"It's harmless, I promise. As soon as you destroy the shard, you'll be put in the next world so you won't have to worry." He continued.
"How will I know it's him?" Beatrix asked.
"Well, unfortunately, you guys won't have fixed roles, so you won't have that to rely on. But I promise you, you'll know."
That's a bit ominous, Beatrix thought. This god was trying to make it sound simple, but there were many holes in his explanation. And he seemed very restricted in his abilities. She thought a god would be more powerful than this.
"I don't know if I can kill someone, I'm just a normal college student."
"Right, well, the timing worked out very well with this deal, but I can always wait and find someone else, you know. It's not ideal, but if you have hesitations…" His expression was performatively sad, a sly glint in his eye.
Under the guise of consideration, he was threatening her. If she didn't accept his conditions, her one chance to save her family would disappear.
"I'll do it." Before she had time to think it through the words left her mouth.
"Great!" A large smile took form on his face, and he clapped his hands once.
"Let's get to it then! Don't worry about how to behave around the book characters or anything, I'll send you the story once you get there. I apologize for throwing you into the deep end, but there's no time to waste!" He joyously waved as Beatrix felt an intense, nauseating pulling sensation.
The feeling intensified until she felt as if she was going to throw up. She felt dizzy as she stumbled around, unable to keep her balance.
"Oh my god, Charlotte! Are you okay?" An unknown woman's voice sounded.
She felt as if she was dying.
Her mind seemed as if it was about to explode as a flurry of information rushed in. She wasn't able to make sense of it, even as the pain abated. She became extremely aware of the worried gazes on her as she used the wall for support.
"What?" She stumbled.
"Charlotte?" The woman was more concerned now.
"Uh, yeah." She tried her best not to vomit all over this nice woman's shoes.
"I'm fine, just a bit dehydrated, I think."
"Alright then, go get some water quickly so you can properly introduce yourself to River here." The woman had a proper air to her, her stern but caring eyes still fixated on Beatrix. She was beautiful, her blonde hair and blue-gray eyes complementing each other.
"Okay." Beatrix was glad for the excuse to slip away. She stumbled over to what she vaguely knew to be the kitchen and slumped into a chair. The family's cook walked over with a glass of water and attempted to exchange pleasantries, but Beatrix was a bumbling mess at the moment, so she quickly went back to her business.
Beatrix gladly drank the water as she attempted to make sense of all the new information in her head.
She was transported to a simple romance story, it had a lackluster plot and uninteresting characters, it seemed to exist to satisfy the reader's desire to self-insert themselves into a cute romance. The main character, Charlotte, who Beatrix inhabited at the moment, was a innocent and cute senior in high school. Yet, frequently in the book she was often described as pouty and feisty, giving the opportunity for many misunderstandings with the male lead. It didn't help that Elias, the male lead, was the protective yet domineering type, lacking any sort of communication skills.
This book mainly followed the fake dating trope, using the main villain as the catalyst. River's family passed unexpectedly, due to an unfortunate car accident. Family friends of his parents, Charlotte's mom and dad, graciously took him in. Since he's already starting his senior year in high school, they figured they would take care of him till he became an adult.
However, as the villain, River naturally has ill intentions. Having grown up in a destitute family, he's extremely jealous of Charlotte's rich and easy life. He decides to seduce her and steal her money. It's a rather simplistic plan, and the author didn't bother to expand on it.
Charlotte, who's suddenly being romantically pursued, lacks the willpower to reject him on her own and asks her friend, Elias, for help. Elias, who's had a crush on her for a long time, proposes they fake date so River will stop.
River, as the villain, is dedicated to his personal cause and doesn't give up easily. Elias doesn't appreciate this, so he finds out River has a sketchy past, exposes it to the school and students, resulting in River's expulsion and humiliation. Then the main characters get together and have their happy ever after.
It's pretty mundane and fluffy, without much substance.
Beatrix's mind slowly stopped whirling, and she had a chance to get her bearings. Her situation started truly sinking in; her family was dead, and she was inside a book.
And she had to kill someone.
The dining room was ostentatious, the wood furniture intricately carved, and the various decor shining, clearly well-taken care of. It was clear Charlotte's family was more of the nouveau riche sort of people. Though it didn't make much of a difference to Beatrix either way, she had never stepped foot into such an expensive house.
Her house was a standard suburban house, a simple place, just barely big enough to fit a family of 5. It was homely and comfortable. She and her siblings never kept it quiet, which her parents didn't mind. It always felt as if they enjoyed the lively atmosphere.
Beatrix suddenly stood up. She had to do something or she would start crying.
She exited the dining room, shaking with nervousness. She wasn't ready for this, she was just a college student.
Much less kill someone, she wasn't sure she could act like another person. She was good at things like school: math, social studies, science, not scheming and acting.