I crawled back onto the shore, trudging up into the sweeping trees. I quickly purchased another pigeon’s lung to stop myself from breathing in the toxic air. Just the few breaths I took when fighting the serpent caused a burning sensation to linger in my lungs.

Apart from me, the rest of Peijin’s World Dominion, my party, was far gone. Yang was empathetic but also possessed a strong sense of responsibility. I trusted that he would safely get my party to the station.

Small scrapes and cuts littered my skin, and my leg was torn through. Still, I was lucky to have survived. Whoever Eternal Wish was, they didn’t seem remotely concerned with the status of their disciple despite the big investment made. As of now, I theorized that Eternal Wish and HolyMapleSyrup might’ve been one in the same.

Even if I didn’t sign the contract with Athena, I still wanted to uncover the identity of Eternal Wish. I knew for a fact I didn’t select Eternal Wish as my sponsor. Whatever or whoever smacked my hand had an ungodly amount of spiritual power to have influenced my decision—an amount of spiritual power I couldn’t phantom, even in Surviving My First Run.

I would need to become a real god to contest it; the spiritual energy that observers could give suddenly seemed much more appealing. If I could earn enough achievements from the arcs gather enough spiritual energy, I’d one day receive the option to become a god.

Honestly, it pissed me off a bit, too—the fact that I, the author, didn’t know such a pivotal “character.”

Though I felt the same frustration with the Major Arcana notification, there was nothing I could do until they made the first move. Unlike Eternal Wish, they haven’t changed the course of anything yet. I would work my way up to that mystery.

Looking up at the sky, I noticed the sun was already setting behind the mountainous horizon. Today officially marked day one since the apocalypse began, and yet the sun still drew watercolor strokes of soft pinks, baby blues, and deep oranges that kissed the expansive sky. The world kept moving as if this situation was simply fate bestowed upon humans.

It would typically take a seven to get to the metro station by foot, but it would only take me around two hours given my enhanced physique and agility. Yet, no matter how much was spent on status upgrades, I still needed rest.

I quickly purchased a small tent and crawled inside. Once inside, it was far larger than its outer appearance suggested, and it shifted to accommodate my supplies. The weather was far cooler now and given the fact that all my clothes were drenched, the icy air was stabbing into my skin. I tucked my legs beneath my chin and tried to ignore the cold.

Instead, I focused on patching up my leg, wrapping it in some purchased gauze and applying some healing ointments. With my improved physique levels, I wasn’t too worried about this being a fatal injury, but I didn’t want it to hold me back.

I finally finished and lay down on the floor of the tent. Rolling over onto my side, I felt an awkward lump on the side of my thigh.

“My phone!” I gasped, quickly sitting up and patting my side pocket. It was definitely dead now after being drenched from the earlier encounter with the sea serpent. I guess it didn’t really matter, since it was the apocalypse and I didn’t bring my charger, but still…

My finger rapidly clicked on the power button, a result of my impatience and acceptance. To my surprise, the black phone screen flickered to life in front of me, reflecting my wide-eyed expression.

The same notification from MolaMola was on the home screen, and with a trembling finger, I clicked on it.

Spiritual power could be used not only for a god’s power, skills, or weapons, but also to influence the trajectory of the story by influencing karma. Therefore, divinities like Archangel Michael, Athena, or Sun Wukong were especially powerful. If enough spiritual power was used, the story progression could be bent by their will.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Just like Eternal Wish’s interference seemed impossible, the same applied for the Major Arcana notification. Hijacking the blue screens wasn’t something I ever considered possible.

So, who was MolaMola? Were they the Eternal Wish?

MolaMola: Thanks for writing Surviving My

First Round. As promised, here’s the surprise.

[Open attachment.]

I moved to nervously chew on my lower lip—a habit I most likely picked up from Yang—before I remembered the pigeon’s lung in my mouth. Why was my heart beating so fast? Was this not my world?

[Download Scathing Reviewer?]

