Aarav slowly opened his eyes.
"...Huh?"
The first thing he noticed was that he was no longeron his bed or in his room. The second thing he noticed nearly gave him a heart attack.
"VYOM?!"
Standing beside him was a tall man with black hair, wearing a black trousers and white shirt that highlighted his muscular build.
Aarav stared for several seconds.
Then he blurted out,
"Wow... Vyom, you're jacked."
Vyom rolled his eyes.
"Stop simping over me and wipe the drool from your mouth."
Aarav immediately wiped his mouth.
"There wasn't any drool."
"There would've been if I waited five more seconds."
Ignoring Aarav, Vyom looked around.The place was unlike anything in Elarion.Tall buildings stood packed closely together.The air felt strangely polluted.
More importantly,there was no mana.None at all .Not even a trace.
Vehicles with two and four wheels sped across the roads without horses.
Aarav pointed at one.
"Vyom."
"What?"
"Why are those carriages running without horses , also i don't sense a bit of mana from them??"
Vyom frowned.
"I have absolutely no idea."
He looked around again.
"This place resembles the world I came from....though mine was much more developed."
Then he muttered,
"Don't tell me I transmigrated into a novel inside another novel."
A weak voice suddenly interrupted them.
"Um... hello?"
The two turned.
A nervous young man wearing academy uniform stood nearby.He looked 1 year younger than aarav .
"Do either of you know where we are?"
The moment he saw Vyom, his eyes widened.
"G-Guild Master Vyom?! You're alive?!"
Aarav jumped.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The young man immediately shrank back.
"I-I-I'm Kael.I just joined the academy this year.I was sleeping in my dorm last night and somehow woke up here."
Then Kael looked at Aarav.
"...Are you Aarav?"
Aarav didn't even bother answering.
At that moment a strange typing sound echoed through the air.
Tap.... Tap....Tap....Tap.
Aarav frowned.
"What is that sound?"
Vyom shrugged.
"No clue. Let's follow it."
The sound eventually led them to a modest house.It wasn't large.Just a small home with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.
There were 2 people sleeping in the bedroom .The typing sound came from the basement.
The three cautiously descended the stairs.
As they reached the basement door, Aarav immediately pushed Kael forward.
"You go first."
Kael's eyes widened.
"What?! No! Why me?!"
Aarav crossed his arms.
"Because you're the fake protagonist."
Kael nearly cried.
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!"
Slowly, they opened the basement door.
Inside sat a young man in his early twenties.
He was completely focused on typing.The moment he noticed them, he jumped from his chair.
"WHAT THE!!.....Who are you people?!"
Startled by the shout, Kael immediately hid behind Aarav.The young man stared at them.Then his eyes widened.
"Wait. That hair...That chubby face..That fat belly ."
"You're Aarav right??And that rmeans you're Vyom if i am not wrong ?."
He pointed at Kael.
"...And who is that guy?"
Aarav froze .
"Wait.How do you know that?And do you need to be so specific about weight . "
The young man grinned while he rubbed beneath his nose with a finger, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
"I am Bunny.The author of your novel.You could say I'm your god."
Silence.
Then both Aarav and Vyom scoffed simultaneously.
"Some god.Still living in his parents' basement."
Bunny clutched his chest dramatically.
"Hey you need not go so personal ."
Then he glared at Aarav.
"At least I'm not the loser who hired thugs to beat up another student because that student was more talented than me."
Aarav pointed furiously.
"YOU WROTE ME THAT WAY!"
Kael nervously raised a hand.
"Um..."
"What about me, Mr. Bunny?"
The room fell silent.Bunny blinked.Then awkwardly asked while rrubbing the back of his neck.
"...Who are you again?"
Kael froze.
Even Aarav scratched his head.
"Honestly..."
"I wanted to ask the same thing."
Kael looked devastated.
"I'M THE GUY FROM CHAPTER ONE!"
"You introduced the story through me!Aarav not knowing me is understandable! BUT YOU ....YOU'RE THE AUTHOR! YOU WROTE ME!"
Bunny shrugged.
"Be grateful.I atleast gave you some lines."
