Hand of the Void

So he opened the input box and sent a reply.

Chapter 4: Hand of the Void

In July, Jiangcheng's summer wind was dry and hot, rattling the shabby security grilles of the old residential complex.

Shen Xing washed up, made himself presentable, and wheeled himself out of his rented apartment.

He lived on the thirteenth floor. Fortunately, an elevator had been installed in the old complex, so at least getting downstairs wasn't a problem.

He took the elevator down to the first floor and turned onto the street.

The morning light fell on his slender figure, its glare making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.

Across the road, a group of students in school uniforms whizzed past on shared bicycles, their bright laughter echoing in his ears.

Shen Xing looked away, feeling inexplicably wistful.

Once, he too had been one of them. But now he could only sit in a wheelchair, having to plan his route in advance whenever he went out.

He shook his head and continued wheeling himself along the sidewalk.

Pedestrians occasionally glanced at him, a hint of surprise in their eyes, and moved aside to let him pass.

"He's so young. How did he end up in a wheelchair?"

"Maybe he had some kind of accident. Poor thing."

"Yes, he's quite fair and good-looking, just my daughter's type. What a pity."

Shen Xing had heard comments like these countless times over the years and had grown almost immune to them.

He wheeled himself straight toward the subway station.

In today's society, getting around was extremely inconvenient for people with disabilities like him.

Whether taking a taxi or a bus, there were all sorts of difficulties, and it also placed an extra burden on society.

That was why, even though Hua Country had 85 million people with disabilities, accounting for 6.4 percent of the national population, people still rarely saw them on the streets.

It was because they hardly ever went out, and Shen Xing was no exception.

When he was still a few hundred meters from the subway station, he stopped.

"This is troublesome... When did they put a step here?"

Shen Xing frowned slightly at the step, nearly ten centimeters high, at the intersection ahead.

He tried several times but couldn't get over it, only exhausting himself in the process.

"We'll help you."

A clear, pleasant voice came from behind him, accompanied by the light footsteps of two people in sneakers.

A moment later, two pairs of fair hands grasped the wheelchair's push handles.

Working together, the two lifted Shen Xing and his wheelchair over the step.

Only then did he turn to look.

They were two young women with ponytails, who looked like students out shopping from the nearby university district.

"Thank you." Shen Xing nodded to them.

"You're welcome."

The girl on the left, who was wearing denim shorts, turned and found herself looking straight at Shen Xing's clean-cut face. She froze for a moment.

Then, embarrassed, she pulled the girl on the right along and hurried away.

Shen Xing continued wheeling himself slowly along the edge of the subway plaza.

He had experienced this kind of kindness from strangers many times over the years and had gradually learned to accept it graciously.

Soon, he turned onto a quieter side road.

Construction appeared to be underway there, with both sides fenced off by blue sheet metal.

Just then, Shen Xing suddenly heard a sharp whistle overhead.

He looked up to see a steel reinforcing bar falling from an unknown floor above.

And directly beneath the bar were none other than the two girls from earlier!

They were still walking arm in arm, chatting and laughing, completely unaware of the danger above them.

"Watch out!" Shen Xing hurriedly shouted.

But it was already too late. The bar was falling too fast.

With an ordinary person's reaction speed, there was no chance of dodging it.

He seemed to see one of them pierced by the bar, blood splattering across the scene.

At that critical moment, he instinctively thrust out his right hand, spread his fingers, and, following some instinct, clenched them in midair.

A mass of invisible spiritual power surged from his palm, forming an unseen giant hand in the air!

The giant hand met the falling bar and slapped it hard!

Clang-

The bar was sent flying sideways along a trajectory that defied common physics, crashing into the blue sheet metal.

The loud crash behind them made the two girls jump. They turned around in confusion and immediately understood what had happened, their faces turning deathly pale.

One of the girls planted her hands on her hips, looked up, and began cursing at the floor under construction above. She also took out her phone to take pictures.

