"I'm sorry, but I'll have to fire you if this continues."
That day, I lost my job as a director.
Since the industry kept getting more diverse and unique, my cliche taste couldn't keep up. All the stories I had wanted to direct were all rejected as they were no longer appealing to the majority of today's audience. And because I was so stubborn on the fact that I didn't want to change, my manager gave me the choice of being fired or having to appease the majority.
I was in low spirits as I dragged my feet to leave the studio. Looking back one last time, I saw the large entrance sign with fancy letters stating 'Cinemata'.
It was one of the biggest movie making industries in the world. The lone fact that I had lost my job at such a place was both embarrassing and depressing. I soon got on a bus and arrived at my apartment.
Arriving home, I opened the door only to be met with a barely furnished room. My shoulders were slouched as I threw aside my suitcase and took off my coat. I didn't bother to take a shower as I immediately plopped myself to bed. Thinking that it would improve my mood, I browsed through my phone.
I saw a few reccomendations on my browser page. A reccomended novel caught my attention with its title.
[Reccomendations: Try reading 'The Final Punishment']
Tapping on the link, a new tab showed up to lead me to the site. I decided to give it a try since I had nothing I better to do. It had a total of 58 chapters. I found it surprising as to how little they were. I started to read from the beginning till the end, and by the time I had finished, the curtains covering my window emitted soft rays of sunlight.
My eyes, which were exhausted from reading all night long, squinted and I checked the time. 05: 43 am. A sigh escaped my mouth and I rubbed my eyes. I was too invested in the story that I had forgotten to sleep.
'It was interesting, at least.'
The novel was about a person called a [Punisher]. The moment they were brought to life, a scroll guided them with what they needed to do. He did everything as told, not caring about the difficulties he had to face. And at the end of the novel, the confusing open ending stuck with me.
'A new message on the scroll began to form. The words were ominously written with a dark aura surrounding it.
The [Punisher]'s pupils turned hollow at the contents of the message. Soon after, the scroll disappeared, leaving him to stand alone on the bloodied battlefield.'
There was no further explanation as to what was going to happen to the main character afterwards. The only hint was that the message on the scroll definitely wasn't something they had expected.
I felt the need to look for theories from other readers in the comment section, but not a single comment was seen. And when I searched up the novel's name, there were no topics relating to it at all. Going back to the site were the novel was, I found the author's email and sent them a message.
'I would like to ask about the strange ending of your novel, the final punishment. It's a bit open ended, which is why I want to ask about the meaning behind it.'
I hesitated at first, but I pushed through on sending it. Right as I was about to turn off my phone, the author instantly replied back.
'Would you want to see for yourself the true ending of the story?'
I refreshed the screen several times and the message was still clearly displayed. It was surprising to me that the author had quickly responded. The fact that it wasn't even seconds later was more baffling. Were they waiting for someone to email them? The timing was odd, if that truly was the case.
My fingers moved as they typed back a simple answer.
'Yes.'
Not another message came after that and I shrugged it off as I went to sleep.
Though I found it disappointing that they didn't at least give me a sign that they wouldn't tell me. But then I thought of the possibility that they could be writing an entire essay just to explain the ending.
My vision grew darker and I had already fallen asleep.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a robotic voice echoed through dim space.