Inside a hotel in a certain adventurer city, a unique tasting banquet was underway.
Well-dressed people wore golden butterfly masks, each holding a glass of red wine.
Although their faces were hidden behind the masks, the excitement was palpable from their upturned lips and the twisted expressions of their mouths.
“Oh... so this is an evolution item made from witch blood?”
A tall man in a black tuxedo held his glass with one hand, carefully shielding it with the other.
His eyes were fixed on the translucent, crimson gelatinous substance inside the glass, and he shouted with exaggerated excitement.
“It’s beautiful, truly a work of art.”
A woman nearby felt the same, though her gaze held a deeper, more intoxicated obsession.
Beside her, a stout man in a top hat adjusted his bowtie, tilting his chin up with an air of feigned elegance.
“Of course it is. After all, this is something obtained only after millions of people died.”
“No, no, I think the Master is the truly impressive one. To come up with such a genius idea as the ‘one to one hundred’ ratio to turn a thousand people into evolved beings...”
“Naturally. That’s why he’s the Master.”
“Exactly. It’s thanks to the Master that we can finally fulfill our dreams.”
“Indeed. Those damn lowly commoners were able to become evolved beings and even start their own sects, yet we had nothing. It was the world's biggest joke.”
The people in the hall were full of praise for the Master.
Because of this Master, they were now holding the very items that would grant them evolution.
The Master’s most brilliant stroke was the idea of fusing a single drop of ancient blood with a hundred drops of witch blood to create a thousand evolution items for use.
This was the theory mentioned by the guests: “one to one hundred, allowing a thousand people to evolve.”
And now...
After months of war and research, the first batch of finished products had finally been released in April of Year 3 of the Transmigration Era, one month after the war’s conclusion.
As the Master’s earliest shareholders, they naturally became the first beneficiaries, receiving the evolution items that had only recently been completed.
“Everyone, today is a day for celebration! Let us raise our glasses to our new lives!”
As the crowd buzzed with conversation, a burly man standing six feet tall on the second floor raised his glass and shouted down to the people below.
“To our new lives!”
“To our new lives!”
“To our new lives!”
Though it was a simple slogan, it perfectly stirred the emotions of everyone present.
Once they drank this gelatinous evolution item, they would shed their status as mere Transmigrators and become the evolved beings that everyone cursed but secretly craved!
They didn’t care what race they became.
As long as it allowed them to climb back up from the bottom of society, it was enough.
Wealthy businessmen, officials, celebrities, professors, lawyers...
Back before the transmigration, which of them hadn’t been rolling in wealth? Which of them hadn't been a socialite or a self-proclaimed member of the social elite?
But a single transmigration had stripped them of everything.
Since everyone started on the same footing, they hadn’t complained much at first, content to live their quiet lives.
However, everything changed when the witch Lan Qingyou rose to prominence.
What a joke.
They were the social elite!
For someone like Lan Qingyou to climb over their heads was simply intolerable.
And so, introduced through friends of friends, these elites quickly formed a vast and complex community.
Since cards didn't exist back then, their communication was mostly limited to private messages.
But as society developed and progress was made, the emergence of cards and the group chat system finally gave them a place to gather.
They would vent their frustrations inside, complaining about the unfairness of the world consciousness and receiving comfort from others.
At that time, they were in a state of self-indulgence, until a figure calling himself the ‘Master’ appeared.
The Master gave them real work to do and provided them with a goal.
Thus, a plan to sow discord within the Witch race and smear Lan Qingyou’s name began.
You read that right. The people who came out to talk nonsense whenever an incident reached its peak on the world channel, or those who spread rumors offline, were them.
They were an organization of former elites that didn’t even have a formal name, simply using ‘V6’ as its designation.
This organization had people everywhere. While their intelligence wasn’t necessarily precise, it was far more widespread than that of many other organizations.
With their support, the Master obtained ample materials for his experiments.
The ultimate conclusion was that a dilution method could be used.
However, it couldn't be diluted too much, so the blood of evolved beings was the best choice.
It was around that time that the Witch race secured an overwhelming victory in the tournament.
Consequently, the social elites locked their sights on the Witch race.
From an investment perspective, starting that war didn't actually cost much, since the desire to become an evolved being already existed in so many people.
The only real cost was the strain on their voices from recruiting so many people.
That was all.
Finally, after more than half a year of waiting, their investment was seeing a return.
One by one, without a hint of hesitation, they tilted their heads back and swallowed the gelatinous evolution items in their glasses.
Clatter—
Two seconds after finishing the drink, glasses began to fall to the floor. The people in the banquet hall began to clutch their throats in agony.
With their mouths agape, they looked like fish out of water, struggling to breathe.
“Ma... Master, what’s happening?”
The burly man on the second floor was now collapsed on the ground, looking toward the ‘Master’ leaning against the wall in the dark hallway behind him.
“What do you mean? This is just the experiment. It’s fine. Just endure it for a bit, and it will get better.”
The one called the Master glanced at him, then slowly walked forward and crouched down to look at the man.
“Research is always accompanied by sacrifice. As the test subjects for the first batch of potions, I truly thank you for your contribution to this great research.”
“Experiment... sacrifice... great?”
Even the most foolish person would understand what the Master meant by now.
It turned out they had been deceived by this man from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, they realized it too late. Otherwise, they would never have let him have his way.
This way of dying was simply too pathetic.
“Die? Chairman, aren’t you overthinking things? You don’t actually think death is such a serious matter, do you?”
As if seeing through the man’s thoughts, the Master looked at him with feigned astonishment.
“You... ugh...”
Enraged, the Chairman stared wide-eyed and pointed at the Master, wanting to say something.
But before he could speak, he felt a massive power expanding within his body.
The last thing he saw was his body shrinking and his skin cracking. As for what happened after that... he would never know.
Rate on N.U.
