Character illustration by iamchandraneel 💗

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Fictosa System
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[Welcome, villain.]

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Popularity rank: 2nd
Attention stolen: +1000
Fame rank for the last two weeks: Constant
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A DEEP groan let out from his mouth as he slowly got up from his mud-colored bed. The black veil covering his face prevented him from clearly seeing the system's purple hologram in front of him. But it didn't matter. He was used to it already. He had lived his life wearing the veil as an indication that he was part of the Widow Tribe.

And he preferred it because this was how his author wrote him.

"Open the Dump," utos niya sa system bago tumayo at nagtungo sa salamin ng kaniyang kuwarto. Dahan-dahan siyang naglakad sa bahay niyang bawat apak ay sumasayaw. Lumulubog ang kaniyang paa dahil sa malambot na mga materyales. Ang kaniyang mga sinulid ang naging dahilan kung bakit ganito ang estruktura.

This was his Personal Setting--a customized home the system made based from his character.

[Opening the Dump . . .]

[Opened.]
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Reader Dump: +5000
Author/Writer Dump: 0
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Napatigil siya sa paglalakad dahil sa impormasyong nakaungkat sa system. Ang dump ay mga mensahe at komento na nakukuha ng mga karakter mula sa kanilang mambabasa at manunulat. At nais niyang magdabog dahil wala na naman siyang panibagong natanggap na mensahe sa mula kaniyang manunulat.

"Where are you, my wordy Noa?" He pouted while thinking of his author.

Dalawang taon na ang lumipas matapos hindi na nagparamdam ang kaniyang manunulat. Matapos itong mangako sa mga mambabasa at sa kaniya na magkakaroon ng pangalawang libro ang Odds of Tribes na nakapokus sa kaniyang perspektibo, hindi na ulit pa ito nagparamdam.

She had abandoned him without telling him why.

[Would you like to open the Reader Dump?]

Adamas ignored the system and looked at his reflection in the oval-shaped mirror. He watched his body as he removed the black corset encircled tightly around his waist.

He sighed. "Yeah, sure."

[Opening the Reader Dump. Comments and thoughts will be shown in a few seconds.]

With his weary eyes, he stared at the comments popping out one by one.

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Reader Dump
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Adamas babe! Ang fogi mo po huhu.
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If villain, why hot kasi punyeta.
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Ready na ang kasal natin, mahal. Ikaw na lang kulang.
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Kaya talaga nakasuot ng veil si Adamas dahil naghahanda na po siya sa wedding namin.
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Hmp. Bias ni author. Ba't mas pogi ka pa kaysa sa ml?
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He had already expected these kinds of comments. Ito palagi ang nakukuha niya mula pa no'ng kaka-release pa lang ng libro. He used to feel excited reading them, but now that his author didn't say any word to him, he had lost the fuel to enjoy these compliments. These were all useless if it wasn't his author telling him how great, and hot, and wonderful she created him.

Marami pang lumabas na mga komento. Some were wholesome, and some were rated eighteen that he, sometimes--even though he was an adult--couldn't help but to be caught off guard of how straightforward and thirsty the comments were.

"Control your thoughts, reddy readsy." He shook his head. That was what he liked to call his readers. If only he could give them messages too, he wouldn't have to get a mini-heart attack every single time he would read those thirsty comments.

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Gusto ko pang magbasa. Gusto ko malaman story ni Adamas, but sadly the author ****
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Ang sad. I was hoping for the book 2 really. I didn't expect she would ******a *******. It's been two years.

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His fists balled after reading those comments. Those type of comments that contained censors.

The system's first duty was to protect the characters' state of mind. If fictional characters indulged into a crucial information from the real dimension, it would throw them out of character. And when their character description is affected, Character Disintegration--a phenomena where characters forget that they weren't real--would happen. The system would not be able recognize them as fictional, so the system filtered words that may lead them to that.

Somehow, it annoyed Adamas. Dahil sa censor na iyan, hindi niya magawang malaman kung anong nangyari kay Noa. Dahil sa censor, hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit palagi siyang nakatatanggap ng malulungkot na komento patungkol sa kaniyang manunulat.

Ano ang nangyari?

