[Please add my next novel to your favorites.]
Everyone knows that horror writer Heijin makes a living by getting writer's block and killing off villains. In his new novel, The Dead-End Maze, the final boss, Sting, is a thoroughly rotten gentleman. Once Sting dies, the story will immediately reach its triumphant finale.
One night, Heijin is woken by a voice. When he opens his eyes, he sees the boss from The Dead-End Maze sitting at his bedside, smiling without humor. Sting pats the space beside him. "Is it fun to kill off the boss?"
"It's... fine, I guess."
As soon as he answers, a crack appears in Sting's neck. Heijin feels something heavy land on him: the boss's head.
Heijin jolts awake. This time, he is really awake. The boss is gone, and so is the head. Before he can even catch his breath, he looks around, feels the cold wind, and realizes he is at the entrance to the Dead-End Maze.
"S-Sting, are you still there?" Heijin whispers, pitiful and helpless. "I... know I was wrong."
The demon who rings the midnight bell in the castle: Wants to take him back and keep him in a cage, cutting off a piece of flesh every day.
The decaying ghost knight of the back hills: Wants to snap his neck and serve him on the princess's plate.
All the bosses he has killed off: Want to eat him.
Heijin looks at those hideously ugly bosses. "Well, um, Sting, why don't you just eat me instead?"
Sting glances back beneath the moonlight, his gaze passing over corpses strewn across the fields. His voice is tender yet helpless. "Have you made up your mind?"
All the bosses run to Sting to complain. "Him! He's only pretending to be pitiful for your sake! He's really vicious behind your back!"
Sting: "I know. Isn't it charming?"
Two scheming actors:
A theatrical author bottom, whom every boss wants a bite of, and a cunning villain top who plays along with him
Bottom on the cover
[Screenshot dated 2020.4.23. Full manuscript in progress.]
Theme: Love