Kael stared at him in disbelief.
"Lines? I had four lines!Four!"
Bunny folded his arms.
"Lines are lines.Besides, this is Aarav's story."
Kael slowly walked into a corner and sat down and let out a depressed sigh looking into space .
Vyom stepped forward.
"Forget him."
"I have a question."
Bunny nodded.
"Go ahead."
Vyom's eye twitched.
"Could you not have given me a less painful death?"
"I got chopped apart limb by limb."
Bunny scratched his head.
"Well..."
"I needed character development for Drake and a mentor for Aarav ."
Silence.
Then
"YOU KILLED ME FOR DRAKE'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?!HE'S A SECONDARY CHARACTER!"
"AND ALSO TO BECOME THIS IDIOTS MENTOR . YOU COULD HAVE JUST GIVEN ME A FAST PAINLESS DEATH LIKE POISONING RIGHT"
Vyom immediately lunged forward.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Bunny calmly typed something.
A flash of light appeared.
Suddenly Vyom vanished back into the ring.
"YOU SHITTY AUTHOR! AARAV! IF YOU PUNCH HIM , I'LL TEACH YOU EVERY WEAPON ART I KNOW!"
Aarav immediately took a step forward.
Bunny raised a finger.
"Take another step.In Volume Two, Selena dies right in that first chapter and i will make such that you kill her. "
Aarav instantly froze.
"...That's dirty."
Meanwhile, Kael sat sadly in the corner.
"Fake protagonist huh ...So basically I'm useless."
Bunny ignored him.
"So why are you guys here anyway?"
"Did you transmigrate or say were you isekai'd?"
Aarav shrugged.
"No idea."
Suddenly, all three began glowing.
Bunny pointed.
"Looks like you're being sent back.If you have any complaints, ask now."
Aarav immediately spoke.
"Can you remove training completely and just give me an overpowered artifact?"
Bunny stared.
"How lazy are you?"
Aarav scoffed.
"I don't want to hear that from a guy writing novels in his parents' basement."
Bunny exploded.
"YOU THINK WRITING IS EASY?!"
"Do you know how many times I rewrote your character?! Do you know how difficult it is to write dialogue?! Do you know how much time I spent planning Vyom's assassination scene?!" I STILL THINK IT CAME OUT BAD!" And do you know how hard it was designing scenes for Kael ..."
Kael suddenly looked up hopefully.
Bunny paused.
"...Actually, I forgot about Kael."
Kael immediately looked down again.
"...Pain."
Bunny looked Bunny shocked by the rant .
Bunny takes a deep breath as hewas exhausted by the rant.
"Next question."
Vyom spoke.
"Fine.If you won't give me a new death, at least give me a physical body or ability to move away from Aarav briefly .I don't want to keep watching Aarav bathe or do his other personal stuff ."
"Its disgusting"
Aarav screamed.
"WHAT?!"
Vyom looked offended.
"What do you mean 'what'?"
"I'm trapped in your ring! You never take it off!"
Bunny added,
"To be fair, he can but his fingers are just too fat."
Aarav slowly walked over and sat beside Kael.
Both stared into the distance. Defeated.
Kael raised his hand again.
"Can I have more screen time?"
"I want readers to see how much I can grow."
Bunny looked at him then looked away.
"Anything else?"
Kael slammed the ground.
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!"
Bunny ignored him.
"Don't worry.Leave the plot to me.Now get out.You're disturbing my privacy."
The three stared at him.
Bunny blinked.
"What?"
The light surrounding them intensified.
As Aarav began disappearing, he shyly looked at Bunny.
"...Can you at least make Selena my girlfriend in Volume Two?"
The room became silent.
Then all three stared at him with disgust.
"Seriously?"
"That's your question? Are you that desperate?"
And just like that they vanished.
________________________________________
Aarav suddenly woke up in bed.
"...What a weird dream."
Beside him, Vyom sighed.
"Seriously."
"What kind of dream was that?"
Aarav continues
"Writing sure is hard huh"
_______________________________________
inside the academy dormitor
Kael suddenly sat upright.
His eyes widened.
"...That dream felt way too real."