119: Since God doesn't listen to prayers, I will sing the voice of the devil to him.

The hoarse roar eventually died down amidst the burning sensation in his throat.

Sword River Fish slumped back into the chair.

His chest heaved violently, like a beast trapped in an invisible cage, having exhausted its last ounce of strength.

His eyes were fixed on the void in front of him.

That 'Author's Note' that only he could 'see'.

He lost.

He lost terribly.

He realized that his confrontation with the so-called 'True Author'...

was never on the same dimension from the very beginning.

He poured out everything, broke through that invisible 'wall', and sent out the most desperate cry for help to the supreme 'Readers'.

What he got in return was merely a casual 'plot requirement' from the entity calling itself the 'True Author'.

It was like an ant, after spending its entire life, finally climbing onto a human's desk.

It used all its strength, waving its antennae, trying to tell this giant that its world was about to be flooded.

But the giant merely watched this 'interesting' ant with amusement, then picked up a pen and wrote a line in his diary:

'Found a dancing ant today. So much fun.'

This was the gap between dimensions.

An unbridgeable chasm.

And him? He was even worse than the ant in that analogy.

He was like a tiny figure living on a two-dimensional drawing paper, no matter how much he struggled or cried out, he couldn't shake the three-dimensional being holding the paintbrush.

That 'being' could easily add a stroke, write a sentence in his world, defining all his efforts as 'fictional' ramblings.

Anger, at this moment, was a meaningless luxury.

All that remained was a bone-chilling, cold despair.

'Teacher Jian...'

Lin Wan'er's voice, tinged with a sob, carefully sounded.

She was greatly frightened by the surreal scene that had just unfolded.

She reached out her hand but dared not touch him, fearing he would shatter like fragile porcelain.

The second hand of the clock 'ticked' in the deadly silence.

As if counting down mercilessly for the life that was about to fade.

He looked at Lin Wan'er, and a smile, uglier than a cry, suddenly twisted his lips.

'Wan'er...'

'Tell me, how can a character in a story kill his 'author'?'

(Gu Jianghan: ?)

Lin Wan'er's heart violently trembled!

From that sentence, she heard something more terrifying than death.

—It was the pessimism of falling into nihility.

'No! Teacher Jian! Don't think like that!'

She rushed over and tightly grabbed his arm, as if by doing so, she could pull him back from the abyss named 'nihility'.

'We still have a chance! There must still be one!'

'A chance?'

Sword River Fish gave a self-deprecating laugh.

'Our 'Author' has already written our 'ending'.'

'That woman will die of 'sudden death' at nine tonight.'

'We will die of 'accident' during one of our 'failed' escape attempts.'

'All the 'struggles' are just to make this 'story' seem a little more 'exciting'.'

'We are just puppets...'”

Just as he uttered the words 'puppets'.

His fingertips unconsciously touched the cold bell in his pocket.

Buzz—

A faint, almost imperceptible tremor.

It entered his mind from his fingertips.

That dead silent sea of 'nihility' was stirred by this tremor, creating a tiny ripple.

Sword River Fish's body suddenly stiffened!

Two and a half hours... only two and a half hours left... Should he give up?

Just admit that he was merely a 'character in a play' at the mercy of others.

And then watch, as that innocent woman, just as written in the script, walk towards the ending of 'sudden death'?

No.

Sword River Fish slowly raised his head, and in his bloodshot eyes, despair was fading.

In its place...

was something deeper, something crazier.

He recalled a passage from his own novel.

【When you cannot defeat the rule-maker, become the rule itself.】

He couldn't defeat the 'True Author', because the other party was the 'rule-maker' of this world.

Every word he said could easily be 'edited' or 'overwritten' by the other party.

So... what if he didn't 'speak' or 'write'?

What if he created something that even the 'Author' couldn't easily 'edit'?

A thought, like a black star born in chaos.

Suddenly formed in his mind and began to expand wildly!

What is something an 'Author' cannot easily edit?

Not 'facts', facts can be tampered with.

