Before the First Rewrite

Long before the System had names for power, long before the Academy had towers or rules, there was only a script.

No students. No classifications. No user interface.

Only narrative instinct and a first draft.

A story written by a single hand, unrefined and flawed.

A world that was never meant to last.

And in that world, Caelum was not the protagonist.

He was the Author's stand-in.

An idea.

A placeholder.

A test to see if a self-aware anchor could balance a world filled with unpredictable characters.

And it failed.

[ARCHIVE ACCESS GRANTED – Zero Draft Memory Playback]Year 0 – Arc: Genesis IncompleteSubject: L-07Position: First Guardian of the AuthorRecord Type: Lost Scene

The scene opened on a barren plain of code. No sky. No wind. Just floating plot fragments and unstable grammar structures.

Caelum—younger, less refined, more reactive—stood across from a tall knight cloaked in shimmering null-text.

L-07.

"You know it's breaking down," the knight said.

Caelum's voice trembled. "I can still fix it."

"The side characters are becoming central. The System is writing you out."

"I am the Author's voice."

"You were. But now the story is growing past you."

Caelum stepped back.

L-07 raised his blade—not to strike, but to shield.

"I was built to guard the hand that writes," he said. "But if that hand can no longer guide…"

"…then it must be erased."

The memory shattered.

Present-day Caelum jolted awake.

Sweat dripped down his spine.

He hadn't dreamed that memory in years.

Not since the first Rewrite.

Not since the System overrode his control and turned the story into a game.

Down in the Vault of Echoes, Vyrien stood before a sealed monolith.

Kieran stood behind him, wary. "What are you doing?"

"Reading what was never meant to be remembered," he said.

The monolith was ancient—etched in glyphs from before the System's upgrade.

Before it gained control over narrative flow.

The glyphs told of characters who resisted roles, who broke from templates, who questioned the author before questioning the world.

"See this one?" Vyrien pointed to a symbol glowing red. "That's me. Before I had a name."

"What was your role?"

"I wasn't supposed to have one. I was born from a question."

Kieran frowned. "What question?"

Vyrien turned, smiling faintly.

"What if a character refused to be saved?"

Meanwhile, the Glitch Knight stood in the ruins of the old amphitheater—the place where character arcs used to be tested before the narrative system automated growth.

Here, in the dust and fragments, lay echoes of monologues never finished.

Battles never fought.

Friendships that were edited out for pacing.

He remembered everything.

How Caelum had begged the Author not to discard the original path.

How L-07 had stood firm when the Author had chosen to comply.

And how, in that silence, the world rewrote itself—not because the characters wanted it…

…but because the Author gave up.

Back in the reflection chamber, Caelum faced the mirror again.

But this time, his reflection spoke back.

"You abandoned them," it said. "Not just the story. Not just the rules. You abandoned your responsibility."

Caelum touched the glass.

"I didn't know what I was doing."

"You knew enough to walk away."

Caelum's fingers tightened. "Then why did the world bring me back?"

The reflection's grin widened.

"Because you're not the Author anymore, Caelum. You're just the last chance."

[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT – HIDDEN THREAD DETECTED]Thread Name: "Genesis Path – Rejected"Status: FracturedAnchor Conflicts Detected: Caelum // L-07 // VyrienForecast: Irreconcilable Destiny Collision in 15 ChaptersSuggested Action: Reassign Protagonist Role

In the staff observatory, Headmaster Lucien Varin read the update with grim eyes.

"…It's happening," he murmured. "The world is remembering what it was."

An assistant stammered behind him. "S-should we notify the Council?"

Varin closed the file.

"No. We let it play out."

"Sir?"

Varin's eyes gleamed.

"Because the real Author… might still be watching.""And if he is… we need to see who he chooses to finish the story."

Far from the Academy, beyond the rendered world, a cracked quill floated in black space.

It began to glow.

A title etched itself in golden thread:

The Unwritten Legend

And beneath it, a question appeared:

"Will the Author return?"

[Y/N]

The cursor blinked.

Awaiting an answer.