Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

Unexpectedly, the other party was self-aware, and Chang Rong immediately lost her temper and complained.

Considering that he had been inexplicably and forcibly lured here on his way back, he didn't think that the boring witch opposite him would just send him away like that.

"Hehe... Maybe it's just that the witches' taste buds are different, but now it seems undeniably disgusting... It's strange, why are the results so different when you just pour water into green powder and pour white seasoning into the same white powder?"

"I think I can already vaguely see the reason from your production process just now, okay..."

Chang Rong pushed the white, lifeless fragments of the green belt and the flour corpse aside, rubbing her eyebrows and complaining.

"Anyway, this is us witches." After a brief moment of confusion, the silver-haired witch wearing a mask put her hands on her hips, indicating that everyone had done it.

"Don't drag all ethnic groups into this just because of your own tragic domestic skills."

"That's not what I meant at all...! What I meant was that if we 'witches' were to leave magic behind, many things that seem simple would be difficult to do well. Rather, a 'witch' without magic would just be a useless fool—and that's the biggest difference between us and humans."

The masked witch casually tossed the artificial defense on the table into the other world, then crossed her hands, rested her chin on the table, and looked at Chang Rong, speaking softly.

"The biggest difference...?"

Chang Rong was somewhat confused. Although when she first met Xiao Xue, the fact that she had lost most of her magic did make people wonder how she had survived until now—was it through photosynthesis? However, this lack of common sense and self-care ability shouldn't be considered to be 'fundamentally different from humans'.

"The same cookie or pastry, at first, humans would only be able to create a delicious, edible product through a series of coincidences and luck over a long period of time, until at some point they suddenly created it."

"After that, humans will be confused because they can no longer replicate the finished product using [luck]. Then they will try to 'summarize' and slowly find out the variables that were affected by luck, mark them little by little and then adjust them. This is [experience]."

"After gaining experience, humans will have further demands due to the instability that experience cannot avoid, and the increased demand for finished products. Driven by the desire to 'reduce instability' and 'increase quantity,' humans will create tools to make them execute experience more efficiently and accurately."

"In this process, humans will start this iterative cycle again because of the product obtained by luck at a certain stage, just like an infinite spiral drill digging forward, and no one knows where they will eventually arrive."

The masked witch spoke to Chang Rong in a deliberately low voice, twirling her right index finger in a circle.

"But we witches are different. Witches stopped creating a long time ago. The total amount of magic has been fixed for thousands of years. We only use magic to assist in life within the existing framework. Speaking of which... the most recent breakthrough in magic was developed by that child, Yuki, who created the 'Witch Factor' that can turn humans into witches, as well as the related 'Witch Slayer Magic'."

"Demon Killer and Witch Factor..." Chang Rong looked thoughtful. After the masked witch finished her long-winded explanation, she conjured up new tea leaves and snacks out of thin air and enthusiastically handed them to Chang Rong, asking him to try again. This time, she would honestly use magic to make the version.

This time the tea and pastries were much more normal, but for Chang Rong, they were still a little 'sorry'.

Those cookies were delicious, but they weren't as pure as the ones from Naiyexiang. And while these flower teas had a lovely fragrance, they lacked the unique and delightful experience that Merlulu had specially blended.

Chang Rong vaguely understood the meaning of what the Great Witch had just said. Although witches possess incredible power, they lack the motivation to use that power to research, improve, and progress. They are indeed 'completely different' from humans who have nothing but constantly try to cause trouble.

"It seems you've grasped the difference between witches and humans. So let's get back to the initial topic—why do we choose not to resist and let those humans slaughter us? Because... we also want to try to change this unchanging life a little."

"Change your life...?" Chang Rong blinked, unable to understand for a moment how being robbed of her entire family meant changing her life.

Wait a minute... considering the existence of the 'tea break room' space, does that mean these witches are actually faking their deaths to outwit each other?

The thought of this battle of wits that had deceived the whole world sent a chill down Chang Rong's spine.

“We sensed something different from the girls that Xiaoxue brought with her.”

"A girl, Meruru?"

“That’s right, Meruru is such a cute and lovable child. Even though everyone could take care of the castle with magic, she still prefers to sew her clothes by hand—and she is indeed very talented.”

The masked witch's voice became gentle and indulgent, as if she were recalling the past.

"In short, we felt the possibilities and wonders of humanity in that child, Meruru. After that, everyone gradually wanted to try experiencing human life. However, the existence of witches has been discovered by humans, and if they suddenly disappeared into thin air, it would probably cause panic among humans. So we took the opportunity to be 'killed' through war."

“After ‘death,’ witches return to this spiritual realm. If they want to take revenge, they can naturally recreate a body. However, what everyone really wants is to experience a human life as a human. So, regarding the so-called ‘massacre,’ everyone is tacitly aware of the situation.”

