The last thing I remembered was the glow of my smartphone and the bitter taste of cold coffee. I'd finally done it. I'd finished the last chapter of Chronicles of the Storm Monarch, all 3,000 chapters of it, in a marathon reading session that probably shaved years off my life.
What a disappointing ending, was my final, groggy thought. *All that build-up, and the Storm Monarch just… abandons his humanity? And poor Lina. She died for nothing in the first arc. Forgotten by chapter 100.*
My head throbbed. Not a screen-fatigue headache, but a real, pounding ache. The smell of hay and woodsmoke replaced the scent of my cramped apartment. A rough wool blanket was scratchy against my skin.
"Elara? Are you awake, child?" a woman's voice, warm but laced with worry, called from another room. "Kaelen is waiting for you by the old oak. Don't keep the boy waiting!"
Elara? Kaelen? Old oak?
My eyes snapped open. I was in a small, rustic room with wooden beams and a dirt floor. I pushed myself up and caught my reflection in a polished metal basin.
Staring back at me was a girl of about sixteen, with freckles dusting her nose and a messy braid of chestnut hair. Her eyes—my eyes—were wide with a terror that was entirely my own.
This was Lina. The throwaway character. The motivator.
Panic seized me. This wasn't a dream. The textures were too sharp, the smells too real. I was her. And if the plot held true… I had maybe a week before the demon beast attack.
Just as the first sob wracked my chest, a transparent blue screen flickered to life in front of my vision, accompanied by a cheerful ding!
[System Initializing…]
[Welcome, User! Thank you for your continued readership of 'Chronicles of the Storm Monarch'!]
[Loading Chapter Comments… Complete!]
I blinked. The screen looked exactly like the comment section from the webnovel app I'd been using. And text was already scrolling down.
DragonFan42:Ah, the calm before the storm. Literally. Enjoy these happy times with Kaelen, Elara! :)
xXShadowBladeXx:This village is so boring. Just get to the action already.
Romance4Ever:Kaelen and Selene are going to meet soon! The best power couple! #StormAndIce
HistoryBuff01:Actually, the description of the village's founding is historically inaccurate for this kind of…
The comments scrolled, a river of meaningless chatter. A cruel joke. A system? This was just a hallucination. A final mockery from my dying brain.
Then I saw it. A comment tagged to the bottom of my vision, as if anchored to the real world.
SpoilerKing77:>> Chapter 15 Preview: RIP Elara. F in the chat, boys. Gets got by the Grimfang Wolf on the night of the full moon. Should've just stayed home and baked pies or something.<<
The blood drained from my face. The full moon. Tonight.
The comment glowed with a faint, ominous light. A notification popped up.
[New Quest Generated: 'Spoiler Avoidance']
[Objective: Do not go to the old oak tree tonight. Do not leave your home after sundown.]
[Reward: 10 Plot Deviation Points. Continued Existence.]
The system wasn't here to make me powerful. It was here to help me survive the plot.
My fear crystallized into a sharp, focused point. I had a choice. Go out, meet Kaelen, and walk blindly into my death. Or… listen to the spoilers.
I took a deep, shuddering breath. I looked at the reflection of the girl who was supposed to die.
"Sorry, Kaelen," I whispered, my voice unfamiliar but firm. "You're going to have to find your tragic motivation somewhere else."
I opened the door and called out to the woman I now knew was my mother in this life. "Mama? I'm not feeling well. I think I'll stay in tonight."
[Plot Deviation: +0.1%]
[Congratulations! You have earned your first 10 PDP!]
[The 'Fourth Wall Reader Store' is now unlocked!]
A new, glorious sound echoed in my mind. It was the sound of a cash register ringing. It was the sound of a second chance.