The backstage of the space opera universe faded away, the glowing lines of code and narrative threads dissolving back into the serene twilight of the Citadel's pinnacle. The 'Tale of the Crimson Corsair' and its dramatic sequel, 'The Dreamer's Prison,' were now complete, etched forever onto the Unwritten Page.
The victory felt different. It was a clean, intellectually satisfying triumph. They hadn't just won; they had orchestrated the enemy's own hilarious self-destruction. It was, in Cid's opinion, the most elegant of all possible solutions.
The Font of Starlight glowed, its light resonating with the complexity and style of their recent performance. A single boon, meant to be shared, materialized and floated between them. It was a small, ornate, silver spyglass.
As they both reached out and touched it, its purpose flowed into them.
[Boon Acquired: 'The Narrator's Scope' (Shared Conceptual Item).]
[Description: An enhancement to your 'Key to the Backstage.' While observing the narrative of a world, you can now use this Scope to 'zoom in' on a single character or event and view not just their present, but their potential futures. It will show you a branching 'tree' of the most probable outcomes based on their current actions and motivations. It is not a tool of prophecy; the future is not set. It is a tool of narrative analysis, a way to see all the possible paths a story might take.]
The spyglass dissolved, its power integrated into their Citadel and their own conceptual toolset. Their authority as 'Lead Editors' had been solidified. They could not just rewrite the past with their Pen, but now they could glimpse the potential future with their Scope.
They returned to the Chamber of the Unwritten Page. It was time to choose their next story. As promised, three new synopses began to write themselves onto the parchment.
Tale A: The Serpentine Emperor
[Genre: Wuxia / Court Intrigue - Sequel]
[Synopsis: The 'Tournament of Shadows' has concluded, but Master Orochi's influence lingers. His scattered remaining followers, now led by a mysterious, charismatic figure who calls himself the 'Serpent's Head,' have infiltrated the Imperial Court itself. They plan to use their soul-devouring arts not for conquest, but for political control, replacing key ministers with spirit-broken puppets. Kaelen and Zenith, now working together as secret protectors of the realm, must navigate a web of courtly lies and hidden assassins to stop a coup from within.]
Tale B: The Dollhouse of Dread
[Genre: Gothic Horror / Psychological Thriller]
[Synopsis: In an isolated, perpetually mist-shrouded Victorian mansion, a lonely dollmaker creates companions to ease his solitude. But a sliver of the Weaver of Identity's power, an 'echo of an echo,' has infected his craft. His dolls have come to life, not as friends, but as possessive, psychopathic entities who believe the dollmaker is their exclusive property. They have turned his home into a beautiful, terrifying prison, 'disposing' of any visitors who threaten their domestic 'bliss.' The tale begins when a curious, young paranormal investigator decides to spend a night in the famously haunted house.]
Cid and Jin-woo read the first two. A sequel to the tournament arc, and a classic haunted house story. Both had potential. Then, the third synopsis appeared. And it was... different.
The ink was not glowing. It was a flat, matte black, and the script was a simple, modern font.
Tale C: The Ordinary Life of Kim Min-Joon
[Genre: Mundane / Slice of Life]
[Synopsis: Kim Min-Joon is a perfectly average 24-year-old office worker living in Seoul, South Korea. He works a boring 9-to-5 job. His hobbies include watching web-dramas and trying new instant noodle recipes. He is saving up to buy a new computer. He is worried about his receding hairline. There is no magic. There is no villain. There is no conflict. His story is one of complete, utter, and profound normalcy.]
Jin-woo and Cid stared at the third option.
Jin-woo used his Narrator's Eye to its fullest extent, trying to find some hidden layer, some secret twist.
[Name: Kim Min-Joon.
[Backstory: Grew up in a middle-class family. Graduated from a decent university with a degree in business.
[Primary Motivation: To get through the work week so he can relax on Saturday.
[Plot Threads: None. Literally none. His life is a narrative flatline.]
[World Analysis: Earth. Post-Gate Era. Timeline: Stable. Dimensional Integrity: Perfect. No threats detected.]
It was exactly what it appeared to be. A story with no story. A tale of absolute, unbreakable peace.
"Why would he offer this?" Cid asked aloud, completely thrown. "What is our purpose here? What problem is there to solve?"
Jin-woo looked at the description again. 'The Ordinary Life of Kim Min-Joon.' He looked at the details: the office job, the web-dramas, the ramen.
And then he understood. A cold, profound realization washed over him.
This wasn't a test. It wasn't a challenge or a mystery.
It was a vacation.
The Author King, after all their world-saving, reality-fixing adventures, was offering them... a break. A chance to step into a story with no stakes, no villains, and no earth-shattering plots. A chance to just... be.
Cid's mind reeled with the implication.
The choice was before them. A high-stakes political thriller. A terrifying haunted dollhouse mystery. Or a quiet, peaceful slice-of-life story.
Cid, the ultimate dramatist, the being whose entire existence revolved around finding the most exciting plot, looked at the three options. He looked at the face of his friend, the Monarch who had carried the weight of worlds and had never known a day of true peace.
And he made the most out-of-character decision of his entire life.
He pointed his Author's Pen at the third option.
He chose the boring story. For his friend. It was a quiet, un-dramatic act of profound narrative empathy.
The portal opened. It was a simple, rectangular door. It smelled faintly of coffee and photocopier toner.
As they prepared to step through, a final thought occurred to Cid, and a mischievous glint returned to his eyes.
Cid had just written a potential love interest into the poor guy's life. He had turned the slice-of-life into a potential rom-com.
But then Jin-woo, feeling an uncharacteristic spark of mischief himself, added a revision of his own with the Unwritten Tome.
[REVISION: Kim Min-Joon is also about to be assigned a new junior colleague. A quiet, diligent, and impossibly competent man who gets the job done with silent efficiency. His name is 'Jonas'.]
They had just written themselves into the story, not as gods or heroes, but as side characters in a completely normal man's ordinary life. Cid had cast himself as the mysterious, beautiful love interest (a role he found hilarious), and Jin-woo had cast himself as the quiet, efficient colleague.
They were about to embark on their most bizarre and potentially most difficult adventure yet: trying to pretend to be normal for twenty-four hours.