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

Liu Tianyong was jolted awake by the voice in his head. A death knell-like alarm.

[Warning: The court has imposed a penalty of 48 hours of "community service" remaining.]

[Task: Write a revised version of the "Author's Code of Conduct," with a minimum of 5000 words and effective narration.]

[Failure to complete by the deadline: A morally binding death penalty will be forcibly triggered.]

"Damn it! I forgot about that!" Yong Ge did a somersault, almost hitting his head on the floating red pen.

The number of words on the pen made him feel a little relieved: [524]. The land deed only consumes 48 points per day. As for Wang Gangtie, he didn't ask her to recharge it for the time being, since the weight is still sufficient.

But the next second he broke down. 48 hours, 5000 words of effective narrative, no padding, no falsification, no missing parts!

"Damn it! I've been so busy resting these past two days that I completely forgot about this!"

The wailing startled the entire stronghold. Zhang Gou Dan poked his head out from the training field, his floral shorts fluttering in the wind. "Brother Yong? Having a nightmare?"

"This is worse than a nightmare! I forgot my previous apology! The punishment from the court! 5000 words! 48 hours left, or I'm done!"

The entire room fell silent.

Fang Xiaoyuan's fried dough stick fell to the ground with a "thud": "Brother Yong... 5000 words of effective description? Two days?"

In this world, the phrase "effective narration" is more terrifying than "demanding updates." It means logical consistency, complete scenes, reasonable character motivations, and every sentence must withstand the test of narrative logic.

A vibrant green swirl drifted over, spilling half of the green tea: "48 hours... Including sleep and meals, the actual writing time is less than 30 hours. That's 170 words of effective content per hour..."

"Shut up!" Yong grabbed his hair. "I usually struggle to write 2000 words, and now you expect me to write 5000 words in a serious, logical manner?"

He charged toward the "editor's throne," nearly knocking the chair made of stacked book pages apart. A red fountain pen hovered in front of him, like a knife hanging overhead, with a countdown engraved on the handle.

"Let's begin... let's try anything, even if it's a last resort!"

[Foreword: In view of the special environment following the advent of the narrative graveyard, this guideline is formulated to maintain the balance of the narrative ecosystem and protect the rights and interests of authors and readers.]

"Damn, this opening has such a strong classical Chinese style..." Yong Ge complained to himself, but there was nothing he could do; official documents had to be in this tone.

Chapter 1: The Ethical Use of Narrative Weight

Authors must acquire narrative weight through legitimate means, including but not limited to: effective updates, reader approval, and the recovery of lost works. It is prohibited to acquire weight through illegal means such as forcing other authors to complete their works or manipulating readers' imaginations.

As he wrote this, Yongge's mind conjured up Mahajij's commercially-minded smile, and the images of those readers hanging in the air. He paused, then continued writing:

Narrative weight is not a symbol of power, but a testament to responsibility. The higher the weight, the greater the impact on the narrative ecosystem, and the more cautiously it should be used. It is recommended that high-weight authors establish a "weight reserve fund" system to rescue endangered authors and maintain the public narrative space.

"Is this some kind of guidelines or a thesis...?" Yong rubbed his temples. Word count: 487 words.

I've written almost 500 words, only one-tenth of that. Forty minutes have passed.

He looked out the window and saw Wu Qu sitting in the sun beside the planting area, looking better than yesterday, her wisteria-patterned glasses reflecting the morning light. Li Yumeng was handing her water, and the two were chatting and laughing.

In the corner, a blond-haired boy was squatting, pretending to study the ants on the ground. Yong Ge recognized him; it was Huang Renlong, the reader who had listened to music with Li Yumeng earlier.

"What's wrong with this kid today?" Yong asked Ye Tian in a low voice.

Ye Tian floated over, circled around, and returned to report: "Author, Huang Renlong is a reader and doesn't have the pressure of narrative weight, but he's been looking for opportunities to get close to Li Yumeng all day."

"near?"

"Yes, she asked for bandages, inquired about the location of medicine, and mentioned feeling dizzy... but Li Yumeng's attention was entirely on Wu Qu." Ye Tian paused, "He seemed... a little disappointed."

Yong Ge chuckled: "The vinegar jar overturned?"

"Probably. He used to be inseparable from Li Yumeng. Now that Li Yumeng has become the core of the medical team, his presence as an ordinary reader has plummeted."

Yong shook his head and continued to assist in writing his self-criticism.

Chapter Two: On the Protection of Readers' Rights

Readers are an important part of the narrative ecosystem, and their "right to fill in the blanks" should be respected and protected. Any form of forced subscription, automatic renewal agreement, or exploitative practice that treats readers as "narrative fuel" is prohibited.

The relationship between authors and readers should be based on equality and mutual benefit. Authors provide the story framework, while readers provide the details and fill in the gaps, jointly creating the narrative. It is recommended to establish a "reader feedback mechanism" to regularly collect reasonable suggestions from readers regarding plot development.

……

Word count: 1023 words. One-fifth complete, 1 hour and 20 minutes have passed. Progress is worrying.

At noon, Yong Ge ate the braised beef noodles that Fang Xiaoyuan had imagined, staring at the empty space in front of him, as if he were looking at a word count and countdown that only he could see.

[Remaining time: 38 hours and 15 minutes]

"Brother Yong, have some meat." Zhang Gou Dan pushed a piece of "conceptual pork belly" over, "To replenish some narrative energy."

"No appetite..." Yong Ge chewed mechanically. "These 5000 words are more tiring than fighting a Mahaji. At least you can run away when fighting monsters, but this thing you have to sit and force yourself to write, and there's even a kill threshold."

He looked towards the medical room. Wu Qu was already able to get out of bed and walk, slowly moving forward while holding onto the wall. Li Yumeng was beside him, protecting him, and the two were talking in hushed tones.

Huang Renlong wanted to join in, holding a glass of water he'd imagined, but stopped three meters away. Li Yumeng looked up at him, smiled and nodded, then turned back to continue talking to Wu Qu.

With just that one nod, Huang Renlong froze on the spot, spilling half of the water in his hand.

"This child is beyond saving..." Yong shook his head, but his pen continued to flow:

Chapter 3: Protection of the Rights of Characters Related to the Plot

In the crowdfunding narrative model, all participants other than the core creative team are considered "plot-related characters." Their narrative weight should be reasonably compensated to avoid a "dilution of presence" due to changes in their role.

[It is recommended to establish a "role rotation mechanism" to ensure that every participant has the opportunity to play a role in the main storyline. The basic rights of a character should not be ignored simply because they temporarily lose their moment of glory.]

Word count: 1547 words. One-third complete, 3 hours have passed.

Too slow. Yong was sweating and his fingers were numb.

"Brother Yong!" Huang Renlong suddenly ran over, his face a little pale. "I... can I tell you something?"

"Speak, hurry up."

"Um... Sister Yumeng hasn't talked to me much these past few days..."

Yongge sized up the blond-haired boy. Before the apocalypse, he was probably a college student. Now his hair was messy, and his T-shirt had the afterimage of some anime character printed on it. He was a reader, without any pressure or authority, but also without any sense of presence.

"You want her to talk to you?"

"It's not that... it's just that before, when we listened to music, she would laugh and ask me what kind of novels I liked. Now all she says is 'the water is over there'..."

"Listen," Yong put down his pen, "In this world, a sense of existence isn't given by others, it's earned by yourself. You're a reader, you don't have the pressure of authority, that's an advantage. But you either need to improve yourself or accept reality. In this apocalypse, even the protagonist might be killed off in the next second, let alone..."

He paused, but didn't say the words "supporting role".