I published five chapters in a single day.
The readers went berserk. Power stones rained down. The comment section looked like a concert crowd.
"Chronos Imperium" - Ranking: #52.
I was climbing like a rocket.
But I wasn't just writing. I was engineering.
Using my author dashboard's analytics, I identified the Fistoria staff accounts that occasionally browsed the top-ranking stories. I found a pattern. A cluster of internal views always appeared around 11 AM.
Kasia's team.
So, at 10:55 AM, I published Chapter 32. A pivotal, mind-bending twist chapter. The kind that generates forum threads.
At 11:05 AM, I sent a perfectly crafted message through the Fistoria author messaging system.
To: Editorial Team - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Subject: Query Regarding "Chronos Imperium" & Potential Feature
The body was professional. Confident. It quoted my own rising metrics. It suggested the story was a perfect fit for a "Editor's Choice" feature. It was the kind of email a hot new author with a good agent would send.
I wasn't that author. But I was about to make them think I was.
Two hours later, my inbox chimed.
My stomach tightened. I opened it.
It was from a generic editorial address. But the signature at the bottom was hers.
Kasia Nowak, Senior Editor.
The reply was three lines.
"Mr. Thorn. Your work is showing promising traction. The editorial team has taken note. We do not hand out features based on request. They are awarded based on sustained excellence and platform fit. Continue your current output."
It was a brush-off. Polite, corporate, and utterly dismissive.
The old Alex would have been crushed. Would have over-analyzed every word.
The new Alex saw the hook.
She replied. She used my name. She called my traction 'promising.'
She was engaged. Just barely. But it was a start.
I needed to escalate.
I couldn't use Compulsion. But I had other tools now.
Money. And a devastatingly good story.
I hit reply. My fingers were steady.
"Ms. Nowak. Thank you for your response. I understand policy. Let's speak of sustained excellence. 'Chronos Imperium' will be #1 on the Rising Stars chart within seven days. When it is, I would appreciate fifteen minutes of your time to discuss its future on Fistoria. Not a request for a feature. A discussion between the platform's top new asset and its sharpest editor."
I read it over. Arrogant. Bold. Almost insulting.
It was also a direct challenge.
I clicked send.
The audacity of it sent a thrill through me.
This was chess. And I was no longer a pawn.
I spent the rest of the day not writing. I transferred funds. I used a discreet, online service to hire a short-term, professional social media booster. Their task: amplify the natural buzz around my novel in specific, genre-focused corners of the internet.
It wasn't cheating. It was marketing. The System money made it possible.
By evening, the effects were visible. New reader influx. More comments from accounts I didn't recognize.
The ranking ticked up.
#48.
My phone buzzed. An email notification.
From Kasia Nowak.
The subject line was blank.
I opened it.
The body contained a single line.
"Prove it. #1 buys you fifteen minutes. Do not waste my time."
A feral grin spread across my face.
She was playing.
The professional ice queen had accepted the gauntlet throw.
I looked at the faint cooldown timer in my mind.
[COMPULSION COOLDOWN: 29D 09H]
Three weeks and change.
I had a deadline now.
Reach #1. Get the meeting.
And when I sat across from her, my skill would be ready.
The game had a new rule.
And I was writing them all.
I closed the laptop. The room was dark.
My reflection in the black screen stared back. Eyes gleaming with predatory focus.
"Checkmate is coming, Kasia," I whispered to the silence.
"Just you wait."
//-\\\\
To my fellow authors in the trenches:
They told us we weren't good enough. They sent the cold, automated emails. "Not a fit for our current line-up." "Lacks marketability."
Every time you see Alex Thorn crush an editor in this story, remember: this isn't just fiction.
This is the scream of every writer who stayed up until 3:00 AM pouring their soul into a document that the world ignored. It is for everyone who has ever struggled with low reads, low reviews, low comments, and those painful, stagnant low collections that make you want to quit.
The gatekeepers are human. They are flawed. And in the digital age, they are becoming obsolete.
They sit in their comfortable chairs judging worlds they could never even imagine, let alone build. They look at spreadsheets while we look at the stars.
We don't write for the approval of a corporate board in a glass office. We write for the person scrolling on their phone at a bus stop, looking for a world better than their own.
We write for the ones who need an escape from a life that feels like a dead end.
If you have a manuscript sitting in a folder named "Draft 1" that you're too afraid to post—post it right now.
Stop waiting for permission to exist. If you've been rejected ten times, go for the eleventh. Use their "No" as fuel for your fire.
Alex Thorn had to die to get his second chance. You don't. You just have to keep typing until your fingers bleed and your vision blurs. The industry thinks they hold the keys. They forgot that we are the ones who build the doors in the first place.
Let them call us "cringe." Let them call us "amateurs." While they talk, we build. While they judge, we evolve into something they can't control.
Current Motivation Level: 7%
Next Level: +1%
If this chapter resonated with you, drop a comment. Tell me about the time a gatekeeper told you "No."
ALL HELL FROM WEBNOVEL STARTS FROM YOU!
— A.T.