Ethan stared at the screen, his bloodshot eyes reflecting the glowing text of the novel editor. The cursor blinked like a heartbeat, mocking him with its silence. His latest chapter sat unpublished another piece of his "greatest work" that nobody would read.
For eleven years, he had written faithfully, chapter after chapter, volume after volume. His magnum opus, The Eternal Labyrinth, stretched over five million words. A vast world filled with kingdoms, towers, dungeons, heroes, villains, betrayals, and climaxes.
And yet… no one cared.
A handful of readers at first. Then trickles of comments that died out. For the past two years, the only feedback he got was silence. His subscriber count had withered to almost nothing. Sponsors? None existent. Donations? A joke.
"Eleven years wasted," Ethan muttered, dragging his hand down his tired face. His lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Guess nobody wants a story about labyrinths and towers anymore."
He hovered the mouse over the "Delete Novel" button.
This wasn't an impulsive decision. He had thought about it for months. Without income, his rent was overdue. His fridge was empty. His family had stopped calling years ago. He had sacrificed everything to tell this story, and the world had responded with indifference.
Click.
A confirmation window popped up: Are you sure you want to delete this novel? This action cannot be undone.
Ethan hesitated, then chuckled dryly. "No one will miss it. Not even me."
Click.
The screen went blank.
And then… the world itself seemed to blink.
The lights flickered. His computer buzzed strangely, the speakers crackling with static. Ethan pulled back from his chair, heart skipping a beat.
Then, across the blank screen, words appeared. Not typed by him. Not part of the editor.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: STORY INTEGRATION INITIATED]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: ALL HUMANS NOW SUBJECT TO CHAPTER CLEARANCE.]
[SYSTEM ALERT: SURVIVE UNTIL THE END.]
"What the hell…" Ethan whispered, rubbing his eyes. His apartment felt wrong—too quiet, too heavy, like the air itself was charged with electricity.
Outside, a low rumble shook the buildings. He moved to the window and saw the street in chaos. Cars overturned, the concrete cracked as something large moved through the city. Monstrous shapes he had drawn countless times in his own stories now roamed freely. Winged beasts, hulking brutes, and skeletal warriors tore through the streets.
A system window floated in midair, blinking:
[MISSION UPDATED: TUTORIAL FLOOR – SURVIVE UNTIL THE END]
Ethan blinked. He should have panicked. He should have screamed. Instead, a dry chuckle escaped him. "Well… it's like my novel came to life. Guess I finally got readers."
He took a deep breath, observing. Every detail was exactly like he had written—down to the cracks in the concrete where the minotaur's hooves struck. But… something was off. Some monsters hesitated, as if aware he was watching. Others moved differently than he imagined. The story had a mind of its own.
Footsteps echoed. From the shadows of the broken street, a man in shining armor approached, sword glinting. He looked exactly like the hero Ethan had written as the story's protagonist.
"You there!" the hero barked, pointing. "Get out of the way, commoner. You don't belong here!"
Ethan raised his hands, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Relax, I'm just… observing."
The hero sneered. "Observing won't save you when this floor is cleared!"
It was then Ethan realized—the "tutorial floor" was already active. He had a system, a world, and a set of rules he could barely manipulate yet. And though the hero mocked him, Ethan knew something they didn't: which monsters were weak, which traps were harmless, and where the exits were.
[SYSTEM ALERT: NEW TITLE EARNED – THE LONE QUILL]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: MINOR META-ABILITY UNLOCKED – SCRIPT PREDICTION]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: OBSERVATION EDGE ACQUIRED]
A faint golden aura shimmered around him, unnoticed by most, but it made the mocking hero instinctively step back. Ethan grinned. "Guess the author does get a little say in the story."
He didn't fight immediately. Instead, he sidestepped, watched, and nudged the world ever so slightly. A trapdoor triggered, but instead of landing on him, a skeletal warrior fell through it. He tilted his head, murmuring sarcastically, "Well, I suppose even the floor wants to make me look clever."
A Murim master appeared, a black-clad figure moving with blinding speed across the street, dispatching goblins with fluid strikes. He gave Ethan a sideways glance, nodding slightly. Others whispered and stared, unsure why a seemingly frail man drew no attention from the monsters yet.
Ethan ducked behind debris, scribbling notes in his mind: which monster ignored him, which NPCs could be trusted, and which streets led to danger. Humor bubbled through his thoughts. "I always wanted people to pay attention to my story… just never like this."
Hours passed. Ethan avoided confrontation, occasionally nudging events to survive. He discovered a ruined shop that functioned like a hub, filled with NPCs offering side quests and rest. A samurai polished his blade silently; a Greek hoplite adjusted his shield formation. They didn't speak much to Ethan, but the air around him made them cautious, as though aware of something invisible.
By the time night fell, the tutorial floor had been mostly cleared by chaos and careful navigation. The mocking hero, exhausted and frustrated, finally glanced at Ethan. "How… how did you survive?"
Ethan leaned against a cracked wall, arms crossed, smirking. "Luck. Observation. And maybe a little bit of authorial privilege."
Above, faint whispers echoed a voice that sounded neither male nor female, ancient and knowing. Gods, perhaps, or something far older. They had noticed him.
The system flickered one last time before vanishing for the night:
[MISSION COMPLETE: TUTORIAL FLOOR CLEARED]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: TITLE CONFIRMED – THE LONE QUILL]
[SYSTEM ALERT: META-ABILITY STABILIZED – SCRIPT PREDICTION ACTIVE]
Ethan looked up at the sky, where the moon glimmered over the ruined city. A faint smile crossed his lips. "Well, first floor done. And they say being a failed writer gets you nowhere. Guess I just wrote my way out of that one."
He didn't know what awaited him in the next floor. Gods, monsters, and heroes unknown. But for now… he survived. And that was enough.