The Hand That Orchestrates Fate

God's Third Hand was a very famous player in the Hand of God community circles.

Over the past five years, God's Third Hand had managed to beat out every other professional evolver Hand of God player, coming first place in four of the annual Hand of God championships in the process. His talent for the game resulted in others referring to him as "God's favorite child."

In addition to his constant practice of the game, his legendary status was achieved in a variety of different ways. And aside from being naturally talented, he had a special hyper geno art that aided his play.

Everyone knew his name in the Hand of God circles, but even he had yet to beat super mode. His speed and reactions could not match that of the AI, and it had been believed that evolvers were unable to beat the master-level AI.

But now, all of a sudden, an unknown evolver had managed to beat super mode. It was difficult for people to believe, and he did not believe it, either.

He assumed whoever had won had managed to forge their identity, and thus it was most likely a surpasser acting under the guise of an evolver. That was how the cheater had managed to do it, he believed.

God's Third Hand wasted no time in inviting Han Sen to match, and he was keen to prove whether or not his theory was correct.

Han Sen had spent much time battling the AI to beat the hardest difficulty. To keep going was pointless, but now that a real person had invited him to play, his interest was reinvigorated. Thinking it might be fun, he accepted the invite without hesitation.

"Win A Girlfriend and God's Third Hand now compete." The system announced, as a special treatment for those who had achieved the title Hand of God.

Hearing this news, everyone was shocked. They all quickly scrambled to spectate the match.

God's Third Hand was very famous, and widely recognized as a legendary professional with the game. Han Sen, who was unknown and had just achieved the title Hand of God, was going to compete with him. Intense matches such as this were rare, and only those widely invested in the game could truly grasp how monumental an event such as this really was.

Han Sen did not know his one randomly accepted friend request would result in this, and he at first thought God's Third Hand was just another average, run-of-the-mill player.

To be the very first person to send a request, you'd need to be lightning-quick. So perhaps it made sense that God's Third Hand had gotten in first.

But even if Han Sen knew beforehand how strong he was, he wouldn't have cared too much.

The match started, and every eye in the audience turned to view their hands. With bated breath, they tensely anticipated the appearance of the first light to show.

Whoever hit a hundred lightspots first would be deemed the victor. You could either grab the lights near you, or the ones belonging to your opponent. Each lightspot was worth one point, and one hundred was needed to win.

God's Third Hand watched Han Sen's hands intently, eagerly waiting to witness his speed. If he was too fast, then God's Third Hand would know he was just a cheap cheater.

Many people thought the same way as God's Third Hand, too. After all, he had been playing for many years, and not a single evolver had yet to reach fifty-percent completion of super mode. And that included God's Third Hand.

Somehow, this previously unknown "Win A Girlfriend" entered the scene and finished what was believed to be impossible. Few people put stock in the validity of the win.

The first lightspot appeared, and everyone looked at Han Sen's hand. Much to the surprise of everyone, the hand moved relatively slowly. The speed was remarkably average, when compared to most high-level players. He couldn't compete well in traditional matchmade games if he genuinely played like that.

"Did he really beat super mode with such speed?" Everyone thought to themselves.

God's Third Hand frowned, also thinking Han Sen's move was slow. But just as he went to reach his own lightspot, he noticed Han Sen had already taken it.

1 : 0

"Whoa!" Seeing this, many people made a variety of different noises indicating surprise.

God's Third Hand was faster, so how could Win A Girlfriend grab the lightspot first? That confused many people.

Win A Girlfriend now moved to God's Third Hand's side, looking as if he was about to steal his next lightspot.

God's Third Hand's face looked cold, and he did not believe his opponent's speed would be enough to beat him.

But this was exactly what he wanted. To fight him face to face would expose his speed and reveal to everyone how much of a cheater his rival was.

Over the next minute, however, God's Third Hand felt as if he had slipped into a sordid nightmare.

Han Sen's hands were not fast, and they were most certainly slower than his own, but God's Third Hand had not managed to grab a single lightspot. It was so strange, it genuinely made him feel as if he was having a bad dream.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much effort he put into increasing his own speed, he couldn't hit a single lightspot. The audience was entirely quiet, as well, unable to believe what they were seeing.

A legendary professional player did not have a single point.

It would have made sense if Han Sen's hands were fast, but they weren't. In fact, he looked very relaxed.

But God's Third Hand's lightspots were all snatched by the flimsy, casual hands. It made people feel pretty awkward on God's Third Hand's behalf. And nobody could really understand what was going on.

The true elites of Hand of God were even more shocked than the rest of the audience.

They believed God's Third Hand's movements were seen by Han Sen beforehand. It was like Han Sen treated God's Third Hand like a puppet on a string.

"This cannot be real!" Everyone started to think.

At the same time, they realized how scary this thought genuinely was. The man was a legendary, professional player who had won numerous contests. Yet now, he was getting wrecked by a person they hadn't seen before. Truly, this new contender was frighteningly strong.

No one believed Han Sen was cheating now, either. Even if he was playing against the AI, cheating would only enable him to react faster. He couldn't actively work to block an opponent from grabbing a lightspot.

AI could not predict the decisions of a human, but even if you did not directly compete with the AI, you could still manage to grab lightspots for yourself.

For that slow speed to prohibit every approach by God's Third Hand was something not even the AI was able to do.

"It's like he can control fate itself. This person is the real Hand of God," the audience thought to themselves.