Reol's head turned slowly.
His eyes trembled, and he could feel an invisible pressure tighten around his throat.
Was it fear that stole his words… or was it the shock of realising something impossible might be possible happening?
It definitely caught him off guard, so much so that he found his whole strength had disappeared instantly.
But even so, he forced his voice through the weight pressing down on him.
"…You can hear me?"
For a fleeting time, hope flickered in his eyes.
The thought that, after all this time, there might finally be something real in this world.
Someone who could answer him.
Someone who existed beyond scripted dialogue.
Alas, the author did not respond.
Instead, the author continued muttering to himself. Talking as if he was arguing with himself, walking from one corner and another, with a visible annoyance look written on his face.
"What am I even working so hard for…?" A hollow laugh escaped the author's lips. "I don't even remember what my goal was anymore."
Reol's expectation was immediately shattered like a glass.
For a moment, he thought he could really get a chance to talk to him. But it appears that all of it was just a false hope.
He was actually disappointed... but Reol convinced himself that it might not be a good idea if 'He' could see him.
After all, what profound conversation could possibly exist between two self-deprecating beings who had already exhausted every excuse for their own worth?
Once that self-muttering was done, the author stood and turned back toward the laptop.
Reol followed without thinking.
His feet moved before his mind could protest. With every step, curiosity curdled. Then, his gaze lowered to the screen.
And in that instant, comprehension struck him with clarity.
He could see that the author clicked on the novel's file.
Held it.
And dragged it slowly toward the recycle bin.
Time seemed to stretch with each second, distending painfully, and something inside Reol's mind collapsed.
"No..."
This was a deletion.
"No… no, no—this can't be…" The words fell apart as they left his mouth. "If he deletes it… If I end here… then what was any of it for?"
The deaths of everyone he knew.
The so-called heroic deeds he was forced to perform.
The effort poured into a script that still haunts him in his sleep.
The bodies that haunted every step he took.
Were they all nothing more than disposable drafts? Was it just scenes written only to be consumed, judged, and thrown away?
The thought hollowed him out.
And for the first time, Reol felt something worse than despair... he felt meaningless.
Reol surged forward.
Instead of passing through, his hand slammed into something solid barrier. An invisible wall rejected him with indifference.
"No—!"
He struck it again as desperation forced strength into a body that was already failing.
This time, thin cracks of static crept along his arm, crawling beneath his skin like fractures. His fingers twisted altogether, breaking apart into flickering fragments of light before vanishing altogether.
Reol stared at the empty space where they had been. "What… what's happening to me…?" And panic flooded him.
His legs stuttered, phasing in and out of existence.
His knees nearly gave way as his form failed to stabilise.
His vision tore at the edges, and he could see the room smearing and fragmenting like a scene being unloaded in a broken recorder.
Then... A familiar, translucent system interface materialised directly in front of his face.
[ System: Warning. Do you wish to delete the novel "The S-Class Arts Magician"? ]
The question was obviously not meant for him.
But that realisation only made the terror inside him worse.
"No! No—don't!" Reol screamed out loud.
[ System: Understood. Deletion will commence shortly. ]
"You can't—!"
[ System: 0%… ]
"You can't abandon me!"
[ System: 50%… ]
Reol pounded against the invisible wall again and again, until his fist began to bleed. His strikes grew clumsy, his movements continued uncoordinated as more of his body began to dissolve. His screams filled the room.
Understanding that he can't do anything against it, Reol let out a small plea.
"Please…"
For a brief second, his gaze met the author's.
Their eyes locked through the invisible barrier, and Reol could see the author's lips move from there.
"Sorry…"
Just one word... and it was enough.
Reol collapsed where he stood.
In that moment, he understood.
His god did not need to kill him.
All he had to do… was to stop writing.
"I see... so this is how it should end..."
[ System: Novel Deletion Complete ]
****
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[ System:... Initiating reboot... ]
[ System:... C-...an...someone...hear me...? ]