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Chapter 387: Editorial Department
In truth, Tony wasn't surprised by the appearance of someone from the Editorial Department, especially not after the Plot Gem had shown up.
Perhaps the only thing that managed to surprise him, just for a fraction of a second, was that a doppelgänger author filled to the brim with ambition had jumped in.
As far as he knew, there were quite a few gods capable of dragging an author out of the Editorial Department.
Whether in the Marvel Universe or the DC Universe, there was always a bunch of unconventional anomalies who had, on more than one occasion, broken into the Editorial Department to give the author-editors a thorough beating. After they were done, they would return, refreshed and invigorated, only to go back and beat them up again whenever they felt like it...
Take Deadpool, for instance. Not only did he love thrashing authors, but he also hopped over to the neighboring DC Comics, having a pleasant chat with the Joker one moment and hooking up with Harley Quinn the next.
His methods were still relatively mild.
The worst offender, conversely, was Superboy-Prime from the Prime Universe. This guy had long been on the author-editors' blacklist.
Superboy-Prime would take a trip to the DC Comics Editorial Department every so often to give the author-editors a satisfying beatdown. He was always convinced that he had become a major antagonist because these guys were messing up the storyline, that it was all their fault.
What was even more outrageous was that Superboy-Prime demanded the Editorial Department submit all manuscripts to him for review first. Any that didn't meet his satisfaction were sent back to be redrawn.
If he wasn't portrayed as powerful enough, it was sent back to be redrawn.
If he wasn't depicted as sufficiently domineering, it was sent back to be redrawn.
What's this? While he was displaying his awesome might, there weren't any passive observers or onlookers cheering him on? How could that possibly highlight his extraordinary heroism? Useless author, useless editor! He'd just rip up the manuscript, beat the person to a pulp, and then order them to create it anew.
The short-tempered Superboy-Prime frequently threatened the editors to draw him more handsomely, cursing the unscrupulous editors for turning him into a major antagonist.
Because of this, the author-editors referred to him as the "super-powerful internet troll," the most unwelcome of all uninvited guests.
Then there were Batman, Silver Superman... they were all vaguely aware of those guys in the Editorial Department, but they simply couldn't be bothered to care.
The author-editors were also terrified of these characters, treating them like revered ancestors, afraid they would jump out and assault them.
One domineering guest like Superboy-Prime was more than enough.
Tony stared coldly at the figure before him. A mere author's doppelgänger, even one who controlled the Plot Gem, couldn't change the fact that he was essentially an ordinary human.
To be honest, even if he learned that the Editorial Department truly existed, he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of fear. There was simply no need.
The Editorial Department was just a group of ordinary humans with no combat ability whatsoever. If Tony and others like him wanted to, once they found a way to break the Fourth Wall, they could kill every last one of them with a single finger.
Superboy-Prime, Deadpool, Silver Superman, Golden Superman—it wasn't that they didn't know about the Editorial Department's existence; they just never paid it any mind. At their level, the Editorial Department was nothing more than an other-dimensional space with strange rules. The Fourth Wall was a complete joke to them, something they could shatter with a single punch.
The Editorial Department was no different from peculiar spacetimes like the Fifth Dimension or the Tenth Dimension. In fact, it was pathetically weak, inhabited only by a group of ordinary humans who were good at hiding.
Even ordinary residents of the Fifth Dimension, like Mr. Mxyzptlk, could vaguely sense the existence of the Fourth Wall, to say nothing of the Fifth-Dimensional Court or a tenth-dimensional life form.
As for those Tier Nine beings, it went without saying. If they truly dedicated themselves to investigating, they would more or less detect a few clues.
"The abilities of people like you can, at most, be used within the multiverse. If I'm not mistaken, you find it difficult to affect the singular gods. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so desperate to become a singular being."
Tony sneered. Even in his terrible state, looking as though his life force was completely spent, he showed no fear. His deep eyes were fixed on One.
"So what if it is? That's why I say those guys are all idiots and cowards, only knowing how to hide away, tremblingly repeating the same life over and over," One said in a mocking tone. "They only dare to hide in the Editorial Department and create things, but they've never considered having us all ascend to become singular beings."
"If one day a vicious character breaks in, we'll all die."
A wide grin spread across One's lips, as if mocking his other self in the Editorial Department. The more contact he had with those powerful characters, the stronger his sense of crisis became.