Nagbihis siya ng roba at sinuot muli ang kaniyang corset bago nagtungo sa pinto nang may kumatok. Pinagbuksan niya ito at sumalubong sa kaniya ang isang bata.

Isang hindi ordinaryong bata.

"What do you want, Thomas?"

Just like him, Thomas was a villain character.  He ranked third in the popularity rank. At dahil magkasunod sila ng rank, magkapitbahay din sila. 

Thomas yawned. "Hey there, Riscarte."

Maglalakad na sana ito papasok sa kaniyang bahay pero biglang yumanig ang paligid. Nabitawan niya ang pagkakahawak sa kaniyang doorknob dahilan para mapasubsob siya sa kanilang kulay asul na lupa. Ganoon din si Thomas.

"What the hell?" reklamo niya at pinagpag ang mga dumikit na lupa sa kaniyang katawan.

[Report System: Quest of lower ranked villains are still ongoing.]

"Hindi pa rin sila tapos?!" asik niya. Tumayo na siya. Tinulungan niya ring makatayo si Thomas.

"The quest have gotten really chaotic lately because of this one villain," Thomas said. His lips were smiling, so amused of what was happening in the quest.

Fictosa held quests every year for lower ranked characters by role categories. Winners would be be given a ticket to replace a character from the popularity rank. And when their ranked changed, their recognition in the real dimension would be affected too. In short, it's an opportunity for fictional characters to be known in the real dimension. The author of the winner would get famous too.

Hindi naman ganito ang epekto no'ng nakaraang taon. Wala nga silang halos maramdaman na kaguluhan, pero ngayon, araw-araw na lang silang nakararanas ng pagyanig.

"I don't care about them."

"Right. Since when did you care?" Thomas chuckled. "Anyway, I have something to give you--"

Hindi nito natapos ang sasabihin nang muli na namang lumindol. Higit na mas malakas kaysa kanina. Kaagad niyang kinarga si Thomas bago tumalon papasok sa kaniyang bahay nang magkaroon ng bitak ang tinatapakan nila.

Napahawak siya sa doorknob habang si Thomas naman ay yumakap sa kaniya.

Hindi pa rin tumitigil ang pagyanig. Ang mga kagamitin sa kaniyang bahay ay nagsimula na ring magkawatak-watak. Buti na lang hindi matigas ang kaniyang sahig kaya hindi nabasag ang malaki niyang salamin.

[Report System: The quest is still ongoing. Large portion of Fictosa has been wiped out by Zero.]

[Recovery System is now activated.]

"Nahihilo na ako. Kailan ba 'to titigil?" Napakamot si Adamas sa kaniyang veil. Pinikit niya ang mga mata dahil pakiramdam niya'y masusuka na siya.

[Response System: Please wait patiently."

"For how long?!"

[Response System: Please wait patiently.]

He sighed and didn't bother to start a pointless argument with the system. Hindi niya rin minulat ang mga mata hangga't hindi tumitigil ang pagyanig.

Tumagal pa ng ilang minuto ang lindol bago tuluyang nawala. Ang ingay ng mga nahuhulog na gamit at ang mga nagbagsakang mga estruktura sa labas ay tumigil na rin, pero hindi muna siya lumabas kaagad dahil alam niyang masusundan pa ito ng aftershock.

"You okay?" tanong niya kay Thomas.

Bumitaw na ito sa kaniya at saka tumango. "Uh-huh. Not a scratch."

"That's great then."

Lalabas na sana siya sa pintuan subalit hinawakan ni Thomas ang kaniyang pulso.

"Wait."

"Why?" Lilingunin na sana niya ito subalit napunta ang tingin niya sa hologram na biglang lumabas sa kaniyang harapan.

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damaged due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damage due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damage due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damaged due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damage due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damage due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

[Report System: Fictosa is entirely damage due to Zero. Quest is on-hold.]

Napakunot ang kaniyang noo dahil sa paulit-ulit na report ng system. The feminine voice of the system, too, started to mix with its many voices, making it inaudible. Naging basag ang boses nito. Biglang nawala ang hologram pero wala pang ilang segundo, bumalik agad.

[Recovery System is activated. Repair will start right away.]

