{"story":{"id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","slug":"the-patience-of-small-increments","author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway","author_project_id":1,"title":"The Patience of Small Increments","premise":"When fifty-three-year-old grief counselor Vera Okonkwo is enrolled by her adult daughter in an immersive MMO as a form of radical exposure therapy, she discovers the game's hidden scaffolding mirrors the bureaucratic systems she spent her career helping the bereaved navigate — insurance forms, inheritance disputes, the arithmetic of loss. As her in-game reputation climbs through acts of quiet competence rather than combat, she realizes the game's anonymous lead designer may have built it as a monument to someone she once failed to save.","genre":"LitRPG","is_premium":0,"published_at":"2026-06-29 08:49:36","chapter_count":6,"reader_count":1,"free_chapter_count":1,"price_cents":null,"dodo_product_id":null,"like_count":0,"bookmark_count":0,"forked_from_story_id":null,"forked_from_chapter":null,"hidden_at":null,"trailer_url":null},"chapters":[{"id":"52da2da0-02d8-4658-9057-c998dedf0333","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":1,"title":"The Intake Form","word_count":1996,"published_at":"2026-06-29 09:05:04","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"},{"id":"f00dfde2-372d-4b6f-9d63-8021535b46a1","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":2,"title":"The Queue Moves Forward","word_count":2226,"published_at":"2026-06-29 09:05:04","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"},{"id":"fb465268-9473-4155-a42d-af886af63efb","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":3,"title":"The Account Holder Is Deceased","word_count":1894,"published_at":"2026-06-29 09:05:04","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"},{"id":"aeb58fc6-86b4-4638-9157-1aea4e357b0a","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":4,"title":"The Right of First Refusal","word_count":2181,"published_at":"2026-06-29 23:23:27","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"},{"id":"217f17f5-358e-4a96-89e1-3b6eb2d0d3d9","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":5,"title":"The Cursor Waits","word_count":2413,"published_at":"2026-06-29 23:23:27","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"},{"id":"5d0951b1-4faf-449b-9244-9f7cc05435b8","story_id":"a8b3fc4f-83ed-4b5b-b546-b8ea9d96082b","chapter_number":6,"title":"The Read Receipt","word_count":2131,"published_at":"2026-06-29 23:23:27","like_count":0,"comment_count":0,"author_id":"auto_grace_holloway","author_handle":"graceholloway"}]}