Finishing the book means death; I abandoned the whole world.

Yongge stared at the small print that appeared on the red pen: [Current Narrative Weight: 247]

"247?" Yong Ge counted on his fingers. "Before the trial, there were 680. After the trial, there were 280 left. That idiot caused 30 to be lost due to side effects. Where did the remaining 3 points go?"

[System notification: During your intellectual disability stage, you created "a green cookie that can swear" and "a little duck," resulting in a narrative logic conflict. 3 points will be deducted from your score.]

"..." Liu Tianyong was silent for a second, then turned and gave the air the middle finger. "Damn it. They're deducting from this too! If I eat the cookies, does that count as recouping costs?!"

[Invalid Appeal]

"Author," every time I hear this voice, I know that Ye Tian is coming. "What is the concept of 247 narrative weight? It has always been so vague. I don't know its specific effect."

Suddenly, a system announcement appeared directly in everyone's minds:

As time goes by, we believe everyone in the world has gradually adapted to our world. Now, we are updating the world rules, please keep them in mind:

The role of narrative weight has officially become one of the world's rules.

[Narrative Weight Conversion Table (Simplified Version)]

[Narrative Rewriting Reality (Small): 10-50 points/session]

【Item Creation (Normal): 5-20 points/item】

[Maintaining Survival Status: 5 points/day (passive consumption), automatically deducted at 00:00 daily]

[Narrative Weight Acquisition: The basic acquisition method is to gain 1 weight for every 100 words of effective updates.]

[Force others to complete their stories: 500 points or more, must be greater than 1 times the narrative weight of the other person, and corresponding backlash effects may occur depending on the situation]

[Special Note: If an author's narrative weight is 0 and no effective updates are received within 2 hours, the author will be forced to complete the story. Updates that gain narrative weight must be of a valid word count and conform to narrative logic.]

[Rules updated]

"Damn it!" The authors in the community cursed at the same time. This was clearly targeting the authors. If authors don't have enough influence, they'll die. But what about the readers? Can readers live forever?

Sigh, as the old saying goes, it's better to actively enjoy life than to struggle passively. Don't overthink it, just live in the moment.

Complaints aside, who can do anything about this?

Zhang Gou Dan was doing stretching exercises while wearing "Invincible Under Heaven," Huang Chao Bin was squatting on the ground drawing a takeout delivery diagram, Sister Hu was sewing eyes on his rag doll, and Li Yu Meng and the blond-haired boy were still wearing headphones with blank expressions.

[Due to the interconnected narrative of the team and the courtroom, Wu Qu and the 10 jurors will be considered as characters connected to Liu Tianyong's storyline. As long as they remain within a reasonable narrative scope, the author's survival fee will be deducted from Liu Tianyong's weight.]

A system voice appeared in Liu Tianyong's and the jurors' minds. The 11 people looked at Brother Yong with blank expressions, but the four authors immediately became excited—wasn't this like being kept by someone?! Great!

"What?!" Yong Ge jumped up. Including himself and five other authors, they were losing 25 points of weight every day, which was only enough for a few days!

"I'm paying for these 11 people's meals forever! And it's automatic payment! What if they become authors later? Will I have to support them forever? I won't even talk about Wu Qu, but what the hell are these 10 people doing this for?!"

"Theoretically, that's how it is," Green floated over, pointing to the people in the other corners, "but there are still more than twenty pairs of eyes watching over there. We can't just abandon them."

"Those were the readers who were here from the very beginning, about 20 or so. Unlike the jurors, they weren't tied to you and could leave freely, but..."

"But it's even more dangerous outside," Sister Hu continued, holding a book titled "Apocalyptic Plant Guide" in her hand. The cover bore the author's name: Hu Qiaozhen, narrative weight: 58.

"Sister Hu, you don't seem to have much narrative weight."

"Sigh, I'm getting old and can't update as much anymore. One chapter a day is enough to keep myself relevant. These big events still need you young people to handle."

