The author who took on the pseudonym 'Thanatos.'

A name that was all too familiar among web novel readers far and wide.

Years of relentless grinding and completion of several books had solidified him as one of the top authors on the platform, making him a big shot of sorts.

And yet despite all his years of hard work, he still had this gnawing feeling within him.

It's said that you can't please all men. No matter how hard you try, there will always be those who oppose you and criticize your work, and Thanatos himself was no stranger to criticism.

He sat at his workstation in his room, angrily clicking the keys on his computer as he did something he always dreaded: replying to comments on his novels. Each moment felt like an eternity, filled with a mixture of frustration and annoyance.

Several paper coffee cups littered his desk and the floor of his poorly arranged room. The bags under his bloodshot eyes, a testament to the long hours spent in front of his computer, revealed a caffeine-driven young man in his thirties furiously clicking away at his keyboard.

'I can't wait for the next chapter, author. Please release it quickly!' read one of his comments.

A smile played across his face when he saw this. These few positive comments were what kept him going, aside from the endless amount of bills he had to constantly settle.

'You won't have to wait much longer. I'll get that new chapter out as soon as possible,' he responded. 

"And SEND!" he exclaimed as he clicked the enter button on his keyboard and stretched out his arms in the air.

It was another one of those nights, spending hours on end on his computer.

Thanatos had an adventurous spirit. He wanted to travel, explore, meet new people, and possibly get a girlfriend.

However, he had adopted the lifestyle of a shut-in to focus solely on writing.

He knew deep down that he couldn't keep using this as an excuse, as he was successful to some extent, and wasn't exactly struggling to make ends meet.

Alas, his lazy spirit kept him from accomplishing much beyond his writing, and he poured his earnings into a steady stream of manga volumes and other weeb paraphernalia.

With a sigh, he resumed his laborious task of sifting through reader comments. But among the encouraging messages and heartfelt praise, a dark tide of negativity and doubt had begun to swell. Skeptical readers voiced their displeasure with his recent chapters, like a horde of bloodthirsty trolls, ready to strike at the heart of his creativity.

'You don't properly explain some concepts you introduce, what a trash book.'

'When I saw that this book was written by a legend like yourself, I had high hopes. But honestly, this is absolute trash.'

'Your chapters lack quality, you're only focused on quantity!'

He clenched his teeth, gripping his mouse like a strangled neck. "Only focused on quantity? Try writing multiple books a day, you ungrateful critics! Average income, my ass! Settling bills isn't a cakewalk! I've sacrificed everything to pour my heart and soul into these stories," he yelled. 

Finally, in a fit of rage, he flung an empty paper cup across the room, ultimately doing little damage.

He slumped back into his chair and calmed himself down, breathing in and out slowly.

He decided to breeze through the rest of his comments quickly, and as he scrolled back and forth, he stopped when an unusual comment caught his eye.

It was a comment on his very first novel, from a reader whose profile was tagged as 'Anonymous' and had no profile picture.

He found it very unusual that anyone was still reading his first book, 'The Hero's Destiny.'

It was nothing short of a flop, and one he had to drop eventually. It lacked engagement and was barely generating him any income. He had no real reason to continue writing it.

And he'd already cut all ties with the book years ago, so to receive a comment under it now was a surprise to him.

He opened the comment, and it read thus: Why didn't you ever finish this book? It was so good.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise after reading this, clearly shocked by the contents of the comment.

A negative comment was the more realistic outcome, one slandering him for his poor writing, grammatical errors, and plot holes. But this comment was nothing he expected, and he couldn't help but feel pessimistic about it.

He began to type a response to the comment: I advise you to check out some of my more recent books instead, and not waste your time reading that one anymore. I never completed it because it didn't perform as well as I'd expected.

He was about to click the enter key to send the comment and be done with it. 

A decision had been made within him to hit the sack after this one comment; it had been a long night for him.

But he was interrupted by another comment, from the same reader.

'You'd better complete this book and finish the story…or else.'

Now he rolled his chair back a few feet and was even more intrigued.

"Who the heck is this guy?" he said to himself, taken aback by the unusual nature of the comment that now seemed to be a threat.

'Pfft, it's probably just a desperate reader. I shouldn't take him seriously,' he finally concluded in his head and rolled his chair forward, back to his computer.

Instinctively, he erased his response and shut down his computer, completely ignoring the message.

He made his way to his bed at the corner of the room and collapsed into it, utterly exhausted as all his pent-up fatigue hit him at once.

'What exactly are you doing with your life?' he thought to himself as he lay in bed, waiting to drift away into his dreams.

This didn't take long, and soon after, he was snoring loudly.

If he had read the wise words of Robert Greene, 'Never ignore a threat, even if you believe it is a bluff', he might have been more prepared for what was about to unfold. 

But ignorance, like a seductive lover, can lead even the brightest to their downfall.