"Witches, huh?"
Felix smiled faintly.
He had waited patiently for over three days—three hundred years within the sandbox. After the devastation of the Great Flood and centuries of stagnation, the world had finally begun to move again.
Within this tiny simulated ecosystem, the first supernatural species had appeared: the Evil Eye. And those who survived its blood had become something new altogether—witches. The spark that ignited the age of magic.
"The Evil Eye really is incredible."
Felix's eyes gleamed with genuine delight.
Creating the smaller sandbox had been a masterstroke. Akinas Speedster's absurd, unorthodox idea had accidentally birthed an entirely new evolutionary branch. That kind of creativity couldn't be replicated by logic alone.
Seated at the edge of his courtyard, Felix casually bit into an apple.
"They're right," he mused. "Two heads really are better than one."
The termite genes he'd experimented with before had been far too demanding. The genetic gaps were massive—most lifeforms simply couldn't withstand that level of forced evolution.
The Evil Eye was different.
Its genetic structure was crude, incomplete—but flexible. Out of four hundred trials, three had survived.
A solid success rate.
Of course, that also meant the witches were far weaker than Gilgamesh had been. They couldn't dominate the world alone. They needed warriors. Strategy. Protection.
Gilgamesh had been a one-man apocalypse.
The witches were sparks—dangerous, unstable, but fragile.
Still, their understanding of mental power had already begun to take shape. Primitive magic. Crude medicine. Slow progress—but real progress.
Felix tapped his chin, then stood and walked back inside.
"I should be able to find ancient meditation methods online—Eastern, Western, doesn't matter. Training the mind and spirit is universal. If I give them a direction, they might build a real magical system."
A path mattered more than speed.
Now came the real question.
How should he meet them?
Take the form of the Wise Beast again? Deliver another set of divine gifts?
Felix shook his head immediately.
Absolutely not.
Nor could he possess a sandbox creature and overwrite its consciousness. If that were possible, he'd have done it ages ago.
As he pondered, several of the most hardcore players in the smaller sandbox finally crawled ashore.
From the forest's edge, they froze.
In the distance sat a colossal being—vast beyond comprehension—lounging in a chair, calmly eating an apple.
"This game is insane," one whispered. "We're literally insects evolving in someone's backyard."
"Is that… the final boss?"
"So the endgame is becoming strong enough to beat him?"
"Shut up. We're ants. He probably doesn't even see us."
"Don't get close! If he stomps our king, I'm uninstalling."
The strange creatures huddled among the trees, peeking out as if spying on a god.
Felix glanced down, amused.
"What a bunch of idiots," he muttered. Ridiculous… and oddly endearing.
Knock knock.
A sound came from the gate.
Ellie had arrived with food.
"Alright, eating first," Felix said, standing up.
The moment he moved—
"EARTHQUAKE!!"
"The ground's shaking!"
"RUN! HIS SHADOW'S COVERING EVERYTHING!"
"DON'T LET HIM STEP ON THE KING!"
Panic erupted across the sandbox. Felix's casual steps sent shockwaves through their entire world. Creatures scattered in terror, fleeing like insects before a storm.
With strides that crossed continents, the giant vanished.
When Felix returned, he carried a blue lunch box. Sitting back down, he opened it and began eating—fried eggs, carrots, cabbage. Simple. Fresh. Comforting.
As he ate, his thoughts drifted back to the witches.
How should he approach them?
Nearby, the players cautiously crept out again.
"This freedom is crazy…"
"That had to be a cutscene."
"Look at how he eats!"
"Focus. We need to get stronger first."
Felix chewed slowly, watching them from the corner of his eye.
They were still plotting against him.
He didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
Then—
An idea struck him.
"The evolution sandbox."
His eyes lit up.
"I'll start as a spore. Evolve like everyone else. Become a player-controlled organism."
Once he did that, he could enter the greater sandbox naturally—no divine descent, no interference. Just growth. Struggle. Evolution.
He could walk among them.
Learn from the inside.
The thought made his heart race.
Perfect.
He finished his meal, stood up—
And looked down.
"Well… first, I need to clear the field."
A message suddenly appeared across the sky of the tiny world:
"Emergency maintenance detected.
This game will go offline in three seconds."
Panic exploded below.
Felix smiled.
"Time to start from the beginning."