The sound was getting closer—a wet, tearing noise like a giant taking a serrated knife to a massive stack of parchment. The Script-Eaters. Lu Shen had heard stories about them back in the village, back when legends were just things told over cheap tea and not monsters trying to eat his face. They were the "Erasers" of the world. If they touched you, you didn't just die; you were never there to begin with.[1]
Lu Shen's heart hammered against his ribs so hard he thought they might crack. He looked at the Proofreader, but the man in the yellow robe hadn't moved an inch. He just stood there swinging that emerald lantern, looking bored behind his porcelain mask.
"They're fast, Lu Shen," the Proofreader said, his voice as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "And they don't care about your little violet fire. To them, you're just a smudge that needs to be scrubbed off the page."
Lu Shen gripped the hilt of his broken blade until his knuckles turned white. "What do you want?"
"I already told you. The girl's name." The Proofreader took a slow step forward. The green light hit Lu Bing's sleeping face, making her skin look like rotting fruit in the shadows. "Names have power here. You give me hers, I rewrite the local 'Context,' and I make you both invisible to the Eaters. Simple math."
"No." Lu Shen's voice was a low growl. He didn't even have to think about it. "I give you her name and she becomes a 'Null.' She loses herself. I'm not trading her soul for a night's sleep."
The Proofreader let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Fine. Then you die messy. Honestly, I thought you were smarter."
SCREECH.
The mist to their left literally tore open.
It didn't look like a beast; it looked like a walking shadow made of ink and jagged edges. It had no face, just a vertical slit that leaked black smoke as it lunged through the air.
Lu Shen didn't have time for a "Proper Edit." He threw his hand out, his marrow screaming as he forced the last drop of his life force into his fingertips.
[BLOCK]
He didn't draw the symbol; he just shouted the intent. A wall of grey energy slammed into the ground between him and the Eater, but the impact sent a shockwave through Lu Shen's arm that felt like his bone was being snapped in a vice. He fell back, gasping for air. The wall was shaky and flickering—a bad edit, a typo made in a total panic.
The Script-Eater slammed against the barrier again and again. Each hit made violet sparks fly as the creature started chewing on the energy, literally eating the "Block" command.
"Pathetic," the Proofreader whispered. He was leaning on his cane now, just watching the show.
Lu Shen scrambled toward Bing'er. He had to move now. He scooped her up, his muscles protesting with every inch of movement. His left arm was completely numb. He was one-handed, out of power, and being hunted by a living deletion.
He ran. He didn't pick a direction; he just ran away from the green light and the tearing sound. The mist felt thicker now, like moving through waist-high water, and every breath was a struggle against the "Thin Text" of the Deadlands.
"Bing'er... wake up," he wheezed. "Please, just stay with me."
She didn't wake up. She just felt colder.
He looked back to see the violet wall was gone. The Script-Eater was a blur of black ink, gliding over the bone-dust with terrifying speed. It was silent now, which was somehow worse. Lu Shen hit a dead end—a wall of petrified stone that formed part of the giant's skull. He was trapped.
He turned around and pulled his broken blade. It was a piece of junk that wouldn't kill an Eater, so he looked at his own hand instead. He needed "Ink." He needed blood.
He slammed his palm against the jagged edge of the stone wall, slicing a deep red line across his skin. He didn't even feel the pain; he was too far gone for that.
"You want a story?" Lu Shen spat at the approaching shadow.
He smeared his blood across the stone. He wasn't writing a defense this time. He was writing a Contradiction.
[NON-EXISTENCE]
The world seemed to shudder. The Script-Eater froze in mid-air as the black smoke leaking from its mouth started to swirl in reverse.
Lu Shen's vision went black for a second and his nose started bleeding thick, ink-like blood. He was over-writing reality, and the "System" was pushing back with the weight of a mountain.
The Eater let out a sound like a thousand violins snapping at once. It began to fold in on itself, turning from a monster into a single, crumpled ball of black paper before vanishing with a soft pop.
Lu Shen slumped to his knees, his heart skipping beats.
"Not bad," a voice said from the fog.
The Proofreader was there. He hadn't followed; he had just appeared, leaning against the stone wall and clapping his gloved hands slowly. "A high-level edit with zero Qi. Impressive. But look at your hands, Lu Shen."
Lu Shen looked down. His fingertips were translucent. He could see the grey soil right through his own skin.
"You're fading," the Proofreader said, his porcelain mask leaning in close. "You killed the Eater, but you used yourself as the ink. Another hour and you'll be a ghost. Two hours and you'll just be a memory."
The Proofreader held out a small, crystal vial filled with glowing, golden liquid: [ORIGINAL TEXT].
"Last chance, kid. Give me the name, or watch yourself vanish while the girl wakes up to a pile of ash where her brother used to be."
Lu Shen looked at his fading hands, then at Bing'er. He reached out—but not for the vial.
He grabbed the Proofreader's robe and pulled him close, his blood-stained teeth bared in a grin that wasn't human.
"I've got a better idea," Lu Shen whispered. "How about I write you out of the scene instead?"