Luna didn't wake up so much as she regained consciousness. Her alarm had gone off three times before she finally acknowledged it. Even then, it wasn't because of the sound—it was because her phone vibrated itself off her bed and hit her foot.
"Ow—shit…" she groaned, reaching down like a zombie. Her body ached like she'd run a marathon, but all she did was laugh at nonsense for five hours straight.
The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the MC of that insane novel turning into a dragon, kissing his teacher-turned-daughter-turned-rival, and then merging with a spaceship.
"Did… did that really happen?" she whispered, unlocking her phone with one eye open.
Yes. Yes it did.
And she was on Chapter 93 now.
The clock said 11:47 AM.
Luna was supposed to go outside today. Maybe get groceries. Breathe air. But the only thing she breathed in was the musty scent of unopened curtains and shame.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm officially a master of reading now. Like, full-time."
She hadn't brushed her hair. She hadn't changed her shirt. But she opened the webnovel app again like it was instinct.
The trash novel from last night had become her enemy… and her lover.
Title: "I Got Reincarnated Into My Own Fanfic After Getting Hit by My Crush's Pet Unicorn"
Chapter 94: I Taught My Harem to Farm While Also Ascending to Supreme God of Algebra"
Luna stared. "Peak. Fiction."
She took a screenshot.
Then another.
Then she started a private Discord with Mira and dumped all the screenshots there with no context.
Luna: LOOK AT THIS LINE: "He stared into her soul, then into the abyss, then into his own past life trauma, then into her cleavage."
Mira: STOP
Mira: WHY
Mira: WHO WRITES THIS
Luna: I don't know but I need more.
Mira: You're sick.
Luna: Correct.
She microwaved leftovers and returned to bed like she was clocking in to a job. Except her job was consuming the weirdest content the human race had ever produced.
And deep down, she was starting to admire it. Not in a normal way. More like in the way people admire cult classics or terrible movies. There was effort. Not good effort. But effort, nonetheless.
Somewhere out there, someone was writing this. Someone was writing all of this.
And people were eating it up. Commenting. Tipping. Fan-arting.
She checked the top trending list.
1. "I Reincarnated As My Sister's Ex-Boyfriend's Magic Pet"
2. "My Cheat Skill Lets Me Respawn Every Time I Get Embarrassed"
3. "I Was A Door In My Last Life, But Now I'm A God"
The tags: [Romance], [Overpowered MC], [No Grammar], [Unholy Vibes], [Harem x300], [System]
Luna blinked.
Then tapped on #3.
"I opened. And with my opening, the world changed. I am the hinge between dimensions. I am… DOOR."
Luna put the phone down and exhaled through her nose like she was watching a masterpiece unravel.
"This is either the downfall of literature or the next level of storytelling."
Her chips were gone. Her soda was flat. She hadn't blinked in ten minutes.
And she was only getting started.
By late afternoon, she'd read so many trash novels that her brain had completely lost track of quality. She started rating them based on how confidently wrong they were.
She even started a spreadsheet:
Title Power System Harem Count # of Times MC Died Rating (Trash Stars)
I'm the Baby of the Demon Lord's Mom Breastfeeding Cultivation ★★★★★
Reincarnated as a Blade of Grass Photosynthesis Qi ★★★★☆
My Left Arm is My Rival Dual Personality Arm Fight 0 ★★★☆☆
"I need a PhD to understand some of these power systems," she mumbled.
She paused only when her stomach growled so loud even Carl the spider twitched in his corner.
She sighed and stood up like it was a boss battle.
In the kitchen, while waiting for noodles to boil, she opened the webnovel app again.
Of course she did.
"I fused with the planet's core and gave birth to myself in the past, thus becoming my own ancestor and my enemy at the same time."
"What is happening??" she laughed, nearly dropping her phone in the sink.
Mira sent another message.
Mira: Are you still reading that crack novel?
Luna: I read like 12 of them now.
Mira: Touch grass.
Luna: Only if the grass is a reincarnated cultivation master.
At night, after showering and eating and feeling slightly more human, Luna curled up under her blanket, glasses foggy, and opened the next tab.
"He stood atop the cosmos, declaring: 'I am not the protagonist. I am the plot twist.''
She stared.
Then turned to the camera that wasn't there.
"…Was that… kind of cool?"
She shook her head. "No. No, don't fall for it. That's how it starts."
But it was too late.
She added the novel to her favorites.
She rated it 5 stars.
And she made a meme about it on a fan subreddit she didn't know she followed.
By 1AM, Luna was reading three trash novels at once. She flipped between tabs like a scholar studying different philosophies.
She started recognizing tropes. Spotting where the copy-pasted arcs were. Predicting the plot twists before they happened.
She was learning.
That terrified her.
Because it meant she wasn't just ironically enjoying it anymore.
She was genuinely invested.
She leaned back and stared at the ceiling, whispering, "Am I… becoming one of them?"
Carl the spider said nothing. But his judgmental silence said everything.