Two days have passed since my encounter with the little protagonists—after meeting the important characters of the novel, in a manuscript that never had the chance to be written.
The system appeared just as I finished outlining the prologue chapter. Yesterday—no, two days ago—in my room, after parting ways with James, Ryan, and Natasya.
"What a tiring day... even too tired to comprehend what's going on."
Of course, I complained. I'd encountered several problems within this story.
The first problem: this body. Why did I transmigrate into an extra character, yet Ryan knows me?
The second problem: the prologue doesn't match the premise.
As a writer, sometimes I write plots that don't align with what I had planned.
"Could it be that this novel is progressing according to my personality? I mean—as a writer."
For example, in the grand premise I'd written, James meets Natasya, then eventually Ryan, the bully.
When I first started writing a few lines of this novel (before the transmigration), I did briefly consider changing the plot—since I thought this was just the prologue.
Instead of writing them as strangers meeting for the first time, what if I wrote them as already being friends?
"The reason is simple, and it's the most prominent part of me as a writer," I muttered. "I'm lazy."
Lazy to explain things. Lazy to handle flashbacks I hadn't even fleshed out. Lazy to make Pe and Kob into a slow story.
Developing each character is such a hassle. From strangers to comrades-in-arms? That's the kind of slow-burn theme you see in teen comics or romance novels. Writing emotional development is annoying—but essential if you want to breathe life into your characters.
"Not to mention... an extra character ends up being one of the key figures in the prologue?"
Seriously? I didn't even include Lala in the premise…
Ryan knows Lala, but the vibe is like they're pretending not to know each other.
Ryan is hiding something.
As Lala, I—and the others—are only about four or five years old.
Ryan's expression should have been the same as James and Natasya's when they saw me. But Ryan looked at me like he was staring at a traumatic memory.
Lala isn't even a noble, for Ryan to know her.
Besides Ryan, there's another issue.
Originally, the prologue was supposed to take place during their childhood years. But in chapter one—the main story—they're already fourteen or fifteen years old, students at the academy.
Which means... the days ahead are unwritten territory. Ten years' worth of unwritten plot.
Ba-dling! The sound of a notification echoed in my head.
Suddenly, a system screen popped up in front of me.
[Hello, Master Author °~°]
My expression no longer showed surprise. Honestly, I've experienced too much to be shocked anymore. But seriously—what's with this emoticon?
[Don't ignore me like that... °∆°]
"Now you decide to show up..."
[Well, I was watching, you see °~°]
"Watching?"
[Of course, I'm your loyal reader—from your very first novel °~°]
"Reader?" I groaned. One more headache to add to the list—this system calls itself my loyal reader.
[You're an author with great story concepts °~°]
[But you never finish them °~°]
[You always start new drafts °~°]
[Without completing the old ones ^~^]
"Ahh..." I murmured. That's... actually true. The system screen kept popping up like overlapping tabs on my work PC.
[So I decided—you'll write it from the inside °=°]
[Inside the manuscript itself °^°]
"Don't try to be cute. And sorry for not finishing my stories!" I snapped at the system.
"Though... thank you. You're the only one who ever read my work."
[You're welcome ^~^]
"Also—explain. I know you know what I mean!"
[Alright, some things have changed.]
"Huh, no emoticons now?"
Ba-dling! [^~^]
"..."
[Basically, the premise and outline remain mostly the same.]
[But there's one major change.]
"What do you mean?"
[Alternate route: Bad Ending °~°]
"Hah?"
I was stunned. I haven't even written the prologue yet!
[Ryan comes from the future—where you're the Final Boss.]
"Eh?" I muttered in disbelief.
"EHHHHHHHH?!" I screamed, shaking the very walls of my room.
[Yup, that's the gist of it ^~^]
[I'll only appear when you finish outlining a chapter.]
[See you, Master Author °^°]
Two days ago really scrambled my brain. I thought Lala was just an extra. Turns out... she's the Final Boss of this novel.
"Hey, I'm the author! Why am I the one surprised by this absurd plot twist?"
To make it worse—this is an alternate bad ending.
James and the main protagonists lose. But why is Ryan the one returning to the past?
"Is Ryan the protagonist of this alternate version?"
I assumed James is still the true main character. But in this alternate version, Ryan is the protagonist for the protagonist.
