Yamcha only relaxed slightly after riding his motorcycle out of West City.
As far as he could see, the land stretched out into an endless wasteland.
The ground was cracked, the vegetation withered and yellow—a scene straight out of the apocalypse.
With no tall buildings blocking his view, the sky felt impossibly vast, which somehow made him feel even more exposed.
It was as if those two figures could burst out from behind the clouds at any moment.
He never traveled during the day, choosing instead to move at dusk and dawn when the light was at its weakest.
During the day, he hid in caves or abandoned buildings.
Along the way, he didn't give up on exploring Ki.
He discovered that whenever he focused intensely—or when his emotions surged—a faint warmth would rise from his lower abdomen.
"This is it!"
He was certain that this warm current was the source of Ki.
That day, he hid inside a heavily weathered cave.
Outside, a violent wind howled, stirring up sand and dust until the sky looked dark and suffocating—ironically, perfect conditions for exploring Ki.
He sat cross-legged again; this time, he no longer tried to sense things aimlessly. Instead, he focused all his attention on the faint warmth in his lower abdomen.
"Move… move for me…"
He whispered to himself.
He imagined the warm current as a tiny stream and his body as the riverbed.
He wanted to guide that stream to flow through his entire body.
The process was incredibly difficult.
The warm current was weak and unbelievably "lazy," completely ignoring his attempts to control it.
He tried again and again. Sweat rolled down his forehead and soaked into his clothes.
"Damn it, I don't believe this!"
A fierce determination surged within him.
He recalled the Androids' expressionless faces, treating life like weeds… and the charred, human-shaped silhouettes in the ruins.
That intense anger and desperate will to survive sharpened his focus like never before.
Suddenly, he felt the warm current in his lower abdomen give a violent jolt!
It felt as though a small opening had been cleared in a blocked riverbed, and a weak but distinct warm current—guided by his will—slowly began to move upward.
It flowed through his chest, toward his shoulders, then down along his arms, gathering little by little into his palm.
Yamcha could clearly "see" its path.
He opened his right hand and focused all his intent on his palm.
The warm current finally reached its destination.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his hand.
In the center of his palm, an egg-sized ball of Ki, glowing softly with white light, floated quietly.
It pulsed faintly, like a tiny beating heart.
Even the surrounding air seemed slightly warmer because of it.
Yamcha stared in a daze at the glowing sphere, his breath catching.
It was small, weak, and not even as bright as a cheap flashlight.
But… this was Ki.
It was energy he had condensed through his own will!
"I… I succeeded?"
He muttered, his voice hoarse with excitement.
He shifted his thoughts, and the ball of light obediently floated upward.
He shifted his thoughts again, and the ball of light dropped back into his palm.
"Haha… hahahahaha!"
Yamcha couldn't hold back anymore and burst into loud laughter.
His laughter echoed through the empty cave—tinged with madness, but even more filled with pure joy and release.
This wasn't Yamcha's physical instinct. This was him—the soul from another world—grasping power through his own effort!
The satisfaction was ten thousand times greater than getting a promotion, a raise, and an annual bonus in his previous life!
This was hope.
The first spark of hope he had ignited with his own hands in this despair-filled world!
He stared at the ball of light in his palm, and a wild thought surged through him.
He remembered the signature move from the original series—the Ki Blast.
"Let's try it…"
He extended his index and middle fingers, pointing them at the ball of light in his palm.
He tried to recall the motions and sensations from the anime, attempting to "guide" the energy with his fingers.
The ball of light trembled violently, becoming extremely unstable, as if it might collapse at any moment.
"Hold steady, hold steady!"
He poured all his focus into it, channeling every bit of mental strength he could.
Slowly, the ball of light stabilized. Under the control of his will, it began to deform—stretching, condensing—turning into an uneven sphere.
"Go!"
He pointed his fingers at the cave wall and flicked them sharply.
Whoosh!
The tiny Ki Blast, trailing a faint white glow, shot out in a wobbly arc and finally hit the stone wall about ten meters away with a dull thud.
The impact left only a shallow, fist-sized dent on the rock, with a few pebbles crumbling off.
Its power… was about the same as throwing a rock with all his strength.
Yamcha looked at the insignificant result, and instead of feeling disappointed, he broke into a wide, brilliant grin.
He knew that from this moment on, everything had changed.
He was no longer just an ordinary person who could only run and hide.
He had once again stepped onto the path of a Martial Artist.
"I can do this!"
Yamcha stared at his own hands, his eyes blazing with a fighting spirit he had never felt before.
"I will definitely survive!"
He clenched his fists tightly, as if gripping the very future in his hands.