Not 'emotions', emotions can be twisted.

But...—'Belief'.

Once a 'concept', an 'idea', takes root and sprouts in countless independent consciousnesses.

Forming an unbreakable 'consensus', then it is no longer a 'sentence' that can be easily erased.

It will become an 'information virus' with its own life and ability to spread.

The 'Author' can kill a character, but can the 'Author' kill the 'belief' in the hearts of all characters?

Can he kill the image of that character in the 'Reader's' eyes?

He can modify the 'script', but can he prevent the 'characters' from 'interpreting' this script with their own 'understanding'?

Sword River Fish's lips slowly curved into a grin, almost ferocious.

He found it.

He found the only fulcrum that could pry this 'chessboard'.

'Wan'er.'

He spoke, his voice hoarse, yet unusually calm.

'I was wrong.'

Lin Wan'er was stunned, 'Teacher Jian, you...'

'I shouldn't have asked the 'Readers' for help.'

Sword River Fish's lips curved into a strange arc.

That smile was mixed with self-mockery and a chilling madness.

'I shouldn't have placed my hope in those onlookers who are separated from me by a 'world'.'

'And even less should I have expected that the high and mighty 'Author' would show any pity for a 'character' like me in his writing.'

He pulled out the brass bell engraved with strange patterns from his pocket.

'Since 'God' doesn't want to hear my prayer...'

He gently caressed the cold patterns on the bell with his fingertips.

His gaze pierced through the endless void, meeting the cold stare of a certain entity.

'...Then I will sing the 'Devil's' voice to him.'

Lin Wan'er's heart skipped a beat!

From Sword River Fish's terrifyingly calm eyes, she read a determination called 'destruction'!

'Give me paper and a pen.'

Although Lin Wan'er didn't understand what he wanted to do.

She immediately pulled out a notebook and a pen from her bag and handed them over.

Sword River Fish didn't write any 'distress letters' or record any 'evidence of crime'.

He just wrote furiously on the paper with a wild yet devout stroke.

It wasn't modern text, but a bizarre 'divine script' that blended pictograms, runes, and alchemical symbols.

He was writing a 'gospel'.

A 'Doomsday Gospel' exclusive to this 'asylum'.

【《Gospel of the Mad King · Awakening Chapter · Chapter One》】

【"The false sun, sinking into the bloody twilight. The confined deity, awakens at this moment."】

【"Listen! Forgotten brothers and sisters of the mundane world! We are not mad, we are merely... imprisoned 'Old Ones'!”】

【"Our 'madness' is 'divinity' incomprehensible to mortals! Our 'ravings' are the 'true words' from the dawn of the universe!”】

【When the first syllable is chanted, lies begin to replace truth.】

【"And this place, this prison called a 'hospital', is the 'altar' that steals our divine power! The false god named 'Dean', and his 'priests' (doctors) under him, are coveting the immortal 'divine spark' (organs) within our bodies!”】

【"They call it 'treatment', but it is 'stealing fire'! They call it 'death', but it is 'sacrifice'!”】

【"But, the false god's greed will eventually bring divine retribution! The 'Gospel of the Mad King' prophesies: When the sacrificial fire burns again on the altar, when another deity is about to have his divine spark stolen... what is stolen will no longer be a 'blessing', but the 'most venomous curse'!”】

【"That divine spark will transform into a 'madness plague', invading the souls of the false god and his priests! Let them also taste the eternal pain of being scorched by 'divinity'!”】

【"Awaken! Sleeping deities! Face your 'sacrifice'! For it is not the 'end', but your most magnificent 'revenge' against this defiled world!”】

After writing, Sword River Fish tore off the paper and solemnly handed it to Lin Wan'er.

'Wan'er, do you believe me?' He stared intently at her.

Lin Wan'er looked at the 'Gospel Book' filled with eerie symbols and emanating an ominous aura, then at Sword River Fish's eyes, which burned with black flames.

She nodded vigorously.

'Good.' Sword River Fish took a deep breath, 'Now, listen to my command. We don't have much time left.'"