A New World, Not So Bad

Time was running out fast. The countdown kept ticking, each second feeling like a punch to the gut for everyone watching.

The silence was suffocating. Thousands of people stood frozen, all staring at the screen that promised incredible power... but only if they killed someone for it. They were shaking. Some fell to their knees. The fear of dying fought against the horror of becoming a murderer.

Out of all those thousands of people who had either collapsed or were trembling where they stood, not a single one moved. Not one said a word. They just stood there, paralyzed, looking at each other's faces filled with doubt, terror, and disbelief.

The idea of killing another human being for power—no matter how amazing that power might be—still felt completely wrong.

These were modern people, caught in an impossible moral trap. Their minds raced, desperately searching for loopholes, for any solution that wouldn't leave blood on their hands. Some even looked around for police or soldiers, forgetting that normal authority meant nothing when facing Julius.

Julius floated above them, his golden eyes scanning the crowd below. The satisfied smile on his face slowly disappeared, replaced by a frown of annoyance. He was getting bored.

They were so slow.

He had given them a choice. An incredible gift, a path to true evolution. And what did he get in return?

A bunch of insects that could only shake and whimper, trapped by the moral chains they'd built for themselves. Claude had been a promising start, a spark that showed what human potential could become. But one flame wasn't enough. Julius wanted to see the entire forest burn.

He had said he wouldn't force anyone. That was true. Forcing people was a sign of weakness. But giving them a little push, helping them cross their limits—that wasn't forcing. That was just... encouraging. A game far more interesting than simply waiting for them to slaughter each other naturally.

This world was too boring.

Humanity was too weak. Julius wanted to see that fire ignite, to watch the savage instincts he knew were hiding beneath their civilized masks.

An idea flashed through Julius's mind like lightning he could summon.

A cold smile spread across his lips again. Time for a little game. A gentle push toward the edge.

Julius raised his right hand. No dramatic gestures, no blinding light. Just a graceful movement that was almost invisible. But among the thousands below, five people suddenly jerked like they'd been struck by electricity.

They were the ones who had been most terrified, most shaking, most reluctant to act. A young mother holding her child, an office worker clutching his briefcase, a motorcycle taxi driver still on his bike, a teenager with headphones around his neck, and a street vendor.

Their eyes suddenly went blank. Their pupils dilated, reflecting Julius's golden light. Strange smiles—almost vicious—appeared on their faces.

They weren't trembling anymore. They weren't afraid anymore. Control over themselves had vanished, replaced by someone else's will.

Their bodies tensed, then moved together like puppets on strings.

The young mother, with empty eyes, let go of her frightened child. The child fell to the ground, crying. Without looking back, the mother grabbed an iron rod from beside a trash can. With shocking strength, she spun around and swung it toward the head of the nearest man, who screamed in terror.

CRACK!

The sound of breaking bone rang out clearly. The man collapsed, blood spurting everywhere. Hysterical screams erupted. This wasn't ordinary panic anymore—this was pure horror. A mother, who should have been protecting, had become a brutal killer.

The office worker, with the same empty stare, pulled a sharp pen from his shirt pocket. With deadly precision, he plunged it into the neck of his colleague standing beside him, blood spraying across his clean white shirt.

The motorcycle taxi driver jumped off his bike, grabbing a tire iron from his storage compartment. With an expressionless face, he swung it toward two people hiding behind a bus stop, hitting them over and over until the sound of crushing bone went silent.

The teenager with headphones, who had been busy recording with his phone, now threw it aside and pulled out a folding knife from his pocket. Quickly, he attacked anyone nearby, slashing without caring who they were, a thin smile carved across his face.

And the street vendor, moving with unnaturally brutal grace, grabbed the meat cleaver he usually used for cutting meatballs. He leaped toward the crowd, spinning the blade with lethal skill, slicing through anyone in his path.

CHAOS!

True mayhem erupted. Screams, shouts, and the sound of violence filled the air. This wasn't paralyzing fear anymore—this was horror that triggered a chain reaction. The people watching these brutal murders—committed by "normal" people who had just been standing among them—were now fully awake to reality.

They didn't know what had happened to those five, but they could see the result.

Death.

Uncontrolled violence.

Time kept ticking on the system panel.

[ 08:50 ]

[ 08:49 ]

The fear that had only been a threat was now transforming into savage survival instinct. If they didn't kill, they would be killed.

If they didn't act, they would become victims. Some tried to fight back against the five controlled people, but their movements were clumsy, full of terror. Others, in the middle of the horror, began reconsidering Julius's offer.

Just one person.

Eyes began to shift. From Julius in the sky, to the corpses scattered on the ground, then to the people beside them. A chill ran down their spines. Would they become prey? Or predator?

Julius laughed again. This time with complete satisfaction, watching the spark he had just created begin to spread.

The chaos was music to his ears. The despair, fear, and madness beginning to consume the crowd was the most satisfying show he'd ever seen.

"There," Julius whispered, not to the crowd but to himself, savoring the scene below. "Let your true nature show itself, insects. Let this world see the new kings who will be born from blood."

In the middle of it all, Claude's body still floated, wrapped in its cocoon of golden light, undisturbed by the chaos happening below.

His evolution continued, and he was ready to wake up to a world that had now changed forever. The show had barely begun. This was only the opening dance of death.