"The only way to reach the top is to start from the bottom."
Those were the words left by my late father before he died of lung cancer, it echoed through my ears every single day.
A sentence that I embody each time I wake up, go to work, and sleep. No matter how harsh life threw things at me, I just got back up and marched forward.
And now, these past few weeks, I think I regret being too hard working. The dark bags under my eyes agree with me now that I am looking at the mirror.
Disheveled dark hair that more often than not—blocked my line of sight. My skin was the opposite of fair, a warm brown color. If I had something unique about my average looks, it would be my eyes.
A pair of deep orange eyes stared at me through the reflection.
Pretty rare I think.
Cupping the water out of the faucet, I splashed my face with the cold water and fixed my hair.
I was above average in terms of looks. Not that I was bothered with others' thoughts.
"But of course, I always have to tell myself I am handsome."
One of the factors that boosts men's confidence was narcissism. And I sure as hell that kind of guy.
Just because I don't care about what other people think, doesn't mean I didn't care how I presented myself.
Was that a contradiction?
"Jeez, what's taking you so long in there!"
Suddenly, a voice called out from the other side of the bathroom door which was then followed by excessive hard knocks.
"I just entered 15 seconds ago!" I shouted back towards the voice's owner with a hint of annoyance.
Walking out of the bathroom, what greeted me was a figure, a foot shorter than me. With a fair complexion unlike mine, her short dark hair and bright green eyes that were captivating to some.
Her name was Ada, my nice and beloved younger sister—
"You were gooning in there weren't you."
"What..."
"I saw a study that said men needed to do that every morning."
"What the hell have you been reading..."
"Don't even deny it. Now I understand why you are always competing who goes first in the bathroom."
I tried to clear my name from her nonsensical ideas but her finger pressed on my lips to shut me up. She gave me a look of disgust before walking towards the bathroom.
"You disgust me, Frey." She said before closing the door behind her.
I gave her a quick middle-finger despite the door being shut and entered my bedroom right after. Today was a weekend, which meant I could do my favorite hobby to pass time.
Sitting down on my gaming chair, I opened my laptop and leaned back as stretched my arms and hands that were about to meet its gruesome fate.
I am a webnovel author.
Some may laugh at me and honestly, how can I blame them? That was what I thought as well, thankfully one of my novels blasted to the third of the rankings on the website. This not only got me more passionate about writing, but also landed me a contract with a hefty sum.
But of course, due to my dried and empty luck, I forgot to read one of the most important clauses of the contract.
"Must upload 4 chapters daily, minimum of 10,000 words per."
I was blinded by money and didn't see I was already selling my own damn soul to the devil.
And now, here I am.
Anyone passing through my room would have heard the constant and rapid clattering of keyboard keys and a few displeased groans here and there.
My mind was in a fluctuating state, trying to make sure that the flow of my story went well, whilst making sure it was a good and enjoyable read for the viewers.
Can't have too many plot devices, or there might be too many plotholes. There were already too many inconsistencies with my story.
"Fuck me." I say with a defeated tone.
A passion project turned into a grueling day-to-day.
But it was the only way to pay for my sister's tuition and have a roof under our heads, or else we'd be living under a bridge eating mold.
We weren't born with the best family per se. When I was young and my sister was still a baby, our mother left for another family. Due to this, my father needed to work overtime in the factory he supervised. This is probably one of the reasons why he died before even reaching 60.
Left with little to no inheritance from our father, I had to work 2 jobs to keep us afloat.
It wasn't enough.
Each month, we had to sell our leftover furniture to get by. We still had hospital bills due and I'm the only one able to work.
I couldn't let my sister stop her education.
No, not when I hadn't finished mine. I wanted her to be normal, even if it cost me an organ or two. She should just live her life as it is, not share the burden I'm already carrying.
Hours had passed since I started, and time flew quickly. I took breaks each time by scrolling through my phone.
Looking at the time, a deep sigh came out of my mouth.
[ 8:00PM | September 1, 2025 ]
[ Manhattan | Cloudy (Rain: 40%) ]
I still had one chapter remaining. I decided that before I start writing again, I'll look at the story's rating so far.
I needed a little boost to keep me going.
