The thought lingered through Eden’s mind as he stared at the scene. And while he stared for a long time, the scenery began changing.

He wasn’t standing where he knew he was anymore. Rather, he was standing in a snowy scenery. One that wasn’t cold but just bluish and beautiful.

Confused, he looked around, wondering where he was and how he got here. And just then, he heard someone from a distance say, "Don’t bother looking around. You won’t stay here for long."

Eden turned, only to see a male figure approaching. He didn’t think he recognized him at all, but what struck him most was the fact that this young man was wearing modern attire.

A white vest top and zebra-striped pajama trousers. He wore glasses and had his hair in a mess. He looked like someone who had been indoors working on an assignment or something on his laptop for hours.

"You..." Eden stared at him, trying to see if he’d recall knowing such a person from the real world. But it didn’t strike a chord.

The young man smiled, adjusting his glasses. "I guess you’ve finally solved the puzzle and found the author you’re looking for." He smiled.

Eden blinked. "You... you’re the imposter... Marcus."

He smiled. "Well, I wouldn’t really say I’m an imposter. Just borrowed the body for a second, I guess."

"What happened to the real body, then? Did he die?" Eden questioned.

"No, he’s safe. So don’t worry." He said, "That’s not the main reason I’m here, though." He stared at Eden. "I’m here to complete my task."

Eden stared at him. "What task?"

The author put both hands in his pockets with a sigh. "I was punished, I think. And brought into the novel to pass down a message for someone. Or at least let you know something."

Eden knew the old him would be anxious enough to demand a way to go back to the modern world. Wasn’t that why he was looking for the author? But now, he didn’t feel too excited about that.

"Oh... so you’re the author of this trashy book, eh?" Eden folded his arms. "Heavens know I’ve been curious to meet you and ask what the hell you’ve been writing."

The author smiled. "Well..." He scratched his hair. "Not really... I’m not the initial author or the original brains behind the work."

Eden stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

He smiled as he replied, "It’s like this. There was an original script outline for the work. And it wasn’t by me. It was written by a friend. But for some reason, it wasn’t going to be accepted for a contract."

He sighed as he continued, "For some reason, that friend couldn’t go on with the work... so I took it. I couldn’t let his work rot like that, so I took it, made some changes, and it was accepted. Then it became a hit."

Eden listened as he nodded. "Oh, I see... so how am I related to all this? Why am I in this work? And how is the message related to me?"

The author hesitated with a sigh. "Well, how do I say this now...? Well... I’ve been practicing this for a while now, but here goes nothing, I guess..." He stared at Eden. "Don’t get too startled, though, but... Gideon is my friend. That friend of mine."

At first, Eden was casually staring without really understanding what he said. But when he did understand, his expression fell.

Gideon.

He couldn’t remember the last time he heard that name or the last time he thought about it. But now he had heard it again, and Eden felt his heart crash.

"Eh...?" He was confused. Eden was struggling to put the pieces together.

Gideon was his friend? And Gideon was the one who wrote the original script of this novel? It wasn’t making sense.

But the author explained, "Yes. It’s exactly as you thought. He wrote the original script, which was rejected, and after he died... he couldn’t continue it. So I took it, revised it, and published it under his favorite pen name, GiDen."

At that moment, Eden gasped as he staggered backward. Why hadn’t he realized this sooner?

He knew the author of this book. GiDen. And he had seen it casually without realizing this was Gideon’s secret pen name—a combination of both their names.

In his defense, he didn’t know it was his name. Gideon didn’t talk much about it at all. He had only seen it once or twice casually in his books. He didn’t think too much about it. Now it struck him to the core.

Tears ran down Eden’s eyes as he staggered backward. "What..." He couldn’t stop himself from asking, "What was the original script?"

Tears ran down Eden’s eyes as he felt himself shattering into a million pieces. He couldn’t deny it. He didn’t even know how to. He had accepted this fate of Gideon being the original author, and now he was curious to know his original idea.

The author hesitated as he explained.

"In the original script, it was a BL, obviously, where the villain was the main character, and that was supposed to be you."

"The original story had you at the center with the five powerful male leads falling for you... It was basically what it was about." He smiled. "But it wasn’t accepted because of the genre and marketability. And the changes I made brought a female to the center while you remained the villain. I still wanted a way to retain you even though my editor was bent on eliminating your character... and that’s why..." He sighed.

Eden simply listened, tears running down his eyes. This broke his heart more. And he didn’t even know how to properly process it. But he couldn’t stop himself from asking further.

"So... what character did he make himself? Among the five male love interests, which one did Gideon use to represent himself...?"