Lijie’s head would explode any minute.

Last seen ???

How many times had be been here? Five? Ten? Fifteen? A hundred? The humming air vent was the frosting on his racing thoughts. He rubbed his temples. His head throbbed. One more ‘last seen’ and he’d collapse on his desk never to get up again. His eyes wandered to his phone. He heaved himself up, took a deep breath and checked the time.

2:30 a.m

He locked eyes with it. Before he knew it, the screen went dark. He jerked himself awake and fought back a long groan. He was like a candle freshly blown out candle. Fizzled. He pulled himself off the chair. ‘Off to bed.’ He thought, sliding his phone off the desk. ‘Work won’t attend itself.’ He turned. Dim yellow light swallowed his bedroom.

His feet dragged across the carpet. He leaned against the champagne wall and switched off the light. Too bad. City lights barged in through the shut blinds. Lijie frowned. He walked over to the bed—the only thing there besides a dresser..--and collapsed.

His lids weren’t shut for long, next thing he knew, he was glued to his phone screen.

Alaric fell forward. He could not believe it, any of it. ‘My love is imprisoned… and now I am left here to die.’ he looked up. No hope. The walls of his prison cell would cave in any minute. He looked at his hands. His gloves were now unclean and his once noble clothes tattered. For all he knew, the kingdom he defended so bravely was on fire just outside and he could do nothing.

“So you’re telling me.. AliveWinter763 is offline?” A sharply expectant voice said. “Did you not check the dates before you got invested?”

Li stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He sighed deeply and pulled off his tie. The next day rolled around before he could wrap his head around it. “I don’t know.” He groaned, slumping. “Another minute passes before the heroine could blink left a hole in my heart.. so I needed something better.”

“From what I’m seeing,” Alice shrugged. “The ultimate reborn hero ended a couple years ago. All the comments are asking where the author went.”

Li set his tie beside the sink and brushed back his jet hair. “Jesus. These titles are long.” The phone buzzed against the counter. “How do you remember them all again??”

“I’ve read a lot.”

“But were they as long as your day at work today?”

The two burst into laughter.

A little while later…

“In a web-novel with over.. what? Hundreds of pages, I can count how many times he actually went to see her on my hand.”

Alice giggled from the other end of the phone, which was pressed tight to his ear. He laid in bed, staring at the color-drained roof. Maybe that yellow was a little more plentiful. “Then she’s interrogated and everything turns into a shit-spiral from there.” He lightheartedly continued.

“I’ll have to join you sometime.. but I’ll also join you during or after work tomorrow.”

“I see. Well, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Me too.” He heard her smile.

CLACK! The comb dropped. LiJie stood, staring into his own wide eyes in the mirror. ‘How am I already off work?’ He stepped back. The light’s low buzzing hummed over silence. He leaned down, sweeping the comb off the tiles and laying it on the sink. His conversation with Alice blurred like a fever dream as he drug himself to his room and laid down.

Before he knew it, he was scrolling through Webnovels again. All sorts of covers—from elaborate to minimal—flashed on screen. The blankets hugged him like an old friend. His lids were heavy as bricks. He blinked. His pupils focused back on a title…?

Necromancy345

AliveWinter, if you’re still on the platform, why haven’t you written?

He scrolled down, nothing. His mind was still as a riverbed. He yawned, curling up and resting the phone against his knees. The light grew against pitch black and his eyes went fuzzy. He blinked. The protagonist stared through the camera. Reds and blacks clashed as rocks and magma fought behind him. He stood, holding a shining sword and a cold gaze.

His long black hair hung in his face. His dark robes blew in the burning wind Li imagined. He yawned—again and scrolled up. Maybe a bit too far. The page refreshed. His eyes blurred as he scrolled down. A few more scrolls. He’d focus his gaze here and there, but soon the blue sky greeted him. A warm breeze hugged him like the world’s softest quilt and—cool grass touched his palms?!

Sugary wildflowers flooded his lungs. Li snapped up. His eyes shot wide. He gasped. Bright green rolling hills laid like 5 course meal in front of him. Birds fluttered from place to place, tweeting as they landed on one of the many trees that dotted the landscape. He glanced around. Flowers of every color imaginable filled every corner. If eye candy were a thing—this would be it.

He pulled himself up, his mind raced as he turned every which way. A cottage was tucked just behind a patch of trees. Li took a deep breath, closed his eyes and rolled back his shoulders—maybe he’d find out then what the hell was going on. Bees buzzed around as if they played ring around the rosy while he walked. ‘Maybe this is all a dream of I’ve just gone man’ He thought to himself.

Li walked up the cobblestone path. The sweet scent of fruit filled his lungs—but not only fruit, pie as well. His slouch was fixed right away as he perked up. Maybe they’d at least teach him the recipe. He hopped up the stairs, composing himself and knocking on the door. He glanced at the cloudless blue sky before a woman opened the door. Li’s jaw dropped.

She wore a corset, laced by string that looked ready to snap. It was brown like her worn skirt. A green satchel was thrown over her shoulder, denting her puffy off-white shirt. Her jaw went slack. “Mona??” Her eyes widened. “How did you make it out of there?!” Li blinked. The words crawled to the top of his throat. His mouth didn’t move. He took a deep breath.

“Whose Mona..?”

Meanwhile…

Necromancy345

AliveWinter, if you’re still on the platform, why haven’t you written?

---AliveWinter763

Hi! I’m finally back from and it seems I’ve got a kick of inspiration. I’ve decided to pick up the novel as soon as possible!

Alice grinned widely. She raced to her contacts, typing to Li before she could count to three. Her heart fluttered with the excitement she’d hear in his voice the moment they called.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Li’s phone buzzed on the bed.