It all begins like this...
As usual, the novel industry was moving smoothly, with different novels topping the rankings while some were doing poorly, struggling to grow.
Not until, suddenly seven days ago, the entire novel world was shaken by the appearance of a new author, RealityKing, with his release, 'Heavenly Path Awakened: Growing Through Every Storm', which broke the balance of the industry.
Shockingly, within those few days, the book accumulated 5.7 million views and still climbing, over 80,000 collections, despite having only thirty-five chapters.
Due to its fast-rising popularity, it was featured on every promotional banner and recommendation list across the platform, fueling its growth even further.
The internet was dumbfounded by this. The worst part was that the author was completely unknown, making it difficult to even find out about him.
The novel's rapid growth left readers and fellow authors baffled. Some called it luck, while others suspected the author had some secret advantage—perhaps even hacking into the platform.
However, platform officials came out to dismiss any claims of technical issues on their platform, deepening the mysteries surrounding RealityKing.
Meanwhile, in a large furnished room, lit up by soft, colorful lights, a nineteen-year-old boy sat before a table filled with high-end computers.
Slow, calming music played through his expensive headset, helping to ease his mind into a relaxed state as he focused on his system's screen.
"Dammit! This MC is an idiot!" Alden muttered, cursing as he clenched his fists.
His expression changed from anger to disappointment and then back to anger as he kept reading.
After a few minutes, he let out a frustrated groan and slammed his fist on the desk. "Who the hell wrote this crap?" he shouted into the room.
His voice echoed, breaking the silence.
"A waste of my precious time!"
With a loud thud, Alden yanked off the headset on his head and hurled it across the room, his mind slowly overtaken by anger.
After days of sleepless nights in front of his computer, he was completely drained of energy, his body asking for rest. Just before heading to bed, ready to welcome the new year with a good sleep…
He decided to check the web novel rankings, something he hadn't done in a long time.
To his surprise, he found 'Heavenly Path Awakened' in the top 1 in popularity and other sections.
"How come?" he asked himself. "I thought it was GreatPanda's book that had been holding down the first position for a year now… this book with only thirty-plus chapters?" Confusion overwhelmed his head.
As a popular streamer, Alden was no stranger to the buzz around new releases.
Over the past few days, he had seen countless streamers broadcasting about this particular book, but he had been too deeply occupied with his project to read or bother about it.
"What is so interesting about this book that sets it apart? Let me use this little time to check it out." He clicked on it, expecting to find some unique plot that explained its fast growth.
He was utterly disappointed after the read.
Alden let out an irritated sigh, running his hand through his hair as he stared at the screen in disbelief.
"Unbelievable…"
"These days, people jump into writing without first even understanding the basics," he said in a harsh tone. "They think they can just slap words together and call it a story."
His heart at the moment was bitter… seeing an unworthy novel rise to fame was deeply infuriating.
He didn't even finish reading it, stopping at the fifteenth chapter as his sense of humor no longer allowed him to advance another chapter.
For a few moments, he sat there, trying to calm himself. But his mind wouldn't let it go. How could such a poorly written story gain so much popularity?
His anger only grew as he imagined readers blindly following the plot, hyping it up as though it was a true masterpiece.
He laughed bitterly when he went through the novel's reviews filled with lot of praises. "What a joke! Are these people ignorant or what?"
Click! Click!...
"I can't stay idle watching something not even deserving of its accomplishments going viral," he muttered while in deep thought. "I need to feed my fans with this info and prevent them from reading this trash before it toys with their brains."
Without hesitation, Alden's fingers ran over the keyboard as he set up his live stream and cam.
He took a few deep breaths, regaining the calm look on his face before hitting the 'Go Live' button.
"Hey yo, what's up, guys? It's been a while since my last stream. Load of work is crazy, my back hurts..."
"And HAPPY NEW YEAR in advance to you guys," he cheered into the mic after the countdown. "I want to thank you for your support and dedication till this moment."
Next, he wasted no time getting to the point. "I know you guys must have already seen or heard about the trending novel going around the place."
"As you all know me, I give my review feedback after reading these novels. But you see this one..." He facepalmed himself. "I can't just stay silent about it. IT'S ABSOLUTE TRASH."
"READ MY LIPS, 'ABSOLUTE TRASH'."
Almost immediately, comments started flowing in as his loyal fans joined the stream after being notified.
-InfinityKing: Oh? Den-Den is mad at it again! Spill it, bro!
-Meetmehere001: Happy New Year, too, dude. You finally remember us after a long time of abandoning us! ^_^
-Vivian: That new book that is making waves everywhere.
-A_boy_called_john: Aldie, drop an update on the project you're working on as a New Year gift!
-Alden_jnr: Oh oh, you mean that wild book. *laughing emoji* It's crazy, man.
-Anonymous_user: Go ahead!!
-PotatoOnCouch: Little one, don't hold back. Fry it till it's ashier than my burnt sweet potatoes!
-CallMeYourLord: Say it loud, say it proud. We're all ears…(◠‿◕)
Within minutes, the livestream hit 98,000 views, with 3,000 reactions, and comments still climbing.
