The Dire Alpha towered above us, its hulking silhouette blotting out what little light still filtered through the fractured sky. Muscles rippled under its fur, cords of sinew twitching with unnatural power. Blood dripped from its maw, sizzling when it hit the broken pavement as if even its saliva was poison. Its breath came in heavy bursts, each exhale a hot wind that stank of iron and rot.
Every survivor huddled together at the edges of the plaza. Some sobbed, others prayed, and a few begged with clasped hands, whispering names of gods who had never once answered them. Parents shielded children. Strangers clung to each other. Nobody believed they would live to see another sunrise.
Except him.
Kael Arathis.
He stood alone at the front, battered and bleeding but unyielding. His knuckles were raw, skin split wide, but faint light still bled through the cracks as if his body itself refused to go dark. He looked like a man carved out of stubbornness and fury, a statue refusing to bow no matter how much the storm struck him.
And me?
I was barely standing. My legs shook, and my vision flickered with words—wrong words—that weren't supposed to exist.
✦
The system window screamed in the corner of my sight.
[Warning: Rewrite stability at 12%.][Further edits risk collapse.]
Collapse.
The word rang in my skull like a hammer against glass.
Collapse of what? Me? The scenario? Reality itself?
I didn't know.
But I did know this: Kael couldn't finish it alone. Not against a Boss that healed faster than it bled.
If he failed, we all died.
✦
The Dire Alpha lunged, claws raised like guillotines. Its roar shattered the air, and the sheer force of its movement crushed stone beneath its paws.
Kael blocked with crossed arms. The impact boomed like thunder. The shockwave blasted him backward through fractured pavement, shards spraying into the crowd. Survivors screamed and ducked, but Kael's body absorbed it all. Blood sprayed from his lips, yet even as he hit the ground he pushed himself back up with a roar, launching forward again.
The crowd's despair twisted into desperate cheers.
And over it all, Mirae's manic voice rang from the broadcast screen overhead.
"Look at this, folks! Earth's Hero refusing to fall! He's bruised, battered, and bleeding, but the man keeps coming back! But can he overcome the regeneration cheat code? Or is this GG already?"
The dimensional chat exploded like fireworks.
[bet 100 gold on Kael! dude's insane!][lmao no way he clears first boss, that regen's busted af][script says wipe, so how's this guy still standing??][what's with his fists glowing? bugged skill??]
Their voices didn't matter to me.
Because my blade pulsed faintly in my hand, whispering the same words over and over.
Write. Rewrite. Bleed ink if you must.
✦
The Rewrite window blinked again.
[Sentence: The Dire Alpha's body restored itself completely.] >
[Rewrite? (Y/N)]
My chest tightened.
If I let this line stand, Kael would drown in an endless cycle. He'd smash the beast apart only for it to rise again, stronger each time. If I rewrote it…
The backlash could kill me.
I hesitated. The words in my vision flickered. Broken text, misplaced punctuation, wrong syntax leaking into reality.
But there was no choice.
I slammed Y.
The system's voice hissed in my skull.
[Sentence: The Dire Alpha's healing stuttered, leaving a fatal wound exposed.]
The world glitched. For an instant the Alpha froze, its form jittering as though it were trapped between two paragraphs. Flesh around its ribs quivered, then split open. A raw gap yawned where regeneration faltered.
The monster howled, not from pain—but from shock. As if it realized something had tampered with its script.
✦
Kael's eyes widened. He saw it.
And that was enough.
He didn't question it. Didn't hesitate.
He moved.
One punch, straight into the exposed wound. Flesh tore like paper. Bone cracked under his strike. The Dire Alpha staggered, blood erupting in a geyser that painted the plaza red.
Kael roared and slammed his fists down again and again. Blow after blow. His bones groaned. His skin shredded. But each strike broke the monster further.
The Alpha screeched, claws flailing desperately. Kael ducked one swipe, then drove his fist deeper, all the way to the beast's ribcage.
With a final thunderous strike, the ribcage caved inward.
The beast collapsed.
Silence followed, heavy and absolute.
Then the system spoke:
[Boss Monster eliminated.][Scenario Clear: First Hour.][Reward distribution commencing.]
✦
The survivors collapsed in sobbing relief. Some dropped to their knees and kissed the blood-soaked ground. Others clung to each other, whispering thanks to gods they didn't even know were listening.
Kael stood tall. His chest heaved. His fists dripped with blood, but his eyes still burned.
The broadcast exploded with cheers.
"Hero! Hero! Hero!"
Mirae squealed, almost delirious.
"What a finish, folks! Earth's Hero smashes through the First Boss! Clip it, clip it, CLIP IT!"
The dimensional chat went wild.
[kael arathis op as hell][yo that regen cancel tho… wait who did that??][wasn't it the Quill guy??][nah nah, Kael carried. but Quill def did something… right?]
Eyes turned toward me. Survivors whispered.
Dev grabbed my arm, face pale. His hands shook as he stared at me like I'd just ripped open reality.
"You… you made that opening. Didn't you?"
I didn't answer. My body was too busy shaking apart.
✦
The backlash hit like knives through my veins.
I collapsed to my knees. Blood gushed from my nose and ears, hot streams painting the cracked floor beneath me. My blade pulsed, alive and hungry, as though it were drinking the cost I couldn't afford to pay.
The system chimed coldly:
[Warning: Rewrite cost exceeds threshold.][Temporary penalty applied: -50% Physique, -30% Agility.]
My body screamed. My limbs felt like lead. My lungs burned with every breath.
And then the whispers came.
[A God of War rages: "Erase the bug!"][A Trickster God laughs: "This is delightful!"][An Unknown God whispers: "The Quill bleeds for his words."]
Their voices crawled under my skin. Some wanted me dead. Some wanted me kept alive as a plaything. And at least one… wanted me to keep writing.
✦
Kael's shadow fell across me.
He loomed above, fists still dripping blood, eyes burning with questions I wasn't ready to answer.
"You did something," he said quietly.
It wasn't a question. It was a promise.
A promise that he'd figure me out. That he wouldn't let me hide.
And for the first time, I smirked through the blood dripping from my mouth.
"Guess I… rewrote the script."
The system roared again, drowning everything else out.
[Title Acquired: The One Who Breaks the Script.][Notice: This anomaly has been recorded.]
The gods fell silent.
And I realized
I'd just painted a target on my back that no Rewrite could erase.