Shepherding Humanity

Xu Zhi didn’t think it would turn out like this.

He knew right from the start that it was going to be a very hardcore game that required specialized knowledge. Xu Zhi wouldn’t have sought help from others otherwise.

By all rights, it should have been a very niche game. Who knew there would be people who would study such a difficult subject as evolutionary theory just to play a game.

Perhaps, there’s a group of hardcore gamers in this world who actually like being "abused".

And open world sandbox games like “Minecraft” have always been popular.

Below the long and detailed review, comments quickly piled up. In a short period of time, there were already thousands of replies.

Dancing Basketball Player: Question! Is it really that amazing? He went into such detail, I'm almost convinced.

Crazy African: It’s too hardcore, starting as a spore. Evolution requires biological knowledge. Does this mean you actually have to go and study evolutionary theory?

Demanding Little Beauty: Wow! Sounds like even a bad student is eager to play. The possibilities are endless!

Super Tech Geek: I feel like the thread starter has yet to get to the meat of the game; take that giant he was talking about for instance, I really want to know more… After all, he has only evolved defective species that couldn't survive long.

Cerebral Bluff: I’ve started reading the Origin of Species! Soon, I’ll have knowledge of evolutionary theory comparable to a biology professor in college! Now I just need a spore to practice on, and test my theories. Make me a beta tester! Urgently waiting online!

……..

Some were eager, some begged for an account, others expressed their desire to play. But naturally, most people said that this was all a giant hoax, and that the hundred players were all acting. They mocked the thread starter and asked how long he would keep up his act.

However, they quickly had to eat their words.

“Akina’s Speedster” had started live streaming videos recorded through his VR Glasses.

A deep blue ocean spread out before them. It looked completely realistic, like watching an epic movie set on a vast and beautiful ocean.

"Friends, I've just evolved my eyes, this step is already a breeze. Next, I'm going to start preying on algae creatures and turn into a carnivore, following the evolutionary path of the arthropods of Earth’s Cambrian period."

At that moment, a fierce looking beetle appeared.

"Holy shit, what is that? It looks like an ancient trilobite, hurry up and eat him!"

"Don’t be ridiculous. Run! He's going to eat you, turn you into food! Run. Be patient as you grow and evolve. Once you’ve gotten stronger and evolved into a carnivore, come back and eat him up!"

…..

The thread was extremely active for a while.

Xu Zhi looked on, and felt that this enthusiasm was not bad. He left them to their discussion.

As for the petition with more than ten thousand signatures that demanded he open up more beta tester slots?

"None of my business. I don’t want your money after all, so I don’t really give a shit."

Xu Zhi laughed, and paid them no more attention.

It was only a side project in the end, though its popularity was unexpected.

Make all the noise you want, I just don’t need that many people. It’s not like I made this game for the sake of your entertainment.

Unless there was an unexpected surprise, he planned to keep up this "beta test" forever, and only allow a hundred people to enter the sandbox.

Xu Zhi looked on for a while as the popularity of “Spore Evolution” skyrocketed, then focused his attention on the large sandbox. This was his main project.

Among the Sumerians of the previous era, there technically had been only three super beings, Gilgamesh and the other two kings. Xu Zhi wanted the next civilization to develop a system that could cultivate supernatural powers.

It would probably be best for them to develop a magic civilization. Previously, Gilgamesh had commissioned the court’s black mage to create an elixir of longevity to extend his life.

That could be considered the precursor of magic.

Xu Zhi hoped that a magic civilization would emerge, along with a great mage who could research magic, medicine, and alchemy, and create a medicine that would cure his terminal cancer.

In order for that to happen, the sandbox needed to have many mysterious and deadly supernatural species to serve as reference for the mages to study.

Xu Zhi looked towards the muddy swampland in the large sandbox.

"A day has passed. The eyeball monster, the Evil Eye, has multiplied in great quantities and even evolved special variants?" Xu Zhi was delighted. Evolving in such a bizarre direction has indeed given it great potential.

In the past hundred years, thanks to having no natural enemies in their newly created environment, this weak species had multiplied and were everywhere.

But soon, due to over breeding, competition for food became fierce, and they turned on one another.

They competed amongst themselves for food, and began to kill each other within the black swamp. They were extremely vicious and even started feeding on one another.

As time passed, the Evil Eyes grew more and more savage.

A unique Evil Eye appeared.

It had a strange mental power, and all the creatures it gazed upon would be charmed by it and obediently become its food.

This first-ever supernatural species of Evil Eye quickly rose to the top of the food chain and dominated the swamp’s ecosystem. Since it had no natural enemies, it quickly multiplied, and preyed on other Evil Eyes.

It was survival of the fittest. The strong survived, the weak perished..

The ordinary eyeball monsters were massacred, and the entire swamp became filled with the ever-multiplying offspring of the Evil Eye that could charm others. The ordinary Evil Eyes went extinct and became a thing of the past.

"An anarchic mental power?"

Xu Zhi was surprised. "It really has potential. Although it doesn't have intelligence, it’s able to entice other creatures into becoming its food, like the Venus flytrap."

After the fourth era, the first supernatural species had finally been born.

Xu Zhi had a thought, and looked at the large sandbox. Surprisingly, there was another major development. A group of Bugapes had started to wade into the depths of the swamp.