The Reader Are Gods

Not long after, Reiji woke up from his faint. His head was resting on something soft, and his face was covered by something rather large.

He tried to touch the object pressing against his face with his hand—something soft and slightly springy.

Then, suddenly, something grabbed his hand firmly.

"What are you doing, Reiji? Touching my...?"

He quickly sat up and realized that he had been lying on Akira's lap, and what he had touched was her... He stared at it.

"Shit... How is it so big that it could block my sight and nose...?" he thought to himself.

"Sorry, I didn't know it was you. That thing really can block everything, huh... Hahaha."

He tried to lighten the awkward mood.

Suddenly, Akira leaned in close to Reiji. She held his thigh and brought her face close to his.

"Do you really want to touch it that badly...? I don't mind if it's you..." Her eyes blinked teasingly.

" hmmmm..you really good at this Akira.. "

Hell nah... Why is she suddenly being so aggressive out of nowhere?

He held Akira's hand and placed it back on her own thigh.

"Not today... I'll claim it later."

[Member Chatroom]

IHatePartner: Pffft... HAHAHAHA! Hey, LonelyGod, you here??? Make sure you're not crying in the shower, okay?… Haha!

HunterSuck: This author's definitely not single, right? At least he gave a proper answer that eased the girl's heart. Not too nonchalant or naive.

LonelyGod: Ugh, screw this… This is why I hate married authors. Just go work and feed your family already!

IHatePartner: HAHAHA! We can still turn this into a harem, though. Let's save your waifu—I'll help you this time.

LonelyGod: You're a real bro, man. Yeah, let's make every girl he meets fall for him. HAHAHA!

HunterSuck: You two really forgot I'm a woman here? Hope there's at least one other girl in this chat…

CeoHunter has joined the chatroom.

[Chatroom Closed]

Akira suddenly looked angry—her face could never hide her reactions.

Reiji grew curious. Did I mess up and make her mad too? And these damn readers… Can't they just let me have fun for once? Why does everything around me have to be so complicated?

Suddenly, the dragon corpse that had been lying on the ground began to disappear—its body breaking apart into glowing, pixelated cubes before vanishing completely.

The grass, which had been normal just moments ago, now seemed to glitch and stutter, as if reality itself was a poorly rendered simulation.

Akira stumbled back, staring at the blood oozing from her wound—but the liquid staining her fingers wasn't red.

It was blue.

A fluorescent, unnatural blue.

"What happened to your blood...? Why did it change?!"

Reiji quickly grabbed Akira's hand, inspecting her wound. It didn't feel real—the texture was all wrong, like a low-resolution texture in a game.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

TUTORIAL CLEARED

[CONTESTANT 47 – ISHIRA REIJI – ADVANCED]

[REWARD: 10,000 FAVOR POINTS]

Akira's eyes widened as she suddenly saw floating text materialize in front of Reiji's face.

Akira's eyes widened. "Reiji, something's—"

Her voice cut off mid-sentence.

Her voice stopped suddenly. Her body froze, and her arms and legs became stiff like a puppet pulled tight by its strings.

The world glitched. The sky split wide open, torn like broken code. A massive mechanical eye emerged from the center. Its pupil was filled with streams of code—something no normal person could understand.

Reiji froze, stunned by the sight of the eye. Akira tried to move, tried to say something—but she still couldn't. Her mouth wouldn't make a sound.

"Shit… I need to get out of here!"

Reiji quickly picked Akira up in his arms. She couldn't move or speak at all. As he turned to run—

The pupil of the eye began to move, scanning the entire world like a machine searching for errors. Then it locked directly onto Reiji, holding Akira in his arms.

[ADMIN_EYE: UNAUTHORIZED MODIFICATION DETECTED.]

[PENALTY: RESET.]

Akira's body suddenly jolted, like she'd been struck by a bolt of electricity. Her mouth moved—but the voice that came out wasn't hers. It was glitched, warped, like a corrupted audio file.

"You can see us, can't you? You were not meant to survive."

Then the katana lying on the ground began to tremble violently, rising into the air on its own.

[KATANA SYSTEM OVERRIDE]

[NEW DIRECTIVE: TERMINATE USER]

The katana floated in the air, automatically aiming at Reiji—right at his throat.

Reiji swiftly dodged to the side, but the sword moved just as fast, adjusting its trajectory and stopping right at the center of his neck.

"Oh, this is interesting."

A new voice.

Smooth. Synthetic.

The world froze.

A pristine business card materialized in Reiji's palm.

CEOHUNTER

Senior Narrative Curator

"Let's make a deal."

The katana hung motionless, still aimed at Reiji's neck, but the killing intent had paused—as if waiting for his answer.

"Damn this sword! Now you betray me?"

Reiji didn't know what to do—he didn't understand what this damn person wanted. And Akira still hadn't moved, unable to speak.

The words on the card changed again.

10,000 Favor Points upfront. Sponsorship privileges. A guaranteed main character slot.

In a state of not knowing what to do, he was forced to think rationally and follow the flow because his life and Akira's were in danger.

" And the catch ? It seem not beneficial to me i can do that without your help "

He try to counterback their offer .

"Your pain stays profitable."

The word on card change again ..

All future choices monetized. Viewer votes enforced.

Not knowing what else to do, he had no choice but to think rationally and go with the flow because his and Akira's lives were on the line.

"And the catch? Doesn't seem beneficial to me." He tried to counter their offer.

"Your pain stays profitable."

The words on the card shifted again.

All future choices monetized. Viewer votes enforced.

Reiji began to feel the weight of refusal—these terms were too good for him to ignore.

Akira, who had been frozen and glitching earlier, suddenly forced out words through strained breaths:

"Don't… trust… them…"

Reiji tried to turn his head to look at her, but the sword pressed deeper into his neck, drawing a trickle of blood—a warning not to move.

And just like that, the system's grip tightened on Akira again. Now, she was completely frozen.

Above them, the massive eyes in the sky still watched.

Waiting for his choice.