Chapter 412: The Reality Bending Proficiency

In every previous handshake attempt, he had used one hand to bridge the gap. This time, he wanted to try something extra, something different.

Using a small blade, he cut a fresh wound across his left palm to gush blood like what was on his right hand, then pressed both hands firmly against the cold surface of the wall.

This time, the response from the system was out of his expectations.

[ Ding! You can initiate an evolved version of the Handshake process!]

[ Ding! You will need to pay 100 Mental Points to initiate it. Do you accept? Y/N]

"Hahaha, it worked!"

Seeing the message flickering in his vision, John didn’t give a second thought to the steep cost of 100 Mental Points. In his current state of mind, the points were a low price for a distraction that promised to rewrite the rules of the world. He knew he had just cracked the first step toward true dominion over this digital reality.

"Sure, do it!" he commanded.

The moment he accepted, the world in front of him underwent a terrifying transformation. The green-tinted wireframe of the wall didn’t just flicker; it turned entirely white. A blinding, pulsing white radiance that looked as if the wall had been invaded by a highly aggressive viral white strain.

In the blink of an eye, the handshake expanded. It wasn’t just covering the small area of one metre anymore; the connection surged through, linking him to the entirety of the wall and the structures adjacent to it.

This was no simple handshake like the ones he had performed so far. John didn’t just see the code; he felt it.

"Fascinating!"

He took a few minutes to savour the newfound sensation. It was a dizzying, god-like perspective he had never experienced before. He felt as if he had literally turned into the wall itself, perceiving the world through the wall foundation.

"Let’s try and change a few of them then..."

John focused his mind on a specific cluster of codes situated at the heart of the wall. He didn’t want to destroy; he wanted to reshape. He envisioned a crescent-shaped hole, a narrow aperture with a built-in shelf, large enough to pass food plates through.

He didn’t quite know why his mind went there, but he realised he was drawing inspiration from the prison cell he had occupied for months back on Earth. In his current state of emotional disruption, it felt nostalgic.

As he held the image in his mind, the world around him began to execute his silent wishes. He could feel the code shifting under his mental touch, the rules and codes being overwritten in real-time.

He realised something fundamental had changed within him since he had crushed the Pocket Trial and completed the System Evolution Task. His system felt unleashed, the previous shackles completely shattered.

When he finally opened his eyes and pulled his hands away, the wall was no longer solid. There was a hole in the middle of it, perfectly shaped into the crescent he had envisioned, complete with the exact colour and smooth shelf-lip he had imagined.

He had to wait for the active duration of the Frame Recognition ability to run out so he could inspect the changes with his naked eyes, but the sight brought the first genuine smile to his face in the past twenty-four hours.

However, that wasn’t the truly shocking part. As he waited for his ability’s effect to fade, a series of notifications cascaded across his vision.

[ Ding! Congratulations! You have unlocked: Reality Bending Proficiency!]

[ Ding! Using the enhanced Handshake process, you can now connect with simple structures and modify them. Success depends upon your proficiency level and the security level of the structures you are modifying!]

"Reality Bending... I like the sound of that!"

John decided right then that he would spend the rest of his day and night, if necessary, honing this proficiency. He wanted to see how far these edits could go. Could he turn air into stone or the other way around? Could he rewrite the gravity of a single room? But before he could start his next test, a secondary notification triggered, one that changed the entire game.

[ Ding! Something in your possession has resonated with your Reality Bending Proficiency!]

[ Ding! The Machine Factory Fragment wants to merge with the structure you just modified. Do you accept? Y/N]

"What?!"

John was taken aback. He quickly opened his inventory, scrolling through the tons of loot there until his eyes landed on the fragment. "It’s the machine den core I hacked before..."

He recalled the fragment clearly. It was the core he had acquired from the machine den, the only one he gained as he allowed other dens to mature past the hundred-wave mark. It was the core that would allow him to synthesise a temporary Machine Factory ability, something he never had the chance to do as he only had one core.

"Wasn’t it supposed to give me a temporary, one-off ability?" John muttered, feeling a surge of confusion as he re-read the original item description. But the system was already processing his query, and the next update evaporated his confusion, replacing it with a shock that made his heart race.

[ Ding! The fragment can merge with whatever structure you manage to handshake with and trigger the Reality Bending Proficiency!]

[ Ding! Please note: The fragment will manifest different effects based on the nature and composition of the structure it is merged with!]

John spent the next half an hour interrogating the system, piecing together the true potential of this synergy.

"So it’s like a temporary takeover," John summarised, his mind quickly going through what he just learned about this unexpected chance. "I can pay a variable number of Mental Points to facilitate a merge. Then, depending on what I’m touching, the fragment acts as a seed to manifest its real potential. But it’s favoured to be used on grand metallic structures... Not walls made of cheap bricks."

The system’s explanation was clear: the more complex and metallic the structure, the more powerful the Machine Factory would be. Even if he could remove it later and reuse it over different structures, he wanted to run the first test on something far more compatible than the dorm walls.

"If I need a grand metallic structure to see what this thing can really do, then there’s only one place that fits the bill," John whispered.

He shifted his attention toward the window, looking in the direction of the Military Department’s distant walls, specifically, towards the newly established RBM Club base outside.

The basement of the club was a masterpiece of engineering: a grand metallic circle formed of multiple shifting platforms, interlocking gears, and heavy alloys. It was the perfect canvas for a Machine Factory, the best option he had. Not to mention the point of total secrecy back there.

"I should pay the club a visit," John said, his depression finally replaced by a burning curiosity.