The Author's Sacrifice
Arif's hands trembled violently. In the blood-red glow of the laptop screen, his face looked ghastly—a hollow mask of fear. The Editor's final message pierced his heart like a poisoned arrow:
"How is your beloved Ria doing?"
Ria... the girl who had saved her lunch money to feed him during his long, bitter months of unemployment. The only person whose eyes never held a flicker of doubt in his potential. To extend his own lifespan, must he now turn her into a pawn on this digital chessboard?
Arif's fingers hovered over the keys. He typed:
"I will not harm Ria. Choose someone else."
Within seconds, the Editor's chilling reply flashed:
The Editor:"There is no alternative, Arif. You are rejecting the story's core theme—'Sacrifice.' Your Vitality will now begin to deplete rapidly. Look at your screen."
Arif watched in horror as his Vitality bar plummeted: 92%... 80%... 75%... 70% in the blink of an eye. A sob rose in his chest; he struggled to draw air into his lungs. His body felt heavy, as if he were aging decades in a single heartbeat.
The Phone Call
Suddenly, his phone vibrated. It was Ria. Arif picked up, but his throat was paralyzed; no sound escaped.
"Arif? Are you okay? Why are you gasping?" Ria's voice was thick with genuine concern. "I'm bringing some snacks for you. I'll be at your door in five minutes."
Arif wanted to scream, "Don't come, Ria! A demon lives in this room!" but he remained silent, trapped in a waking nightmare.
The Editor wrote on the screen:
"If you do not write about her accident before she knocks on that door, you will die tonight. Choose—her life, or yours?"
The Final Decision
Arif placed his hands on the keyboard, tears blurring his vision. He began to type:
"As Ria crosses the street, a speeding truck—"
He stopped mid-sentence. Ria's smiling face flashed before his eyes. A wave of suffocating self-loathing crashed over him. Had he fallen this low? Was his survival worth the blood of the one person who truly loved him?
He deleted the text. With a sudden, desperate surge of defiance, he typed:
"I transfer all my earned money, all my success, and every drop of my remaining vitality stored in this portal to Ria. In exchange, let this portal be closed forever."
A deafening roar erupted from the laptop. The entire room shook as if an earthquake had struck. Massive, flickering letters appeared on the screen:
"CRITICAL ERROR: AUTHOR IS REWRITING THE RULES!"
The Aftermath
Arif felt as if his very soul was being siphoned away. He collapsed onto the floor, his vision fading. Before sinking into the darkness, he heard a frantic knocking at the door.
"Arif! Open the door!"
He looked at the laptop one last time. The final lines read:
Status: Human Again. Vitality: 1%. System: Shutting Down...
Everything went black.
A New Beginning?
When Arif opened his eyes, he was in a hospital bed. Ria was sitting beside him, clutching his hand and weeping with relief. He was incredibly weak, but for the first time in years, he felt like he could truly breathe.
He checked his phone. A notification from his bank showed a balance of zero—every cent was gone. He tried to access the 'Inkstone' portal, but the site didn't exist.
Was he truly free? Or was the Editor merely keeping him alive for a much darker sequel yet to be written?