“Oh come on! The chapter’s over already? KR043, keep updating! I need to see how those Romans are going to die!”

Ryan H. Graham complained as he tossed his phone to the counter beside his bed and rolled back onto his back. He should get some rest. He really should. Just because the entire quarantine thing was going on didn't mean he no longer needed to sleep.

Ryan hated a lot of things about the quarantine, but if there was one thing he enjoyed, it was that the quarantine finally got one of his favorite authors to update his favorite novel twice as fast.

From one chapter every two days to one every single day. Nice!

Ryan has been following the Voyager: Remastered since KR043 published it almost two years ago. In fact, he has even followed the initial version of the Voyager before KR043 decided to discontinue it. That was a decision he didn't quite agree with, but he nonetheless respected.

But even as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he couldn’t get his mind off the chapters. Jean has already reached her fourth mission. From her CAS value, she could already take on Amon in a one on one combat and potentially win. Amon was the boss in Jean’s first mission, and it took Jean nearly 150 chapters and a ton of scheming to gather an entire alliance and take him down. The Voyager has grown a lot.

But there were still so many questions unanswered.

What were the Protectors plotting? KR043 has foreshadowed multiple times the Protectors had something in mind with how they were handling the Aggressors. What was really going on there?

How did Jean lose her emotions? Who was behind her? What did they want? Power? Influence? Control? Or was it something greater?

Or even on the smaller scale, how was Jean going to execute the Romans with the help of the Alphians? KR043 said Jean wanted to “get herself off the road to certain death”. What did that mean? Was their going to be an ambush? But that felt too ordinary...

Unfortunately, knowing KR043, two of these three questions wouldn’t be resolved in at least fifty chapters, and the answers would be followed by more and more questions. Ryan knew it was a strategy to keep readers hooked to the story. Fair enough. But he had to admit this strategy was working very well. He couldn’t even sleep.

Suddenly, a thought flashed across his mind.

“It will be nice to see Jean Turner for once.”

“Are you sure you want to see Jean Turner?”

“What?”

Ryan snapped around. All of a sudden, he was no longer in his warm, cozy bedroom. All of a sudden, he was in a place where neither time nor space mattered. There was no color. There was no warmness or coldness.

There was nothing.

Except for something. No. Someone.

“I said are you sure you want to see Jean Turner?”

“Who are you?” Ryan gulped. Was he dreaming? He must be dreaming. How else could a place like this exist? No color? No time? No space? Come to think about it, when he looked down, he couldn’t even see his own body!

“Well, I am the person who you called one of your most favorite authors. I’m also the author who lost one third of his patrons over two days, but that’s beside the point.”

“Wait...KR043? But...how’s that possible? You’re just a writer! You are a normal person to me! You’re just like a teacher or a...a doctor...or even Donald Trump!”

“Nope. That statement is incorrect.”

“Are you going to explain it?”

“Explaining things is literally what authors do for a living. I am KR043, but I am the KR043 in your world. You and I are both creations of another version of KR043, who is the dumbass with glasses typing this chapter into a computer right now.”

“What?”

“Ok. I hope this is going to clear things up. To you, all the Jean and Voyager and Protector thing are just a story, but to Jean, everything that has happened in the Infinite Realms is real. Every person that she kills and every world that the Protector destroys is real. The Infinite Realms is one step below you.”

“Ok...and how is that supposed to explain all this...”

“Shut up and let me explain! At the same time, to the KR043 writing this book and all of his readers who are one step above who will be commenting under this chapter when it’s published, the entire thing happening here and now is also a story. A chapter. As for me, I am the projection of that KR043 into this world.”

“So...there is another world where another author is writing about me, who is reading about another story...wait! I’m in a story?”

“Don’t be so alarmed. It doesn’t matter if you are in a story. Do you think just because they’re in a story, people like Jean can’t die? Well, Jean’s a special case because big boss up there is not going to kill off his moneymaker and major audience attraction, but the idea is the same. Plus, who knows? Maybe even the real KR043 is in another world and he’s a character in another book. Who can really know?”

“Man, that’s really dark.”

“I write about a army of militant beings with invincible powers that goes around the Infinite Realms, terminating worlds as they see fit. I’m not really scared of going into dark places.”

“Yep. I have read a lot of complaints against your writing. Not a single one of them complained about you being too soft.”

“Good.”

“But I have a question. Why me?”

