I Will Kill The Author
chapter-18

Clomp— Clomp— Clomp—

Dull sounds of footsteps echoed throughout my apartment's living room as I continued to pace in circles around the center table.

Placed on that center table was a red quill feather pen, and besides that pen was a white envelope.

The words "-From Joe" were written on the front of that envelope.

Halting my anxious steps, I stared at the envelope with a puzzled gaze.

What's going on? And what was in that envelope?

I couldn't help but recall the face of that maniac author over and over again in my head as I kept staring at the envelope.

The author who created the world I was in right now—the author who killed me for the crime of criticizing his story.

A gazillion of questions bombarded my mind, and I had no answers to them.

"Tsk!"

Clicking my tongue, I decided to give up on puzzling my head and open the envelope. Staring at it wouldn't give me any answers.

I sat on the edge of my couch and picked up the envelope. Removing the stamp, I opened it up and found a letter inside.

The letter was folded. I put the envelope aside and unfolded the piece of paper in my hand.

From the looks of it, it was a normal letter so I started reading what was written in it.

``Dear Lucas,

Wait… can I call you Lucas? Or should I still call you Noah?

Hah! That was a trick question!

I will call you Lucas regardless of what you want hehe.

Anyway, after I forcefully made you transmigrate into this world, I reflected on my actions and realized that my anger was indeed a little unjustified.

So, I thought about making it up to you. And what better way is there to make up than to give you a golden finger?

You see, that red quill pen I sent you with this letter is your golden finger.

If you hold that red-feathered pen in your hand, you will be able to see the complete information of any desired object, including all its stats.

But that's not it. With that pen in your possession, you can "edit" any desired object's stats.

For example, if you get a [Gold Rank] sword, you can edit its rank and change it to [Platinum Rank].

Not only that, but you can also add modifications to an object too.

For example, you can remodel a knife to become a sword. You can even turn a normal piece of paper into a rocket launcher.

Exciting, right? I'm giving you the power to temper with reality!

But… there's always a catch.

You will need to gain special points in order to use the red pen. The points that I call 'Edit Points.'

The more Edit Point you have in your balance, the more freedom you'll have in editing or modifying an object.

How can you gain these Edit points, you may ask yourself?

Simple really. You'll need to make the 'story' interesting. How can you do that? By being involved in the story as much as possible.

Making significant changes to the story by altering the ending of story arcs, disrupting the plot, and adjusting the flow of the story according to what you see fit— basically create an interesting story.

The more you do that, the more Edit Points you'll acquire.

If you're still having a hard time following what I mean, then just touch the feathered pen and you'll understand everything.

Oh, and one more thing, you won't be able to edit any living being's stats—only inanimate objects.

This is my gift to make it up to you. I'm giving you the authority to edit a part of reality itself!

-From your best friend!``

"..."

With a blank face, I almost ripped the letter asunder when I read that last line.

What best friend?! You shot me to death!

And what do you mean your outrage was a 'little' unjustified? It was totally unjustified!

I just wanted to drain the damn letter down the flush after reading things like that. However, I forced myself not to do anything irrational and calmed my mind.

I read that letter a few more times but still was still confused as to what exactly the red pen was. Maybe it was partly because of my sleep deprivation.

Yes, even in another world, my sleep schedule was still messed up, and now it was affecting my ability to process things.

"Urghhh! Fuck it!"

After letting out a frustrated sigh, I did exactly what was written in the letter. I picked up the pen.

As soon as I did that, I heard a mechanical beep in my ears, and my own status screen appeared in front of me.

Beep—!

===Status===

Name→ Lucas Morningstar [Face Image]

Race→ Human

Strength→ 20

Defense→ 8

Speed→ 39

Stamina→ 32

Accuracy→ 76

Charm→ 439

Intelligence→ 187

Mana Capacity→ 500/500

Rank→ Iron 2

Potential→ Gold 3

Professions→ Spearman Lvl. 1 Archer Lvl. 1

Techniques→ None

Affinity→ Fire » Lightning Light

Spells→ Fireball ⟨Low⟩ Zap Touch ⟨Low⟩

Blessing→ Mana Burst

Possessions→ Phoenix's Embrace ⟨Semi-Divine⟩ Unknown Object

Looking at my pitiful stats again, I couldn't help but sigh.

