I'm gonna be a wizard muhahahaha

"Bunch of suck-ups... but I kind of like them."

Ethan smirked.

With only fifty beta slots available, demand had exploded. The flood of applications was as inevitable as it was overwhelming.

He remembered what it had taken for him to graduate from a top-tier university. It hadn't come easy. He had talent, yes—but he was a kid from the countryside. Time was always scarce. He never had the luxury to indulge in games. That experience had made him strict—unyielding.

"You don't even know basic evolutionary biology and you think you've earned the right to play?" he muttered.

Let the world taste his pain.

He was no longer the same boy from back then—no longer willing to let players frolic freely without discipline. If they wanted access to his creation, they would have to compete, to struggle, and to contribute something meaningful to his world.

"Let's see what these nerds came up with." He leaned back in his chair, opened the first submission, and sipped his tea with a calm worthy of a hidden god.

The first thesis was titled:

"An Organism Structured Like a J-20 Fighter Jet: Evolution of Avian Species with Hollow Bones."

Ten thousand words. Detailed DNA charts. Projected mutations. Evolutionary flowcharts. The citations alone could sink a ship.

"…Good lord."

Ethan swallowed hard.

It was terrifying.

How long had it been since the announcement? These people had burned through entire textbooks and whitepapers in days—assembling cutting-edge pseudo-science theories more refined than most of his own college work.

He opened another file.

"A Biomechanical Analysis of Electric Eels and the Viability of Lightning-Based Avian Evolution."

Ten pages. Cross-referenced with real-world species. DNA mock-ups. Shock-resistance modeling.

"They're insane…" Ethan breathed.

"These people are a hundred times more serious than I ever was in college!"

He'd once poured his soul into academic papers, rushing to meet deadlines and combing libraries. But these people? They were doing all that for a game.

In the end, he had no choice but to let the Tyranis Hive Mind handle the screening process. He could no longer keep up with the technical complexity himself.

And honestly, he didn't care whether the players had written their theses or hired someone else to do it. If they weren't up to par, they'd get eliminated eventually. This was natural selection—the game's own law.

His eyes drifted toward the sandbox in the courtyard, glowing beneath the morning sun.

"Looks like things are on track in the Land of Genesis," he murmured. "Keep pushing, little ants. Fight for your place. Let's see who survives the next culling."

Below him, the microscopic players toiled endlessly. They didn't want to lose their precious beta slots. Evolution had become war.

Tomorrow, the screening would finish.

A new wave of chosen testers would enter the sandbox—and with them, the dawn of new species.

---

With the real-world chaos managed, Ethan turned his gaze back to the large sandbox.

It had been just over a day since he passed down the divine knowledge of the Three Great Disciplines.

But in the time-warped realm of the sandbox, more than a century had already passed.

And civilization was rising.

---

For the Babylonian tribe, the past hundred years had been an era of golden peace and monumental change.

The appearance of the god Hermes—a mysterious, black-feathered deity—had ended the hostilities between the witches at Ameya's sacred spring. He had given them visions of immortality and a future shaped by Meditation, Magic, and Alchemy.

They listened. And they learned.

By the 36th Year of Babylon, the three witches had fully mastered the foundations of meditation. Power surged within them like never before. They compiled their knowledge into the Beginner's Guide to Meditation and Magic, and gifted it to the most talented witches in the tribe.

Tensions dissolved. Even Circe, the once wayward enchantress, was brought into the fold. She ceased harming men, returned to the path of restraint, and became a proper witch.

For a time.

In the 47th Year, a massive beast—the Baboko—descended upon the tribe. It was a cataclysmic battle.

On the brink of death, Medea had a revelation and created the spell Heaven's Hammer—an invisible warhammer of compressed air that fell from the skies and shattered the beast with divine force. She emerged transformed, the embodiment of battle's glory.

That same year, Cassandra, while tending her herbs, discovered the healing miracle known as The Nectar of Spring.

Shortly after, Circe unveiled her own creation—The Cursed Doll, a sinister magic laced with spite and sorrow.

By the 57th Year, Babylon had more than thirty witches across a dozen sub-tribes. The three had perfected their respective schools of magic—Combat, Healing, and Curse—but true Alchemy remained elusive.

In the 103rd Year, they compiled their spells into a sacred tome: The Occult Gate of Truth, a text containing seventeen distinct magics. With this, the witches became the ruling class of Babylon, clearing forests and felling beasts like demigods.

In the 139th Year, the nation of Babylon was formally founded, ruled by the Triune of Witches.

But peace didn't last.

By the next year, the royal palace fell into chaos.

Circe betrayed them.

No longer satisfied with her place, she rose against her sisters, displaying power none expected. She tore through the palace, clashed with Medea and Cassandra, and fled with a band of corrupted followers.

She founded a dark cult: The Thorned Rose.

And Babylon fell into unrest.

---

Ethan stood atop his chair, binoculars in hand, silently watching.

"I knew it," he muttered, setting them down with a sigh. "Circe submitted because meditation surpassed her methods… but she could never endure loneliness."

According to Hive Mind's report, she had found an unusual solution.

She secretly imprisoned several Evil Eyes, using them for… personal release.

Yes—tentacle play.

Ethan had nearly spat out his tea when he learned of it.

Circe, in her secret isolation, had used her twisted meditations and unorthodox "partners" to develop a new cultivation method. It was faster. It was dark. She'd become something akin to a succubus, her spiritual power rising with forbidden indulgence.

In time, she quietly turned other witches to her side. They broke their vows. Forsook their chastity. The Three Iron Laws were abandoned.

After the founding of the nation, she could no longer resist. She began seducing and killing human men again. Disappearances multiplied.

Eventually, Medea and Cassandra discovered the truth.

The confrontation was inevitable.

Ethan, however, didn't care about their personal squabbles.

His focus remained on civilization's progress.

"Meditation and Magic have grown strong. But Alchemy… it's still out of reach," he murmured.

He was impatient—but powerless to accelerate things. All he could do was stay calm and trust the path would unfold.

Then a thought struck him.

"They've built a system from scratch. Why not learn from them?"

He smiled faintly.

"Hive Mind… I want to begin. I want to assimilate my first gene—

The Evil Eye."**