Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

"It seems that the partnership with 'Unmatched Under Heaven' will have to wait until next time."

After reading the announcement and finding out it was a solo summoning, Zhou Baiyu gave up the idea of collaborating with 'Unmatched Under Heaven' — at least for this time, they couldn't work together.

Very quickly, just like before, Zhou Baiyu left a message, wrote a letter to Zhang Haoyun, and since Zhang Haoyun's unique aura still prevented effective modern communication, he had to rely on word of mouth.

So Zhou Baiyu could only entrust someone to pass on the message.

He then left information for the guild leader, Constantin, 'Dreamwake' and the others.

This had become the default practice of this small group: whoever got summoned would leave behind some clues.

At the very least, they needed to let the team know what was happening.

Afterward, Zhou Baiyu let his parents know he was safe, indicating that once again he would be dealing with strange occurrences.

Mrs. Wang was very interested and wanted to know more, but Zhou Baiyu brushed it off with a few words.

After all this, he headed to the transit station.

...

...

Transit Station.

These days, Xinkui seemed to be communicating a bit more with Sister Lin, now that she knew Xinkui had become Jiang Xianwu's number one fan, Sister Lin was actually willing to chat with Xinkui once in a while.

But she still maintained a very aloof attitude.

The moment Lin saw Zhou Baiyu, her attitude changed.

"Little brother, you've encountered a summoning... full of uncertainty," she said.

"Full of uncertainty? Isn't that standard for Mutators?" Zhou Baiyu replied with a smile.

Both of them were extremely practiced in this exchange, and Sister Lin had prepared the drink during their conversation.

Every deployment came with a buff effect.

Zhou Baiyu didn't hesitate and drank the drink at once.

"It's white again."

A buff that had almost no effect: it simply reduced the Advanced World's physical abilities by two percent and enhanced the senses by five percent.

The overall benefit was positive, but the enhancement was practically zero.

"I feel like the drinks are getting weaker lately. At first, I could draw divine-level drinks, but now I can't even draw one for a great Advanced World individual."

Sister Lin said indifferently:

"Luck tends to even out; there's no need to rush and there's no point in doing so. You're not the same as you were in the beginning. Though you're only third-tier now, you have the ability to stand on your own, with many card tricks up your sleeve."

"When you successfully clear a summoning, you might feel that such a summoning isn't worthy of a buff that's too good, right?"

Zhou Baiyu thought about it and agreed.

For example, despite some minor close calls, his last summoning was just a lower-level adventure in version 1.2.

If he had drawn a divine-level buff, it would have been certainly thrilling but somewhat of an overkill.

"Now that you possess the Key of Variability and my notepad, you can theoretically have a big impact on the battlefield. Make good use of your luck where it matters most."

Zhou Baiyu nodded.

In the last moments, he glanced at 'Voice of the Pioneer'. The forum was still as he remembered it from his first visit to the transit station.

Some were hoping to be sheltered by a guild; others were looking for guidance.

A question suddenly occurred to Zhou Baiyu.

"Sister Lin, I encountered a Reverser before, and I'm certain that the timeline of the world I'm in is consistent with that of the Reverser's world."

"How many summons do we have to go through before we can truly arrive at the 'current timeline' inside the Advanced World?"

By 'current timeline,' Sister Lin understood what Zhou Baiyu meant.

Currently, Advanced World individuals, no matter which version they headed to, are always 'a step ahead.'

It's as if they are living in the past.

But in reality, the real world and the Advanced World share the same timeline.

Sister Lin said:

"This is a question I too have been exploring. It's said that the number of summons Advanced World individuals can participate in… is not infinite."

"'We' will not allow Advanced World individuals an unlimited number of chances to change the future. Once they reach a certain total, there will be no more talk of crossing versions, and all future summons will be directed to... version 2.49."

"But no one knows what this total is. What's foreseeable is that if you seize every opportunity of your limited chances to change history...

"If you clear them all with ratings starting with S, then by the time your total challenge quota is depleted and you start facing the 'current timeline', which is version 2.49, you will have more advantages."

"As things stand, Advanced World individuals are at a great disadvantage if they go to version 2.49."

"Of course, it looks like you still have many opportunities."

"One more thing, the more high ratings you achieve, the higher your chances of going to key versions become, and the more likely you are to encounter various bizarre summonings. So far, you've had a very good start."

This was exceedingly important information.

Sister Lin truly held Zhou Baiyu in high regard, having disclosed the critical number "2.49".

Zhou Baiyu now understood.

Lets say the future is composed of a thousand individual histories.

After the Twilight of the Gods, the gods' wager entered a new phase. 'We' would not really give Advanced World individuals a thousand opportunities to challenge.

Maybe they'd only give two hundred, or even a hundred.

Meaning, Advanced World individuals could only affect one-tenth of history.

Of course, history is such that even if you alter one-thousandth of it, the future might undergo a dramatic transformation due to the butterfly effect.

Once Advanced World individuals use up their allowed attempts, all subsequent summonings will be fixed to version 2.49.