“Because you have been the patron who has subscripted to me for the longest time, and because big boss up there wants to promote his Patreon page once again. Honestly, I don’t think it’s gonna do anything. I mean...why would people pay when they can read for free? They might as well spend those money on something like Netflix that mandates a subscription fee. That’s what Jean would do, you know, assuming her goal is maximum entertainment or something.”

“Right...I’m glad you bought it back up. What’s the whole deal of me meeting Jean?”

“Yeah...I am pausing because the author is trying his damn best to remember what he wrote ten minutes ago. Authors really have terrible memories. Oh right! So, you said you wanted to see Jean Turner, and I intend to make that happen by setting up a conversation between you and the Jean Turner when she was back in chapter 1.”

“But...won’t that completely derail the story?”

“Hahahahaha...it’s funny you brought it up...or is it you that brought it up? Anyways. KR043 actually tried a different approach with this chapter at first, but he ended up changing it to the one we are in now. Why? Because in this one, I exist, and as the embodiment of the author’s will, I can do whatever I want. I can literally make it so you can tell Jean Turner everything about the 240 chapters that come after and nothing would change. Without me, it’s a lot tougher to round the corners.”

“If you remind me I’m a character living in a book again, I swear I will go mad.”

“Ok. Ok. Now, go down there and impress the lady. I will remind you when the chapter gets too long and the audience thinks about leaving. That’s when I’ll conclude the chapter.”

The next moment, Ryan found himself standing in a grey, dull looking room.

“Unlike the wealthy officers of the Dominion ranks, the rebels were more focused on practical use than colorful decorations.”

“So, you are the visitor from the other world? The world in which my fate is demonstrated in a book called the Voyager: Remastered? Written by someone with the pen-name KR043?”

Ryan snapped around. Across the room and standing before her bed was a young woman with blonde hair in her teens. A gauss sidearm was strapped to her side. Her voice was filled with curiosity.

It took Ryan a few seconds to come up with a response, and even that was a mess.

“Uh...yes. Wait! You are Jean Turner? Voyager Jean Turner? Jean fucking Turner? This is the World of Starcraft?”

“I don’t know about the Voyager part or the fucking part, but my name is indeed Jean Turner and this world is described as something related to Starcraft.”

Jean joked sarcastically. She always knew how to ease the mood.

“God! I can’t believe this is happening...wait! How are you not surprised to see me?”

If someone just popped into his bedroom and screamed his name three times, he would be scared as hell, He definitely won’t be looking at the intruder curiously and make a light joke.

“I don’t know...a while ago a voice just told me all about you and what’s happening here. Apparently the voice said he didn't want to waste his time on introductions.” Jeans shrugged before sitting down on her bed and staring at Ryan with an intruiged look. “So, you know everything about this world?”

“Definitely not everything. I doubt even the author knows everything...or at least that what he wants everyone to think and he’s saying that through me...it’s all very complicated. But I’m sure I know more than you do.”

“Well than, enlighten me. Tell me about this world.”

Ryan nodded. But before he spoke, his eyes lingered on Jean’s well-crafted face, crossed legs, and her blonde ponytail. He felt his heart accelerate. It was difficult to see it when reading words, but when he could actually see her, he had to admit Jean was really hot. There was something about her that just made her a tempting figure to conquer.

Suddenly, Ryan pulled his eyes away. Keep it in your pants! Have you forgotten the fate of Viper? The ghost/spectre loved Jean to the end, and Jean watched her die without breaking a sweat! In fact, among all who have slept with Jean, only Violet was alive and well, and that was because Violet was the same type of person Jean was!

Now, he didn't need to worry about getting his throat slit by Jean in his sleep, but he had no intention of turning this conversation into a bed scene that hundreds, if not thousands, would read. That would just be plain embarrassing.

“First thing. There is no such thing as the Supreme Ones.” Ryan grinned. “This mission is a recruit mission. Pass it, and you become a Voyager. In fact, I believe you would eventually join the...40 something Voyager Legion of the Voyager Corps.”

“43rd Voyager Legion! I didn't spent three seconds to come up with a random number and type it into my note document so people like you can just forget it! 43rd!”

“Correction. 43rd Voyager Legion.” Ryan shuddered as the voice rang out inside his mind.

Jean leaned forward, intrigued. She almost looked admiring. Ryan knew Jean wasn’t really feeling anything about all this. The author probably could, but he would be a dumbass to suddenly give Jean her emotions back for this thing. That would take away her very identity.

