Chapter 9. Shockwave on Twitter, the Breathtakingly Beautiful Apocalypse!
So beautiful!
He wiped away the crystal-clear tears at the corner of his eyes, completely immersed in that sorrowful world.
From the noble Six Sisters surpassing even Type Pluto to the grudge between the angel Type Venus and Gun God.
Type Venus UO appeared with the posture of judgment, coldly sentencing the entire primate race.
"You struggle like this, yet you're better off dying like the victims in the planet's prophecy."
"Now, justice stands with this planet..."
The domineering and icy voice made an overwhelming fear rise within.
But this was only the beginning. Stronger UOs from other planets appeared one after another, bringing devastation and destruction.
Numerous races, each resilient being that survived, all had their own justifications.
On the cold corpses of planets, every tragic yet heroic story was woven.
The story continued to unfold, page by page.
The final battle on the Land of Steel was about to erupt.
"Ugh—"
As the mouse scrolled to the end, all that remained was the line: "To be continued." The grand story suddenly came to a halt, with no continuation.
"Huh?!"
The young editor was stunned, unable to believe his eyes. He rubbed them furiously.
Where's the next part?
I need to see the next part!
Annoyance surged in him, an indescribable frustration welling up.
That feeling of being deeply engrossed in a story only to be hit with a cliffhanger—it was unbearable!
However, right after realizing he had reached the end, Kudou Tomoki suddenly took a deep breath, his eyes lighting up with astonishment and excitement.
From the illustrations to the music to the novel's content, Land of Steel had reached a world-class level.
If one had to describe it, it could only be called a grand "epic masterpiece"!
Not only did it align with the prevailing apocalypse theories, but the characters were also filled with heroic colors. They did not collapse in despair over the end of the world, nor did they embrace escapism, but instead did everything they could to survive.
It could be said that this work was the complete opposite of modern doomsday theories. Though the story's main theme was tragic and suffocating, it praised the golden spirit of "Humanity can triumph over nature."
From each character's perspective, no one was truly wrong—this was truly a divine work!
This story would definitely become famous. Without a doubt, it would be a literary masterpiece, carrying philosophy, depth, vastness... it had everything.
Kudou Tomoki felt as if he were watching a documentary. Through Land of Steel, he witnessed a world brimming with realism, teetering on the edge of extinction.
And he, as the one who discovered Land of Steel, was bound to be promoted and receive a raise by the chief editor. When that happened, getting a promotion and a salary increase would be as easy as flipping a hand, right?
Thinking of this, the young editor couldn't contain his excitement. His blood boiled, and the corners of his mouth nearly stretched to his ears.
Everything was set.
He grinned, already preparing countless praises in his mind, eager to bring this author onto his team. Without hesitation, he clicked on the personal page of the author of Land of Steel.
[ID: Merlin
Gender: Confidential
Age: Confidential
Occupation: Confidential
Hometown: Confidential
Bio:
No guarantee of completion, no guarantee of tying up loose ends, no answering questions, no making friends, no publishing...
I write, you read—stay silent.]
"?"
Kudou Tomoki was instantly dumbfounded. He shot up from his seat as if struck by lightning, standing still for a moment, questioning his entire existence.
You're this cool—does your family know?!
Gender, age, occupation, and hometown were all mandatory fields, so how the hell did you bypass the system and change them all to "Confidential"?
Are you a hacker?!
No way, an author this badass—I absolutely can't let this one slip away!
The young editor gritted his teeth and clicked on the message.
Then his hands swiftly flew over the keyboard, "click click," typing out a message full of praise—
What a wonderful article, it left a deep impression on me, I greatly admired Merlin-sensei...bla...bla
He wrote a long, flowery, complimentary letter.
And asking if it was possible to leave contact information...
He pressed Enter, and boom, the message was sent, only to receive a notification from the website: "The author has disabled the messaging function."
"MERLIN YOU M*****F*KER N**** A****** @&#@&#^@$!&*#!!!"
The young editor was like a real, long-time Type-Moon reader. Bro immediately cursed Merlin!!!
Kudou Tomoki completely lost his composure, his face turning red with anger, and he slammed his fist down onto the keyboard.
You cliffhanger dog, not even daring to provide contact info!
I'll send a ban on you!!
Kudou Tomoki had never encountered such a blogger with such a personality, gritting his teeth in frustration.
But anyway, after calming down for a moment, he still approved Merlin.
He even used his once-per-month privilege to nominate Land of Steel for the hot list, then angrily raised his middle finger at the screen, showing his admiration for author Merlin. Afterward, he began his next task.
The post section was filled with content still waiting for his approval.
...
Because it was nominated for the hot list, countless readers noticed this post.
When they saw the title Land of Steel, they not only found it novel but were also surprised and curious to click on it.
Previously, hot posts had titles more like light novels, such as:
"I Can't Become a Hero, So I Flirt With Princess And Queen For A Rich Life,"
"As Long as There's Love, Even If Lover Is My Little Sister, No Problems, It's Fine,"
or "The Bored Zombie from Another World Just Wants to Be a Salted Fish"...
One could imagine, how impressive it was that a title this plain managed to land a hot list nomination.
Just two hours later, the comment section of this tweet skyrocketed to two thousand comments, and even author Merlin gained nearly 100,000 followers.
Clearly, this short work had made a huge impact on readers.
"Divine book! I was completely enchanted by Merlin-sensei's writing style, read it all in one go, couldn't help but read it four times again, I'm addicted, how does the final battle end, please update aaaaaa!"
"Merlin-sensei's writing style is outstanding, I'm in total awe, urging for an update!"
"The background music was amazing, when the BGM played, I got goosebumps all over."
"Author, why did you stop here? Did your conscience get eaten by a dog?"
"A masterpiece like no other!"
"No no no, this is an unprecedented cliffhanger!"
"The images were so beautiful, that delicate beauty perfectly conveyed 'mono no aware,' I love it!"
"To be honest, the moment the planet died really shocked me, it really felt like the apocalypse was coming."
"Yes, my mom is a devout Christian, she talks about the great flood that's coming every day at home, how we need to return to God's heavenly kingdom... it annoys me, in my heart, Land of Steel is the apocalypse that could really happen."
"Fortunately, our world doesn't have magi, or else with all the resources being drained from Earth, it would be destroyed."
"Hey, could it be that the author is using magic to hint at technology? The magical ritual that destroys the world could be the way humanity uses technology to overexploit Earth's resources."
"That's reasonable, oh man, now I'm kind of worried!"
And, The Lenged of Land of Steel has Begun