The cavern reeked of blood and smoke. Shadows flickered across the walls as the wounded Shadowfang Alpha prowled in circles, its ruined eye still dripping black ichor. The beast's fury was no longer animal it was personal.
And all of it was aimed at Ethan.
The surviving players pressed against the walls, trembling. Their blades hung useless at their sides. None dared to step forward.
Because the moment Ethan struck the Alpha's eye, the battlefield changed. It wasn't just a monster fight anymore. It was war between predator and prey, fate and defiance.
And Ethan was the center of it all.
His arm was shredded, his chest heaving, but his grip on the broken spear never wavered. His eyes burned with something the others didn't recognize at first. Not courage. Not madness. Something else.
[System Notice: Script deviation exceeds threshold.]
[System Notice: Unique Title awarded.]
[Title Unlocked – "The Lone Quill."]
The text blazed before Ethan's eyes.
The Lone Quill…?
He nearly laughed, even as his vision swam from blood loss.
[Title Effect: Narrative Interference +5%. Predictions bend slightly to your will.]
[Title Effect: Future fragments now editable.]
Editable.
That word struck him like a hammer. Not only could he see what was written—he could scratch it out.
The Shadowfang lunged, jaws open wide enough to swallow him whole.
[Script Prediction: Fatal devour – instant death.]
"No," Ethan growled.
He gripped the glowing text, the words themselves, like ink on a page. His fingers burned as though clutching fire.
And then he rewrote them.
[Edited Prediction: Grazing bite – severe injury.]
The beast's jaws snapped down. Pain tore across Ethan's ribs, blood splattering the cavern floor. He screamed, but he was still standing. His torso wasn't gone. His head wasn't in its maw.
Gasps erupted from the survivors.
"He he changed it!"
"That's impossible no one can do that!"
The Shadowfang staggered back, confused. It knew something had shifted, even if it didn't understand how.
Ethan spat blood and lifted the spear again. His vision trembled, lines of glowing script swirling endlessly. Predictions. Fates. Death sentences. All waiting to be rewritten.
He grinned through the pain. "Guess the author isn't done editing yet."
The Alpha howled, fury shaking the cavern. It charged, claws gouging trenches into stone.
[Script Prediction: Rending Claw – upper body destroyed.]
Ethan slashed the line. His fingers moved like a pen across paper.
[Edited Prediction: Rending Claw – weapon destroyed.]
The beast's claw came down. The broken spear shattered into splinters in Ethan's hands, but his body remained whole. He staggered back, laughing madly despite the blood dripping from his lips.
Around him, players stared in disbelief.
"He's rewriting the battle…"
"He's… not playing the game anymore. He's he's controlling it."
The Alpha, blinded with rage, lunged again. Ethan raised his bare, bloody hands, already searching the script for its next attack.
And as the words filled his vision, something new appeared beneath his fresh title:
[System Reminder: Lone Quill – first step toward narrative sovereignty.]
[Future Titles pending.]
Ethan's breath caught. His broken smile widened.
"Narrative sovereignty, huh? Sooner or later… I won't just edit." His eyes blazed as the Shadowfang roared toward him again. "I'll author it."