With a heavy sigh, I rolled lazily across the floor—no, wait… a glass floor? Eh, whatever this space was called.
The surface beneath me felt unnaturally cold against my back, smooth as polished ice. Above stretched endless galaxies, stars flickering softly like breathing lights in an infinite abyss. I stared blankly at them and started drawing random shapes in the air, connecting dots of light just to pass the time.
'Sigh, not even ten 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…'
Growing up surrounded by swearing made it feel like second nature. At twenty-seven, cursing had practically become an art form. And now, stuck inside this bizarre otherworldly system, I was fighting for my life trying to hold my tongue.
…a human forced to play the role of the God of Death.
Being alone made the silence louder somehow. It pressed heavily against my ears until my thoughts wandered back to the contract.
Writing was supposed to be fun—a temporary escape from reality. Yet somehow, without even realizing it, I had turned it into a nightmare for the people living in that world. What was meant to be an entertaining twist for my protagonist had become a cruel fate for countless lives.
'Haah… Is this really happening? Or is some higher being just screwing with me?'
I shook my head hard.
Thinking like that wouldn't fix anything.
What's done is done. Gonna focus on my survival first.
Just then, the system beeped again.
[Preparation complete.]
The moment the message appeared, a terrible metallic sound exploded across the space.
KRRRNNNNGGGG!!!
It echoed endlessly, sharp enough to make my teeth ache.
A massive golden clock suddenly loomed above me.
No… "massive" wasn't enough to describe it.
It looked like the severed head of some ancient mechanical giant staring down from the heavens. Tarnished gold covered its surface, old and weathered, while hundreds of Roman numerals rotated along its edges. Strange runes glowed faintly between the carvings, pulsing like veins beneath metal skin.
Countless clock hands spun wildly across its face, each different in shape and length, but the most terrifying was the largest hand made of silver and diamond, its sharp tip gleaming coldly beneath the starlight.
Tick.
When the smallest hand moved, the entire space trembled.
The ornate table nearby rattled violently as metallic ornaments clinked against one another. Then all at once,
TICKTICKTICKTICK!
The smaller hands spun forward in a frenzy.
A violent force burst through the air.
Cracks spread around me like shattered crystal glass, splintering through space itself.
I shot to my feet, my pulse spiking.
Whatever power was maintaining this place… it felt unstable now. Like it was losing control.
If this space shattered completely, I'd be thrown into some endless dimension with no oxygen, no direction, no escape.
Just an empty void waiting to swallow me whole.
And somehow… something even worse happened.
One of the nearby stars suddenly began spinning violently.
Its light twisted and stretched unnaturally, turning into a blazing whirlpool of energy that distorted the surrounding space. The pressure in the air grew heavy. My stomach churned violently as if my organs were being crushed and stretched apart at the same time.
A sharp wave of nausea hit me, making me slapped a hand over my mouth.
'Dear spirits of heaven and earth, Btman, Suprman, Irn Man… whoever has omnipotent powers, please save this space… and me…'
The ticking grew louder.
Glass shattered endlessly around me. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears, but the sounds only became more deafening.
My fear worsened.
'OH DEAREST SYSTEM, PLEASE SAVE MEEEE!'
I cried out like a terrified child.
"....."
Silence followed like time paused for a second, then
BEEEEEEP!
A long mechanical sound echoed through the void.
Click.
Something shifted.
I barely caught sight of the giant silver hand ticking backward before black feathers suddenly exploded around me. They brushed against my skin softly, cold and weightless, swallowing my vision whole.
A few seconds passed.
Then came the low buzzing sound near my ears.
Curious, I slowly peeked through the feathers.
[ 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 with Kaiser's destiny.
Rewards:
10 RP points
Eye of Tharm (skill)
The Map of Yoodok (skill)
Failure: Death
A translucent window floated before me while large insects buzzed past my shoulders, carrying glowing honey inside their bodies.
'The Flamebees Monsters.'
Their appearance was strange yet oddly beautiful. They had fuzzy bee heads paired with elongated firefly bodies, each one roughly the size of a cocoa fruit.
Golden honey sloshed gently inside their translucent stomachs and tails, casting warm flickering lights across the dark forest. The soft glow blinked in and out between the trees like floating lanterns. Around them, bioluminescent flowers clung to twisted branches, releasing a faint sweet scent into the cool night air while the Flamebees busily gathered nectar.
The forest shimmered quietly with life.
I could hardly believe my eyes.
These creatures… this forest…
Everything looked exactly as I had imagined.
No, even more beautiful.
A world once trapped inside my head now stood before me in vivid reality. The leaves swayed softly overhead, brushing against one another with faint rustling sounds, while glowing pollen drifted lazily through the air like tiny stars.
It felt unreal.
Like a dream my own words had accidentally brought to life.