On the other side, a line of small text floated above Zhang Gou Dan's head: [Zhang Gou Dan, "I Became a Boxing Champion in the Apocalypse", Narrative Weight: 76 (The protagonist is currently charging up)]

"Don't look at me," Zhang Gou Dan noticed Yong Ge's gaze and waved his hand casually, "My weight is just enough to keep this muscle man from disappearing," he pointed to the semi-transparent boxing champion behind him.

"Of course I have no problem contributing, after all, we're a team now, and I can rely on your guaranteed minimum. But I have to be careful with my spending. Right now, writing one punch costs 5 points, and after a few combos, I'll be back to zero."

There were two authors among the original jurors, one was Chen Yuanyuan, and the other was Xu Feng (who had little presence throughout the trial). However, these two authors had less narrative weight than Gou Dan and Sister Hu, only 30 points, so they were not expected to do anything.

"So, in this community of authors, I'm the only one from a poor family, there are two people from poor families receiving minimum living allowances and two people from extremely poor families, and then there are twenty or thirty people who just freeload?"

"That's not entirely true. Although those readers don't have much influence, their observation and imagination are still very useful. Without them, our community might have been abandoned long ago."

Yongge looked at the underground space made of book pages, with the silhouette of the city hanging upside down above him and the bewildered crowds all around. It was a decent haven, but only if it was made to work!

Upon arriving at the lunchbox distribution tent, Yong Ge stood on a stage made of cardboard boxes, and everyone gathered around. There were more than thirty people, which was quite a lively scene in this world.

Zhang Gou Dan squatted in the first row, his floral shorts making him stand out, but this time his "Invincible Under Heaven" was not exposed.

"Everyone, we're all in this together now!" Brother Yong said bluntly.

"We don't know the specifics of the outside world right now, but in this apocalypse, we must survive. The current situation is definitely not sustainable, so we must rebuild this place and make it our base! We must build our home! Only then will we have any hope of survival!"

"Of course, as the person in charge, I'll definitely bear the brunt of the power consumption. However, I can't just waste my power for nothing, so everyone must cooperate! If you don't cooperate, I believe no one will want you to stay here. We'll just have to expel those who don't cooperate and let them fend for themselves outside!"

"Construction?" Zhang Gou Dan picked at his toes. "In this godforsaken place made up of book pages?"

"What's wrong with the pages?" Yong stomped his foot on the ground, making a rustling sound. "This is already a properly marked area, much safer than the rest of the place. The problem is, it's not complete!"

He pointed to some areas on the edge of the settlement, "See? Those places are still blurry. Why? Because the settings here aren't detailed enough. We need details!"

"Details?" Wu Qu's eyes lit up.

"Yes! Details! But I'm not going to shoulder this alone. Zhang Gou Dan, Sister Hu, Chen Yuan Yuan, Xu Feng, although you have less weight, your mental framework doesn't consume weight. It only consumes weight when you confirm reality. We can crowdfund!"

"Wu Qu, you can visualize the bridge because you have memories. Everyone here has their own memories and imaginations—these are all resources!"

Yong jumped off the cardboard box and walked up to the boy who could conjure rice: "Little brother, what's your name?"

"My name is Fang Xiaoyuan," the boy said nervously.

Yong Ge smiled kindly, but to Fang Xiaoyuan, his smile was more terrifying than the monsters outside. "You can conjure rice because you're familiar with it, and everyone adds details about it. But what if we all imagined it together?"

"This place is just a temporary site, so we have to make it a truly safe area!"

Yong took out a red fountain pen and wrote rapidly in the air:

[A gathering place for readers, an underground sub-venue]

[Facility 1: Clustered Planting Area (with Construction)]

[Facility 2: Training Grounds for Gatherings (with construction)]

Facility 3: Community Medical Room (with construction)

[Facility 4: Community Mutual Aid Canteen (Existing, needs upgrading)]

The words fell, seeping into the pages of the book on the ground, causing the entire space to vibrate slightly, and the blurry areas seemed to become clearer.

"See? This is how crowdfunding works! It takes too much effort for me to write it all myself. If everyone brainstorms the details and I then put it into words, the cost can be spread out!"

