32: Dreaming of making fireballs? I woke up to find a hole burned in my blanket!

Late at night.

Two-thirty.

The real world had fallen into a deep sleep, but in Su Mu's basement, the light was as blinding as high noon.

That **[old day soul core]**, freshly extracted from the Skeleton Lord's belly, was suspended over the main control console.

The eerie blue light pulsed as if breathing; with every rhythm, the surrounding air emitted a humming vibration.

"So this is... the key to a high-magic plane."

Su Mu looked at the energy bar on the screen, which had originally been a dark, bloody red; now, it was not only full but starting to overflow.

**[Energy Recovery: 120%]**

**[High-purity psionic energy detected.]**

**[Consume core to open the Second Realm: Forest of Arcane and Truth?]**

Su Mu's finger hovered over the enter key.

He smiled.

He smiled like an old farmer looking at a bumper harvest in a leek field.

"We've finished picking up trash in the Wasteland; it's time for a change of pace."

"System, smash it!"

"Burn this core! Weld the door to the magic world onto Earth!"

Snap!

The enter key was pressed.

Boom—!!

Although the real world remained quiet, from a higher-dimensional perspective, an invisible ripple instantly swept across the entire Earth... at the same time.

Countless closed beta players in deep sleep shared a common dream.

There was no specific scene.

Only a vast, white void.

Li Qiang (ID: Also a Ruthless Person) stood blankly in the Void Realm.

"Where is this?"

"Didn't I just fall asleep after finishing my shift hauling bricks?"

Suddenly.

A grand, ethereal, yet inexplicably majestic voice exploded deep within his mind:

**"Feel it."**

**"Touch it."**

Whoosh!

A cluster of red light specks lit up before him.

It was a ball of fire.

But it wasn't ordinary fire. It was violent and dancing, as if alive, emitting a destructive aura that felt incredibly familiar to Li Qiang.

"Fire?"

Li Qiang instinctively reached out his hand.

The moment his fingertip touched the fire.

Pain!

It was the searing agony of a Soul being burned.

But he didn't pull back.

Instead, a fanaticism stemming from his very bones made him suddenly grab the fire.

"Hot, hot, hot!! But... it feels so damn good!!"

...On the other side.

Lin Xiaowan (ID: Rich Woman Hungry) was in a dream of a frigid world filled with drifting snowflakes.

She was barefoot, stepping onto the ice.

**"Accept it."**

That voice rang out again.

Countless blue ice crystals danced around her, eventually converging into a crystal-clear crown.

Lin Xiaowan reached out and elegantly caught the crown, placing it on her head.

It was bone-chillingly cold.

Yet, she felt as if she had returned home.

"Is this... magic power?"

...The next morning.

Six o'clock.

"Holy crap!! Hot, hot, hot!!"

A scream like a slaughtered pig broke the silence of the rental house.

Li Qiang lunged out of bed, shaking his right hand like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"What's going on?!"

He looked at his palm in horror.

Just now, in his daze, he had reached out to grab the lighter on the nightstand to light a cigarette.

Before his hand even touched the lighter, a surge of heat suddenly erupted from his palm.

Immediately following that.

The blanket caught fire.

"It's on fire?!"

Li Qiang scrambled to grab his pillow to beat out the flames.

But this fire was a bit strange.

As soon as the pillow hit it, instead of going out, the fire surged even higher with a "whoosh," as if oil had been poured on it.

It was... a pale red fire.

It looked exactly like the light effect of his [Soul-Rending Gauntlets] in the game.

"What the... hell?"

Li Qiang was stunned.

He stared blankly at his raised right hand, looking at his palm.

There was no wound.

There wasn't even a trace of a burn.

He took a deep breath, trying hard to recall the feeling from his dream last night.

"Come out?"

Holding his breath.

Exerting force.

Pop.

A soft sound.

A tiny, flickering red flame, no bigger than a lighter's, tremulously emerged from the tip of his index finger.

Though it was small.

Though it only lasted for a second before going out.

Li Qiang saw it clearly.

In that one second.

The physical rules of the entire world collapsed at his fingertip... The Lin family villa.

The nanny, Auntie Wang, carrying hot water, carefully pushed open the Young Miss's door.

"Young Miss, it's time to get up. Today you still have to go..."

