Slane huffily pulled a crumpled envelope out of his pocket.
"Take a look at this!"
Douglas took the envelope. Its opening curled with blackened edges, as though licked by flames. It seemed this had originally been a cursed letter.
He drew a sheet of parchment from inside. A line of large, blood-red letters stood in the middle.
"If there are no updates for three days, the protagonist ought to visit the author in his dreams."
Beneath the words was a drawing of a pitch-black coffin.
Its lid even opened and closed on its own, creaking.
Every time it opened, an angry little figure sprang out.
The figure held up a wooden sign, repeatedly shouting for updates.
Its voice was thin and shrill, particularly clear in the quiet office.
Douglas held up the parchment and studied it for quite a while.
"Nice concept."
"Is the concept the point?!" Slane nearly jumped out of his seat.
Douglas rubbed his chin and took another careful look at the little figure.
"The drawing's pretty good too. Good curse work. You must have had nightmares for a few days?"
"His skill with curses isn't the point either! That thing couldn't affect my sleep at all!"
Slane abruptly leaned across and slapped a hand down on the parchment.
The coffin snapped shut, squashing the little figure back into the paper.
"The point is that your readers are about to bury me in this coffin!"
Slane's voice suddenly rose. He grabbed a walnut cookie and bit down hard.
The crunch exploded through the office, much like his mood at that moment.
Douglas topped up his teacup with hot water and pushed it over.
"Calm down. If Lucy finds out you're this worked up, she'll lecture you again."
"Don't you use Lucy against me!"
Slane glared at him,