The Secondary World Ava, Rayna and Ian appeared in was based on a novel, ‘Dawn of Hope’.

‘Dawn of Hope’ was, in the Main World, a very popular novel, not because of the author’s great skills, but rather because of the author’s great willingness to write what the readers wanted.

Side characters were paper-cutouts; cannonfodders stupid and only there for face-slapping; antagonists who were all merely there for the sake of being evil.

The novel was, clearly, only a means for the author to find a meal. As such, ‘Dawn of Hope’ was destined to only make a splash, before sinking to depths of the sea. Either way, it made a splash big enough to fuel a Secondary World.

Though, that was probably why the Secondary World ‘Dawn of Hope’ didn’t last for long before crumbling.

But, even if the original work was terrible, lacklustre, and barely up to par, once it manifested as a Secondary World, its characters, setting, history, and plot, all coming to life, it would change.

Plot holes would be filled; character personalities would be explained; the setting would become more elaborate; and the world would develop in a reasonable and logical way.

Then, the whole world would ‘reset’, and play from the beginning, all over again, over and over, until it crumbled.

Even if Main World inhabitants thought of Secondary World inhabitants as book characters, these ‘characters’ would, ultimately, see themselves as people, and the Main World as the place that forced onto them their roles to live, to die, to start, to repeat, to sing with their blood and dance with their tongues.

With this knowledge in mind, many ‘villains’, ‘cannonfodders’, and ‘antagonists’ wondered:

Are my flaws really my fault?

Are my crimes really mine?

Are my thoughts and wishes really mine?

Are my faults, my sufferings, my history, my blame and my identity, really, truly, mine?

Am I really, truly, to blame for this world’s woes?

Is my character’s ending really something I can, I would, I should, I must, accept?

Why, why, why must my life’s purpose be simply to die?

Must I listen to the plot?

What would happen if I changed the plot?

Can I be free of this ill-intentioned ‘fate’?

Each time, every time, every chance, every opportunity answered with,

No.

You can’t.

You’re fake.

You’re a character.

You’re a mess of words on paper.

You’re destined to never leave your story, your destiny.

That is your fate.

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[Each player will have their own restrictions and conditions. Each player will work against each other.]

Ava’s head on the ground blinked.

Rayna smiled.

Ian, stupefied, nearly dropped his jaw.

“What?!” Backing away, he looked around the stage, only to find that every face, expression, voice and object had frozen, suspended in the air, as though time had stopped. “How? How did this — how did this system get in?!”

Rayna smirked, a hand on her hip. “Genius, there’s more than one way to contact a system. I’ve found another system, one with higher clearance than yours.”

Ava, still lying on the ground, wanted to speak, but realised that her vocal chords weren’t linked to her mouth. She could only smile warmly.

Rayna, upon realising her plight, hurriedly picked up the head with the gentleness and care one would use to hold a most precious treasure. Bending down, she gently, carefully, linked the shredded sinew and bones together. With a snap, the head and neck connected together seamlessly, Ava’s body once more intact.

Helping her up with both hands, Rayna continued, “We will, one day, leave you and your nonsense.”

Turning to Ava, Rayna pulled her into a hug. “Muse, my muse, Ava darling…”

Ava couldn’t speak. She made a few gasping noises, as though testing out her throat before softly replying, “En.”

“Did the ‘Tyrant’ role impact you?”

Generally, for Ava, with each body she entered, her soul would be affected, and her personality would be impacted each time, changing and morphing with unwanted impulses and suggestions.

Ava was, normally, rather taciturn, but the Tyrant’s role had her desire to talk, to communicate, to crave human touch.

“Yeah.”

“Ava, I’m going to hurt you, and you’re going to hurt really badly, really soon.”

Ava’s arms, wrapped around Rayna’s, tightened.

“It’s going to hurt, and this time, I won’t know. I won’t know that you’re hurting, I won’t know that you’re suffering, I won’t know that you’re crying inside. But…”

Ava whispered for her, “But I trust you.”

Rayna nodded gently, “It’ll be okay.”

She leaned in for a kiss, but —

A blue panel slid between the two, separating their mouths.

Rayna yelled at Ian, “You fucking cockblocker!”

Ian snapped, “Quit the PDA! I’m literally right here —”

As she yelled back, Ava’s head burrowed into her chest. Lowering her volume, she cursed back, “Fuck off, dipshit!”

Red eyes narrowed, face dark, Ian said, “Even though you’ve somehow signed a contract with another system, it’ll still take time to overcome mine. And you must’ve paid a price — a price that will be your love’s undoing.”

Rayna simply snorted.

“Don’t you want to come with me? Really. You could suffer so much less, you could —”

Rayna said, “Did you know?” Smiling gently, she warmly hugged the person in her arms tighter. “Your system’s role is to keep Dead Secondary Worlds from infecting living ones, to make them run their course and die, to stop the dark from contaminating the light.

“But mine… mine is to bring the Dead to Life, to fix sad endings and heal broken wounds, to make a new Secondary World.

“That means…

“We, this time, can change the plot.”