"Come on... Come on, please update already, Author-nim!"

I'd been refreshing the page non-stop for an hour. The Stars Beyond Eternity—the novel that consumed my life—was finally reaching its most epic moment yet. The hero, Adrian Dawnblade, was about to face his greatest battle, and I was not going to miss it.

Ting!

The notification rang on my phone, and for a moment, my heart skipped a beat.

This was it. The chapter I'd been waiting for all week. It was finally here!

I slammed my finger on the screen, almost cracking it in my eagerness. "Alright, Adrian. Let's see you destroy this monster... kehehehe!" My grin stretched wide, my voice laced with venomous glee.

The chapter started strong. Adrian Dawnblade, the hero of heroes, the legendary protagonist, stood at the edge of a volcanic chasm, his sword glowing with divine energy.

Facing him was the massive, fire-wreathed colossus—The Infernal Titan. Its molten flesh dripped into the lava below, the air shimmering with heat and menace.

"Yes, yes, come on!" I leaned closer, biting my lip. "End him, Adrian. Finish him with a cool one-liner or something."

The air around Adrian crackled with power as he raised his sword, the ground beneath them trembling in anticipation.

This was it! The moment I'd been waiting for! What's he gonna do?!!

[To be continued.]

I froze.

"Huh...?"

No. No way.

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

"No."

I blinked once. Then twice.

"No, no, no!" My voice climbed with each word, practically reaching a falsetto by the end.

Frantically, I scrolled back up, convinced I must've missed something—maybe a hidden paragraph or some extra text hidden behind an ad.

There was nothing.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" I yelled, tossing my phone onto the couch. It bounced once before hitting the floor with a pathetic thud.

"Seriously? 'To be continued'?! I waited a whole WEEK for THAT?!"

I raked my hands through my hair, pacing the room like a man on trial for crimes he didn't commit.

"All you had to do was stab him, Adrian! Just one swing! ONE! Is that so hard?!"

Snatching my phone off the floor, I glared at the screen like it had personally wronged me.

"And the author—what the hell are you doing?! Taking tea breaks every two sentences? This chapter's shorter than my grocery list!"

I groaned dramatically, flopping onto the couch like my life had lost all meaning. "Why do I even read this? I could've done something productive with my week. Like… like learning calligraphy or… whatever people do to better themselves. But noooo, I just HAD to binge this stupid novel again."

For good measure, I scrolled back to reread the cliffhanger. Maybe it'd hurt less the second time.

It didn't.

"ARGHH! To hell with this!" I tossed my phone onto the couch again.

"I might as well just go eat something before I lose my mind completely."

I grabbed my wallet and phone, shoving them into my pocket as I headed out the door.

The crisp evening air greeted me, a welcome change from the suffocating frustration of cliffhangers and plot delays.

"Haaaa... It sure feels nice to get some fresh air." I closed my eyes and took a deep breadth.

As I walked down the dimly lit street , my mind couldn't help but wander to The Stars Beyond Eternity. Adrian Dawnblade, the so-called "hero of heroes".

What a joke. He's supposed to be a savior of the world, yet he can't even finish a fight without the author throwing a To be Continued at me.

Just stab the damn monster already!!

My name's Elliot Crane, by the way. I'm 25 years old and your average overworked corporate drone.

By day, I'm buried in emails and meetings that could've been emails.

By night? I'm here, obsessing over webnovels like my life depends on them. Which, frankly, it kind of does. Without them, I'd probably lose what little sanity I have left.

Reading webnovels started as a hobby, something to take the edge off the work. But this novel.. It just hits differently. The characters, the plot twists, the world-building—it was all so damn good, I fell down the rabbit hole and never looked back.

Now, I'm basically a sleep-deprived zombie thanks to this masterpiece. One more late night, and I'll probably qualify as an extra in the next undead apocalypse novel.

The fluorescent glow of the convenience store came into view, its automatic doors sliding open with a cheerful chime as I stepped inside.

Rows of neatly stacked shelves stretched out before me, the faint buzz of the lights providing a strange sense of comfort.

My eyes scanned the shelves before zeroing in on my usual picks.

Spicy Cup noodles? Check. Chocolate milkshake? Absolutely. No way was I surviving tonight without my go-to meal of champions.

"Siipppp! Aghh, so yummy!" I took another long sip of my chocolate milkshake, the sweetness hitting just right. Walking down the quiet street with this liquid bliss in hand, I felt an odd sense of peace.

Seriously, chocolate milkshakes are the best. I dare anyone to prove me wrong!

