The Alchemists

When Elien finally finished her performance, the mesmerized guests immediately stood up and applauded in a lively manner. She gave a beautiful deep bow and glanced towards Alaric's table.

Ugh... I don't want to go back there, she thought.

Elien knew she had lost. The longer she stayed, the worse her fate would be. She had to leave immediately. At this point, she didn't care about trapping Alaric anymore, as it was clear that the man now had a new woman and he could easily get rid of Elien.

While biting her lip in annoyance and frenzy, she turned towards the backstage. Just as she was about to escape, she froze. Two men in black were waiting for her beside the stage. They looked dangerous.

"Your job isn't over yet." One of them coldly stated. Elien trembled in fear.

"Wh... Who are you guys?" She stammered.

"Mr. Linden ordered us to keep you here. Your job isn't over yet."

"Oh..." Elien immediately felt her shoulders slump. She couldn't resist when the two men roughly pushed her back to the table beside the stage, where the artists who worked for Virconnect sat. She knew it would be very difficult for her to escape now.

Ugh... She had to think of a way to escape this situation.

The MC returned to the stage and read the nominations of the most popular Virconnect users of 2049. There was a group of travelers who climbed the Himalayas and shared their climbing experiences and the situation on the peak of Everest, which was very thrilling. There was also the most lively music organizer of the year who presented five bands from five countries at once in one virtual venue.

The other finalists were an astronaut who shared his experience of landing on planet Mars, a solo traveler who shared his experience of seeing the most beautiful Aurora Borealis in Finland, and a married couple who doc.u.mented their lives living on different continents for three consecutive years with the help of Virconnect.

"And the 'Virconnect User of the Year' award will be given to..." The MC took the card from the usher and read the name of the winner. "Lee and Blythe Wilson, who doc.u.mented the three years they were living their long-distance married life in Beijing and London. Congratulations to the winners!"

A standing ovation was immediately heard in the audience. The program was also broadcasted via Virconnect access throughout the world, and currently, there were hundreds of millions of pairs of eyes following it through the Virconnect rooms in their respective homes.

At the beginning of the event, the names of the nominations were announced and their videos were shown one by one to get votes from viewers around the world, and it turned out that the couple's story touched the hearts of many. When the event was almost over and the votes were calculated, the votes they won were ahead of all the other finalists.

This was quite surprising because it was different from the predictions of the guests who were attending in the ballroom. At first, they thought the experience of landing on Mars was thrilling, or the event of watching the most beautiful Aurora Borealis would be a favorite choice for Virconnect users who watched this event from home.

However, it turned out that most people feel more touched to see the struggle of the husband and wife pair who had to live apart for three years and managed to intensely maintain their love through the virtual connections with Virconnect.

Lee and Blythe went up on stage with touched expressions and the two were immediately congratulated by the MC.

"Congratulations, you've won the 'Virconnect User of the Year' award this year. Can you tell us a little about why you were forced to live separately for three years?" The MC asked.

Lee nodded. "I got a job as a scientist in Beijing, but my mother was seriously ill, so Blythe had to take care of her, thus unable to come with me. With our lives apart and my job in Beijing, I was only able to go home in London once a month to see her. But thanks to Virconnect, we were able to keep in touch every day as if we were living together. We only needed to adjust a little due to the eight-hour time zone difference. "

"Ahh... that is amazing. You two are very inspiring." The MC seemed very moved when Lee explained their story. "I heard that you're now living together again. Is that true?"

Lee's face immediately expressed melancholy. Tears welled up in his eyes as he answered, "My mother died last month... Now Blythe has no more reason to stay in London. In the end, she followed me to Beijing."

Instantly, the whole room's atmosphere became melancholic too. To prevent the mood from dragging on, the MC hurriedly spoke, "Ahh... I'm glad to hear you guys have reunited after living apart for three years. To complete your happiness, Virconnect will give you the grand prize, which will symbolically be handed by Mr. Elios Linden, the first source of inspiration for Virconnect and also the owner of Rhionen-Meier Industries, which is the parent company of Splitz. We are truly fortunate because Mr. Linden is willing to be present in the midst of his very tight schedule! Let us greet Mr. Elios Linden!"

All of the guests stood up and applauded hearing Alaric's name. The young man rose from his chair, waved, and walked onto the stage. He looked just as cold and indifferent as he had always been.

He received a giant card containing a symbolic image of the winner's prize of one million dollars from the usher and handed it to Lee and Blythe, who looked very emotional winning such a grand amount of money.

"This is to start your new life together," he told them.

Both of them nodded happily. They had been given instructions backstage not to touch Mr. Elios Linden because he was famous for his dislike of being touched, so the two only nodded respectfully to Alaric and didn't attempt to shake his hands.

You can imagine how surprised they were when Mr. Linden suddenly stretched out his hand to shake theirs.

Lee and Blythe looked at each other. The MC also looked surprised. The MC hastily encouraged Lee to return Alaric's handshake followed by Blythe. Both of their faces were very shocked and for several seconds still looked stunned.

"Th... Thank you, sir..." Lee stuttered. He couldn't believe that tonight, he shook hands with the most influential person in the world today.

Alaric just nodded. He liked the couple because he was touched to see them doing everything they could to keep their love even though they had to be separated by distance for years.

He also sympathized because Blythe diligently and lovingly cared for her mother-in-law, who was seriously ill for years.

Others should follow this pair's example, he thought. With that, surely there won't be any divorce and useless lives on this Earth.