Unwan was utterly stunned. Even he couldn't believe how so many thoughts were pouring into his mind at once. Sure, some of them, maybe even all of them could be wrong, yet Unwan knew one thing:
if they were wrong, then he would eventually end up right here again, searching for the answer.
– "What kind of monster am I?" he said with a faint smile
Unwan didn't think of himself as anything extraordinary, but his mind seemed desperate for at least a moment of rest from the idea.
'Not a creature. More like a genius, idiot.'
Unwan looked up at the sky. Evening was slowly settling in. The thick leaves of a large tree covered most of this secluded, bushy hideout, but through a few gaps the sky's fading red could be seen.
He thought about returning to the orphanage. Today had passed strangely fast, far quicker than usual. Unwan genuinely enjoyed doing these things, yet he couldn't understand how the time had slipped away so quickly. That's right, he had spent hours thinking about why everything falls toward the earth… but even that hadn't felt slow. Or maybe that was just how he remembered it...
– All right, enough resting. Think. How do I test this?
Unwan knew that relying on a single idea was useless. He needed to examine other kinds of forces too.
'But how?'
He had come this far mostly thanks to pure luck. Who else could do all of this in a place like this?
Instead of letting panic set in, Unwan chose to breathe slowly and deeply. As he inhaled, it felt as if his mind was holding a dialogue with him.
– So? How many forces do I know?
'Who knows for sure?'
– Huuuuuh, calm down. Fine, let me count.
"Pulling force, impact force, heat force, and…"
His mind suddenly seemed to hit a wall. It simply stopped. The conversation between him and his inner voice ended abruptly.
Unwan just sat there, waiting as if expecting the thoughts to continue.
But nothing came. No sound in his mind.
With a sigh of regret, he realized he had to continue on his own.
– Right… pulling, impact, and heat. If I remove pulling for now, that leaves two.
He paused for a moment, then continued.
– Impact force… when did I even start calling it that? I guess it's basically physical force. Simple. The harder I throw, push, or strike something, the stronger the impact becomes.
Unwan stopped again, thinking.
'What could I use as an example?'
He glanced around the ground. Unfortunately, there were no two identical objects to compare with. Sure, he could tear pieces from his precious scraps of paper to make equal objects, but those materials were too valuable.
So he had to manage with only one.
Unwan picked up the triangular stone left from his recent experiment and moved closer to the wall of bushes. Turning around, he faced the opposite side and hurled it with all his strength. The sharp shape helped it cut through the air easily, and it slammed into the bushes, making them tremble.
This was the part Unwan needed. He carefully observed the shaking, memorizing the area that trembled the most. Then he slowly retrieved the stone again. This time, however, he stopped several meters farther from the target.
'Sorry. I didn't want to make you suffer, but I need this. I hope you understand.'
Gathering his strength, Unwan hurled the stone again. It flew with the same speed and force. But the impact was different. The bushes shook noticeably farther out—about a meter wider than before.
'Just as expected. Or rather, as usual.'
That's right, force dissipation was well known. Everyone knew it. But Unwan had done this to examine how the effect lessened with distance.
'Oh, brilliant. And if the result is always the same, what's the point of throwing it again?'
– Agh, such logical thoughts. Why didn't you come a few seconds earlier, dear mind?
There was no reply, but it didn't matter. The first experiment was done. Only the second remained. But Unwan couldn't run a test for heat. He had nothing that could burn or produce warmth. So he had to reason it out.
– Heat force… something getting hot or burning. The simplest example is heating homes and orphanages. Right? So that counts.
He thought again, searching for a solid, believable analogy.
– Let's take the orphanage. When heat spreads, the closest areas warm first. But faraway places don't feel much at the beginning. At least not instantly. It takes minutes, maybe hours.
'So that means it's correct.'
Unwan stood silently. These weren't things he had done, but things tied to his memory, logic, and imagination.
A second confirmation wouldn't hurt.
– All right… good. So then… hm… interesting… what about pulling force?
This time, his "inner friend" said nothing.
Only a swirl of thoughts drifted through his mind. Unnatural, not spoken, but a loose chain of ideas.
– The farther the distance, the weaker the force… Is that the conclusion?
But what does that have to do with a rectangle-shaped earth?
Unwan said nothing. His mind was filled with flashes of ideas. Wrong theories, hopeful sparks, then quick refutations, one after another.
Except for one. One idea didn't fade.
It wasn't directly related, but… in a strange way, it fit. And it was even acceptable.
Unwan slowly smiled. But it was still only half an answer.
He now focused on this single piece of understanding. Today he felt as though he had processed more than five thousand thoughts, an absolute "Thought generator."
When he finally reached the last link in the chain, he let out a strange smile.
"So… the earth is round."