"No, no, no—wait a minute, this isn't right, is it? Xiaoxue didn't know anything about this from the beginning! Otherwise, she wouldn't have become so extreme, even wanting to kill all humans in revenge!"

Chang Rong quickly interrupted the other party. If these witches were really just using the war initiated by humans as an excuse to create new accounts and play multiple playthroughs, then why would Xiao Xue react with a yawn and bristle?

"Well... perhaps, probably... it really is our problem... hehe?" The masked witch's tone suddenly became soft and sweet, and she even tried to use cuteness to get away with it.

"Don't suddenly act cute in a place like this for no reason!!" Chang Rong certainly wouldn't tolerate it and immediately pointed it out.

"Waaaaah... I'm so sorry... Anyway, it really is our fault... We didn't realize that Yuki had gotten too close to humans and even temporarily lost the empathy that only witches have, so we didn't know our original plan."

"Although we later considered trying other ways to contact Xiaoxue or pass on messages, it seems that Xiaoxue's witch factor magic caused a system conflict, and we old-type witches were unable to reconnect to Xiaoxue's LAN... As a result, we could only watch helplessly as that child performed an amazing feat."

As the witch spoke, she turned her head to the side, her tone extremely awkward and embarrassed.

"So, all of you witches got tired of your max-level main accounts with all the technology achievements unlocked, so you wanted to play a new alt account with a new lineup, and then you all forgot about Xiaoxue when you transferred servers, right? Are you witches idiots?!"

"Waaaaah...!!?? I'm so sorry...!"

Chang Rong instantly flew into a rage, grabbing the witch's cloak and shaking it back and forth, forcing the witch to beg for mercy and apologize repeatedly through her mask.

"Although I don't know the specifics, you guys actually have a 'chat room' inside, and you're making up your fake death plan in the 'chat room,' but Xiaoxue has temporarily muted the group for some reason—and none of you noticed that? Why don't you just ask her something? Aren't you all gathered in this castle and see each other all the time? Is it so hard to just casually ask her 'Why haven't you logged in lately?'"

"@△@Because...because everyone's so laid-back...everyone thinks it's just that Xiaoxue's signal is bad lately, and if it still doesn't work in a hundred years, then it's not too late to ask..."

"..." Chang Rong could only look at the witch in front of her with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

"After all, that's what witches are like... At first, they might cause a little commotion because some unused spells have been unused for too long and cause some mishaps when they are cast. There was even a time when they heard the words 'witch trial' and built a 'court' out of thin air to judge something they didn't know what they were going to judge... But as time goes on, everyone's enthusiasm will quickly fade. In the end, at the daily tea party, everyone will just sit together and watch the flower seeds sprout as a form of entertainment."

"So Xiaoxue's hobby of counting dust was also a witch's family tradition!"

"If it weren't for the arrival of that child Meruru, and everyone's search for all sorts of wonderful toys to make her happy, the recreation room would still only have all sorts of magical documentaries showing how trees grow, stones wear down, and lakes dry up."

"Is this some kind of nursing home...?"

Now Chang Rong finally understood that the witches' concept of time was indeed completely beyond human measurement.

The witches, who believed in taking things slowly, completely failed to notice, or rather, didn't care about Xiaoxue's abnormalities over these 'short few years,' ultimately leading to, in a result, the perfect example of American-style bullying against Xiaoxue.

Hey Xiaoxue! We're going to hold a super cool witch party in human society. Guess who wasn't invited?

Even after Xiaoxue didn't come to the chat room with them, these witches remained unhurried until Xiaoxue created a witch factor and spread it throughout the world, preparing to clear the chat with one click. Only then did the witches realize that something seemed amiss.

However, by that time, Xiaoxue had developed the [2.0 Witch System (Witch Factor)], which caused the old ports to become completely incompatible, leaving the witches completely dumbfounded.

“Xiaoxue, that child… Sigh, if you can, please help her. A long time ago, we recorded a ritual to resurrect witches. This ritual was to make it easier to forcibly wake up those old folks who have been sleeping for too long… However, the details of the ritual have long been forgotten, and we only know that this ancient book is in the library.”

"As expected of a witch, even her wake-up service is so mysterious... Anyway, we've found the ancient book, and thanks to the help of a linguistic genius, the deciphering work is complete." Chang Rong sighed; at this point, he was too lazy to complain to these geniuses anymore.

“Is that so… That’s good. If possible, please call that child back. Besides… from our perspective, we are really not qualified to educate that child, so this task can only be left to you.”

The masked witch nodded and bowed slightly to Chang Rong. The mask she had been using to conceal herself slowly disappeared, revealing a face with equally innocent and adorable purple eyes.

