child eager to play with anything he could get his hands on. That bold statement that he was going to make a generator with an iron rod, by turning it into a magnet using lightning. Using the power of science…

There was no way. There was absolutely no way a regular teenager, even if the said teenager was a genius, could even come close to making something as absurd as that.

There was just no way.

And even if he can do it… how can a generator even beat the Strongest Primate Highschooler and his empire of muscular people? This Kohaku woman and this Magma and the strong looking villagers that he could see wouldn't even be able to come close to achieving that.

'What could a generator do?'

'Why even make a generator?!'

As they reached the top, everyone quickly went to work in setting up a lightning rod. It was difficult considering the rocky surface. 

Gen stood by and watched them along with Suika. 

Senku went to work along with Chrome and Kohaku. The Mentalist had noticed that the young scientist was still visibly exhausted from their climb, and yet, he was still trying to set up the lightning rod. Even with the risk of lightning hitting them...

Gen just can't understand it. He can't comprehend the situation in front of him right now.

'This is impossible… how can you… How can you even make one Senku-chan? There's nothing here… this lightning is gonna kill us all! How can you be so stubborn??!!'

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when he saw Kohaku dashed towards the guards who were right behind him, kicked the golden spear off their hands, and in one swift motion..

'No… there's no way… it can't work…'

Tied it with the iron rod with her hair tie, and pierced the ground.

Just in time for the lightning to go through it.

'No… no way ..'

The rod took in the intense power of the heavens and created a natural light show in front of them. Senku's face filled with delight as he witnessed the creation of his high powered magnets.

'He actually did it…' Gen felt like his mind was blown, 'The bastard actually did it…'

"Hahah… This is crazy Senku-chan…" He let out a weak flabbergasted laugh, "Starting with nothing in this barren Stone World…"

"You actually pulled it off…."

'It really is him…' Gen came to that conclusion as he saw the skies clear and the sunlight shone through the dark clouds, as if the heavens themselves were shining upon Senku. 

That's when Asagiri Gen had realized. This Senku is the mystery counter he'd been looking for. This Senku, was the one who wrote the date on the tree.

Gen finally believed in him.

"Electricity is in play. Get excited people!"

And honestly, he was pretty excited too.

"I'm curious Senku-chan…" Gen eventually managed to keep his emotions together and tried not to reveal them to everyone, "Are you making a Thermal Generator, or a Wind Turbine? I don't suppose you're going nuclear yet are we?"

Senku then turned to face Gen, gave him the most "are you serious" look and replied as he picked on his ear.

"It'll be muscle powered…"

"I figured as much…"

Gen was pretty sure that he died somewhere along the way… again.

After the intense labour at the furnace, Gen was allowed to observe the willing members of the Kingdom of Science to finish the rest of the parts. Senku gave them all directions on what to do and how to use the materials. Though, there was something that was bothering the Mentalist. Something that he had noticed from the beginning but held his tongue, and he thought of what to say. When Senku persisted on this, he needed to bring it up.

"Maybe I should just ask…" Gen spoke grabbing Senku's attention.

The Scientist's face was puffed up. His eyes were nearly closed shut, his cheeks and lips were swollen, and his voice sounded strained.

"Why do you look like Anpanman?" Gen bluntly asked without any underlying reason. Just plain curiosity.

"Lacquer poisoning…"

Later that day, the Generator was finally complete. It contained two huge flat copper wheels in which it's engraved with Senku's little icon and his name, held by two cranks made out of bamboo as well. In between contained the two high powered magnets and it stood on a large bamboo table complete with the flag of Science in the middle.

Now the conversation switched on how to operate it. It needed to be synchronized spinning otherwise it would fall apart.

So now they needed a pair of people who can work together and were energetic…

A certain pair came to everyone's mind.

But of course Kinro immediately declined. He was still obviously angry about the loss of his precious golden spear. Ginro would just follow his brother even when it was obvious he wanted to help.

So Gen stepped forward. He knew the group’s honest personalities would not do any favours for him and everyone else for that matter. It was way better for the mentalist to do what he does best.

The Mentalist kept repeating to himself that it's gone far to the point, he couldn't afford to see his precious efforts go to waste. He kept on repeating it to himself.

Asagiri Gen was only a superficial man for superficial reasons…

He wasn't doing this for Senku's sake. Not at all.

He kept telling himself that.

So he can believe that he was doing all of these… for his own gain. Not for Senku nor the Kingdom of Science…

"Wow! Electricity sure is amazing! Thanks sorcery!" Gen placed his metaphorical mask of preppiness and giddiness. He made it bombastic enough to make it infectious. "In our technological civilization… electricity lets us have all sorts of nice things!"

Gen waved his arms around and spun around and made it look like he was dancing in excitement

Kinro turned around in annoyance.

"With our new Generator…" Gen began his carefully constructed (something he made up on the fly) lie, "When can even make and repair gold and silver tipped spears! Isn't that right Senku-chan?!"

“Electrocoating is pretty damn difficult…” Senku leaned over and annoyingly whispered that fact to him. Gen was relieved that there really was something like that. He truly had no idea. “Do you even know the recipe?”

‘Do you think I’m the kind of guy who would know anything about that Senku-chan?’

"I don’t have the faintest idea!" Gen whispered back with a shrug and a lopsided smile.

"I was right about you…" Kohaku commented, as she was obviously annoyed with Gen's antics, "Every word out of your mouth really is just feathery fluff…"

‘You know it girl!’

It was only a simple persuasion trick using the one sole thing the two brothers wanted so badly. He wasn’t told about it, but it was painfully obvious since he first met them. The eager looks on Kinro's and Ginro's faces were confirmation enough that Gen's words had a powerful effect on the brothers. The mentalist didn't say anything else, and let Senku do the rest for him. 

