After they returned to the apartment, Arya's breathing slowed and she fell into a deep sleep. Since his rebirth, Lin Yu'an had felt uneasy. A strange presence lingered around him, as if something was both there and not there. He went to the living room, sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and tried to "touch" that space.
After several attempts he shifted his focus slightly. The cup on the coffee table vanished. It had simply disappeared into thin air. Lin Yu'an opened his eyes in surprise. He could sense the glass floating quietly in the center of that space he perceived. Thinking it again, the cup reappeared on the table.
"Can I store things with my mind?" he thought, excitement barely contained. He looked at an apple on the table, concentrated on its round shape, and made it vanish into the space. Then he noticed a lone ladybug on the windowsill. He focused on the insect's tiny body and sent it into the space. A few seconds later he retrieved the ladybug and found it motionless, its legs curled and still. Dead.
Frowning, Lin Yu'an dressed and went downstairs. He tried again. Whether it was a moth, an ant, or a caterpillar, any living creature placed into the space came out dead without exception.
"Do all living things die inside?" he wondered. Back in the apartment he attempted to reach a book on a farther shelf with his mind, but the space would not accept it. He stepped closer and tried again. Only when he stood within two meters and clearly perceived the rectangular outline did the book enter the space.
"The range is about two meters," he murmured, thinking it through. He tested a cardboard box of miscellaneous debris in the corner but could not send it in; its shape was too indistinct. The rules began to form: inert objects could be stored, but living things died. Storage responded to focused thought, the effective radius was roughly two meters, and he needed a clear mental image of the thing.
Lin Yu'an felt both exhilaration and fear at his newfound ability. He could not identify its origin. He suspected it might relate to the container that crushed him in his previous life, since the perceived space seemed about the size of that container.
Practical concerns returned. As much as he appreciated this "golden finger," he needed money. Arya was pregnant and would require prenatal care, delivery costs, nutrition, infant formula, diapers, and a stable home. He also had to finish his thesis and find work to support a family. He had no desire to ask his family for money; long years of unpaid labor servicing his younger brother had already soured those relationships. He had once fled to Texas Tech University on a scholarship to escape that household.
He shook off the memory. The immediate priority was raising cash quickly and legally. Could this power help him earn money? Smuggling and contraband crossed his mind, but he rejected it. He would not sully his values for fast money.
He turned on the TV and idly flipped channels. A promotional trailer caught his attention: vast wilderness, jagged peaks, raging rivers, and a lone human forced to survive. The narrator's voice teased a brutal premise: ten survival experts dropped in the harshest environment with no crew, only ten items each, and a prize of one million US dollars for the winner.
"One Million Dollars." The words struck Lin Yu'an like a hammer. He was a devoted fan. In his previous life his grief had driven him to live in the Alaskan‑Yukon border wilderness for a time, where he had learned considerable survival skills. Combined with his newfound spatial ability and the survival techniques he had absorbed watching seven seasons of the show, he felt confident he could win.
He immediately searched for details: recruitment conditions, competition rules, prior champions' strategies. The more he learned, the more eager he became. One million dollars would cover Arya's postpartum care, the best formula and supplies for their children, and maybe even a home in Austin.
Still, he tempered his excitement with caution. The show was brutal. Contestants quit because of injury, illness, or mental collapse. Some eliminations were even scripted or staged to force withdrawal. Arya was pregnant and needed him. If he entered the competition he would be cut off from the outside world for weeks or months.
He paced all night and arrived before Arya the next morning with dark circles under his eyes. "Honey, did you not sleep? You look awful," she said, stroking his cheek.
Lin Yu'an inhaled deeply, held her hand, and looked at her seriously. "Arya, I need to talk to you about something important."