With a heavy sigh, I rolled lazily across the floor—no, wait... glass floor? Eh, whatever. I stared blankly at the endless galaxies above me. Started drawing shapes, connecting the dots, just to pass the time.
'Sigh, not even 10 minutes have passed, and it already feels like time's dragging on for eternity... I'm so f*cking bored.'
[Cussed word detected. Additional 5 minutes for punishment.]
[Temporary mute for 2 hours and 10 minutes.]
'Geez…'
When you grow up surrounded by swearing, it becomes like second nature. At 27, I've cursed like it's an art form. And now, stuck in this otherworldly system, I'm fighting to keep that habit in check.
'...human playing the role of God of Death…'
The silence was so loud, my mind wandered back to the contract's content.
Writing was supposed to be all fun and games, a way for me to escape reality—but somehow, it's turned into a nightmare for the people on that planet. What was meant to be a playful twist to develop my protagonist has instead become a cruel fate for them.
'Haah... Is this really happening? Or is some entity just messing with me?'
I shook my head. Thinking like that won't help me fix anything.
What's done is done. Time to focus on the present and prioritize my life over theirs.
Just then, the system beeps again.
[Preparation complete.]
Like a mic dropped on the floor, a terrible sound echoed through space, ringing endlessly.
Then, a massive, metallic old golden clock loomed above. It had hundreds of Roman numerals and delicate runes etched along its sides. Countless small clock hands, each with its own unique length and design, spun around, but the most striking was the larger hand made of silver and diamond, gleaming at its tip.
As the smallest hand started ticking, the surroundings trembled, causing the ornaments on the ornate table to shake. The real chaos began when all the smaller hands spun forward at once, cracks forming in the air like a crystal glass shattering.
I suddenly shot to my feet, nerves jangling. Whatever entity had trapped me here, it felt as though they were losing their grip on this space. If it breaks, I'll be sucked into an endless dimension—no way of knowing where I'll end up, no escape, no oxygen. Just the cold, empty void to swallow me whole.
But then, something worse happened. The nearest star, orbiting in the area, began spinning violently, as if it were on the verge of exploding. Its energy twisted the very space around me, like a massive whirlpool pulling everything toward it.
I felt nauseous, as if I were about to puke at any moment, desperately praying the space wouldn't break.
'Dear spirits of heaven and earth, Btman, Suprman, Irn Man… anyone who can save me...'
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my hands against my ears. The chaotic sounds of a ticking clock and shattering glass grew deafening.
'SYSTEM, please, I beg you, bring me back already!'
Then, a long, drawn-out beep echoed through the air, followed by the sharp click of something shifting. My eyes caught a glimpse of the larger hand of the clock ticking backward, and in an instant, I was consumed by black feathers, blurring my vision.
Everything fell silent. Then, after a few seconds, a low buzzing sound pierced the stillness. Just as I looked to see what was happening…
[ Quest: Locat[] and S[]ve The In[]ocent On[] ]
Time Duration: 7 days and 2 hours
Location: Annonno-o's Forest
Condition: The author must succeed without interfering Kaiser's destiny.
Rewards:
- 10 RP points
- Eye of Tharm (skill)
- The Map of Yoodok (skill)
Failure: Death
A window popped up as I was passed by large insects buzzing around, storing honey—the flamebees monsters.
They had bee heads and firefly bodies, though they were about the size of a cocoa fruit.
The honey stored in their stomachs and tails lit up the dark forest, blinking in and out of sight. They busily collecting nectar from bioluminescent flowers clinging to the branches, adding to the forest's glowing aura.
I could hardly believe my eyes. These creatures, this forest—everything was just as I had imagined. A world, no, a dream, brought to life by the very words I had written. It felt surreal, like something I had only imagined was now standing before me in full, vibrant reality.
'They're so beautiful.'
Flamebees are nocturnal monsters, known for being harmless and low-level. If they're here, it means the forest is safe from other monsters. These insects have sharp senses and can detect predators, especially strong ones, and avoid them.
