Darkness surrounded me, but I felt awake.
It felt like an endless void, thick and suffocating, as if the world itself had been erased. I tried to move, but my feet felt rooted to the floor. My breath sounded too loud in the emptiness, each inhale swallowed before it could echo.
"Hello?" I called out, expecting someone to respond back, but nothing came from the other side. Just pure silence which slowly started to creep me out.
I tried to call out but my voice vanished the moment it left my lips. I started to feel a little scared when a bright light appeared from the center. The brightness was so much that it could take few seconds for me to adjust my vision.
Rubbing my eyes, I narrowed my eyes trying see through those bright rays.
Shiiing!
A sharp, metallic chime sliced through the darkness.
Light slowly started to dim out, forming into some shape before me. It took me a moment to realize that it was a freaking golden screen suspended in midair. It glowed softly, runes and symbols assembling themselves with such precision, as if reality itself was being compiled line by line.
I tried to take long, deep breaths trying to calm down my ragging heart.
"What in the…This could not be real." I whispered to myself when the screen flickered as words appeared on it.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[PLAYER IDENTIFIED]
NAME: Irene Solyne
ORIGINAL IDENTITY: Kayla Smith
WORLD: I Fell in Love with a Duke
ROLE: Side Character (Disposable)
Disposable.
The word burned.
Before I could react, the screen shifted again.
[CHARACTER STATUS]
Survival Probability: Extremely Low
Reputation: Neutral
Trust (Main Cast): 0
Influence: 0
System Points: 0
Images flashed as those scenes came in front of my eyes which I recognized all too well.
Cold washed over me.
"No," I breathed, stepping back instinctively. "No, no, this is ridiculous. I'm just dreaming. Am I really got into a system?"
The golden glow intensified, and new lines appeared, but this time with an alert.
[PLOT DEVIATION DETECTED!]
Player has begun diverging from original storyline.
Narrative instability at 1%.
My chest tightened.
"So, this means just because I tried to save myself from being executed, the system activated?" I said slowly.
The screen changed before I could even process given information.
[SYSTEM TYPE: STORY CORRECTION GAME]
Purpose: Maintain narrative balance.
Failure Condition: Forced Plot Termination.
Termination.
Means what? Death. It came out more like a statement than a question which scare me more. I did not want to believe but everything signaled to same thing. All that anger, frustration, exhaustion came at once as I sharply
"No, I refuse. I wrote this world. I am the God of this world, not you! You don't get to decide how it ends." I said sharply pouring every pain occurred from injustice that had happened to me.
In my previous life too, every time when I tried to do something to my liking I was being scolded, ridiculed by my family. And now, in this life too, I am being forced to follow the same plot.
Obey this system or sacrifice myself. But I will not move along its rules. I am the one who wrote this world, the characters, and their fate. I should at least get one chance to change trajectory of my life.
For the first time, the screen paused, as if it heard my thoughts, and even considering it. And then new words appeared.
[OBJECTIVE UPDATED]
Primary Goal: Plotted execution
Updated Goal: Accumulate System Points (SP) to deviate the primary goal.
Warning: Failure to meet the required points will result in severe penalty.
Penalty?
"What kind of penalty? Death? And how much points do I need to accumulate to change my fate," I demanded.
"Answer me!" I screamed as it didn't update the screen.
The glow surged, as the screen glitched, and shattered.
I jolted awake with a gasp, "No!"
Morning light streamed through heavy curtains, illuminating the unfamiliar room in soft gold. My heart thundered wildly as I sucked in air, my body practically drenched in the pool of my own sweat. For a moment, I could still see the after image of the screen burned into my vision.
"Relax…A dream. It was just a dream." I whispered, while pressing a trembling hand to my chest, trying to relax my heart.
It was just a dream. It had to be.
Systems didn't exist in this world. If it was already here, it should have been appeared when I was awake, not in my dream, but my mind kept going the fact that it appeared after I tried to change the fate, but I jerked those thoughts away.
My mind was probably playing tricks on me. I shouldn't have read too many novels.
That explanation should be enough to let my overthinking mind relax until I find any more, and stronger evidence. With this, I lifted my head and froze.
It wasn't my mid-size room, but a more luxurious one. Even the bed beside me was crumpled up as if someone has slept here.
Panic flared, again in my already aching head. My gaze darted around the vast room, as I recalled the last night scene.
Ugh, I was still in that man's room. I palmed my face taking a breath of relief.
But wait where was he? I again looked around yet saw no sign of him. He was gone.
Relief and tension tangled uncomfortably in my chest.
"Okay. Calm down. Last night was… chaotic. That's all." I muttered to myself, swinging my legs off the bed.
I pushed myself to my feet, smoothing my crumpled dress, and glanced once more around the room. Nothing seemed out of place. No servants. No guards rushing in.
Good.
I needed to leave before anyone notice my presence.
As I stepped into the corridor, the mansion seemed to be a little too quiet. The calm of dawn felt fragile, ready to shatter at the slightest wrong move.
I kept my head down and walked quickly, following what I hoped was the way out, but God forbids if I got out of any situation without any drama.
"There she is!" The shrill cry sliced through the hallway like a blade.
My blood turned to ice.
I spun around just as several servants rounded the corner, their eyes locking onto me. Confusion flashed across their faces, hen recognition, and at last a grim expression. Accusation?
"There, she is right here! This is her." My heart sank listening to her words.
Shit, what do I do now? I still tried to come up with an idea when they all marched towards me, as one of them shouted, "Guards catch her."