When the Protagonist Climbs Out of the Book to Protest

Qin Yang, the protagonist of the science fiction novel Whispers of the Starry Sky, has been feeling like something is off lately.

Whenever the author, Da Tang Huang Yu, gets stuck, the world starts dropping frames: his teammates repeat the same line ten times, and the stars overhead flicker out.

Three days ago, in the middle of a fierce battle, he inexplicably heard the sound of typing. A line of on-screen text drifted past his eyes: “Qin Yang's left leg suddenly cramps!”

The next second, his left leg really did cramp. He nearly got blasted to bits by an enemy laser cannon.

Today, the author's latest chapter reads: “A sudden meteor shower buries the energy-depleted Qin Yang in interstellar dust.”

Qin Yang gazed at the clear expanse of space and raised his middle finger at the void. “Da Tang Huang Yu! You're trying to kill me off again, aren't you?!”

He pulled out the warp-drive core he'd just seized and carved a giant QR code into the desert. “Scan here to subscribe to the latest chapter and watch Master Qin teach you how to behave!”

Then he saw the author's avatar, bearing the ID “Da Tang Huang Yu,” actually subscribe to his story.