[ Rating 2.3 / 5.0 ]
[ The story started great but its now gone too long. It's already 2000 chapters and the story has gone absolutely nowhere. ]
[ HAREM? FUCK HAREM! FUCK YOU AUTHOR!!! DIEE! ]
[ Waste of power stones, author just wants to get paid. Keeps changing the story. ]
"Holy shit, what happened? This wasn't like this a month ago."
I wasn't in my prime like I used to be, yes, but it was still between the top 20s. The rating was also within the 3-5 range.
Now it plummeted to 2.3, an abysmal sign that a novel has gone to trash.
Scrolling deeper into the reviews, the five-star reviews were overshadowed by the overwhelming negative reviews that seemed to span endlessly.
Instead of passion, I gained frustration. Each comment about the story and its plot made my thoughts go crazy.
"What changed? I didn't change anything about the story though, maybe that's the problem? You ungrateful... Hah..."
Then that was when I realized it.
"I'm..."
Running my hands through my hair, I mutter quietly.
"I'm falling off."
The top grossing novels were about transmigration and systems. Of course, nothing beats the R-18 section, but compared to novels with similar genres, I was nowhere near the top like I used to be.
'Maybe I could fix it. Comments... Yes! Let's see if there are any useful reviews.'
If there was some semblance of hope it would be in the reviews section. Some reviews are from authors with their own style of writing, I just need to find one.
[ Poop emoji ]
[ Just read my novel "Totally Original SSS-Copycat in the Ninja World" it's better than this trash. ]
[ Made by an AI = L Novel ]
[ Author, make a regression novel instead. Not the normal kind, the "regression" regression kind. If you don't listen to me, you'll regret it.]
"No thanks."
A new novel meant that I had to end the story which meant the contract signed to me would end. The chances of me getting that novel to the top was miniscule at best.
In the end, I didn't find anything remotely useful. I guess the one at fault would be me, blinded by the money that just happened to pass by me.
Shutting my brain off, I collapsed underneath the soft cushions of my bed. Scrolling through my phone again, looking at capybaras, and mukbangs, the heaviness of my eyes took me by surprise.
My vision blur as my mind went to wander into the dreamlands.
I didn't realize it yet, but this date would forever change my life.
....
Opening my eyes, still filled with heavy bags, I gave out a morning yawn and did my routine. The sounds of birds greeted me again, signaling the start of my day.
My routine was simple enough: freshen up, write, eat, write, take a shit, eat again, write, and then finally sleep.
Walking out of my room and towards our apartment's only bathroom and noticing my sister still on her phone being lazy on the couch.
This was a normal occurrence, she was practically glued to her phone.
I took my chances.
I quickly bolted towards the bathroom and closed the door. Noticing my approach too late, my younger sister could only despair as I again—won.
"Hey, I was first!"
"Too slow, Sis. Next time stop staring at your phone every minute."
"Argh! I'm gonna be late again!"
With a victorious smirk, I sat on the toilet and took a big shit.
Once I was done, with a quick flush. I took a shower and finally went outside, where I saw my sister with a fierce stare.
"You were gooning in there weren't you."
"What..."
"I saw a study that said men needed to do that every morning."
"Why are you saying that again?"
She gave me a strange look, "What do you mean?"
"You already told me that yesterday."
"How can I tell you that yesterday when the article just came out two hours ago? Think, brother, think."
She waves me off, in her head, her brother was speaking weirdly again as he always does.
"Don't even deny it. Now I understand why you are always competing who goes first in the bathroom. I'm late now."
With a thud, the bathroom door shut loudly leaving me to wonder alone.
'Deja vu?'
Yes, that was probably it.
Now in my room, I opened my trusty laptop, ready to write the chapters for today and an additional one for the ones I didn't complete yesterday.
Yet, all I found was that all the chapters were gone, absent from the screen. I looked everywhere, my folders, documents, even my notepad. None.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Did I not save the files?" This meant I had to do overtime to accomplish an equivalent of 2 days of work.
"The only way to reach the top, is to start from the bottom. The only way to..."
I repeated my father's mantra, I can get through this like I always had. Perhaps this was a blessing, my writing was off yesterday—I can fix it now.
Again, hours flew by like seconds. My mind focused on getting my word count and plot ideas through.
When I finally had no energy left in my system, I slept through the night. Waiting for tomorrow to come.
Yet, it never came.
Because when I woke up and did what I do. The words I heard shattered my mind.
"You were gooning in there weren't you."
"Fuck..."