Yong was very excited and turned to Sister Hu. "Sister Hu, can you imagine a planting area? There's soil, pots, and plants you're familiar with, but you don't need to conjure them up. Just describe it to me."

"Well, I only have 58 weight points left. It costs 10 to turn a cactus into a pot."

"You don't need to change anything! Just tell me, the more detailed the description, the better!"

Hu Qiaozhen closed her eyes with a hint of disbelief: "The planting area... is in the east corner, where sunlight shines through the gaps overhead... There are three rows of wooden shelves, converted from old bookshelves... The soil is dark brown, a little damp, but not too damp... The first row is planted with tomatoes, green, not ripe yet..."

As she described, Yongge's pen tip glided through the air:

[Planting Area: Designed by Hu Qiaozhen, located in the east corner. Three rows of old bookshelves converted into wooden frames, dark brown damp soil, used for planting unripe green tomatoes and other crops.]

The words took shape and flew towards the corner of the wall. There, the pages of the book began to rise, forming three rows of simple wooden shelves, on which were placed several flower pots, with small green tomato fruits faintly visible.

"How much did it consume?" Hu Qiaozhen asked nervously.

"Three points." Yong looked at the number on his pen. "You provided the framework, and I only paid the 'confirmation fee.' That saved me 17 points compared to writing it all out yourself."

Hu Qiaozhen's eyes lit up: "This...this will work?"

"Of course it can be done!" Yong Ge turned to Zhang Gou Dan, "Gou Dan, can you describe a training ground? We don't need to conjure up any equipment, just 'planning' it."

"I know this like the back of my hand!" Zhang Gou Dan perked up. "The training ground needs to be in an open area, and the ground needs to be soft, otherwise it'll hurt if you fall! There needs to be sandbags, old ones, with cracked leather! There should be mirrors on the walls so we can easily see our movements!"

[Training Grounds: Planned by Zhang Gou Dan, located in an open area on the west side. Soft ground, old leather sandbags, and mirrored walls.]

Cost: 4 points.

Zhang Gou Dan was overjoyed to see that his weight was still 76 points: "Wow! Before, I needed 5 points to write 'the protagonist throws a punch,' but now planning the entire training ground only takes 4 points?"

"Because 'planning' is a possibility, while 'throwing a punch' is a certainty," Yong explained. "Possibility is cheap, certainty is expensive. That's the essence of deception! Never let a story become 'certain.'"

A girl in the back row timidly raised her hand, "Can I help even though I'm not the author?"

"What's your name?"

"Li Yumeng used to be a nurse."

"That's amazing!" Yong exclaimed excitedly. "Describe a medical room, the more detailed the better!"

Li Yumeng closed her eyes. "The medical room is in a corner, quiet, with white cabinets on top of medicine bottles with blue labels, and an examination bed covered with green sheets..."

[The medical room at the gathering point: Details provided by Li Yumeng, located in a quiet corner. White medicine cabinet, blue-labeled medicine bottles, green sheets, and an examination bed.]

Cost: 2 points.

"Why does she only want 2 points?" Zhang Gou Dan protested.

"Because she's just a reader and doesn't have 'author privileges,' her descriptions are merely 'suggestions,' which I need to process further before confirming," Yong explained. "But the advantage is that her descriptions don't consume anything of her own; she didn't have any authority to begin with."

The entire gathering place suddenly became lively. The twenty-odd ordinary survivors, realizing they could also participate, began to describe things at once. Some said, "There should be a storage room," others said, "A ventilation shaft is needed," and still others described "an information wall covered with sticky notes." Yong carefully checked every useful description, its weight slowly but steadily decreasing:

[Current narrative weight: 247→238→229→218……]

Although the numbers were decreasing, Yong Ge felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment, and the gathering place was visibly becoming busier. This wasn't just his battle! This was!

"A co-creation between the author and the reader!" Wu Qu said from the side.

"That's right!" Yong Ge's eyes shone brightly. "This is what Wang Laodeng was talking about! The narrative weight doesn't just belong to me, it belongs to the readers too!"