Before she could finish.

Auntie Wang shuddered all over.

Cold.

It was too cold.

Even though it was an early summer morning, the room felt like a cold storage unit set to ten degrees below zero.

The windows were covered in thick frost patterns.

The glass of water on the nightstand had frozen into a solid block of ice.

And Lin Xiaowan was sitting on the bed, staring blankly.

She was wearing thin silk pajamas, and her breath condensed into white mist in the air.

"Auntie Wang?"

Lin Xiaowan turned her head.

Auntie Wang took a step back in fear.

She saw it.

A layer of crystalline white frost hung from the Young Miss's eyelashes.

Those eyes, which were originally black, now held a faint, eerie shimmer of deep blue.

"Young Miss... are you... okay?"

"I'm fine."

Lin Xiaowan raised her hand, watching the wisp of chill swirling around her fingertip. A dangerous smile slowly curled onto her lips:

"More than fine."

"I feel... wonderful."

...7:30 AM.

The official forum of the "Void Realm" app.

It exploded.

It completely exploded.

Since the servers were down for maintenance and they couldn't log into the game, bored players could only chat on the forum.

But today's chat was a bit scalding.

A thread with an incredibly shocking title was pinned to the top, followed by a blood-red "Hot" tag.

**[Topic: Brothers!! I might be crazy!! I conjured a fireball in real life!! Video proof included!!]**

**OP (Also a Ruthless Person):** [Video.mp4] Don't say it's special effects! Whose special effects can burn a hole in a leather sofa?! I was just brushing my teeth, got a bit excited, and the toothbrush handle melted!! This is freaking magic, right?!

**1F:** Sofa? OP, you're really going all out to get attention.

**2F:** Wait... why does the color of this flame look so much like the Abyss Fire in the game?

3F (Rich Woman Hungry): It's not special effects.

**4F:** Holy crap? The Rich Woman has appeared?

**5F (Rich Woman Hungry):** [Image.jpg] This is the thermometer in my bedroom right now. Minus five degrees. But I'm not cold at all. Also... I accidentally touched the goldfish bowl just now, and the fish froze.

**6F:** ???

7F (Luban No. 7): I believe it.

**8F:** The top student has gone crazy too?

**9F (Luban No. 7):** I just wanted to take apart my phone to change the battery. But... I didn't use a screwdriver. When my finger touched the screw, I felt an electric current. Then the screw turned itself out. Although it was only for a moment, I swear, it was real.

**10F:** Oh my god... this is terrifying when you think about it!

**11F:** I felt it too! During my morning run today, I felt the wind pushing me! I used to be exhausted after five kilometers, but today I didn't even break a sweat after finishing!

More and more players posted evidence.

Static electricity, a light breeze, sparks at fingertips, abnormal low temperatures.

Though they were all very weak.

Though they looked like magic tricks.

But when a thousand people experienced these "magic tricks" at the same time.

It was no longer a coincidence.

This was... a miracle.

**"The game has come to life!!"**

**"This isn't a freaking VR game! This is an immortality cultivation training class!!"**

Just as the entire internet was boiling over, and some were even preparing to call the police.

Ding!

Every phone with the "Void Realm" app installed vibrated simultaneously.

A golden server-wide announcement popped up.

**[Version 2.0: Era of Magic Update Preview]**

**[Dear Players:]**

**[Signs of "Awakening of Extraordinary Traits" have been detected in some closed beta players.]**

**[Do not panic. This is because your Soul strength has adapted to higher-dimensional energy.]**

**[In response to everyone's enthusiasm...]**

**[We will open "Second Realm: Forest of Arcane and Truth" ahead of schedule.]**

**[New Classes: Elemental Mage, Arcane Knight, Alchemist... have been added to the deluxe lunch set.]**

On the screen, Su Mu's signature GM face appeared.

He seemed to be sitting atop a massive Magic Tower, with Dragons and floating islands soaring through the sky in the background.

He looked into the camera with a playful smile, his voice carrying an irresistible temptation:

**"Are you still frustrated that you can only conjure tiny sparks in reality?"**

**"Are you still burning your blankets because you can't control the primordial power within you?"**

**"Come."**

**"Log in."**

**"The teacher is waiting for you at the Magic Tower."**

**"This time, we're going to teach you the real deal."**