Mastermind Behind The Scenes

Dark night. Strong wind. Heavy rain. Thunder and lightning.

In a dark alley, a scarred man who looked about 30 years old leaned against the wall and walked with difficulty. In the heavy rain, a blood-red stream formed under the man's feet and gradually melted into the rain.

Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer. He fell forward.

Boom!

Accompanied by a huge thunderclap, a flash of lightning broke through the night sky and illuminated the alley. A slender figure holding an umbrella was reflected.

In the heavy rain, the footsteps were faint. It was not until a pair of black leather shoes appeared in front of him that the man who had fallen forward realized there was another person there.

The man turned his head with difficulty and looked up.

Boom!

Another thunderclap. The sudden lightning illuminated the face under the black umbrella. It was a young face—very handsome, but also very cold. It seemed the owner of this face didn't care about anything in the world.

"It looks like you need help," the young man said, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain.

"Who… who are you?"

The man spoke with difficulty, his intermittent sentences making him sound as if he could die at any moment.

"I can help you," the young man replied. "But accepting my help requires a small price. Are you willing?"

The man rubbed his chin on the ground and nodded with difficulty.

"Congratulations. You've made the right decision."

Rumble!

Another flash of lightning and thunder struck, and a small, transparent glass bottle filled with green liquid was thrown to the ground.

"What… what is this?"

Looking at the small green bottle, the man asked with difficulty. But he didn't get an answer. Looking up, he saw the back of the young man gradually fading into the darkness.

The man sat up with all his strength and leaned against the wall. He looked at the small green bottle in his hand and hesitated for a long time.

Pop!

Finally, he pulled out the wooden stopper.

"Anyway, I'm going to die. No matter what, nothing can get worse."

Gulp.

"Hiss… what a strange taste," he muttered. "Eh…"

After drinking the green liquid from the small glass bottle, the man was surprised to find that the pain seemed to subside, and his strength began to recover slightly.

However, before he could react, a sudden, indescribable pain erupted throughout his body.

"Ah… Ah… Ah!"

The man collapsed into the corner of the wall, clutching his head as his body trembled violently, as though all his muscles were cramping at once.

"Ah… Ah… Ah!"

The unsettling screams echoed through the night sky, dissipating into the rainstorm, thunder, and lightning.

Rumble!

Another thunderclap, accompanied by a flash of lightning, illuminated the dark alley. On the wall, a rapidly changing shadow stood up, grew thicker, and rose, eventually forming a strange figure more than two meters tall.

---

Creak.

Ethan pushed open an old wooden door, the sound grating on the ears.

Inside was a retro European-style tavern, so old-fashioned that it had no electric lights. Instead, several candles and a fireplace provided illumination.

The tavern was very quiet. Only the crackling of the burning fireplace could be heard.

Ethan shook the rain off his umbrella outside the door and hung it on a hook on the wall. Then he walked to the counter, took out a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass, and sat in a recliner near the fireplace.

Gently swirling the goblet in his hand, he stared at the wine inside, the firelight reflecting on his face, and fell into his thoughts.

---

Ethan was a transmigrator.

It had been 21 years since he arrived in this world. His parents had run this retro-style tavern, and business had once been prosperous. However, three years ago, a mudslide took his parents' lives. Since then, Ethan had taken over the tavern.

Perhaps it was due to his indifferent personality or his lack of skill in bartending, but business had steadily declined. Recently, there had been almost no customers. However, Ethan didn't care. His golden cheat as a transmigrator had arrived—a blind box system.

The system's function was simple: open a blind box, and all kinds of strange items might appear.

For example, the small green bottle Ethan had thrown to the man earlier. That bottle contained a potion called "Lizard Man." Drinking it greatly enhanced one's physical abilities and granted lizard-like powers such as wall climbing, tail regeneration, and more. But it came at a cost: the drinker would transform into a monster, incapable of returning to normal life, forced to live in the shadows. Once discovered, such monsters would face endless hunts until their death.

As for why Ethan gave away items from the blind box to others, there were three reasons.

First, he found it entertaining.

Second, he didn't want to become a monster.

Third, he couldn't use the items himself.

According to the system's rules, items from the blind box could only be used by others, except for certain props.

However, Ethan could use emotion points to replicate the powers and abilities of those who had strengthened themselves with items from the blind box. He could even copy some props' abilities.

Emotion points, the system's designated currency, served two main purposes: purchasing blind boxes and replicating abilities.

Emotion points were earned by eliciting emotions from others—any emotions.

Ethan often wondered if he was living in a novel or if he was the protagonist of one. But the thought didn't bother him.

Ethan was naturally cold and indifferent. He neither liked nor hated anything in particular.

The state of the world didn't matter to him, and even life and death were of little concern. When his parents died, he didn't shed a tear. He felt only a faint sadness and nostalgia. Even if the system told him he would die tomorrow, he would likely accept it calmly after a moment of surprise.

Back to the present.

Ethan currently had no emotion points, and the lizard man potion was the only item he had obtained from the system's free blind box.

At the moment, Ethan was just an ordinary person.

If the man who drank the potion sought revenge, Ethan wouldn't be afraid.

Anyone who gained extraordinary powers from the blind box would have their mind enslaved by Ethan, becoming his loyal servant. Additionally, the abilities granted by the blind box's items couldn't harm Ethan.