1 Chapter One:

In the fading light of the evening sun, the world seemed to slow, moving in a steady drawl instead of its usual raucous bustling. The streets and subways were crowded with people, all ambling back to their individual lodgings in a weary shuffle. Most company buildings were empty at this time; no one was eager to spend another second under the soul-crushing strain of capitalist labor, especially on a Friday. Still, there was one room that had yet to dim its lights, occupied by a lone worker pressing furiously into her keyboard. Her fingers flitted rapidly over the keys, filling the otherwise silent office with clicks and clacks.

Finally, she pressed the enter key, successfully sending the email to the intended recipient. The receiver of this email was definitely already off work, and most likely would not check his inbox until Monday morning. Even so, Bai Li had wanted to finish this email before she clocked off of work because it pertained to quite an urgent matter. She wanted her email to be the first thing the man checked next week so she could have the problem fixed as soon as possible. With a loud sigh, Bai Li collapsed back onto her chair, head tilted up to face the ceiling. Surely, the company's tech department would be able to stop that obsessive maniac from interfering further with Bai Li's work.

A few weeks ago, Bai Li had received an email from some stranger, in which a draft of their story was attached. Usually, Bai Li would not read emails from someone she did not know, but the sender seemed timid and polite, and work that day was relatively slow so she had some free time on her hands. Perhaps this mysterious writer would surprise her with an absolutely amazing piece. Her hopes were crushed, however, upon opening the draft. Bai Li was only able to finish the story after much struggle; for once, she was glad that the story was short and could be finished in one sitting. This writer definitely needed to make significant changes and improvements in their writing before Bai Li would consider reading their work again. Not only were the characters two dimensional, but the relationship dynamic between the two main characters was also incredibly toxic.

Bai Li sent a polite email to the stranger, advising the writer to revise their story before they decided to send it out again and attempt to get it published. She felt pity for the writer; they had been so earnest and passionate about their story. So, Bai Li had also granted them some constructive criticism along with a message of encouragement. Afterwards, Bai Li had placed this event at the back of her mind, believing that this would merely be another insignificant part of her day. Unfortunately, the unknown writer did not stop there.

Over the course of that week, Bai Li started to receive continuous emails from the sender. During their first encounter, Bai Li had not stopped to contemplate why the writer had been able to access her work email. However, upon receiving a second and then a third email from the same person, she realized that her work email was supposed to be private and only accessible to employees in the company. The emailer's address clearly demonstrated that they were not a fellow employee, so how had they been able to contact her? She had questioned the writer about this in a civil manner after they sent the third email, but when the writer only responded with an attachment of a new draft of another one of their works, Bai Li had blocked them. At the time, Bai Li had thought that surely, this would put an end to the incessant messages.

She was wrong. One afternoon, while she was reviewing the various edited drafts her assistant had sent her, Bai Li noticed one title that didn't quite seem to fit in with the others. Upon reading the first page, she immediately recognized the shoddy writing style unique to a certain obnoxious writer. Bai Li had berated her assistant sternly for the incident, nearly rendering the young man to tears as he blubbered apology after apology.

"I had no idea how that even got there. Really!" he cried.

But this incident had occurred again, and in the same week nonetheless. Suspicious and a bit frightened, Bai Li had all the staff working under her in the romance department thoroughly investigated. Everyone was carefully scrutinized for an entire week, but the investigation yielded no results, earning her nothing but the ire of the HR department. They suggested that perhaps it had been Bai Li herself who had placed those drafts there, and that she was simply exaggerating the situation because she refused to admit her mistake.

Bai Li was certain that the drafts were not her doing, but HR refused to investigate further. The writer's stories, however, continued to show up. For the entire week, Bai Li had been entrenched in paranoia and frustration, to the point where even her dreams were haunted by the writer. Last night, she had a nightmare in which she was suspended in a dark space, unable to move or speak. All she could do was float in that eerie darkness, listening to multiple sharp voices screeching and screaming at her.

"Why won't you read them?" Some of the voices questioned in their high pitched snarls.

"Publish the writing!" Others shrieked vehemently.

