The Author's Playground

C H A P T E R 3 . 1

Author (1)

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Flashback 3 years ago...

(Toranomon Hospital.)

A young woman sat by the window, her pale pink hair fluttered softly together with the wind.

Looking out the window, she watched everything unfold from the cityscape to birds, down to the leaves falling down from trees.

There was a gentle hum that escaped her lips as her fingers gently brushed the phone she was holding.

Soon, her attention drifted the moment the door creaked open.

Stepped inside was a man the same as her age, with a chubby face and messy black blue hair tied into a loose ponytail.

Judging by the sweat on his forehead, it's obvious that he ran all the way here.

"Did I give you a scare?" The woman's expression softened when she gave a gentle smile. "Good morning, Elijah."

"Goddammit Tessa, don't randomly message me about your last will!" Annoyed by her expression, Elijah finally sighed in relief as he sat on the empty chair beside her. "Did you stay up late reading that novel again?"

"How could I not? It's your novel. I gotta support my friend's hobby."

"You really don't have to," Elijah muttered, scratching his red cheeks. "It's just another trash story."

"Yeah, it's fucking trash."

"..."

"Seriously though! The female lead is so dumb, I don't understand why is she the MC! Despite having future sight she keeps making same mistakes. And don't get me started with how the supporting characters randomly die-"

(Words were cut off since she basically raps everything at full speed that Elijah himself didn't bother to listen.)

"Ah! Don't say it out loud!" Elijah's face turned red, his hands waving defensively as if to stop her words from echoing in the room. "I-its embarrassing!"

"It's trash, but…" Tessa paused as she gave a small laugh. "It's something you enjoy writing, no?"

That was the earliest and last memory of Tessa from Elijah's thoughts.

As her fleeting presence lingered by the end of spring.

Her death was mourned by her family and one friend.

In her will a sentence for Elijah was revealed.

[ Please continue the story, I like it. ]

*****

Click... Click... Click...

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Webnovel Title: I saved the characters

Chapters: 1,299 (ONGOING) [ Recently Updated ]

2.4 million views

Rating: 4.2/5 (967 reviews)

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Author E: X X X X X

Hey, author here! The next chapter would be the ending of this story. Thank you everyone for supporting 'ISTC'. Please let me know in the comments what do you think so far in reading the story! ^^

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User2910: Rated: 5/5

I love this author, he's so good at making stories like this. I especially like how the main character appears... see more.

User1102: Rated: 4/5

God, I hate Karen so much! Thank God she died in most horrible way, I definitely recommend this novel to everyone...see more.

User 0021: Rated 1/5: 

I don't get the hype, its just another academy story. Good to read to pass time but that's it.

User 0178: Rated: 5/5

Thank you for the chapter author! I hope to see Yuki and Dae-Hyun get married hehe, probably a side story?

User 3719: Rated 2/5

Enjoyable for early chapters but gets repetitive later on. Zzz looks like the author just wanna milk some money.

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This is perhaps what they call 'fame', something most newbie authors dream of achieving.

Elijah couldn't help but remember back then how he was struggling to even get 100 views.

Just like a dream, money followed soon after. Four-digit monthly earnings became routine, numbers he had never dreamed of.

Golden Castle? Yeah breeze it, four times a day is just a normal day.

The truth, though? Elijah never expected his work to succeed. It hadn't been meant to. His novel only started gaining traction when he rewrote everything.

He remembered his first rejection of a popular website...

[ Your novel doesn't fit in this market. Readers like certain things. ]

It had stung at the time, but they weren't wrong.

Desperate to understand what "certain things" meant, Elijah dove into research. He learned what the algorithm favored, what readers craved, and the marketplace of the platform. And slowly, his views soared.

He cracked the code:

01: Readers love smart, nearly omniscient main characters. They need to be decisive, rarely making mistakes—because readers hate when protagonists fail. Because of that, he made his main character intelligent.

02: Romance? Even better if it's a harem. Save a woman, and she falls in love? It doesn't have to make sense; it just works. Elijah dislikes writing romance, but for the sake of his plot, he might as well take consideration of that.

03: Add tension; forbidden love? Drama sells.

04: System mechanics and reincarnation themes? Always trending. If you want clicks, use them.

05: And if you're writing fantasy? Male leads dominate unless romance is the focus. Female protagonists in action fantasy just don't pull the same crowd. And because of that, Elijah completely deleted his first main protagonist.

Elijah kept that rule, molded in his stories but never in his own tastes, but instead to the market's demands.

And it worked.

Success came, not from originality, but from formulaic precision. Clichés? Who cared?

Repetitive plots? As long as the prologue hooked them, the rest didn't matter.

Elijah had stopped writing for himself long ago. He simply wrote for the views this time. For the money.

He no longer cared about his plot, his characters, or the soul of his stories. All that mattered was what sold.

And he sold well.

Sitting at his desk, the computer glowing in front of him, Elijah began typing the final chapter of his most successful novel.

This novel was his golden goose—the endless cash grab he had milked for all it was worth.

Update after update, it brought in money, views, and fame.

But now, he was ending it.

And with it, he planned to end his own career as an author.

Does the reasons matter? Not really, he simply wanted to move on and find a new job.

As his fingers moved across the keyboard, his thoughts drifted.

'What kind of ending would the readers want?'

A happy ending, of course. Something clean and satisfying, tied up with a neat little bow.

But then a new question surfaced.

'What kind of ending do I want?'

...

...

...?

Elijah stared at the screen as he finally snapped out.

'Why should my thoughts matter? I'll just write the ending that makes the most sense!'

He began typing again, typing on what his story board supposed to be.

But as his hands hovered over the keyboard, his fingers suddenly froze.

'This isn't my story...

If this story were mine... it would be—'

Without hesitation, he hit Ctrl + A and then Delete.

He started fresh a new. 

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The system fails. The last boss seizes the opportunity and drives his sword straight into the protagonist's chest.

The remaining party falters, screaming the hero's name.

But they're useless without him. Just like the audience wanted them to be. Predictable. Helpless.

One by one, they died, unable to save themselves.

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With that, Elijah smiled genuinely.

And hit Publish.

Ding...

....Ding.... Ding...

..Ding.... Ding...

One comment and another appears flashing in his screen.

The message follows:

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User 0123: What the hell?!

User 3479: No Fucking way did the author just killed all his characters!

User 8201: Die Die Die! What's up with this plot! Trash!!

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Seeing the wave of massive hate pouring in, Elijah couldn't help but laugh.

It wasn't a bitter laugh or something like despair kind of laugh.

It was just a genuine childish laugh.

When was the last time he'd laughed like this? Probably back when he earned his first hundred dollars from writing. Back when it all felt new and exciting.

He never imagined that such a small act—ending his story the way he wanted—could set him free.

But wasn't it tragic? If Elijah had known that writing something true to himself could feel this liberating, he might have done it from the very beginning.

"If only I could rewrite it from the start."

Rising from his chair, Elijah took in his surroundings.

The room was a mess—papers scattered, empty cups piling up, and dust clings in every corners. Not the kind of space you'd expect from a successful author.

His bank account wasn't much better. Nearly drained, just enough left to cover his bills. At least he'd finally paid off his last debt.

But tomorrow he plan to clean it and have some change.

Yes it was a new year after all, wouldn't be nice to be another person?

Removing off his shoes and socks, he find himself drifting in an old bed.

Sooner and enough, he ended up falling asleep.

...

[ System: I finally fou?d you... ]

[ System: We?co?e b?ck... Author ]

[ System: T??s i?... The author's play ground. ]