Meanwhile, Shen Xing stared blankly at his outstretched right hand, his face full of confusion.

What happened?

That feeling just now... was it [Hand of the Void]?

Wasn't that a skill from the game?

He instinctively thought he might not be fully awake, but he really had just seen an invisible giant hand appear out of thin air.

Otherwise, there was no explaining why the bar had suddenly flown sideways.

Also, a slight dizziness came from deep within his brain, a sign that his spiritual power had been depleted.

Everything pointed to one conclusion: this was real!

"Could it be... that abilities from the game can really be brought into reality?"

When the thought occurred to him, he was confused at first. Then a suppressed longing began growing wildly and uncontrollably in his heart!

If this is real, can I level up in the game, strengthen my body, and search for more treasures?

Could I even stand up again someday?

Modern medical technology couldn't repair the nerves in his legs, which had completely died.

But that was a game world!

The abilities in it came in all kinds of strange forms. They could even bring the dead back to life and regrow severed limbs.

What was restoring his ability to walk compared to that?

At the thought, a flame of hope lit up in his eyes.

"Should I tell Qin Lang and the others about this discovery?"

Shen Xing pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I still don't know whether I'm the only one who can do it, or whether all players can bring their abilities from the game into reality."

"I'll sound them out first and decide what to do based on their reactions."

It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but this matter really was rather shocking.

If it were made public, it would make the news and might even bring endless trouble down on him.

So until he had fully understood the situation, he absolutely couldn't reveal it rashly.

Shen Xing put aside his turbulent thoughts and continued wheeling himself down the ramp into the subway station.

The rest of the journey went smoothly.

Before long, he arrived at a food street in the suburbs of Jiangcheng.

On the west side of the street stood a rather old building with a sign hanging on it: Chuanxiang Pavilion.

It was a restaurant they had often frequented during their university days.

It was mealtime now, and people were coming and going through the entrance.

Before he even went in, he caught the pungent, spicy aroma.

"Shen Xing, over here, over here!"

Three familiar figures stood at the entrance. When they saw him, they hurried over.

Two men and one woman.

The man on the left was over 1.8 meters tall and powerfully built. He was Qin Lang, the one who had sent them the glasses, also known as "Cilantro Who Loves to Play."

The man on the right was over 1.6 meters tall, with sunken eye sockets. He looked like a gaming addict who had just spent the night at an internet cafe.

He was Lu Xiang, "Sole Lender Through the Ages" in the group chat. He was addicted to online loans and sneaker speculation and was up to his neck in debt.

The three of them had once shared a dorm room for four whole years and were very close.

The last one was an ordinary-looking girl who was dressed sloppily, wearing pink pajamas even when she went out.

Her name was Xu Jiayi, and she was also a typical gaming shut-in. Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up hanging out with them.

The three grown men hadn't seen one another in a long time, and they started catching up right there at the entrance.

For the most part, though, they chatted about random things, such as how much more Lu Xiang owed in online loans, how hard it was to find a job after leaving school, and the flower language of steel wool.

"Hurry up, I'm starving to death."

Xu Jiayi, standing beside them, couldn't take it anymore. She folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

The three laughed, then pushed Shen Xing through the entrance and up to a private room on the second floor.

Many hot dishes had already been set out on the round table: spicy chicken, poached fish in chili oil, mao xue wang, and more.

A thick layer of bright red chili pieces covered the dishes, making them look intensely spicy.

Shen Xing, who always ordered takeout at home, couldn't resist such temptation. He started drooling on the spot.

None of the four bothered with table manners. They immediately began stuffing themselves.

"I eat! People live to eat, so I'm fucking eating, eating, eating!"

Xu Jiayi showed her true colors most of all, eating with both hands and getting red chili oil all over her mouth. She was just short of jumping onto the table.

As they devoured the food, they started talking.

"Speaking of which, what troop types did you draw? How did your first battle get rated?" Qin Lang asked first.

"Don't even ask. I drew a one-star undead graveyard. I can only recruit the lowest-level zombies."