[1] The True Purpose of the "Rewrite Key"
The Rewrite Key gave off a faint hum in Li Xi's hand.
In that moment, she could almost feel the heat of words flowing beneath her palm.It was as if countless chapters, settings, and plotlines surged within it, waiting for her single stroke to rewrite destiny.
"So… this thing really can write the system to death?" Qi Ming murmured.
Li Xi didn't answer. Her fingertip gently touched the crystal at the center of the key—the scene instantly flickered.
The next second, they found themselves in a strange space.
—Like a twisted matrix of code, floating with all the "scenes" and "events" they had experienced:The school corridor, the underground garage, the rainy night at the bus stop…as well as forcibly deleted "non-occurring" plotlines.
She saw a familiar yet long-forgotten scene:
She and Qi Ming kissing in a script that never existed—That was their original setup, until a later chapter forcibly rewrote them into "strangers."
Qi Ming saw his mother—a character meant to have died early—alive in a discarded storyline, smiling as she cooked dinner for him.
"Are these… rewritten 'life backups'?" he whispered.
Li Xi tightened her grip on the Rewrite Key.
"This isn't a key. It's the 'evidence' of the system's crimes against us."
[2] Termination Protocol Activated
[Warning: Core characters deviating from preset storyline by 17%.][Auto-purging mechanism initiated.]
The system launched its "Emotional Cleanup Program."
A broken female figure appeared behind them.
Her face was blurred, but her gaze was cold as a judge's.She wore a tattered costume—stitched together from different storylines.
"ID: Purger Y-LR404. Target: Li Xi, Qi Ming. Mission: Reclaim sources of narrative corruption."
The Purger advanced step by step—wherever she passed, the plot regressed and collapsed, reverting to its initial setting.She even erased the harmless "convenience store owner" NPC in an instant, reducing him to a mere background silhouette.
Qi Ming shouted, enraged:"She's killing the 'reality' around us!"
Li Xi no longer hesitated—she raised the Rewrite Key high, and a blinding light burst forth.
[3] Story Rewritten: You Are the Author Now
The Rewrite Key activated, tearing the space apart—
Li Xi summoned her own version of the story:
In her script, she had never been brainwashed.She and Qi Ming had known each other, loved each other, fought side by side.
She possessed a full emotional arc and her own free will.
All the forcibly deleted plotlines were restored, one by one.
The scenes rewound. Memories flooded back into her:
The little girl who cried alone at night, the child waiting outside the school gate for parents who never came…
She remembered something Qi Ming once said:"Maybe we're all just characters—but we can choose not to be tools."
The Rewrite Key vibrated violently—Control of the narrative temporarily transferred to the protagonist.
System alarms blared:
[Critical Violation: Protagonist Customizing Narrative Path][Requesting Admin Override: Lock Storyline]
[4] A Direct Clash: Characters vs. the System
The Purger raised her data blade and struck at Qi Ming!
Li Xi rushed forward, stabbing the Rewrite Key into the narrative core.
In a pulse of distortion, the story's breakpoint exploded outward!
Inside the classroom, all student NPCs suddenly remembered.
On the streets, background characters began to shout:"Why do I only get one line every day?!"
In a discarded world, a male lead stood up and asked:"Do I love her… because I do, or because you wrote it that way?"
The system teetered on the edge of collapse.
And Li Xi whispered to the Purger:
"We're not the 'contaminants' you say we are.We're the true readers of this story."
Then, she used the Rewrite Key as a pen and wrote a new line:
"Characters gain narrative editing rights."
In that instant, the system was struck like thunder.
The Purger shattered into glowing fragments.
Li Xi and Qi Ming stood at the center—behind them, more and more "awakened" characters rose, no longer bound by the chains of fate.
[5] The Author's Gaze
But just when every character thought they had won—
Beyond the page, an eye in the real world opened.
It was the true "Author," stepping into the story for the first time.
He looked at the prompt on his screen:
[Rewrite Key authority transferred successfully][Character rebellion initiated][Authorize — Main Author entry into story?]
He smiled as he typed the command:
"Login: Author. I'm coming in."