- Badguy: Finally, someone's gonna roast this overrated mess.
Alden chuckled seeing some of the comments, adjusting his mic. "I spent an hour reading through this so-called 'peak novel' that everyone is hyping up.
Let me tell you about my observations... This is my point of view though, so if it doesn't sit well with you or makes you angry, you can go ahead and punch yourself in the face."
He pulled up the novel and shared the screen with his followers.
For some minutes, he scrolled through a few chapters, his expression darkening with every passing line.
"See, some grammar is off... there's no character development, the pacing isn't even organized... and the structure is a mess.... The MC is so braindead.... This novel doesn't deserve the hype...."
He took his time to point out numerous mistakes.
He shook his head while maintaining his composure. "And the title? It doesn't match the story at all. How is the MC supposed to survive in that world without any talent? It's just like a level 1 gamer standing to defeat players 10x more powerful than him... This is bullsh*t, I'm sure the author doesn't even understand his own plot..."
-NotAvailable: Needs hours of editing before it can even count as a 'novel.'
-Damnedplayer: I've always known you to be an honest man, unlike those other liars. Much love for this man.
-KeyboardWarrior: I tried reading it, but my IQ dropped so low that I almost forgot my name.
-WeebLord: I dropped it after three chapters. Not promising.
-DarkMan: A big-time hype, nothing else. Should be called 'Heavenly Path Wasted' instead ಠ_ಠ.
-NextDoor: Haha, it's being shoved in our faces, but there is no soul in it!
"I'd rather read random forum posts; at least those have more emotion. This? They're just empty words."
Alden came closer to the camera. "You guys know something is off, right? This thing has millions of views, but why? It's like someone is pulling strings from behind." He said thoughtfully in a low voice.
-AnimeLord: Aldo going full detective mode!
-MadDude: Expose it, bro! Let's see if it's worse than my Wi-Fi connection!
-User262: Bunch of clichés thrown in to grab attention.
-ChosenOne: Trash goes trending, and the true gems stay hidden.
-User234074: *sighs* Real talent buried under stuff like this. Well, that aside, tell us about your project.
Typing...
More comments continued to flood in.
"There are so many talented authors out there that deserve this kind of attention. But no, the bad ones that aren't even half-good get it instead. The whole thing is just messed up... too much mess."
Nodding at the camera, he continued, "So yeah, Heavenly Path isn't worth your time. Instead, let's try to support the good ones."
"Oh, one more thing!" He broke into a smile as he dropped the announcement. "Tomorrow, my team and I will be releasing the game project for beta testing as our New Year gift to you!"
He decided to end the livestream there after dropping the announcement without bothering to go through or reply to the comments raining praises on him and his team.
As Alden clicked to shut down his system, strangely, the interface froze.
At first, he thought it was just a normal glitch. Unexpectedly, the screen blacked out before turning on again.
"W-What the hell?"
He jumped out of the chair in fear.
A message appeared on the screen.
⟨Oh, Alden, why don't you put yourself in my MC's shoes? Are you sure you'd do any better?—RealityKing⟩
"REALITYKING! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" he exclaimed in shock, almost falling off his feet.
Alden's eyes widened. "F*ck! What did this bastard do to my system?" he muttered, trying to dismiss the scary feeling in his heart.
"This bastard is toying with me, WTF! Why would I be scared of him in the first place?"
He summoned full courage before sitting back down.
Alden quickly typed a text filled with curses but canceled it all and instead sent a middle-finger emoji.
Seconds later, another message popped up.
⟨Let's say you get sent into that world. Are you sure you will survive?⟩
Click! Click!
His hands speedily ran through the keyboard.
Alden replied... ⟨Dude, even if you've read the coolest web novels, don't think that stuff works in real life. But about your question, I think yeah, I'm 100% sure I'd survive in that world.⟩
He hit 'send' and waited, keeping his gaze locked on the screen.
RealityKing's replies came almost immediately, as if he had the messages saved in his clipboard.
⟨Alright then, hehe. So be it. Good luck xD⟩
He waited for a few seconds but didn't receive any more messages.
"How was it even possible for him to hack into my system!" Alden shouted in annoyance, quickly typing to strengthen his system's security.
Just then, Alden began to feel his skin turning cold. The air felt colder, and strangely, a faint hum filled the room, vibrating through everything.
His pulse quickened as the hairs on his body stood up.
...He tried looking around, but nothing seemed out of place. But the eerie sensation wouldn't leave, which caused a deep frown to appear on his face.
"What is this feeling?"
Then, it hit. A burning pain, so sharp and sudden, shot through his chest as if someone had driven a knife into him.
He fell off the chair as he struggled to breathe.
"What's… happening?" His voice was gradually becoming weak.
"I-is this the end—"
He muttered, blood pouring out of his mouth as he slowly succumbed to unconsciousness
The pain in his chest spread like wildfire while his vision darkened.
For a moment, it felt as though the room itself had disappeared, replaced by a void of swirling lights and shadows.
Moments later, Alden opened his eyes slowly. A strong headache was pounding in his head.
"Look! He's finally waking up."