Jennifer couldn't stop thinking about the alien portals. Her fingers itched to type, just to see how it would look.
Technically, if she didn't hit the publish button, it would be fine, right?
Sure, it would be terrible if the world—especially her neighborhood—got invaded by alien monsters. But… They would be super cool alien monsters. Not the gross kind. Not too cute to kill either. Just something like "cockroach-level evil: kill on sight."
And the special agents would be all good-looking, able to wisecrack mid-fight, and have tight butts—from all the running they had to do.
Jennifer even had the perfect ML: a young, good-hearted guy who worked hard and loved his parents. And his parents? Alive, well, and happily living on a nice farm far away from danger. Jennifer had learned her lesson by now—no tragic backstories for her MLs.
She even picked his name carefully, like an expectant mother dreaming of her son's name: Micah. She loved the sound of it.
Then she googled it, like any responsible expectant mother, and realized the meaning didn't actually enrich the story. So she searched for "name for a son who will grow up heroic" and picked Quintin from the list—because it meant "fifth," and this would have been her fifth webnovel.
Except she would definitely not publish this one.
No matter how exciting, genius, or wonderful it became. Don't worry. This was just a safe private exercise.
Once that was safely established, Jennifer let loose. It was like releasing a tide from an ocean.
Naturally, it took a few chapters to write, but here's the synopsis:
Quintin has always been the underdog—a nice guy from a sleepy countryside town, bullied by locals and too poor to chase his dreams. Rejected from every scholarship and heartbroken when his girlfriend leaves him for the mayor's son, he seems destined for a life of mediocrity.
But everything changes when Quintin unexpectedly earns a place at Pandora Awakeners University—a sprawling academy where the world's top agents secretly train, and alien portals threaten reality under the guise of a hyper-realistic VR game. On a campus filled with rivals, bullies, and hidden dangers, Quintin starts as an ordinary student.
Soon, he awakens extraordinary powers, forges unbreakable friendships, and faces enemies far beyond anything he imagined. From powerless nice guy to world-saving force, Quintin must rise through challenges, survive deadly missions, slap stupid faces —and save the world!
Jennifer grinned like a Cheshire cat at her laptop, fingers tappity-tapping. Imagine everyone's faces if they knew the game mirrored reality—and alien portals were silently opening and closing around them.
Yes, of course the world would require saving. Jennifer needed the stakes to match the OP hero. She'd also require a final villain worthy of such a hero.
Jennifer's fingers flew as she typed out the final villain—her heart practically leaping out of her chest. By now, she was writing purely on inspired instinct and had more notes on him than on Quintin.
She named the final villain Micah. Somebody had to get the name.
The Villain's Notes:
Way out in the galaxy, so far that one could only reach it through interdimensional portals, there existed a being so ancient that Earth was nothing more than a baby egg in his eyes.
He was hunger incarnate—the kind that gnawed at the edges of the universe and echoed in the recesses of hearts. Always insatiable, always ravenous.
Physically, he was a large humanoid beast… who could take on the colors and properties of whatever he devoured. Which was, basically, everything. Planets, stars, nuclear warheads—you name it, he ate it.
He could not be killed. Nor reasoned with. He was unstoppable.
And all creatures of the deep universe obeyed him with near-religious devotion.
Yes, he was terrifying. And Jennifer decided Quintin would have to be seriously OP to stand a chance. Maybe a team of equally absurdly competent friends. Maybe some competent authority backing him up. Maybe even an international sponsor. Who knows?
And, just in case (because better safe than sorry)—Micah got a failsafe: a collar and chain that could only be broken by the one holding it. As long as he wore it, whoever held the chain commanded him.
And also, not that he would ever be published and definitely not ever be real, but just in case, Jennifer decided better not make him gruesome horrific here. No terrifying monster dragging off cities. Too scary. Fires are also dangerous. So no fire breath.
All the heat would go into his being. So as per webnovel turn of logic, she made him physically hot. Devastatingly handsome. Altogether, very, very sexy. So sexy that galaxies would blush.
"Devastatingly sexy in his depravity," she typed, because why not? Didn't that sound cool?
Of course, she wasn't going to publish this. So it's not like anyone would see it.
But Micah would want to be seen. In fact, there were only two things that could possibly assuage his eternal hunger.
One, to be seen beyond the insatiable, universe-devouring emptiness of his soul—and loved, and held, and pampered… maybe explore all kinds of steamy webnovel scenarios, too.
And two, cupcakes. Instant vanilla mix, plain icing, rainbow sprinkles. Because Jennifer was confident that she could make those.
So, in the absolute worst-case scenario, Quintin—or literally anyone—could grab the chain, command Micah to stop consuming the universe, and politely ask him to return to his corner of interdimensional space. Perhaps bribe him with cupcakes.
Yeah… in the very unlikely event that this webnovel came true.
But it wouldn't. Jennifer wasn't publishing it. She just needed to get it out of her system.
And oh, it felt glorious. Ridiculous. Absurd. Perfect. This was her best story yet.