A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Guide for Failing Authors

The pages of the book on the floor of the venue began to rearrange, as if being turned over by an invisible hand. The papers under Liu Tianyong's feet rustled and flipped, carrying Brother Yong towards the center of the venue.

"Author!" Ye Tian tried to follow, but was blocked by a barrier.

"No one other than those involved in the case is allowed inside. Especially those who are characters in the book, please listen from the outside." A mechanical voice announced.

"A character?!" Ye Qi trembled with anger. "I'm the protagonist, the protagonist, understand?!"

Wu Qu was about to rush over when Lü Youyou stopped him: "Don't go. If you go now, you'll only be judged as interfering with the trial, which will not do you or Liu Tianyong any good."

"But Yong-ge..."

"May he have good luck," Greeny said with a complicated expression. "The Narrative Ethics Committee is more troublesome than those monsters."

Liu Tianyong was slid to the very center of the hall, where pages of books rose up to form concentric steps, which were the seats for the jurors.

[Trial Begins]

As soon as the voice fell, ten beams of light descended from the dome of the venue.

Jury selection complete

[Six reader representatives: Huang Chaobin (reading "The Nth Rebirth", reading time 2 hours, 8 requests for updates); Li Yumeng (reading "Apocalyptic Sweet Romance: The Domineering Zombie Falls in Love with Me"...)]

[Four authors represented: Zhang Gou Dan (author of "I Became a Boxing Champion in the Apocalypse"), Chen Yuan Yuan (author of "The 999 Sacrifices of the Healing Saintess")...]

Yongge squinted at the beams of light. On the readers' side, the leader was a tall, thin man with glasses, holding a glowing tablet. The screen displayed the interface of "The Nth Rebirth," and it was Huang Chaobin.

On the author's side, a middle-aged man with a beer belly and wearing floral shorts was squatting on the ground picking his toes. The three large characters "Zhang Gou Dan" floated above his head, and behind him was a semi-transparent, muscular boxing champion phantom, similar to Ye Tian. He was the protagonist in Zhang Gou Dan's book, who was stuck in the awkward state of "charging up power" for some reason.

[Defendant: Liu Tianyong, a contracted author with KDBuLaike, author of "The Nth Rebirth"]

[Accusation: On the first day of the apocalypse, in the bank lobby, he used narrative privileges to kill Lin Ruyan, who was also an author.]

[Center of contention: Does an author have the right to kill other authors?]

[Trial Rules:]

[1. Both the prosecution and the defense have three opportunities to make their statements.]

2. After both sides have finished their statements, all members of the jury will vote on their preferred verdict.

3. Reviewers have the final right of interpretation and may directly change their judgment based on the narrative logic.

4. Losing a case will result in "narrative backlash," with the specific punishment depending on the severity of the loss.

Yong licked his lips. These rules, like the contract, were densely packed.

A beam of light descended from the other end of the hall, and a man in a sharp suit and gold-rimmed glasses walked out. A badge pinned to his chest read: "Narrative Ethics Committee - Prosecutor."

"Liu Tianyong, before the formal trial begins, I feel it is necessary to remind you that this trial is not an ordinary courtroom trial. It is a concrete manifestation of narrative logic. Every word you say will be verified in real time to determine its narrative rationality."

"In the bank lobby, you used your narrative privileges to kill the author Lin Ruyan. You are now accused of the crimes of 'malicious completion' and 'narrative hegemony.' Do you plead guilty?"

"Acknowledge my ass!" Yong Ge picked up a red pen, the barrel gleaming with a blood-red light. "That woman wanted to kill her own brother and drag everyone else down with her to create her own tragic fiction setting. I was acting in self-defense!"

The prosecutor snapped his fingers, and the pages of the book at Liu Tianyong's feet burst into flames, transforming into a line of text: [This statement contains a logical flaw; narrative weight -10]

"See? You can't just talk the talk here without any logic."

Liu Tianyong gripped the red fountain pen tightly. "Old Deng, if you're watching from heaven, please bless me so I can get through this!"

The prosecutor began: "Dear reviewers, jurors, and readers, today we are not discussing a simple murder case. In this world, murder itself is insignificant. We are discussing the fundamental issues of ethical narrative!"

His voice echoed throughout the venue, each word transforming into golden characters that floated in the air.

