[ Standing atop the remains of the condemned, the Reaper: Reol Montressor, raised his scythe to greet the world. ]
A low ping echoed in his skull. Reol stared at the sky where his name was mentioned in a translucent interface that only 'he' could see.
Reol didn't resist; he merely followed the words as they appeared.
Slowly, he lifted his scythe.
The crimson sun caught its blade, and the reflection revealed the rotten battlefield beneath the thousands of corpses.
[ He casts his final judgment. ]
And the sky split open.
White light burst from the heavens, crashing down like divine fire. The shadow-like beasts below shrieked and clawed at their faces, melting under the radiance.
Reol watched in pity as he swung his blade below.
The scythe carved through the air, and with that motion, it appeared as if the wind itself fractured. In a single sweeping arc, everything, including the soil, the corpses, even the sky, was reduced to ash.
[ And the young reaper smiled, kissing goodbye to the world he once knew. ]
Just as the script said, Reol let a small smile.
He closed his eyes and embraced the consuming brilliance. His form dissolved, particle by particle, until even his name was erased.
The last thing to fade was the echo of the system's final message.
[ Chapter 1028: Goodbye World (end.) ]
***
A faint sound of rain echoed in the dark.
Drip... drip...
Reol stirred awake.
He found himself inside a small apartment.
Empty wrappers littered the desk, crumpled papers formed mountains around a dying lamp, and the faint smell of instant noodles lingered in the air.
He wasn't surprised. How could he be? He had known this place for as long as he could remember.
Reol turned his head slowly, and he could see someone sitting beside him.
It was a young man with messy black hair hunched over a laptop, as his fingers trembled slightly as he clicked the cursor.
[ Submit: Chapter 1028... ]
Moments later, the comment section began to flood the website.
[ Anonymous Rat: I really like the story! Thank you for the update, author! ]
[ Anonymous Worm: Please update soon, author! ]
[ Anonymous Cat: <3 Hoping to see my boy Reol again! ]
And then, as always, the others came.
[ Anonymous Dog: Another dogshit rushed chapter. ]
[ Anonymous Cattle: d!3 d!3 d!3 ]
[ Anonymous Finger: The author loves his OP characters too much. It's boring. ]
With an apathetic emotion, Reol gazes at the man beside him.
That man was visibly irritated as he read the comment section one by one. Veins popped in his forehead, his jaw tightened and he began to curse out loud.
"Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck you, fuckkk youuu!"
The laptop rattled as he slammed his fist beside it, knocking over cans of coke and papers. Then, crack spidered across the screen.
Reol sighed quietly and pulled his knees to his chest, watching him unravel, doing nothing but watch him with disdain.
"Here he goes again," he murmured.
He wanted to reach out, to calm him, maybe remind him to breathe, but he couldn't. He never could. The man couldn't even see him, let alone to try talk to him.
Thus, as always, all Reol could do was watch his daily life until the author decided to continue writing the book again.
He couldn't help but wonder...
When would this person finally start Chapter 1029?
If Reol remembered correctly, it took almost two weeks before the man even began writing Chapter 1028.
Two weeks of discarded drafts, each one another cycle, Reol was forced to relive. Again and again, watching the different scenes rise and crumble.
Though he wasn't mad about the inconvenience. But back then, he would have been furious.
After all, that person was supposed to be his God.
The one who had given him life, a past, a name, and a world. And the one who decided who lived, who died, who loved, and who was forgotten.
He was a foolish God... so foolish he couldn't bear to face the words of his own readers. An immature creator, trembling at every failure, no matter how small. And a cruel being, consumed by envy and bitterness at the success of others.
Despite all the harsh comments, all the hate he had endured through the years, he never learned to accept them. Instead, he only broke himself further each time.
How pitiful.
A God without friends, without family, without anyone to care for him, locked away in this tiny room, clinging to a story he could no longer love.
Reol pitied him... so deeply that he no longer pitied himself.
So he learned acceptance.
He played the role he was given. He became the character his God wished to see... and wished, silently, for his author's peace.
Still, a thought lingered in his heart.
(Will my thoughts ever reach him?)
Reol watched his author's daily life unfold before him.
Playing games on his console.
Watching TV.
Eating the most unhealthy meals Reol had ever seen.
Even taking a bath.
There were times when the author would suddenly leave the room without a word. Reol never questioned it as he simply waited. After all, he couldn't go anywhere beyond the laptop, and it doesn't really matter to him what his God would do.
It had been five months since then.
And Reol couldn't help but wonder when his author would finally continue the story...
Or maybe… he wouldn't?
The thought clawed at him, filling him with a quiet dread.
If his author decided to abandon it entirely... Then he will trapped in this world forever.
Not as someone, but a mere ghost tied through his God's laptop.
Though he doesn't like his own world either, having to be controlled by him without free will. It's not that boring than to be a ghost without anyone to talk to.
Now that he thinked about it... Maybe it's much interesting to watch the story his God created, than to watch his daily life...
(' May he decided to open his laptop again')
And then, as if the heavens themselves had heard his plea, the author returned.
He opened his laptop, and the familiar website was clicked.
Reol waited patiently, ready for the moment his author would start typing again, and it would be the moment he could return to his world.
But what came next wasn't what he expected.
The author opened the settings of the book… and clicked—
[Delete.]
Was it worry? Sorrow? Fear? Reol couldn't tell. The emotions he thought died long ago came flooding back.
"What are you doing?!"
He reached out to the man, to the God who made him, but his hand merely passed through like smoke. He could see his own fingers flickering, like pixels peeling away into static.
"No... Stop it!"
The world around him began to tremble, the edges of the apartment folding into white noise, and he could feel the pain surge through him at once.
Then he heard it.
The voice of the God once more.
"I give up. It doesn't matter to me anymore…"
Reol's eyes widened in anger and disbelief as a force began to pull him away. His body trembled, fragmenting at the edges, yet he still reached out, desperate to grasp the fading figure before him.
"Stop messing around! You can't just discard me like this!!!"
"HEY!!"
"YOU SHITTTY AUTHOR!"
But his voice remained unheard until he was dragged away by the void completely.
[ Book Deleted completely ]