[Character synchronisation in process…]
A translucent screen shimmered into view. Instinctively, I reached for it—my hand passed right through.
[..searching for a suitable plot point to enter…]
Panels from Bloodline Stacker began flashing before my eyes. Some I recognized. Others looked foreign. If not for the art style, I'd swear two manhwa got mashed together.
[Plot point found…]
A sudden pull. My body yanked backward. My spine slammed into something solid. Pain flared, then panic replaced it.
Because I was submerged.
A thick, viscous liquid surrounded me. Warm. Comforting.
Too comforting.
[Hidden Arc 1: The Apocalyptic Fracture…]
[About: A fracture appeared above Draconia this morning, pulling nearly every dragon into it. With the continent stripped of draconic protection, outside forces now descend to farm levels. None expected the banished dragons to leave behind a defective egg.]
[Character synchronisation complete. Role assimilated…]
[Role: @#$%^&]
My body convulsed, hands flailing and feet slamming against the hard wall. I couldn't breathe… yet I wasn't suffocating. That should've calmed me.
But it didn't.
Claustrophobia clawed into my chest. I kicked harder, bruises blooming where flesh met barrier.
Whatever this was, it wasn't breaking.
Somewhere in the chaos, my mind started to clear.
Thoughts returned to me as I stopped struggling. It was the liquid. A warm energy from it calmed my nerves, lulling me into sleep.
I should've panicked, but what I felt was a sudden tranquility.
Like that of a child in his mother's embrace.
My eyelids grew heavy, followed by it, my consciousness slipped into darkness.
"Mmmmaaaasssstttteeeerrr….mmmmmaaas—"
I opened my eyes into ramblings directed into my mind.
My sight was foggy for a moment before locking onto a skeleton head hanging upside down, meeting my gaze eye to eye.
Skeleton?
My eyes widened as I let out a guttural scream.
A fucking skeleton was on top of my head.
Dragon damn it.
Hell… where did this dragon come from?
I desperately scrambled back, trying my best to shake the skeleton off my head.
But to my horror, it clung to my hair like a leech and laughed like it was playing.
Finding myself unable to remove the skeleton by just shaking, I moved my hands and pulled it from my hair and threw from me, losing a few strands in the process.
Nevertheless, I succeeded in pulling it out.
That's when I noticed the silver locks cascading down my shoulder, with a few patches falling into my front, swaying in the sudden breeze.
My mind reeled back to the voice before, and my eyes widened in horror, feeling the weight on my chest.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
"Master…"
A complaining voice slapped me out of my reverie.
The small skeleton staggered in its steps as it looked at me.
Albeit the monotonous face every skeleton had, I could feel it was looking at me accusingly.
However, that wasn't my main concern right now.
My hands pinched into my chest…soft. Heavier than anything I'd ever carried on my own body. Not clothes or anything like a vest. Just… curves.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
"Dragon damn… I became a female!"
"MASTER…"
"The hell…"
Without me noticing, the skeleton climbed back onto my head, dangling the same way as before.
Nevertheless, my mind became clearer again and somehow, I understood it was never going to hurt me.
The sudden panic of becoming a female was also calmed a bit.
Odd…
"What are you?" asked me, picking it up softly.
This time, it didn't struggle as its small skeletal palms hugged my forearm.
Using my fist as a wall, it peeked into my face.
Cute.
"I am Diamond," the skeleton spoke directly into my head.
My eyes widened as I suddenly recalled the name Diamond in my brain.
The horrifying abomination of hell who became Symboint of the villainess Zane.
It hadn't appeared in the manhwa, but the author had hinted about the lord of hell who became a loyal subordinate and guide to the villainess.
My mind went blank for a moment, adjusting to the fact the voice from before was now real.
I had become the villainess of the manhwa I used to troll—
And the worst part?
I knew the ending that waited for the character I now was.
"You aren't Zane…"
The skeleton's words terrified me.
I locked my eyes with its for a few moments.
My face kept the same neutral stance, not because of calmness, but because the lonely life I had erased most human expressions in me.
But my mind wasn't neutral. I could feel my heartbeat reaching an alarming range.
"Oh… why do you think so?"
Despite the panic creeping into me, I noticed a small detail.
The skeleton had called me "master" before, but it had used the name when referring to the villainess.
We both stayed silent for a few moments.
Then the cheerful voice of the skeleton answered me.
"I know it. There's no way that foolish Zane fully awakened my consciousness. Only my master can do it… Only my master can crack the laws of this world and realize we're all living in an alternative reality of someone's craft…"
I breathed in, fully deciphering Diamond's words.
"You mean… you have an idea of this world… of it being part of a novel?"
"Novel? That's what you call it?"
"No, master. We actually call it craft—a backstory of a newly made world. Originally, it was meant to establish the laws and long-term stability of the world. But because the god in charge of this craft was killed by Void, it became an alternative reality."
The skeleton stopped for a moment, waiting for me to process the revelation pouring from it.
"Those who found out about it escaped into reality before the arrival of the Void. That's why every dragon disappeared even before the Fracture…"
"So the dragons just escaped, not pulled into that fracture?"
I asked, glancing at the details of the hidden arc again.
Diamond scoffed in disdain.
"Yes, master. They're cowards. They chose to flee rather than fight. They had no idea about the final rewards if this craft turned into an actual world—and I'm sure they know now, as they've possibly met their kind in reality."