Holy Grail War

Tomoki Kudo swore that in his five years as an editor, he had never seen a newcomer this arrogant!

Newbie bloggers usually treated readers like gods, holding them in the palm of their hands for fear they might break, practically kowtowing on the spot for attention, faces full of groveling.

When their view counts tanked, these bloggers would wail like their hearts were being ripped out.

But this guy did the exact opposite—he acted like he was the god, practically demanding readers kowtow to him.

Arrogant!

Too damn arrogant!

After venting internally, Tomoki Kudo casually clicked open the article.

Newbies, after all, often had some swagger and thought they were above the sky. It was a common phase.

Anyway, once the view counts came out in a few days, this newcomer would face reality and stop bragging about his sesame-sized creativity.

However.

The next moment, when the screen switched to the content of Steel Land...

A grand, majestic scroll unfurled, a mournful and desolate elegy began to play. Before even reading a single word, the stunning visuals and BGM had already seized his heart, squeezing it until he couldn't breathe.

Tomoki Kudo froze.

His gaze shifted from casual to dazed.

As if his soul had been steeped in that bleak atmosphere, a few crystalline teardrops fell.

Drip, drip...

"I'm crying...?"

The young editor looked down at his damp hand, his face full of bewildered shock.

His brain hadn't even processed it yet, but his instincts had already made the choice.

This defied all reason!

Tomoki Kudo suddenly lifted his head, staring intently at the computer screen, breathing heavily with tension.

Maybe... this newcomer really had written something extraordinary...

"Gulp—."

As the mouse scrolled down, the content of this short story was laid bare.

Six illustrations in total, two pieces of music.

Every illustration was exquisitely beautiful, rich in artistic conception; the music was also incredibly impressive.

Then came the words.

"This is the complete end of the century. The planet, the cradle of all living beings in the world, died today."

A white fog swept across the entire world. Amid the piercing wails of every species, all that was brilliant, beautiful, pitiful... civilization itself would also end at this moment.

"This seems to be the divine punishment humanity brought upon itself after digging its own grave."

A desolate sense of grief rushed forth. Just a few lines painted a hopeless apocalyptic scene. Combined with the music and illustrations, it instantly immersed one in that sorrowful story, painful and gripping.

The low, trembling strings seemed to weep.

The performance was filled with delicate emotion, making one feel as if they had drifted into another world.

Before their eyes appeared a landscape of utter devastation—mountains and rivers in ruins, the world shattered, corpses strewn across the fields, endless cries of anguish and screams piercing the ears, shocking to behold.

The world was dying. This was no empty claim.

Tomoki Kudo couldn't help but shed tears again. He subconsciously reached out a hand, wanting to touch that desolate world, but could only feel the cold computer screen.

He was stunned. For the first time, he felt the power of words was so deafening!

It blurred the line between the virtual and the real.

9. A massive uproar on Twitter, a suffocating apocalyptic world!

It was too good!

He wiped the glistening tears from the corners of his eyes, completely immersed in that bleak world.

From the Six Sisters who towered over the hundreds of species of Alex, to the tangled grudges between the Angel and the Gun God.

Venus UO descended in the form of divine punishment, coldly proclaiming its judgment upon all primates.

"You struggle so fiercely now. It would have been better for you to die as victims in that prophecy of the year 2000."

"Now, justice stands on the side of the planet..."

The tone was domineering and icy, evoking a suffocating sense of terror.

But this was only the beginning. Even more powerful Planet UOs descended one after another, bringing destruction and ruin.

Countless races, every living being stubbornly clinging to life, each had their own stance.

On the cold, dead corpse of the planet, one stirring and soul-stirring story after another unfolded.

Page after page turned.

The final battle on Steel Land was about to begin.

"Gulp—"

The mouse scrolled to the end, only to see the words "To Be Continued." This grand, sweeping story came to an abrupt halt, with no follow-up.

"Huh?!"

The young Editor Kudo was stunned. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Where's the rest?

Where's my rest?

How do you write a novel and only finish half of it?

A feeling of unsatisfied longing welled up. He clutched his chest and instantly wanted to curse.

This kind of stuck-in-the-middle feeling was the worst!

But then, as it sank in, his breathing suddenly grew heavy, and his eyes lit up with delighted surprise.

From the illustrations to the music to the novel's content, this Steel Land was world-class top-tier in every aspect.

If he had to describe it, it was nothing less than a magnificent "epic masterpiece"!

Not only did it align with the current popular doomsday theory, but the characters were also full of heroic spirit. They didn't collapse in despair at the end of the world, nor did they resort to escapism. They did everything they could to survive.

