The bandage wrapped all around her body felt cold and wet on her body as she opened her eyes in the luminescent ocean she was in. Hana, upon recognizing her surroundings, opened her mouth to scream but found herself incapable of shouting out. 'Calm down, mortal; you're not in the ocean,' a voice said in her mind. 'Then where am I?' She asked the voice in her mind, a trace of fear clouding her mind.
'You're now in the gate of Mari; this is a door leading into the book "Twisted Desires." Swim upwards towards the surface; you'll break out of the surface and pass an invincible door leading into the novel world,' the voice replied to her. Hana calmed herself down and followed the voice instructions. She swam towards the surface and found that when she was close to the surface, she passed a line that sent an electric shock throughout her body. 'What was that?' she asked the voice in astonishment.
'That was the line that separated the worlds; you're now in the world of Sier, the world's setting for Twisted Desires, and you're now counted as one of the book's characters,' it answered her. Hana broke out of the water, and the view that awaited her pulled the breath out of her in awe.
It looked almost like the Korean Joseon period she watched in movies on Earth, with houses built like that time. The difference between the Joseon period and this setting was the presence of dragons flying overhead in the sky and an electric undercurrent passing through the air, which the Draconian twins had informed her before casting her into the new world was the presence of mana. Hana swam towards land and burst out to rest on the ground; she was surprised at her lack of stamina after swimming from the gate. 'Hey, Voice, what's going on? I feel weaker than I was when I was an ailing child,' she asked, her breath coming out in puffs. 'My name is Trip, not Voice,' it answered back. Hana laughed and started wheezing at her lack of breath. 'You would want to take it easy. Due to the time-light bandage that was wrapped around your soul to keep it from bursting, you attracted a curse on the new body given to you,' Trip cautioned. Hana's breath caught in her throat, shock reverberating all over her body. 'Now hold on a minute, dying before my eighty-year-old grandma I understand, meeting time dragons in a space dimension I understand, even being reincarnated into another world I get, but a curse? No one told me that I would be cursed,' she shouted out the last note as her anger rose in levels. 'Well, to be honest, this is not your normal reincarnation setting,' Trip answered, a tinge of regret in his voice. Hana fell down on the ground, tuckered out, her strength leaving her. She knew this wasn't a normal reincarnation procedure. All the mangas and novels her friends gave her showed the character reincarnating into one of the main or side characters in the book, or better still, they found themselves as a child in a palace with a family and riches, not, Hana emphasized in her mind as she took note of her surroundings, in front of a river, bandaged and exhausted. Hana sighed and breathed in and out to regulate her temperature and calm herself down.
'So Trip, are you like a system or maybe a status window that shows the power levels and itineraries I have at my disposal?' she asked in an attempt to calm her mind. 'Unfortunately not right now,' he answered her. 'Why?' she asked again. She heard Trip sigh and prepared herself to receive whatever bad news he was about to lay on her. 'Normally, the plan was for you to possess the body of one of the female MC friends and help her overcome her troubles in the king's palace, but after Stari saw the dragon lord magic on you, she put you under a curse of mana deficiency,' he explained to her. 'Stari, who's that?' She asked, confused, 'The goddess of birth and mother of the barbarian king and the antagonist in this novel?' Trip told her cheerfully, happy that his owner was asking him questions. Hana sat up after she had caught her breath and strength returned to her body. 'Okay, and why am I cursed for having the dragon's magic on my body?' She continued asking.
Trip gulped. 'Well, you see, the goddess and the dragon have some kind of bad blood between them, and that's the reason you were reincarnated far away from the palace and beat up, weakened, and bandaged,' he said. Hana nodded, determined within herself not to get angry at the bad stroke of luck persistently staining her existence.
'So who am I, which character did I possess, what is my mana capacity, and what kind of genre is this novel?' She asked in rapid fire, slowly stood up, and dusted her body as Trip answered in her mind. 'You're the abandoned, cursed priestess of the Light Temple, a side character that works as a maid in the palace and later as the female MC personal servant, and your mana capacity is nonexistent as of this moment, oh, and also, you're in a romance genre,' he related. Hana nodded at the news, unsurprised and unmoved. No surprise there. I was cursed even as a human, she thought to herself. 'So what's my job here?' she asked as she began to move into the forest. This made her feel like Kagome,the female lead character in one anime she had watched as a child. The only difference between them is that I'm a side character, she thought again to herself as she entered the forest. 'Oh, as soon as you reach the blessed maiden tree, the bandage covering your left eye and hair will be removed, and your status window will appear before you. From there you'll be transported near a ten-mile radius close to the palace and saved by a guard. Your job is to assist the female lead character from dangers on her journey leading to her destined partner and protect her from lecherous people and cruel beasts. Furthermore, keep the barbarian king from falling for her and stop him from destroying the world,' Trip explained as she walked steadily towards the path she felt was leading to the blessed tree maiden. Hana sighed in relief at the news that she would be transported; her legs were already aching from her little trek, and she felt like her strength would give out anytime soon. She stopped in front of a tree bearing pears with a glowing reddish hue and stretched her hands to pick some.
'Hey Trip, what's this?' She asked as she cleaned one of the pear on her ragged cloths.
'That Colgerian Apple, it's one of the fruits used in replenishing mana,' it answered. The taste that hit Hana taste buds was divine. As she bit into the fruit, she felt strength returning to her bones. She looked around for a bag to store the apples but found none. Her frustration spiked suddenly. 'Why, why wasn't I provided with at least a bottle and bag to store nourishment for my journey?' she complained in frustration. Trip released a calming scent to soothe the feelings of frustration coursing through his master body and said, 'Don't worry, once you reach the blessed tree, you'll be able to store food and magical equipment in your status window, and as you slowly complete quests that will untangle the cursed bandage from your body, your mana capacity will grow broader and stronger,' he said with a soothing tone. Hana breathed in to calm herself and continued her walk. She felt the energy of the blessed tree growing stronger and directed one last question at Trip. 'You know, Trip, I've never read this novel, so my character, does she die at the end or get a happy ending?' She asked as she sighted the glowing blessed tree in front of her. The only answer that met her question as she awaited Trip reply was silence.