"It is precisely because of our mediocrity and complacency that the child yearns for humanity too much. And when we also want to experience the human way of life, our overly mild and undisciplined nature leaves Xiaoxue behind... This tragedy does not belong to anyone, or rather... it actually belongs to our witches' 'curiosity' that cannot understand humans yet yearns to know them."

The silver-haired, purple-eyed witch gave a bitter, apologetic smile.

"In short... I beg you. Please save that child; this is a mission only you can accomplish."

"Yes, I will definitely try my best." Chang Rong nodded and made a promise in a calm voice to the young witch in front of her who showed no signs of the passage of time.

If Xiaoxue knew that the witches weren't slaughtered, but simply wanted to fake their deaths and experience life as 'humans', what would her expression be? Would she be so embarrassed she wanted to run away? Or would she just cry and throw herself into someone's arms?

I'm already looking forward to seeing her amazing expression when we meet again, seeing that I'm still alive and what the witches are up to.

But before that—

"What will be the future of those aspiring witches?" Chang Rong asked the silver-haired witch with purple eyes.

"Those children? I'm sorry... As I said before, the witch genes that Yuki created are not similar to those of us old witches, so we can't keep them protected in the gap forever. But you don't need to be too sad about this. Reviving the dead, such an 'unscientific' act, is actually our witches' forte. You will definitely meet again, please believe me."

The Great Witch smiled and puffed out her chest in a promise, and upon hearing these words, Chang Rong breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

That's great, this isn't the end of the story, we'll definitely meet again.

"Also... um... once everything is settled and everyone has returned... please set aside at least one day a week for Xiaoxue, okay? Or, how about she occasionally come back here for this or that? After all... occasionally watching some vulgar, low-brow, and wicked scenes is also part of being human... right?"

The girl wearing a giant witch's hat blushed and muttered to herself as she rubbed against the edge of the table.

"Stop spying on me, hey!?"

What kind of people are these witches? They're practically gods by now!

-

Thanks to Chenguang Moxin for the sudden, unexpected attack.

Thanks to the carefree and unrestrained wind, Admirer, for the feeding.

-

Only one update today. Yesterday, my family dragged me out to work, leaving me completely exhausted. Even though I've moved out and live on my own, I still have to come home regularly to be tortured. It's unbearable. Sigh.

I have to go through a blind date process in a bit. As a goblin, I'm really fed up with these meaningless social interactions where I pay for meals and then just suffer through the awkwardness, but I can't just flip the table completely.

10,000 chapters added today, still 9 chapters to go (10-1=19)

I'm thinking of opening a monthly ticket bounty at the end of the month for one last push on the leaderboard, but I'm worried that I won't be able to pay it all off by the time I finish the game.

Of course, what's even more frightening is that no one will vote.

228. I'm back, Witch Island, I always have to go home.

"Ugh—the tonic is spying on me—"

With a muffled groan, Chang Rong woke up in the elevator.

"Huh...where am I...am I back?"

Although the scenery around her in the elevator couldn't directly distinguish between reality and the gap, the clearer feeling in her mind made Chang Rong immediately think that 'she really came back'.

He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket; the phone, which should have been unusable due to its broken screen, was now lying perfectly intact in his hand.

Even judging from the chat content inside the 'Prison Space,' time flows separately in the 'Tea Break Room.' The other aspiring witches weren't anxiously trying to find Chang Rong and her group; instead, they were still chatting about what movie Coco-chan had watched that made her so engrossed that she could stay up all night.

Phew... That's great. Although the witches are a group of immortal beings, at least they didn't create any situation where a day in the cave is equivalent to ten thousand years in the world.

Chang Rong, are you awake?

After letting out a heavy sigh of relief, I heard the reassuring and cool voice of Hasumi Ryoya beside me.

"Reya-sama? Don't worry, I'm fine."

Chang Rong rubbed her hair, stood up from the ground, and looked at the blond idol in front of her.

"Are you really alright? I don't know why, Chang Rong, you seem to be waking up slower than us... If you feel uncomfortable or anything is wrong, be sure to tell us!"

Leia asked nervously, while constantly scrutinizing the white-haired boy in front of her, trying to see if he was really alright or just putting on a brave face.

"I'm really fine... Let's hurry up and retrieve the longsword we used for the witch summoning ritual."

Chang Rong smiled helplessly, and Lian Jian Lei Ya nodded with some concern.

"Okay, Chang Rong, I'm glad you're alright. Also, um..."

After confirming that the boy in front of her was safe, Leia awkwardly rubbed her cheeks with her fingers. Her golden eyes, which could control the gaze of others, also changed their usual behavior, avoiding eye contact with the boy's gray pupils.

"Um... Chang Rong, do you... uh... do you remember? I... I might be saying something strange, but... you wouldn't happen to have those memories too, would you? You mean, that memory of us doing... that thing together near the castle gate?"