Relief washed over me. I was back on solid ground, and the place the system dropped me was safe. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the soft, grassy ground.
Looking at the quest, I noticed the system wasn't perfect either—some of the letters were off.
'Hmmm... Saving an innocent one.'
Knowing Kaiser, the protagonist, was at Rose-Lilith Pub, a bag of coins in each hand, I realized this was definitely the first scenario in the book. But, as I remembered, a lot of people died in the first arc.
The grandmother, some slaves, the slavers, and the protagonist's friend.
Based on the clues—the location of the quest and its time—it had to be that event. That marked the start of Kaiser's descent into darkness, the moment that would shape him into the vengeful protagonist I had written.
The book Syntellizyor Way to Become Monarch: Kaiser's Era begins when the protagonist, Kaiser, heads to the Ro-se Lilith Pub in Hewarava to inquire about his friend's whereabouts. He buys information from one of the informants of the Azura Guild—the pub's oldest waiter and the owner's brother.
Kaiser, a young prince, had escaped an assassination attempt orchestrated by his uncle Albert, who had seized the throne through a coup, with the help of several nobles. With the aid of his loyal knight, Kaiser managed to flee to Empire's southernmost forest, using a teleportation scroll his knight had torn to activate.
In that forest, a young man found the wounded Kaiser and helped him recover. Over time, they went from strangers to friends, then brothers. The young man became someone Kaiser deeply relied on—an important person who gave him a sense of peace amid the chaos.
But when this friend went missing, Kaiser desperately searched for him, even enlisting the expensive aid of the Azura Guild.
When Kaiser discovered his friend had been sold to slavers and was being transported to the Imperial Palace in a slave convoy, he enlisted the Guild's help to track it down. He chased after them with everything he had—but he was just a second too late. His friend had been killed while trying to escape and save the other captives.
His friend's body lay sprawled across the dirt, as lifeless as the wilted flowers around him, his outstretched hand frozen in one last, desperate plea for freedom.
For a moment, Kaiser froze, his breath hitching as disbelief and horror coursed through him. His mind raced, grasping at any shred of hope that this was some cruel mistake, but the lifeless eyes of his friend told him otherwise.
And worst of all, the elderly woman who had helped him—whom Kaiser and his friend had come to think of as their grandmother—was there too, her life extinguished without mercy.
Witnessing the brutal end of his last shred of peace, Kaiser was consumed by a cold fury. He tore through every slaver in his path, slaughtering them without mercy in a blood-soaked rampage. The surviving slaves, trembling, whispered in fear, "A Reaper of Darkness has Descended."
That night, Kaiser swore to bring down Albert at any cost.
This was the first major conflict in Kaiser's journey, marking the moment he lost his very first friend. The loss drove him to become stronger, vowing never to lose anyone again.
Though it froze his heart, protecting him from feeling that same pain, it also marked a turning point. His friend had been the last person he allowed himself to feel at peace with, the final straw that propelled him toward vengeance.
Indifferent to the world, Kaiser began seeing others as mere tools—nothing more. This experience ignited his hatred for the weak, fueling his relentless pursuit of revenge.
Of course, all of this happened before he met Elyana, his second savior and the one who would restore his humanity.
'Hmmm, isn't it obvious that the one I need to save is Kaiser's friend? Isn't this easy? And I still have one week before that event happens. With all the gold coins I have, I could ask the Azura Guild for help and request they discreetly save my target. I know they have elite members, stronger than those slavers.'
As long as they weren't key characters in my story, I could ask for help and still manage to keep Kaiser's goal of defeating the emperor intact. After all, it was his destiny.
'I just need to save his friend and kidnap him, to keep Kaiser's motivation on track.'
I had it all planned out in my head. Everything was set, and then... I jinxed it.
'HU-WHAT?!'
[Warning! Target health points are below normal.]
[HP decreasing: 1,534//10,000]
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[Muted for 35 minutes and 7 seconds.]
[Quest time remaining: 7 days, 1 hour, and 36 minutes.]