The battle cry of the two brothers echoed throughout the dimming day as they spinned the generator with such furious intensity as if it were the last thing they had to do. Senku mentioned that it had to be this way otherwise it would never generate enough electricity.

“Kinro and Ginro are mine now…” Senku grinned in victory, “The Kingdom of Science is building up a solid workforce.”

Gen watched the brothers do their new jobs and pondered why it had it required such intense manual labour.

He did still doubted the thing, with that kind of intense work. He just had to ask…

“But are they actually generating electricity?” Gen still couldn’t believe it.

That is until Senku showed him something, it rested on a big leaf. “It’s a steam roasted bamboo fiber.”

The fiber was almost hard to see at first, but when he got a good look at it. It formed a familiar zig zag pattern.

It was almost too familiar…

But he couldn’t quite place it…

“Does it need to be that high up?” Kohaku asked as she brought the wires to Senku and he climbed onto the roof of the science shed. He joined Chrome as they placed the leaf with the fiber on the top.

“Not really…” Senku chuckled, “But I figured we might as well…”

Gen finally remembered why the fiber’s shape was so familiar to him. His eyes widened in shock as he gasped.

“I see now…” He managed to say, as he couldn’t even try to hide his surprise anymore, “He’s using that bamboo fiber to create an Edison light bulb…”

“I’ve never heard of a bulb of light…” Suika wondered but her question fell on deaf ears as Gen just gaped at Senku…

Memories of many, many, many, many lights flashed before his eyes. The stage, the audience, the props, the curtains, even the stage hands, his manager, the volunteers, the tricks, the… everything…

“Chrome…” Senku began, “Does the night scare you?”

Gen remembered when the stage went dark to prepare himself and the audience for what’s to come. He remembered to always take a deep breath and put on his best smile and stage presence to everyone on the show. So that even the cameraman, even the cleaning crew… would get excited for his performance…

“Well yeah… because everything gets dark…” Chrome replied the obvious answer, “Why’d you ask?”

“Back in my day, there was no darkness…”

Much later after his amazingly successful performance on stage, he became a guest on a popular nighttime TV show. His presence alone gave him a standing ovation. The studio lights shone upon him, while it was blazing hot, he accepted the lights of his popularity happily as if it were his best friend. The host was happy to have him and praised his success in his young age. He humbly accepted those kind words and thanked the host back. He was even offered a bottle of cola as they chatted happily about his budding career. Of course Gen had his whole speech prepared, for this occasion. But nonetheless, he can't help but admire the shine of the lights on the cola bottle in front of him. He drank it happily.

“With old man Edison’s incandescent light bulb, humanity beat back the night. Conquering all 24 hours of the day.”

The spotlights moved to the center of the stage and shone on the young budding magician in the center. The host would enthusiastically introduce Asagiri Gen for everyone and the audience live or even at their homes watching him on the television cheered for him. Those lights were the signal for him. For him to finally do what he does best. To dazzle the audience with his mentalist abilities combined with amazing magical tricks.The hot yet dazzling lights followed the magician as he, with a flick of a wrist and the proper tone of voice, made the audience be awed by his carefully crafted and practiced tricks. He then waved his arm and spoke to the audience asking for an eager volunteer to come on stage. He then lets the spotlight move to a young woman he had picked and let her come and meet him personally. She was thrilled. But he did not know her at all. And yet, with his mentalist training that he painstakingly gained throughout his life, he managed to wow her even more. And with her, the whole audience was amazed.

“Through the power of science, mankind defeated the darkness…”

Asagiri Gen knew where the swords were inserted and easily let them slip around his body. He had carefully practiced this along with his fellow assistants. Everything was going according to plan. Everyone loved him and his tricks. He was not only an amazing magician but he was also a highly skilled mentalist. He worked hard day and night to master his craft. He always let out a humble speech for it, but in truth he was proud and happy for everything he had gained for himself. The audience’s reactions were a wonderful confirmation of his skills. 

“And now we’re gonna do it again…”

As Gen came out of the box, obviously unschated by the trick, he basked in the lights of the stage and the cheers of the audience.

Then everything went dark. He became immobile, and eventually, like everyone else who were petrified that fateful day, he went into a long deep sleep.

“For the first time in 3700 years… The Flame of Science will burn!”

It was brief, a second, a single moment… But it was there. It was indeed there. The light. The light that became Asagiri Gen’s best friend for most of his life and career. The light that shone on him. The light that showed his successes and his failures. The light that shone on him, his props, the curtains, his assistants, the volunteers, the guests… The light that shone on the bottle of cola. The light that was the last thing he saw before the seemingly eternal darkness...

One of the greatest byproducts of electricity. 

The “Flame of Science”. 

The Light of Science. 

The light of civilization… 

Artificial Lighting…

And it only lasted for a brief moment in time.

But to Gen and everyone else who witnessed that moment. It felt like it was an eternity…

He could only stare in awe. Just like how the natural light shone upon Senku as he grabbed the magnet he crafted earlier.

The artificial light that shone upon this young scientist, was far stronger and brighter than what the heavens did for him. 

Gen felt like… like… like he was an audience from his shows. He gazed at the man in front of him as if he was the performer on stage.

But instead of a skillfully carefully crafted trick that was practiced for years. 

It was a culmination of two million years of scientific knowledge. Displayed in front of him and to the entire world by a young man two years younger than he was.

‘He can do it…’ 

‘He really can do it.’

‘Oh my god… He will do it…’

For the first time in three thousand seven hundred and thirty eight years of his life…

Asagiri Gen had faith in Senku.