"Lin Ruyan, 28 years old, is a healing-themed author. Her work, 'The Light in the Apocalypse,' has a loyal readership of 127 people. Her works are based on the aesthetics of sacrifice. Although her style is quite controversial, it does not violate the 'Convention for Creators of Online Literature.' Although her narrative weight is low, it represents the value of healing-themed online novels."

He turned to Liu Tianyong, his gaze sharp as a knife: "And the defendant, Liu Tianyong, in the chaos of the apocalypse, under the guise of exposing hypocrisy, used narrative authority to forcibly end Lin Ruyan's storyline. This is not self-defense; it is narrative murder! It also deprives readers of their spiritual sustenance! This is destroying the diversity of the narrative ecosystem!"

"Defendant, what gives you the right to define hypocrisy? What gives you the right to decide whether an author's story should be ended?!" The prosecutor's voice rose considerably.

Golden words burned in the air, and the jurors in the dock began to whisper among themselves.

The middle-aged woman holding the rag doll frowned: "Yes, that Miss Lin may be a bit extreme, but she was trying to save her brother..."

The middle-aged man in the suit shook his head: "Save her brother? She's going to kill him herself in the end to create the climax of the plot."

"She was forced!" the woman retorted. "If Liu Tianyong hadn't forced her, how could she have..."

"Bullshit!" Zhang Gou Dan suddenly jumped up from the authors' representative seat next to the defendant's dock, his floral shorts fluttering in the wind. "That woman's writing is called healing? That's called moral blackmail! I write about boxing champions, and I hate this 'it's for your own good, go die' kind of plot! Liu Tianyong did the right thing!"

He winked at Yong Ge and said, "Kid, keep it up! Don't let those book readers ride roughshod over us authors!"

Huang Chaobin immediately stood up: "I oppose Zhang Gou Dan's stance! We are readers, not tyrants riding on anyone's back! But we are not leeks to be slaughtered by the author either! We also have the ability to observe while the author creates!"

"Silence!" The reviewer's voice silenced all the murmurs. "Zhang Gou Dan, author; Huang Chaobin, reader; as jurors, you must remain neutral. Your statements will be recorded during the voting phase. Defendant, please begin your statement."

Zhang Gou Dan sat down dejectedly.

That fatso! Saying that, isn't he just stirring up trouble between the author and the readers?!

But Huang Chaobin's words are sharp! In this world, the author is indeed similar to a "creator," while the reader is an "observer." But what if the creator can arbitrarily erase other creators? How can order be maintained? Although it's unknown whether this damn world has a normal order, since I've been judged, there must be a level of order in this world.

[Defendant's First Statement]

Liu Tianyong took a deep breath. At this critical moment, he still prayed for Wang Laodeng's protection.

"Everyone, I'd like to start by asking you a question: Have any of you read Lin Ruyan's books?"

A woman dressed in ancient costume stood up and spoke in the jury: "In 'The Light in the Apocalypse,' the female protagonist sacrificed everything to save her younger brother, but he still died in the end. She held onto her brother's portrait and lived tenaciously in the ruins."

"So, are you moved?"

"I was moved, but afterwards I had an indescribable feeling, like I'd been kidnapped?"

"That's right!" Liu Tianyong's pen drew a red line in the air. "Because her aesthetics of sacrifice are essentially a form of emotional blackmail! She uses emotions as a weapon to force readers to accept her values! Not sacrificing is cold-blooded, not shedding tears is heartless!"

Yong-ge pointed at the prosecutor: "You're saying I committed narrative murder? Then let me ask you, when Lin Ru-yan used her moral blackmail to force those survivors to commit suicide, what was she doing? Wasn't that narrative slaughter?! Those people she controlled had their stories forcibly interrupted, their lives crushed by her emotional appeals!"

The red lettering burned in the air, colliding with the prosecutor's gold lettering, creating a vibrant and passionate effect.

"I killed her! Not because I have the right to decide who should die," Liu Tianyong's voice grew louder, "but because! In this world, hypocrisy is more terrifying than true evil! True evil is at least honest, but hypocrisy is cannibalism disguised as morality!"

[The defendant has finished stating their statement; narrative logic verification in progress.]

[Verification passed, narrative weight +50]

Liu Tianyong breathed a sigh of relief, but the prosecutor smiled.