Coffee drinkers? Please. Bitter liquid pretending to be fancy? No thanks. People who drink plain milk? Psychopaths.

Don't even get me started on tea—like, what is that? Hot leaf water? Gross.

I took another blissful sip as I rambled on in my head. 

HONNNK!

The sudden blaring of a horn yanked me out of my milkshake-induced bliss.

My feet stopped mid-stride as I looked up, the straw still in my mouth.

Headlights.

Not just any headlights—a pair of them, glaring at me like twin suns.

It took a moment for my brain to catch up. I was in the middle of the road. The middle of the freaking road. How had I even gotten here?

I blinked, slowly pulling the straw out of my mouth. "Huh?"

It was a truck. A big one. Barreling toward me. No driver in sight. Just an empty cab and those blinding headlights charging straight at me.

Weird. Shouldn't it be slowing down? Why is it speeding up?

Wait… no driver?

My brain sputtered to life, piecing things together at an agonizingly slow pace. My legs, however, decided this was the perfect time to take a vacation.

"Move, Elliot, MOVE!" I yelled, trying to force my body into action. My legs wobbled, and I managed one awkward shuffle to the side, which accomplished absolutely nothing.

The truck surged closer, horn blaring like it was mocking me.

My heart pounded like a war drum. This was it. My life flashing before my eyes wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped. Just work, webnovels, and an embarrassing amount of instant noodles.

The truck loomed closer, its headlights burning into my retinas.

My brain short-circuited, and instead of trying harder to escape, I froze.

This is it. This is destiny. Truck-Kun has chosen me.

If this was how it was going to end, I might as well embrace it.

With a burst of delusional acceptance, I threw my arms wide, abandoning my chocolate milkshake to the pavement.

"Take me to the world of mana, magic, and beautiful heroines! I'm ready!"

WHAM!

The world spun. I felt weightless for a moment, like a plastic bag caught in the wind. Then reality slammed back into me as I hit the pavement with all the grace of a dropped watermelon.

Everything hurt. My ribs, my head, my pride. The faint smell of asphalt mixed with… chocolate milkshake? Oh, right. That was mine.

Darkness started to creep into my vision. This is it. I thought dying would be more... cinematic.

Man, I didn't even get to finish my noodles.

***

Beep! Beep!

The sound dragged me out of unconsciousness like a sledgehammer to the skull. It wasn't gentle or welcoming—more like the universe's way of telling me to wake up and suffer.

My eyelids felt glued shut, but I forced them open, squinting against the harsh fluorescent lights above me. White walls. The sterile smell of disinfectant. Machines whirring and beeping all around.

Oh no.

I wasn't in another world.

I was in a hospital.

Am I in the afterlife's waiting room? My gaze drifted to the ceiling. Nope. That was definitely a crack in the plaster, not some divine portal.

"Guess not." I muttered, my voice raspy and weak. Every word felt like it was scraping against sandpaper.

A blurry figure leaned over me—a nurse, her face a mix of concern and panic.

"Doctor! He's awake!"

Another face appeared above me—a doctor, masked, serious, and holding something sharp that I really didn't want near me.

"Hey, doc.. am I dying?"

"Please hang in there, you're in critical condition."

Ah Shit...I should've woken up in a mystical world. Mana, magic, beautiful heroines, the works. Instead, I'm here. In this depressing hellhole.

I wanted to scream, but even that felt impossible. My body was too broken, too weak to do anything but lie here and endure.

I should've gotten a cheat ability or, like, some overpowered blessing. Not… this.

The machines started beeping faster, and then alarms blared. The doctor's head shot up.

"He's crashing! Prep the paddles!"

Oh no. No, no, no.

My chest felt tight, and panic set in.

This isn't how it ends. It can't be. Not like this. Not hooked up to machines in a cold hospital room.

The shame hit harder than the truck ever could. You're not a protagonist, Elliot. You're not even a side character. You're just some idiot who got pancaked in the middle of the street.

My mind scrambled for some shred of hope, but it was useless.

The truth slammed into me: I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die.

Seriously?! THIS is how I go? Run over by a driverless truck, dragged into surgery, only to get offed by some malfunctioning machine?

This is fucking bullshit!!

The machines let out a pathetic wheeze. The beeping stopped. The nurse screamed something, but her words blurred together like static.

I felt my body give up, the world fading into a distant hum.

What a way to go.

My final coherent thought before the darkness swallowed me?

Fuck you, Truck-Kun!