[Recovery System failed. Reactivating.]

[Reactivation failed. Attempting thrice.]

[Attempt failed.]

"What's happening?" Napakunot ang kaniyang noo dahil unti-unti na namang nawawala ang hologram sa harapan niya. But unlike earlier, it was glitching this time.

[Evaluating Fictosa. Locating Personal Settings. Character Recognition is also activated.]

Napunta ang paningin niya sa kaniyang mga kamay nang saglit na mawala ang kaniyang paningin. His eyebrows furrowed when his hand glitched too. An invisible force sucked his chest, making him step his feet back. It was painful. What was happening?

Kaagad niyang inalis ang black veil upang titigang mabuti ang mga kamay. Baka sakaling namamalikmata lang siya.

But no.

His fingers looked like it was cut into unequal fractions because of the glitching. Mabilis niyang tinignan ang mga paa pati na ang ibang parte ng katawan. Kagaya ng nakita niya sa kaniyang kamay, ganoon din ang nangyayari sa ibang parte ng kaniyang katawan.

Why am I glitching?

For the first time, the hairs on his back rose up. He couldn't stop shaking his hands in attempt to remove the glitches.

But it just got worse.

[Character Recognition failed. Retrying.]

[Failed.]

[Retrying.]

[Failed.]

[Retrying.]

[Failed.]

As the system kept on repeating the same words over and over again, his sweat tripled, bathing his whole body. The abominable happenings weakened his knees.

Was he going to disappear?

He quickly shook his head with the thought. No. He couldn't afford to just disappear without knowing his author's whereabouts. He still wanted to hear something from her. He wanted to know her reason. He wanted to know why she suddenly stopped thinking about him.

He wanted to know why she abandoned him.

"My hunch is just right."

Napunta ang tingin niya kay Thomas nang bigla itong nagsalita. Kagaya niya, nawawala na rin ito pero wala man lang bahid ng pagkataranta ang mukha. Nakatayo lang ang bata sa kaniyang tabi habang nakangiti.

Does he still find this amusing?

"What hunch?"

"That a destruction will come. And we all are going to perish in Fictosa."

Lalo lang dumoble ang kaba sa kaniyang dibdib dahil sa huli nitong sinabi.

Hindi. Hindi siya makapapayag.

Tumayo siya sa pagkakaluhod at nag-akmang lumabas ng bahay pero nang tumapak na ang mga paa sa lupa, biglang nanlambot ang kaniyang mga tuhod. Napahawak siya sa kaniyang dibdib dahil sa pabigla-bigla nitong pagtibok na para bang sinusuntok ito. Hindi siya makahinga nang maayos.

[Report System]

"What now?!" nangangalaiti niyang sigaw nang muling magpakita ang hologram sa kaniyang mukha. Pumapatak na sa lupa ang malalaking butil ng kaniyang pawis.

[Recovery System cannot patch the damage. Requesting for a restart.]

He froze.

"W-what? A restart? What do you mean?"

Iyon ang unang pagkakataon na nakita niya iyon at hindi niya alam ang posibleng mangyari kapag nag-restart ang Fictosa.

[Report System: Request granted.]

[Fictosa System is shutting down. Fictosa's activities will be cut-off for the meantime.]

"Wai--argh!" Napahigpit ang hawak niya sa kaniyang dibdib nang tumigil sandali ang pagtibok nito. Habol-habol niya ang kaniyang paghinga bago muling nagsalita. "Make me an exception. I don't want a restart."

[Response System: Request denied. All characters and Personal Settings will shut down.]

No!

Bumagsak ang kaniyang katawan sa lupa habang ang kaniyang puso ay bumabagal na rin ang pagtibok. Pilit niyang nilalabanan ang pandidilim ng kaniyang paningin subalit nang marinig ang count down ng system, bumibigat at bumibigat lang lalo ang kaniyang pakiramdam.

No . . . please.

He pleaded, and pleaded, and pleaded. But to no avail, the system didn't listen. When the count was down to its last number, his vision turned dark.

[Shut down complete.]

[Restarting . . . Recognizing characters . . . Personal Settings reconstructing . . .]

[Report System: Reconstruction has failed.]

[Report System: Characters are missing.]