If the voices had hands, they would undoubtedly be clawing at Bai Li, shaking her by the shoulders until she complied with their words. She had woken up from the dream gasping and sweating, heartbeat racing so fast she thought she might be going into cardiac arrest. Although dawn had just begun to crack through the twilight sky, Bai Li could not fall back asleep. Instead, she spent the entire morning convincing herself that she was not going insane.

The nightmares had been plaguing her for a week now. Although their contents were different each time, ranging from mythical monsters to ghost possessions, they all revolved around the same thing. It felt as if she were slowly being consumed by her paranoia, like she was slowly, so excruciatingly slowly, being chewed on until there was nothing left of her sanity but scraps of flesh and bone.

Sending a request to the tech department was Bai Li's last hope. Each time, the writer had somehow been able to add a digital document of their story draft into the file of works set to be edited by Bai Li. Perhaps the tech department would be able to track the writer down and finally prevent the unknown writer from interfering any further with Bai Li's work.

With a loud sigh, Bai Li pushed herself up from the chair. She did not want to think about this issue any further. There was nothing she could do at this point, and stewing in her fear and anxiety would only worsen her already deteriorating mental health. She needed to relax, to get her mind off of everything that had happened. She needed a drink, preferably something with alcohol.

Making her way down the lacquered halls, Bai Li contemplated which bar she would visit. She was eager to drink herself to delirium, until she lost any mental capacity to remember even her own name. She had her mind on a particular bar, one that was near her apartment. Bai Li was friendly with a few of the bartenders there and the place had great drinks; Bai Li was a big fan of their margaritas. Perhaps she'd be lucky enough to also find a pretty girl to spend the night with.

Bai Li pressed the elevator button, and, rather quickly, the elevator arrived at her floor. As she stepped into the open doors, Bai Li pondered over the likelihood of being able to secure a bed partner; with her enormous eyebags and tired countenance, it seemed unlikely. She should probably just call a friend over so that she'd have someone to haul her home after drinking herself unconscious. The elevators slid closed behind her with a soft thud. Bai Li reached into her purse for her phone, shooting a message to a friend that lived nearby the bar she planned on visiting.

The message failed to deliver, most likely due to the lack of service in the elevator. Bai Li wasn't too surprised at the terrible internet connection at her workplace, no doubt arranged to discourage employees from slacking off on their phones during the job. She could resend the message after the elevator reached the ground floor. So Bai Li stood there, waiting for the elevator to arrive. She waited and waited, until she realized something was dreadfully wrong. The company might not have the best facilities, but it had never taken so long for the elevator to travel from the fourth floor to the lobby. In fact, it felt as if the elevator wasn't moving at all, simply suspended in open space.

Thump, thump. Bai Li could feel her heartbeat speed up in the silence of the empty elevator. Sweat began to trickle down her back, and she could feel the goosebumps raising on her arms underneath the sleeves of her blazer. The lights suddenly went out, drenching the room in total darkness. Abruptly, the elevator began to shake, throwing Bai Li's unsteady body onto the opposite wall. With the air knocked out from her lungs, Bai Li clawed desperately onto the metal walls, attempting, and failing, to regain her balance. She felt like a rag doll in an empty suitcase, being tossed incessantly between four hard walls in a narrow box, unable to control her own movements with her flimsy, cotton limbs. Finally, when Bai Li felt as if her brain might be shaken out of her skull, the elevator stopped rattling. The metal walls around her suddenly collapsed open, bringing Bai Li, who had been leaning against the wall for support, tumbling down as well.

Bones aching, Bai Li pushed herself off of the elevator floor, gasping heavily. Around her, the elevator had opened up into a seemingly endless stretch of blankness. Everything around her was a blinding white, a field of empty space. Bai Li could see neither an end nor beginning to this expanse; even the metal elevator floor she had been standing on appeared to float on an invisible surface. While Bai Li was never one to confuse dreams from reality, she could not help but doubt her vision. This had to be a hallucination, right?

"This is not a hallucination, Bai Li."

A disembodied voice startled Bai Li from her muddlement. At this point, Bai Li had confirmed that she was not immersed in an illusion caused by severe lack of sleep and too much coffee. Her mind was lucid, her thoughts coherent. This vast, white space and the toneless voice that had just spoken were not merely a figment of her imagination.

"No, I'm most definitely not an illusory figment created by your brain."