[Cancel] [Download]

I saw my trembling iris reflecting in the white pop up. Seriously, this skill had a name that seemed more detrimental to me than anything.

“Socrates? Are you still stalking me?”

Nothing but an eerie silence and the muffled chirps of crickets followed my words.

A thought suddenly popped into my head: what was my personal goal?

Sure, I wanted to uncover the Eternal Wish and do something super cool, but I didn’t know what kind of life I wanted to live for myself.

Every protagonist or character envisioned themselves at their desired end. Whether that was being a happy billionaire, finding the love of their life, or just cultivating a small garden, there was always something. Did I have something like that?

Just yesterday, my only focus was surviving. I wasn’t really living in any sense of the word more than I was scraping by. Writing was simply a means of survival—an escape. Then, when the apocalypse started, my focus was still surviving.

I just didn’t want to die. That would be too pitiful, especially given my already pathetic life. I wanted to make a name for myself, and I wanted to tear down the system. That was what I wanted to accomplish. Part of the reason was that I wanted to prove I was just as good as Feiyu; the other part was that I wanted to see my own story carried out to the end.

Lying in my cold tent, my leg throbbing despite the healing ointments, I felt a bit lonely. I hadn’t felt lonely because I’d been alone for a long time. It felt unfamiliar. My thoughts drifted to my party.

Wei and Yue were just characters, so did it really matter what happened to them? I wanted to protect Yang and Amelia first. A strange pang was felt in my heart at those words, but they were the two I felt were truly innocent in this situation.

But wasn’t it Wei’s duty to protect the innocent? Could two characters with the exact same goal exist in one story?

I had fallen out of love with my story and its characters long ago, and if any of the millions of readers still loved this marred story, they could go ahead and frolic around this world themself. So, what did I want? After I defeated Eternal Wish and destroyed the system, what kind of life did I want to live?

My phone beeped, announcing the download.

[Downloading Scathing Reviewer.]

1%...5%...29%...48%...79%...89%...91%...95%...

99%

[Scathing Reviewer has been successfully downloaded!]

[Scathing Reviewer has been equipped.]

My breath hitched, and I anxiously waited for something, anything to happen. My eyes skimmed across the inner seams of my tent, but only that familiar and eerie emptiness was there. The chirping outside of my tent continued aimlessly, and the wind brushed against the thin walls.

I let out a pitiful laugh, putting my hand down as my hand ran through my short hair. “I’ve gotta have the worst luck out of any other disciple here,” I muttered. I collapsed onto my back and staring at the ceiling of the tent before slowly shutting my eyes.

The next arc would be the dungeon series, and I should be able to get to the train station just before it started. There was only so much toxicity the pigeon’s lung could filter, but I should make it to the station before needing to purchase more powerful items.

This arc would be when Wei would start to regain his memories, and I needed to be there. If I didn’t make it in time… then hopefully Yue could kill Wei before he would kill everyone in that train station.

Wei managed to survive in Surviving My First Run because of Feiyu’s skill and my favoritism as the author—but he only came to his senses after slaughtering more than half of Feiyu’s party in cold blood.

Even though it was technically a dungeon, it was very loosely based on the term. It would start out similarly, with generic mobs, grinding, and rewards; however, it would contort and twist into individual rooms designed for each party member. At the end, the top three teams would compete against each other for an achievement.

The moment I arrived tomorrow, I would buy Wei a nice set of clean, white robes. The classic set was on sale in the Azure Dragon store. By making him wear them, it would not only boost his stats, but it could jog his memories just a bit. It wouldn’t be enough for him to go berserk, but it would hopefully be enough to allow a trickle of some memories in, so he wouldn’t have to face all of them at once.

There was also a sword hidden beneath the flooring of the currency exchange booth at the station. Feiyu wouldn’t discover it until after the third arc, and I would make sure I was the first to take hold of it.

I fell asleep eager to wake up and execute my plans at the station the next day.