Only One Knew

[11:23 PM | Divergence Branch 3C – Canon Layer: Rejected Draft Vault]

[Main Scenario #3: Canon Divergence – 42% Complete]

[Next Objective: Confront the Author Who Abandoned You]

[Warning: Emotional Integrity Threshold Exceeded – Narrative Stability at Risk]

The door to the vault didn't open.

It unfolded—each hinge a bleeding paragraph, each creak a line of pain that had once meant something to someone. Jae-hwan stepped forward, eyes fixed ahead, but every breath dragged on like a misplaced comma.

Behind him, Jin-hee adjusted the collar of his coat. "You sure you're ready for this?"

"No," Jae-hwan said. "But stories don't wait for readiness."

[Trait: Inkblood Memory – Active]

[Passive Skill: Thread Stability – Synchronizing Emotional Load]

He walked through.

And found himself in a room he remembered from when he was a child. A room he'd never been in. A room described in the author's early blog posts, buried beneath layers of deleted metadata.

A desk. A broken chair. A mug half-filled with ink.

And at the center—

A man.

Not tall. Not terrifying.

Ordinary. Almost painfully so.

The kind of man you could forget in a crowded bookstore.

The Author.

Or rather—the one who had stopped being one.

[You have encountered: Abandoned Archetype – Failed Canon Architect]

The man looked up.

His face held no recognition.

"Who are you?"

Jae-hwan stepped closer.

"You wrote me. And then you left."

[Flashback – System Log: 4 years ago | Abandoned Notes Folder]

"Dropped it. Couldn't finish. Felt pointless."

"Too many plot holes. Not worth salvaging."

"No one reads anymore."

Back in the vault, the Author frowned. "So? Everyone abandons something."

Jin-hee spat. "Not like this. You created a world and let it rot."

"I never asked it to be real," the Author snapped.

[Dialogue Conflict Triggered – Narrative Repercussions Unstable]

The room shook.

Shelves toppled. Dust swirled like dying metaphors.

"You don't get to decide what becomes real," Jae-hwan said quietly. "You gave it breath. That was enough."

[Scenario: The Abandonment Draft – Phase 1]

[Objective: Reclaim Authority over the Lost Canon]

The Author stood.

His body distorted—not with power, but with doubt. Every step he took collapsed plotlines beneath him. Words unraveled in his wake.

[Combat Initiated: Narrative Duel – Player vs. Architect]

[Skill Activated: Canon Thread Bind Lv. 1]

Jae-hwan's hand glowed. Lines of truth wrapped around his wrist.

He dashed forward, slicing a memory from Chapter 5 across the Author's torso.

The man staggered.

"You're fighting me with my own words?"

Jae-hwan's voice trembled. "No. I'm fighting you with mine."

[Passive Skill: Inkblood Manifestation – Personal Narrative Applied]

He spoke a line no one had ever read:

"He never wanted to be a hero. But he couldn't bear to remain forgotten."

The words struck like blades.

[Opponent Stability: 88% → 63%]

Jin-hee leapt in.

[Skill: Editor's Last Strike – Scene Redirection Lv. 2]

He redirected the author's counterattack, buying time.

Jae-hwan continued:

"Every word I lived was yours. Every pain, every death. But this time, I write the ending."

The Author screamed.

Reality warped.

[Environmental Hazard: Draft Collapse Imminent – 60 Seconds Remaining]

Jae-hwan's mind burned.

The pages of his memories swirled—scenes overwritten, friends forgotten, endings that never had closure.

But one thread held:

"This story begins with a reader who refused to stop."

[Final Skill Triggered: Rewrite Seal – Prototype Level]

The sentence burned into the Author's chest.

[Narrative Overwrite Complete]

[Scenario Objective Fulfilled – Canon Authority Transferred to: Kang Jae-hwan]

The man collapsed.

But he didn't vanish.

He wept.

And whispered, "Thank you… for not letting me forget what I made."

Jae-hwan knelt.

Took the pen from the Author's fingers.

Stood.

[System Update: Class Evolved – True Storyweaver Lv. 2]

[Title Gained: The One Who Continued] [Main Scenario Progress: 62%]

[New World Anchor Unlocked – Chapter 1 Begins Now]

Jin-hee chuckled weakly. "So… what's the first line?"

Jae-hwan smiled.

"This is a story about endings that refused to be final."

And he wrote.

To be continue...