Though the words were spoken monotonously, Bai Li could feel the smugness emanating from the voice. It made her deeply uncomfortable. It also appeared to be able to read her thoughts, which further disturbed Bai Li. Clearly, this voice belonged to some powerful, otherworldly being. But what did such an existence want with her? Bai Li was merely a white collared office worker, just another laborer fueling the wheels of capitalism.

"Indeed. You are an insignificant human being," the voice paused, probably for dramatic effect, but its theatrics really just made it all the more pretentious in Bai Li's eyes. "However, due to a grave error that you have made recently, it has been decided that you are to undergo a mission to atone for your actions."

Error? Of what kind? Bai Li considered herself to be a decent person. Sure, she had her faults, most notably being her unhealthy, alcohol-related coping mechanisms, but she hadn't committed any serious crimes. She had only shoplifted once in her life, and it was when she was merely six years of age and didn't know any better. What "error" was the voice referring to? And who was this mysterious being, or beings, who decided that she needed to "atone" for her supposed mistake?

"A few weeks prior, you rejected an innocent writer, insisting that their writing was inferior. The poor soul was dejected, and is still recovering from the trauma of your actions." The voice ambled on with its bland tone, but Bai Li could almost taste its scorn. If the voice had a face, Bai Li imagined that it'd be scowling at her, glaring with its beady little eyes.

Bai Li was the one who should be scowling at the reminder of that maniac of a writer. The only one that was traumatized by the encounter would be her, not the writer. Bai Li knew the voice heard her opinions loud and clear, but she still had the urge to burst into expletives at the accusation. Clearly, Bai Li was the victim in this situation, why did she have to atone for it?

"As can be demonstrated from your thoughts," the voice continued, "you are not even willing to acknowledge how horrific your actions are; all the more reason you need to atone." Ignoring the Bai Li's protesting mind, the voice forged on, "I, system 021, will guide you through the process of your repentance."

The blank space in front of Bai Li quivered slightly, and from the rippling air, a screen emerged. There was a 3 by 7 rectangle of book covers depicted on the screen, each one glowing with a metallic shimmer.

System 021 explained, "Since you had such scathing reviews for the writer's stories, you have been tasked with rewriting them yourself. You will enter the world of each story, allowing you to become a character and allow you to interact with and alter the plot."

The screen then shifted to another slide, this one depicting the homepage of a popular story-sharing platform.

"The stories that you have edited will then be published on this website. In each world, you will be able to see a reader satisfaction bar to denote how much the readers are enjoying the story, as well as a popularity bar that displays how many people are reading the story. Your goal is to maintain the reader satisfaction bar above four out of five, and to reach 3 million readers for each of the stories."

Bai Li raised an eyebrow. What would happen if she failed?

"Death."

Bai Li felt a chill crawl up her spine. She did not want to do this. Why should she have to risk her life because some stupid writer was butthurt that their writing wasn't published? However, it wasn't as if Bai Li had a choice in the matter. She clenched her hands hard, then opened her mouth to ask aloud, "If I am able to complete these missions for all twenty-one stories, will I be able to return to my normal life?"

"Of course, so long as each and every one of the stories are successfully completed. But I must warn you, creating a story is harder than it seems." There was a clear dismissiveness in system 021's words, as if it were sure that Bai Li would be unable to succeed. Bai Li sneered at the implication.

She let every ounce of her displeasure seep into her voice as she replied, "As an experienced editor, I am well aware."

Bai Li shifted her gaze back to the screen, which had switched back to the slide that was alight with the twenty-one book covers. She wanted to be out of this place as soon as possible; both the perpetual nothingness and the unembodied system 021 were equally unpleasant. "Let's begin now," she declared.

"Well then, since you are so eager to begin your mission, it is pointless to continue holding you here."

The screen disappeared, and Bai Li felt the white space around her churn.

"Since this is your first time, you'll be dropped in a more familiar setting. Your identity, too, will not be too complex to act out."

There was a snide edge to system 021's words. Unfortunately, Bai Li was unable to ponder the implications of it's attitude because she sank into a free fall, barreling into an unknown world as whorls of color flew past her in a blur. All Bai Li could do was squeeze her eyes shut and hope that the system had not sent her plummeting to an early death.