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

"What about the readers?" Yong Ge collapsed to the ground, now desperately needing to absorb the knowledge related to this impending apocalypse.

"Don't just run away and fight head-on like before. Every monster is an unfinished story." Editor-in-Chief Wang placed the extra chapter into the bookshelf behind him, which was already filled with similar "Sealed Books": "The Fragment Beast's Pleasant Vacation," "The Water-Injected Monster's Weight Loss Diary," "The Dragon-Slaying Prodigy's Re-employment Guide"...

"Readers can now imagine things like weapons and shields, but that's only temporary. If they're deeply invested in your work, their imaginations can even help you fix plot holes, provided you don't abandon the story. Once you do, their imaginations will backfire and turn into 'imaginary entities' to hunt you down."

At this moment, Liu Tianyong's phone suddenly started vibrating wildly; it was a message from Ye Tian:

[Author, help! A reader is imagining me as a "cross-dressing master," and my lower body is turning into a skirt! Quickly write a scene where "Ye Tian is a pure man" to cover it up!!!]

Yong Ge: Damn it, this manuscript was rejected, how come there are still readers? Are you reading on your phone right now?!

Oh well, never mind that. [Ye Tian's pants are very sturdy, definitely men's style, and he really hates skirts.]

A scream erupted from off-screen, shattering the illusory image of a reader who was happily indulging in their imagination. An angry voice followed: "Author, what do you know? My imagination is the best! Didn't you say your brain resides with the readers?!"

"This is the prototype of the 'comment section war'," Editor-in-Chief Wang chuckled. "When the readers' imaginations clash with the author's plot, it comes down to who has stronger willpower and whose narrative carries more weight. If you're a flop, your readers might have more weight than your narrative!"

Liu Tianyong sat blankly on the ground with unfocused eyes, letting his brain reboot for 5 minutes. In the current situation, even the most powerful AI cannot meet the computing power requirements. It seems that AI still cannot replace humans!

After his mind rebooted, Yong Ge got up refreshed and pointed at the bookshelf behind Wang Qiang: "Old Wang, did you seal all these books?"

"That was about me and some other very powerful actors... sigh, it's all from a long time ago." Wang Qiang pulled open his shirt, revealing a scar—a scar formed of words: [Wang Qiang, male, 52 years old, editor-in-chief, previously burned his narrative power to maintain the stability of the real world, providing a safe time for the general public.]

"Holy crap! Old Wang, you're the alternate administrator??? You were the one who wrote the previous safe period and the rule explanations?" Yong was stunned, pointing at Editor-in-Chief Wang for a long time without letting go.

"Yeah, bro, I'm awesome, aren't I! Hehe, but this is about all the time I can hold out. My serialization is about to break down, it's midnight."

Looking at this old man who usually only yelled and complained about his perfect attendance, Yong Ge inexplicably blurted out, "Old Deng! You weren't a loser back in the day, were you?!"

"Go back to writing your novel!" Wang Qiang regained his former swagger.

"In this world, you'd better train your brain. From now on, it's not me asking you to, it's this damn graveyard. I've even thought of chapter titles for you."

Editor-in-Chief Wang turned his head to the side, the Song typeface in size 5 in his pupils stopped rolling, and he revealed a tired but gentle look in his eyes: "Let's call it, Chapter 8, Announcement of the Apocalypse."

The clock outside the window officially began to strike midnight.

As the first bell rang, all the streetlights turned into red exclamation marks.

As the second bell rang: Liu Tianyong saw his exhaled air turn into white characters: [He waited anxiously.]

As the third bell rang, Wang Qiang froze, his body began to turn transparent, and lines of text began to emerge from within him.

Wang Qiang pushed Liu Tianyong aside, shielding him from the tentacles of the narrative graveyard's nagging writers.

[This was the final duty of a dedicated veteran editor.]

But the story isn't over yet, because...

"Because of what! Don't play the hero, you old bastard!" Yongge, his eyes red, lunged forward, frantically writing on Wang Qiang's body with his red pen. [But he rejected the story! He chose to fudge it! He said: To be continued!]

Wang Qiang's body stopped dissipating.

Editor-in-Chief Wang looked at Liu Tianyong in surprise, at the words the pen drew in the air.

"You! You actually managed to alter the facts that have already happened?" His voice trembled slightly. "This is... this is the ultimate application of anti-narrative!"

As the fourth bell rang, countless red tentacles emerged from the enormous rift in the sky, each holding a pen and writing the same title across the night:

[The Finale: The End of the World]

"No, it can't wait any longer!" Wang Qiang grabbed Liu Tianyong's hand. "Run, to the secret room, behind that bookshelf. Only the ongoing serialization can protect you right now!"

"And what about you?"

"Me?" Wang Qiang smiled, the most handsome smile Yong Ge had ever seen.

"I'm going to write a review for that lousy ending!"

He suddenly shoved Liu Tianyong toward the hidden door behind the bookshelf, and pulled out a blue fountain pen from his pocket, which seemed to be a pair with Liu Tianyong's red one.

"Remember this, Xiao Yongzi: in this apocalyptic world, ending means death, but even unfinished works have a chance to survive. It's better to have a terrible ending a thousand times than to finish a story in one go!"

The moment the hidden door closed, the door panel transformed into a translucent parchment-like material, allowing one to see the outside world through the fibers inside.

Liu Tianyong heard the intense sound of writing, like two pens colliding in the air, or like two authors arguing about the plausibility of the plot.

Editor-in-Chief Wang stood tall in the center of the outer office, his three tufts of hair standing up in the storm of words, just like (Teletubbies).

In the dark room, Yongge had an endless bookshelf stretching out in front of him. Ye Tian was standing at the end of the bookshelf, reaching out his hand to him.

Ye Tian's lower body still bore the marks of the influence that readers had just imagined; there was a faint lace trim around his trousers, which was slowly fading away.

"Welcome, author. Now, start writing. Write whatever you like, as long as it's not the end of the book," Ye Tian said.

Liu Tianyong got up, his red fountain pen trembling, but he still wrote the first line of the new chapter:

[Chapter 8: The Official Announcement of the Apocalypse (Revised Edition)]

Liu Tianyong finally understood that the most terrifying thing in this apocalypse wasn't the monsters, but the eternal question: What happened next?

He decided that he would never give a final answer.

[At least, not today. To be continued.]

As he wrote the final period, the entire darkroom's bookshelves resonated simultaneously, pages fluttering like butterflies. Surrounded by countless unfinished stories, Liu Tianyong faced the parchment door, looking at the crimson light shining through.

[24 hours until the next update request.]

Meanwhile, Liu Tianyong received a new system notification:

[Author Liu Tianyong has achieved the following accomplishment: Master of Deception (Official)]

[Reward: Narrative weight +10, unlock new skill: "Survival Through Interruption", which can forcibly interrupt the current storyline in desperate situations and enter the "Next Chapter Pending" state.]