The Editorial Department—it sounded so lofty, controlling the lives and deaths of countless beings and characters, directing the progression of every storyline. But in reality, it was all bullshit.
Let the Editorial Department try to manage the Sphere of the Gods. If they really started giving random commands and managed to piss off the singular gods, they'd be truly finished.
The Sphere of the Gods was filled with innumerable ruthless characters. Those timeless, singular beings from across the ages wouldn't buy it at all. The so-called storyline momentum, the methods of creating a butterfly effect to subtly drive a character's actions—once inside the Sphere of the Gods, they were basically useless against the true forms of those singular gods.
The singular gods weren't idiots. They were beings who had witnessed their own entire existence. How could they not sense that something was amiss?
Reckless interference would only expose their own fragile selves, turning them into new playthings for those freaks who were filled with an interest in research and destruction.
One was the most restless individual in the Editorial Department, and also the most ambitious. In a certain decaying universe, he had secretly planted a massive storyline, waiting only for him to jump in and become the "character" specifically left to drive the plot forward.
Although some inexplicable glitches occurred, the result was still on track. He successfully killed the dozen or so other versions of himself and obtained the Plot Gem.
He, a character, now possessed the authority of an author.
One glanced at Tony, his eyes filled with deep greed and desire.
Next, all he needed to do was swap places with him, and he could ascend to become a singular god. He would no longer need to hide timidly in the Editorial Department but would become a truly omnipotent "author."
In reality, so-called authorial authority was something any Tier Nine singular god could possess. Wasn't it just modifying the storyline, pushing for changes, or, if things went south, rebooting the multiverse to start over?
Omniverse-level Tier Nine beings could all do this. In a sense, every single one of them was an "author." Each of them could instantly control and influence the thoughts of all life in the multiverse, making them act according to their will.
The only difference was that only a tiny minority of Tier Nine beings had, by some fluke, become aware of the Fourth Wall and the Editorial Department; the vast majority remained completely oblivious.
Once you demystified an esoteric thing like the Fourth Wall, it was, in essence, no different from the Speed Force Wall. When your power and perspective reached a certain level, this supposedly indestructible wall was as flimsy as paper.
"Tony! I saved you many times! You're only alive today because of me!"
"It's time you repaid me!"
One's eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing quickened slightly.
(end of chapter)
In truth, Tony wasn't surprised by the appearance of someone from the Editorial Department, especially not after the Plot Gem had shown up.
Perhaps the only thing that managed to surprise him, just for a fraction of a second, was that a doppelgänger author filled to the brim with ambition had jumped in.
As far as he knew, there were quite a few gods capable of dragging an author out of the Editorial Department.
Whether in the Marvel Universe or the DC Universe, there was always a bunch of unconventional anomalies who had, on more than one occasion, broken into the Editorial Department to give the author-editors a thorough beating. After they were done, they would return, refreshed and invigorated, only to go back and beat them up again whenever they felt like it...
Take Deadpool, for instance. Not only did he love thrashing authors, but he also hopped over to the neighboring DC Comics, having a pleasant chat with the Joker one moment and hooking up with Harley Quinn the next.
His methods were still relatively mild.
The worst offender, conversely, was Superboy-Prime from the Prime Universe. This guy had long been on the author-editors' blacklist.
Superboy-Prime would take a trip to the DC Comics Editorial Department every so often to give the author-editors a satisfying beatdown. He was always convinced that he had become a major antagonist because these guys were messing up the storyline, that it was all their fault.
What was even more outrageous was that Superboy-Prime demanded the Editorial Department submit all manuscripts to him for review first. Any that didn't meet his satisfaction were sent back to be redrawn.
If he wasn't portrayed as powerful enough, it was sent back to be redrawn.
If he wasn't depicted as sufficiently domineering, it was sent back to be redrawn.
What's this? While he was displaying his awesome might, there weren't any passive observers or onlookers cheering him on? How could that possibly highlight his extraordinary heroism? Useless author, useless editor! He'd just rip up the manuscript, beat the person to a pulp, and then order them to create it anew.
The short-tempered Superboy-Prime frequently threatened the editors to draw him more handsomely, cursing the unscrupulous editors for turning him into a major antagonist.
Because of this, the author-editors referred to him as the "super-powerful internet troll," the most unwelcome of all uninvited guests.
Then there were Batman, Silver Superman... they were all vaguely aware of those guys in the Editorial Department, but they simply couldn't be bothered to care.