'They're so beautifu—urrrkkk!'
A violent churn twisted my stomach.
The moment relief washed over me, nausea hit twice as hard.
My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the soft grassy ground, immediately throwing up everything I had eaten. The bitter taste burned my throat while tears formed at the corners of my eyes.
'That was a hell of an experience,' I complained weakly, wiping my mouth with the back of my sleeve.
'Phew…'
The damp scent of soil and grass filled my nose as I laid there for a moment, catching my breath.
Flamebees were nocturnal monsters known for being harmless low-level creatures. If they were calmly roaming nearby, it meant stronger monsters weren't around. Their senses were incredibly sharp, especially toward dangerous predators, and they instinctively avoided places with powerful mana signatures.
Which meant this area was safe.
Probably.
Looking back at the quest window, I noticed some letters were glitched or incomplete.
'Hmmm… Saving an innocent one.'
Sitting cross-legged on the grass, I started organizing my thoughts.
Knowing Kaiser, the protagonist, was probably at Rose-Lilith Pub right now with a bag of coins in each hand, this had to be the first major scenario in the book.
And unfortunately…
a lot of people died in that arc.
Based on the location and time limit, there was only one possible event the quest could be referring to.
An incident inside Annonno-o's Forest that would completely change Kaiser's life.
My chest tightened slightly.
It was the beginning of his descent.
The moment that shaped him into the cold and vengeful protagonist I had written.
Syntellizyor Way to Become Monarch: Kaiser's Era began with Kaiser searching for his missing friend inside Rose-Lilith Pub in Hevarava. To gather information, he bought intelligence from one of the Graduza Guild's informants—the pub owner's older brother and oldest waiter.
Kaiser, the former young prince of the empire, had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt orchestrated by his uncle, Albert the man who seized the throne through a bloody coup supported by several nobles.
With the help of his loyal knight, Kaiser managed to flee to the empire's southern forest using a torn teleportation scroll activated moments before their enemies caught them.
Inside that forest, a young man found the wounded prince and cared for him.
Over time, strangers became companions.
Companions became brothers.
That young man eventually became Kaiser's source of peace, someone who made him feel human again despite the chaos surrounding his life.
But then… he disappeared.
Desperate, Kaiser searched everywhere for him, even paying the expensive Graduza Guild for information.
And eventually, he learned the truth.
His friend had been captured by slavers and transported toward the Imperial Palace alongside other prisoners.
Kaiser chased after the convoy with everything he had.
But he arrived one step too late.
His friend had died trying to save the other captives during an escape attempt.
His body lay motionless across the dirt, surrounded by crushed wildflowers stained with mud and blood. One trembling hand remained stretched forward, frozen in a final desperate attempt to reach freedom.
For a moment, Kaiser simply stood there.
His breathing stopped.
Disbelief and horror crashed into him all at once as his mind desperately searched for some explanation, some proof that this wasn't real.
But the empty lifeless eyes staring back at him shattered that hope completely.
And worst of all…
the elderly woman who had cared for them like a grandmother was there too.
Among the corpses.
Cold.
Lifeless.
Mercilessly slaughtered.
Witnessing the destruction of the last place he considered home, Kaiser was consumed by fury.
Cold.
Silent.
Absolute.
That day, he slaughtered every slaver in his path without mercy. Blood soaked the forest floor while terrified survivors whispered the same words in fear:
"A Reaper of Death has Descended."
That night, Kaiser swore to destroy Albert no matter the cost.
It became the first major turning point in his journey. The moment he lost the very first person he truly treasured.
The loss hardened him.
Froze his heart.
Built walls so high that nobody else could ever reach him again.
From then on, Kaiser stopped seeing people as people.
Most became tools.
Stepping stones.
Disposable pieces in his path toward revenge.
Of course… all of this happened before he met Elyana, the second person who would eventually restore the humanity he had buried.
'Hmmm… isn't it obvious the one I need to save is Kaiser's friend? Isn't this actually easy?'
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
'And I still have an entire week before the event happens. With all the gold coins I have, I can just hire the Graduza Guild and secretly rescue the target before the convoy reaches the capital. They definitely have elite members stronger than ordinary slavers.'
As long as they weren't key characters, I could interfere a little without ruining Kaiser's destined path.
After all, his revenge against the emperor still needed to happen.
'I just need to save his friend… then quietly kidnap him away from the protagonist to preserve Kaiser's motivation.'
Perfect p
lan.
Simple.
Efficient.
I had everything figured out.
And then—
I jinxed it.
[Warning! Target health points are below normal.]
[HP decreasing: 10,000→1,534]
'Hu—what?!'
.
.
.
[Muted for 35 minutes and 7 seconds.]
[Quest time remaining: 7 days, 1 hour, and 36 minutes.]