The crowd cheered again.The crown was heavy in my hand again.And the king repeated the same line again.
It almost made me laugh.
I didn't, though. If I laughed, I might not stop.
---
This time, I walked.
I didn't rush to the forest.Didn't meet the knight, the priestess, or the mage right away.
Instead, I stayed in the city.
The baker still smiled.The soldier still shouted his line.The people moved in loops, like gears in a clock.
It was terrifying.
But it was also… freeing.
Because if everyone else was bound to their roles, then I was the only one who could break them.
---
I tested things.
I tried walking down an alley I hadn't walked before.At first, it seemed fine. Narrow stone walls, a crooked lantern, empty crates.
But halfway down, I blinked—and found myself standing back at the city gates.
The crown in my hands.The crowd cheering.
The world had snapped me back like a rubber band.
---
Fine. If that's how it worked, I'd push further.
I picked a fight with the knight.Called him a fraud, told him I'd never follow him.
He didn't even get angry.He just repeated his line again.Word for word.
But behind his perfect armor, I saw it.
A flicker.
A glitch, like static across a screen.
---
That night, I went to the forest again.
The goblins came. Too easy, too light, like shadows waiting to fall.The knight swung, the priestess prayed, the mage grinned.
And I kept watching.
The cracks weren't just in the sky anymore.They were in them.The knight's arm twitched wrong.The priestess stuttered for a split second.The mage's grin stretched too far.
Like their masks were slipping.
---
Then the ground shook.
The beast came again.Massive claw. Black hide. Teeth that belonged in nightmares.
"Hero! Defeat it!" they shouted together.
The script.
I could have run.I could have fought.
Instead, I dropped my sword.I let the beast's claw crush me again.
Pain.Blood.Darkness.
---
And then—
Light.
The city gates.The crown.The crowd.
---
But something was different.
The baker's smile… cracked for half a second.Not a twitch this time.A crack.
The soldier's words slurred for a moment before snapping back.
The world was changing.
I was changing it.
---
So I laughed.
Really laughed this time, even as the crown weighed in my hand again.
If this world wanted me to play along, it was going to regret giving me so many chances.