The air inside the cavern was damp and heavy, carrying the copper stench of blood. Flickering torches lit the stone walls in jagged shadows. A hundred players gathered, murmuring nervously. They all knew what awaited behind the towering stone door.
The First Boss.
Ethan stood at the back, alone. His ragged clothes and empty hands made him look like a straggler who had somehow survived this far by mistake.
"Hey, that guy's still alive?" one warrior whispered, glancing at Ethan. "Didn't he go in solo last time?"
"Yeah. Rumor says he somehow cleared the Goblin Pit by himself."
"No way. He doesn't even have a weapon."
Ethan ignored them. His eyes weren't on the players. They were fixed on the System notice etched into the air above the gate:
[WARNING: Boss Encounter – The Beast Beyond the Script]
[Minimum Party Requirement: 30 Players]
[Failure Condition: Total Party Wipe]
A shiver ran down his spine. The title alone made his chest tighten. Beyond the Script. It was almost as if the System was mocking him.
The stone doors groaned open, revealing a cavernous arena lit by a crimson glow. The air was suffocating, heavy with malice. And then, the creature stepped forward.
It was a wolf — no, something far worse. Its fur shimmered with shadows, its body twisted with jagged bones jutting out like armor. Its eyes glowed like dying embers.
Ethan froze. He knew this monster. He had written it.
The Shadowfang Alpha. A mid-level raid boss in his novel, meant to crush arrogant adventurers who underestimated the dungeon. But something was wrong.
It was bigger. Hungrier. Its aura pressed down on the cavern like a storm.
[System Notice: Error detected. Entity has deviated from script.]
[Adjusting difficulty… Warning: Player survival rate less than 3%.]
Ethan's heart thundered. "Even here… you're mocking me."
The wolf roared, the sound splitting stone and shattering the front ranks of players into panic. The first wave of adventurers charged, shields raised and spells flying.
The beast moved.
And Ethan's vision flashed.
[Script Prediction: Danger incoming – left flank, fatal swipe in 3 seconds.]
"Left!" Ethan shouted instinctively. "Shields, left side, NOW!"
A few reacted. Most didn't. The beast's claws swept like blades, sending bodies flying like broken dolls. Screams echoed, blood splattered the stone.
The survivors froze, staring back at Ethan.
"How did he ?"
"Was that luck?"
But Ethan wasn't watching them. He was watching the words flicker at the edge of his sight, fragmented lines of warning only he could see.
[Script Prediction: Devour skill in 5 seconds – front line collapse imminent.]
"Fall back! Don't cluster in the front!"
Again, only a handful listened. Again, they lived where others died.
Bitterness twisted Ethan's lips. They still don't believe. They'll keep dying until they have no choice.
The Shadowfang's jaws clamped down on a warrior's torso, ripping him in half. The ground shook as the beast's tail swept through the mages in the rear, crushing bones with sickening cracks.
The party formation shattered.
Ethan stood alone as chaos erupted around him. His breath came ragged. His predictions were coming faster now, almost too fast to follow. Lines of text like falling rain, each one a glimpse of death.
[Script Prediction: Fatal swipe – rear line collapse.]
[Script Prediction: Tail sweep – 2 seconds.]
[Script Prediction: Player "Lina" – death confirmed.]
The System was merciless. It didn't soften the words. It didn't lie. It simply showed him what was written.
But he… could rewrite.
Ethan's hands clenched into fists. His lungs burned as he sprinted forward, weaving between fallen weapons and broken shields.
The wolf's massive paw came down, shadow claws carving through stone. Ethan threw himself sideways, rolling as the prediction dissolved into nothing. His pulse roared in his ears.
"Come on, damn it," he hissed, eyes locking on the beast's ember glow. "You're mine. You're still my creation!"
The Shadowfang snarled, turning on him.
Players screamed from behind. "What the hell is that idiot doing?!"
"He's going to die!"
But Ethan didn't slow. He dodged another swipe, his body moving almost in rhythm with the words flashing before him. Each prediction was a verse, and he was reading ahead.
Still, his body was weak. His strikes, when he tried to kick or throw a stone, did nothing. He had no weapon. No strength. Only foresight.
And foresight alone couldn't kill a beast.
The Shadowfang lunged, jaws opening wide enough to swallow him whole.
[Script Prediction: Death in 2 seconds.]
The text was clear. Cold. Absolute.
But Ethan's lips curled into a grim smile.
"Not this time."
He twisted his body, ducking under the beast's jaw at the last possible moment. Instead of retreating, he pressed forward, sliding beneath its body. His hands grabbed a broken spear lying in the dirt, the shaft splintered but the iron tip still sharp.
He drove it upward, straight into the soft flesh between the wolf's ribs.
The Shadowfang howled, stumbling back as blood sprayed. It wasn't a killing blow. Not even close. But it was enough. Enough to prove the script wasn't absolute.
The System flickered.
[System Notice: Player Ethan has resisted a confirmed death.]
[System Notice: Title evolving…]
[New Title Acquired – The One Who Breaks the Script]
[Effect: Your predictions may now change under your actions. The future is no longer absolute.]
Gasps echoed from the surviving players.
"He he wounded it?"
"Impossible. That thing's untouchable!"
Ethan staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his hands. His chest heaved, his body screaming with exhaustion. But his eyes… his eyes burned with something terrifying.
The Shadow fang's ember gaze locked with his. It snarled, recognition flashing in its monstrous eyes, as if it knew him.
And Ethan whispered back, voice like a promise.
"I'll rewrite all of you. Even gods."
The beast roared, the cavern shaking as the battle raged on.
But for the first time, Ethan wasn't just surviving. He was fighting back.