But in reality, my stats weren't that low. They were barely below the average.

The only reason I was placed so low in the academy rankings was due to the lack of my martial arts studies.

I was Lvl. 1 in both my professions, while most of the other cadets were at least Lvl. 2 by the novel's beginning.

Looking back at it, I couldn't help but wonder, how was Lucas so stupid enough to challenge someone who was leagues above him in the novel?

I was about to facepalm until I heard another high-pitched beep sound, and a red screen popped up in my vision.

Beep—!

Editing the Status Window…

"Editing the status window? What does that mean?"

My question was soon answered when in the next moment, once again, a red translucent screen appeared in my vision.

Edit complete!

Open the Status Window to see your gift.

After reading the last line, I frowned a little before reluctantly calling out my status window.

"Status!" I commanded, and instantly the familiar blue screen appeared in my sight.

===Status===

Name→ Lucas Morningstar [Face Image]

Race→ Human

Attack→ 20

Defense→ 8

Speed→ 39

Stamina→ 32

Accuracy→ 76

Charm→ 439

Intelligence→ 187

Mana Capacity→ 500/500

Rank→ Iron 2

Potential→ Gold 3

Professions→ Spearman Lvl. 1 Archer Lvl. 1

Techniques→ None

Affinity→ Fire » Lightning Light

Spells→ Fireball ⟨Low⟩ Zap Touch ⟨Low⟩

Blessing→ Mana Burst

Possessions→ Phoenix's Embrace ⟨Semi-Divine⟩ Editor's Pen ⟨Divine⟩

Edit Points: 5 (Create an enjoyable story. The more you entertain 'him,' the more Points you'll get)

"Edit Points…" Looking at the new section that was added to my status window, I uttered while touching my chin. "I see."

I got the gist of what was happening here. From the start, I knew my transmigration into this world wasn't a coincidence.

How could it be?

I had my doubts, but I thought I was just being paranoid. But now I know for sure….

Joe, the author who killed me, was not a normal person.

For starters, as ridiculous as it may sound, after he killed me, I woke up inside his novel. The very same novel that I criticized as trash.

Then there was also that nonsense he was spouting before killing me.

If I remember correctly, he said something like, "Casting time reversal and parallel timeline rebirth will cost me more than half of my life essence…."

Does that mean he was some kind of God or something who was capable of creating worlds and making people reincarnate in them and stuff like that?

No, ridiculous. That isn't possible, right?

Besides, why would a God as powerful as that would decide to be an author?

More importantly, why would a God throw bother themselves with the opinion of a mere mortal?

But regardless of what I might think of this matter, the reality of the situation remained unchanged.

I was undoubtedly in the world of Joe's novel, and he had sent me this letter.

After all, the words "-From Joe" were clearly written on the front of that envelope.

For some reason, though, I was feeling angry and frustrated…

I still had many questions, but I knew I wouldn't be getting the answers to them anytime soon.

So instead of deciding to stand there like a maniac, I put my questions aside and thought about trying to perform what was written in that letter first.

It was mentioned that I could "edit" an object's stats. But what does that mean?

Scratching my chin, I looked around me to find something that could serve me as my test subject.

However, while I was looking around, I noticed that all the objects around me had a red dot over them.

Frowning, I narrowed my eyes and focused my gaze on the red dot over my couch.

As soon as I focused my gaze on it, the dot grew bigger, and a red translucent screen opened up in my vision again.

No, it wasn't my status screen! Instead, it was a screen displaying the status of my couch!

Item: Ordinary Couch

Status: Normal

Durability: 20

Condition: Excellent

Abilities: None

Rank: None

Edit: ____

My eyes were wide open, and my heart slammed hard against my chest. I finally understood what this pen could do….

"A-Amazing!"