You could say it was the opposite of the prevailing doomsday narrative. The story's main tone, though tragic and oppressive, celebrated the golden spirit of human determination overcoming fate.

From every character's perspective, no one was wrong. It was simply divine!

This work was absolutely going to blow up. Without a doubt, it would be a literary masterpiece—thought, depth, breadth... it had everything.

Tomoki Kudo felt like he was watching a documentary. Through Steel Land, he witnessed a world teetering on the edge of destruction, filled with a sense of realism.

And as the one who had unearthed Steel Land, the editor-in-chief would surely give him a major promotion. A raise and a higher position would be a done deal, right?

At that thought, Editor Kudo's blood surged with excitement, the corners of his mouth nearly reaching his ears.

Steady, steady.

With a grin plastered on his face, he mentally prepared a flood of praise to rope this author onto his ship. Then he clicked into the Steel Land author's homepage.

ID: Merlin

Gender: Confidential

Age: Confidential

Occupation: Confidential

Hometown: Confidential

Bio: No guarantee of completion, no guarantee of filling plot holes, refuse to answer questions, refuse friend requests, refuse publication...

I write, you read. Please be quiet.

"?"

Tomoki Kudo was instantly dumbfounded. He shot up from his chair like an alligator lurching, frozen in place for a long moment, as if questioning his own existence.

You're this cocky, and your family knows?

Gender, age, occupation, hometown—those are all required fields! How did you manage to bypass the backend system and change them all to confidential?

Are you a hacker or what?!

No way. An author this badass—I'm definitely not letting him go!

The young editor gritted his teeth and opened the private messages.

Then his fingers flew across the keyboard, clattering out line after line of praise: words like "divinely crafted prose," how he was deeply moved after reading it, how he greatly admired the great Merlin, and could he please add a contact method...

He hit Enter, and with a "thump," the message sent. The webpage promptly replied: "This author has disabled private messages."

"Merlin, you son of a—!!!"

Tomoki Kudo completely lost it. His face flushed red with anger as he slammed his fist onto the keyboard.

Damn cliffhanger dog, can't even give out a contact method?!

I'll send you hate mail!!

Kudo had never seen such an eccentric blogger. It made him gnash his teeth in frustration.

But no matter what, after calming down for half a day, he still approved Steel Land for publication.

He even used his monthly privilege to push Steel Land onto the trending recommendations. Then, fuming, he flipped the screen a middle finger to express his admiration for the author Merlin, and moved on to his next task.

The submission area still had plenty of content waiting for his review.

Because it had made it onto the trending recommendations, countless readers noticed this piece.

After seeing the title Steel Land, they felt a fresh sense of intrigue. Surprised and curious, they clicked in.

The trending titles used to all be light novel style, like "Unable to Become a Hero, I Had No Choice But to Get a Job," "Even If She's My Little Sister, As Long As There's Love, It's Fine, Right?" and "Problem Zombies All Come from Another World"...

As you can imagine, for such an unremarkable title to make it onto the recommendations was quite impressive.

Just two hours later, the comment section on this tweet had exploded with over two thousand replies, and even the author Merlin had gained nearly a hundred thousand new followers.

From this, it was clear just how shocking this short story was to its readers.

"A divine book! I'm completely obsessed with Master Merlin's writing. I read it in one go, then couldn't help reading it four more times. I'm addicted. What exactly is the ending of the final battle? Please update, ahhhhh!"

"Master Merlin's literary skill leaves this humble one in awe. Begging for an update!"

"The music is incredible. The moment the BGM started, I got goosebumps."

"Author, why did you have to cut off right there? Doesn your conscience hurt?"

"An unprecedented masterpiece!"

"No, no, no—it's an unprecedented bottomless pit!"

"The visuals are so beautiful. That delicate beauty perfectly captures mono no aware. I love it!"

"Honestly, the moment the planet died really shook me. It truly felt like the end of the world had arrived."

"Yeah, my mom is a Christian. She's always mumbling at home about the great flood coming and how we'll return to God's kingdom... It annoys me. In my heart, Steel Land is the more likely apocalypse."

"Good thing our world doesn't have mages, so we won't be destroyed by the planet being drained of its mana source."

"Commenter above, is it possible the author is using magic as a metaphor for technology? That world-destroying ritual could be humanity's endless overexploitation of the Earth through technology."

"Makes sense. Damn, thinking about it that way is kind of scary!"

10. Leap of Life, Create the Observer Net!

"I really love Steel Land. I adore this kind of post-apocalyptic setting where everyone is helpless yet still holds onto a warm corner. Tears."