Nonetheless, he wasn’t about to point that out. Who do you like more as a storyteller? An audience who is fascinated by your story or someone who listens to even the most astonishing tales with a poker face?

“The Voyager Corps is created by the Protector Corps to supplement for their lack of numbers. The Protectors are basically the gods of the Infinite Realms. They serve under the Grand Protector, who I think is also a girl. Her pronoun is ‘she’. Anyways. The Protectors pretty much dominated the story. They are invincible and they are made to be so. If they have an enemy, then it is their lack of numbers and the size of the Infinite Realms.”

“So how many Protectors are there?”

“The official story now is there are 1,000 legions in the Protector Corps, each with 1 million Protectors. That is nothing, though. By the time you finish this mission and return to the City of the Voyagers, there are 3 billion worlds in the Infinite Realms, and that number is still growing exponentially.”

“And this is the part where we use three dots to represent all the basic information that Ryan tells Jean that the readers already know and don’t want to read about again. Until...here!”

…

“Wait...so the Protector Corps is created to fight an enemy?”

“The Enemy. I think the idea is that a name like that keeps information on the Enemy mysterious. It keeps the readers interested with the promise of the unknown. Just some typical writer manipulation tactic.” Ryan shrugged.

“So what are they?”

“That’s a really good question. I have read a lot of theories that people posted on comments after the chapters.”

“Ok…”

“The most common theory is that the Enemy the Protectors saw is just the Protectors in the future, but with a different color. That’s actually a valid argument. The memory stone was found in the chambers of the Time Council. Why the ‘time’ council? That is just a basic trope of becoming the being you’re trying to fight.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think even if this was what was planned, now that people have called it out, it probably has been changed already.”

“Fair enough. And the Aggressors? What are the theories on that?”

“I think the most commonly accepted idea is that the Aggressors are there to topple the Protectors so Jean, or you, will be free of the Protectors. I doubt it. With this book, things are never what they appear to be, and the author has foreshadowed multiple times the Aggressors aren’t who they appear to be.”

“So what is really going to happen?”

“That is a question only the author can answer, and I’m not the author.”

“Ok. Time’s up. You should go before the readers get bored of this conversation.”

“I should leave.” Ryan stood up from his seat, but Jean had one last question.

“Who created me? For what?”

Ok. Two last questions, but that doesn’t really have the same ring to it...

Ryan waited a few seconds. When he didn't pop back up into that space, he knew the author wanted him to answer this.

“This was never addressed in the Voyager: Remastered, but in the original book, you received all the memories of who you are when you met a fellow kind. I believe you were called Lurkers. You had a flashback and apparently all the Lurkers are some sort of lab-bred clones or something. In the Remastered version that whole thing was removed, and the only motive powering you forward is the desire for strength that is programmed into your brain.”

“Her soul!”

“Your soul, sorry.”

Before Jean could ask another question, Ryan disappeared from the room. As soon as Ryan reappeared, KR043’s voice rang out again.

“Quick! Before this chapters gets too long, what is a proper name for a book capable of endless death and destruction?”

“Uhhh…” Ryan didn't really handle the transition well. “The Book of Doom? The Book of Death?”

“That is so lame.”

“You literally named factions Voyagers and Protectors and Aggressors. You are in no position to call me lame. And where did you find the name Jean Turner?”

“Random name generator...anything else? Quickly!”

“Uh...the Passage of Atrocities? The Stack of Misery?”

“Wait…I’ve got one!”

“What?”

“The Chapter of Graham.”

“What? That’s the worst idea possible! I refuse to be associated with…”

He didn't finish that sentence before KR043 snapped him back into bis bedroom.

“The Chapter of Graham. I like it. In case anyone is wondering why I’m rushing this in, unless another holiday comes around, this is probably the only time I can appear in the near future, so I need to bury a lead for future plot.”

Something solidified in the space. It was a pamphlet, no more than ten pages thick. As soon as it was formed, it snapped out of existence...or at least this existence.

“Forbidden knowledge on a nine-page pamphlet...that’ll be fun!”

“As for you…good thing I created a parallel universe and used the Jean from there!” The avatar now turned his attention to the Jean Turner in the room below. The Jean Turner that was just told everything that would happen in 240 chapters. “I wonder if people will want to see a The Voyager: Remastered version where Jean has absolute intel advantage. Ah well...probably not, but better keep the chance open.”

When everything was settled, KR043 finally relaxed.

Suddenly, he turned to the camera.

“Now...go ahead and support me on Patreon!”