"Is this little son of bi!..Ahem, beautiful lady author dead.." Lucien hurriedly corrected himself, as he realized he was being too ungrateful, but his frustration was understandable, it had been one whole month since his favorite noble had not been updated.
At first he had thought the author might be taking a small break but soon there might be something wrong, worried and curious, he decided to join the author pisscord server but even there was no clue, just like him ten of thousands of readers were asking the same question.
Finally Lucine was forced to accept it, something terrible might have happened to the author, there was no way the other would stop writing such a masterpiece.
"Damm..I hope he's fine, the latest was going to finally reveal whether the main character finally became the strongest existence or not..?"
Lucien didn't want to admit it but he something told him the author was probably not going to continue the book.
This made him even more confused, the book was doing phenomenal topping all the charts, even his broke ass supported the author whenever he got the chance.
Although he knew the author didn't reply to comments, he still left a comment and turned off the phone.
The perfectly black screen of the clownphone 17 reflected his appearance, black eyes and an average looking face with a third chin protruding out.
This was Lucien Asylum, A young man at the ripe age of 25, ready to conquer the world.
Just as he was wondering what to do next, a sudden vibration jolted his hand.
Beep! Beep!
"Who the hell is calling now.." the sound forced Lucien to once again focus on the phone in his hand, the screen had been lit up, he could easily see who was calling and as such his face darkened even further, suddenly his hands automatically moved to end the call, but then his hand paused, he took a deep breath and answered the call.
"Hello, Dad," Lucien murmured in an incredibly low voice.
"What are you doing?" his father's heavy voice came through the phone speaker.
Although it was a simple question, it caused Lucien's face to turn ugly, he already knew where this was going. After all, he heard this question simply too many times and knew what was going to happen next. Without him realizing his grip on the phone had automatically tightened. Still he tried to sound as unaffected as possible as he answered, "Nothing."
A simple and short reply, but it was like the spark to set off an explosion.
"Nothing, yeah, right. That's all you're ever capable of," his father's voice snapped though the phone speaker, those words hitting Lucien face like a tight slap, if that wasn't all he could even notice the hint of pity in those words, the type of pity once would feel when you someone is wasting their potential away. They are clearly capable of making it big in life, yet are nothing but a pile of trash, not because of incompetence but a slave of their desires.
These familiar words struck like a dull blade, not sharp enough to cause fresh injury but lethal enough to open up freshly healed wounds.
There was a minute of silence, before his father's voice came out of the speaker again "You're a failure."
The sentence hit his heart like a sledgehammer, wanting to shatter his heart to bits, but he simply let out a sigh and persisted.
Lucien had long since grown numb to these conversations. He stopped arguing and no longer defended himself. He only waited, hoping that his father would calm down and end the call, because he also knew what he was…!
"Yes he was, a complete and utter failure," Lucien muttered under his breath, sighing as regret echoed in his words. He lowered his phone and, as if on autopilot, opened a game.
Video games had become his escape, a mindless refuge from the world that seemed determined to remind him of his shortcomings. At first, it had been a simple pastime, a way to kill time. But before he knew it, the flashing numbers, the small victories, the intoxicating sense of progress—had become his only source of gratification.
Yet, deep down, he knew. Games wouldn't fill his stomach. They wouldn't change his life.
Whenever he realized this, he would use these words.
"Tomorrow, I'll change. I'll do better," he said, trying to believe in his own words as these words sound too hollow, lacking any sense of determination. How could they sound convincing?... After all, he had promised himself this countless times, yet each attempt ended the same way–with nothing changing.
Everything was the fucking same…he was complete and utter moron, even after knowing what exactly he needed to do to get better, he was failing to do anything.
This feeling crushed his soul to pieces, he was powerful and powerless at the same time.
But it wasn't his own fault, it was the fault of that bastard author, who wrote such a good story, that he lost interest in reality, like the main character of that novel, he also wanted to cultivate and live forever.
Sigh! Lucine once again sighed as realized just how absurd his thoughts had become, slowly he once again focused on the screen in his hands.
His vision blurred as the screen's glow burned into his exhausted eyes. His stomach churned from prolonged hunger and carelessness "Damn my body, my life—everything's ruined, why did things turn out this way" he muttered, voice cracking with fatigue.
Despair gripped his heart, his thoughts slowly spiraling out of control. Lucien blamed himself for his downfall, his inability to control his lust, his weak willed personality.
He wanted to change everything, but sadly this realization came too late, time could not be turned back..only if i had a second chance, At some point a warm tear had appeared at the corner of his eyes before sliding down.
Minutes passed. The room fell into silence once more.
Then–suddnly the earth shook and the room that Lucien was in went up in flames.