翁公和媛媛在厨房里猛烈进出

Standing at the edge of the circle with sparks of lighting surrounding me, I reconsidered my decision.

Once again... I was gambling with my life.

At this point, it felt like a daily thing...

Were the "What If" stories contained in this world, or did they only contain the canon part of the story?

Then, would I survive even if the "What If" plot was even in this world?

Since it was a short "What If" story consisting of barely twenty chapters, the author had to make it entertaining by adding an interesting and nerve-racking boss fight.

How could a boss fight be entertaining if there wasn\'t a high chance of someone dying?

In the end, no one died, but Liam literally had a plot armor while I was just some lousy ass villain!

However, just like a gamble or bet, I would gain a lot—and I mean a lot—if I survived the whole ordeal.

Of course, doing this wasn\'t particularly in my itinerary or schedule, as who just sets up a plan where they have a high chance of dying?

However, as I stared at Liana\'s elegant and powerful figure floating above the portal, I kept telling myself it was necessary.

Whether it was her incomparable power or the short moments we shared that persuaded me, I was already convinced.

The prize of gaining power and, by far, becoming the most powerful D-rank, even past Liam, in history was also a nice little incentive.

There was also some partial confirmation that the "What If" story was here as the shooting star had appeared, and I had returned to my physical body during the ritual.

Still, then again, that could have happened in the original without them mentioning it.

Combining the ocean-blue mana and blood-red substance in my body, I used the Dragon\'s Transformation ability to turn both my legs into those of a dragon.

With my new and improved legs, I could move through the field of electric sparks without being harmed.

Using the claws of my dragon\'s legs, I scraped away the lightning sparks before me, creating another path to the middle of the magic circle.

Dispersing my mask and revealing my face, I waited for the last bits of my corruption to return before heading to the puddle of my corruption.

Staring at the floating Liana, who was so focused on the portal below here that she didn\'t notice my movements, I began using the corruption I had received from disbanding my mask.

Making a shadow cage, I perfectly surrounded Liana\'s floating figure, completely trapping her inside the cage.

With no corruption left to my name, I arrived at the middle of the circle, in front of the portal that was now finally formed.

Liana, who had noticed the portal\'s completion, attempted to leave her floating position; however, the barriers of my shadow cage prevented her from moving a single bit.

Right now, Liana wasn\'t at her full power or even close as she had poured every single bit of it into the magic circle below.

She didn\'t expect to come out of this situation alive, so she had completely put all her power toward the circle... but that left her completely defenseless.

Right now, she was far from being the most powerful living being. A mere C-rank was all she was.

Confused for a moment, Liana tilted her head up before finally realizing that she was completely surrounded by the darkness of my shadow cage.

Ignoring the floating cage, I stepped towards the portal.

She would regain her power quickly and break out of the cage, so I had little time to spare.

Staring at the portal below, which seemed like a black hole, I dismissed my dragon\'s legs and momentarily hesitated at the entrance.

Moving the shadow cage with Liana away from the portal and outside the magic circle, I looked outside the hut\'s windows, admiring the beautiful fairy-like space one last time.

*BANG*

Behind me, it seemed that Liana had already gained some of her power back as my shadow cage disappeared, revealing the figure of Liana.

Turning back to face Liana, who couldn\'t yet move due to using most of her regained power to break the shadow cage, I gave her the same simple wave she had used on me a few minutes ago.

Although I couldn\'t hear her because the portal behind me was making so much noise, I was able to read her lips.

"what are you doing..."

Not knowing whether she could hear me or not, I replied back.

"You said to do what I wanted, right? This is what I want to do. Blame yourself for this!"

Before Liana could activate her speed and head to me, I moved backward, falling back first into the portal.

As my body entered the portal, it completely closed, leaving me stranded in darkness.

After free-falling into the pitch-black void for a couple of seconds, I finally felt my surroundings shift, transforming the scenery around me into a pitch-black void... but with a tree in the distance.

The first gamble had paid off.

The "What If" story was real.

*CRASH*

Finally hitting something concrete, my back crashed into what I felt like wood, causing me to yelp in pain.

Standing up, I observed my surroundings awestruck.

It was like I was in outer space...

The entire world around me was pitch-black except for a couple of stars in the distance that partially illuminated the void.

There was no floor below me... I was just standing on an endless void of darkness somehow.

Below, it was pitch-black; beside me, it was pitch-black, and only above me was there only semblance of something as a couple of stars could be seen in the distance.

Instead of planets, just one gigantic tree stood in the distance, its root clearly corrupted as dark spots could be spotted on the brown trunk.

Hesitantly taking a step forward, I was glad to see that I was still standing instead of falling into the endless void below me.

But... I wasn\'t floating or flying.

It seemed like there was an invisible glass floor below me.