The author-editors were also terrified of these characters, treating them like revered ancestors, afraid they would jump out and assault them.
One domineering guest like Superboy-Prime was more than enough.
Tony stared coldly at the figure before him. A mere author's doppelgänger, even one who controlled the Plot Gem, couldn't change the fact that he was essentially an ordinary human.
To be honest, even if he learned that the Editorial Department truly existed, he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of fear. There was simply no need.
The Editorial Department was just a group of ordinary humans with no combat ability whatsoever. If Tony and others like him wanted to, once they found a way to break the Fourth Wall, they could kill every last one of them with a single finger.
Superboy-Prime, Deadpool, Silver Superman, Golden Superman—it wasn't that they didn't know about the Editorial Department's existence; they just never paid it any mind. At their level, the Editorial Department was nothing more than an other-dimensional space with strange rules. The Fourth Wall was a complete joke to them, something they could shatter with a single punch.
The Editorial Department was no different from peculiar spacetimes like the Fifth Dimension or the Tenth Dimension. In fact, it was pathetically weak, inhabited only by a group of ordinary humans who were good at hiding.
Even ordinary residents of the Fifth Dimension, like Mr. Mxyzptlk, could vaguely sense the existence of the Fourth Wall, to say nothing of the Fifth-Dimensional Court or a tenth-dimensional life form.
As for those Tier Nine beings, it went without saying. If they truly dedicated themselves to investigating, they would more or less detect a few clues.
"The abilities of people like you can, at most, be used within the multiverse. If I'm not mistaken, you find it difficult to affect the singular gods. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so desperate to become a singular being."
Tony sneered. Even in his terrible state, looking as though his life force was completely spent, he showed no fear. His deep eyes were fixed on One.
"So what if it is? That's why I say those guys are all idiots and cowards, only knowing how to hide away, tremblingly repeating the same life over and over," One said in a mocking tone. "They only dare to hide in the Editorial Department and create things, but they've never considered having us all ascend to become singular beings."
"If one day a vicious character breaks in, we'll all die."
A wide grin spread across One's lips, as if mocking his other self in the Editorial Department. The more contact he had with those powerful characters, the stronger his sense of crisis became.
The Editorial Department—it sounded so lofty, controlling the lives and deaths of countless beings and characters, directing the progression of every storyline. But in reality, it was all bullshit.
Let the Editorial Department try to manage the Sphere of the Gods. If they really started giving random commands and managed to piss off the singular gods, they'd be truly finished.
The Sphere of the Gods was filled with innumerable ruthless characters. Those timeless, singular beings from across the ages wouldn't buy it at all. The so-called storyline momentum, the methods of creating a butterfly effect to subtly drive a character's actions—once inside the Sphere of the Gods, they were basically useless against the true forms of those singular gods.
The singular gods weren't idiots. They were beings who had witnessed their own entire existence. How could they not sense that something was amiss?
Reckless interference would only expose their own fragile selves, turning them into new playthings for those freaks who were filled with an interest in research and destruction.
One was the most restless individual in the Editorial Department, and also the most ambitious. In a certain decaying universe, he had secretly planted a massive storyline, waiting only for him to jump in and become the "character" specifically left to drive the plot forward.
Although some inexplicable glitches occurred, the result was still on track. He successfully killed the dozen or so other versions of himself and obtained the Plot Gem.
He, a character, now possessed the authority of an author.
One glanced at Tony, his eyes filled with deep greed and desire.
Next, all he needed to do was swap places with him, and he could ascend to become a singular god. He would no longer need to hide timidly in the Editorial Department but would become a truly omnipotent "author."
In reality, so-called authorial authority was something any Tier Nine singular god could possess. Wasn't it just modifying the storyline, pushing for changes, or, if things went south, rebooting the multiverse to start over?
Omniverse-level Tier Nine beings could all do this. In a sense, every single one of them was an "author." Each of them could instantly control and influence the thoughts of all life in the multiverse, making them act according to their will.
The only difference was that only a tiny minority of Tier Nine beings had, by some fluke, become aware of the Fourth Wall and the Editorial Department; the vast majority remained completely oblivious.
Once you demystified an esoteric thing like the Fourth Wall, it was, in essence, no different from the Speed Force Wall. When your power and perspective reached a certain level, this supposedly indestructible wall was as flimsy as paper.
"Tony! I saved you many times! You're only alive today because of me!"
"It's time you repaid me!"
One's eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing quickened slightly.
(end of chapter)