Right now, I'm just a four-year-old girl. But if I met Ryan too early—will I die?
Originally, I wanted to meet all the major characters early, so the story could follow the premise I wrote. So I'd be safe, without interfering with the unwritten manuscript.
But turns out, that was just the beginning of accelerating my own death flag.
"Wasn't Lala written to have a tragic end? Did you create her too? You're as cruel as my exes."
"Come on... I just want to go back to Earth... hiks." My sad face was impossible to hide.
"I promise I'll finish the novels I write."
"Never again. I swear."
And yet, I still have to survive the next ten years as a little girl—just to reach chapter one in the future.
I have to enter the academy. Like it or not—it's my only way forward.
Nothing is going according to plan. From the start, I just wanted the manuscript to follow the outline I wrote—even if I never meant to be part of the story.
But now I have to avoid my own death flags, just to stay alive.
Dying might not send me back to Earth. There's no guarantee from the system.
To make matters worse, chapter one's outline is so far from the current timeline.
I won't meet the other characters from chapter one for a while.
And the system only appears once I finish an outline for a chapter.
"Isn't it cruel if I don't even get a reward?" I grumbled, after finishing the prologue outline.
My enemy now... is the chapter outline—and a timeline deeply intertwined with Ryan.
"Let's hope there's no butterfly effect."
Let's hope Ryan is still the same, so the story follows the original premise. So we can avoid the bad ending—together.
To reach a happy ending.
Now, Lala Rosalia—daughter of Dave Rodriguez and Liria Elphene—a farmer's daughter from Carrington Village with a plain and ordinary plot...
An extra character no one cared about—turns out to be the Final Boss of her own manuscript.
Ten years until chapter one.
"I must avoid the death flag."
To survive.
And to finish this novel.
"I hope I can go home."
****
"Lala! Hurry up and take a bath, it's almost noon!"
Liria called out to me from the back room.
I quickly grabbed my small towel and rushed to the bathroom.
Dave and Liria seemed calm about Lala's condition. In their eyes, she had amnesia—but deep inside Lala's body, it was me, from a different world.
In my mind, the reason they acted like nothing was wrong was to make Lala feel at ease—to not worry about her condition. As parents, their job was to give their child a sense of safety and comfort.
But deep down, I knew they were worried. I understood the feeling.
"I should thank them... but later," I muttered. Even though my soul was that of a grown man, I was still a four-year-old child.
My adult reasoning stayed intact inside this small body. I could still think clearly and logically, no matter the situation.
"No matter how mature a child might seem, they still need their parents' protection..."
With a little towel on my head, I ran toward the bathroom.
Liria bathed me. At this point, we still bathed together—with water drawn from the well that Dave himself had dug behind the house.
Every morning, Dave went out to the fields to harvest, even though the field was right in front of our house. At home, it was just me and Liria.
"Two days ago, I was shocked to bathe together… now, it feels comfortable," I thought.
We stepped into a wooden tub filled with water. I sat on Liria's lap.
"You have to be clean so you can be beautiful," said Liria as she gently wiped my hair with a wet cloth.
Soap was a luxury—expensive and hard to get. As farmers, we couldn't afford to use soap every day.
But bathing with Liria gave me comfort ever since I transmigrated into this novel world.
"Liria's chest is so soft..." I thought, a little mischievously, as her heavenly gifts pressed against my small back.
"W-well, what do you expect? I was a man in my past life." I grinned internally.
For a moment, I forgot all the chaos in my mind while bathing with Liria.
"Bathing really is the best!"
Liria was so full of love and affection as she washed her child's body.
"You're so calm today, sweetie," she said with wide, smiling eyes.
"What do you mean, Mom?" I asked, a little confused.
"You don't remember? You used to squirm and couldn't stay still when I bathed you."
She was trying to help me remember—that Lala was truly their child.
"Y-yeah, don't worry about it, Liria. It's normal to forget. Even adults forget parts of their childhood," she added, trying to ease the awkwardness.
"Now that I think about it… what's there to remember? I'm not even the Lala they used to know," I thought. Thoughts they could never hear.
Our bodies now clean, no longer smelling like armpits.
We dried off with our own towels.
The thing I hated most?
Wearing little girls' clothes.
"I'm a real man—not some femboy," I grumbled in my heart. "But what choice do I have?"
"Yesterday evening, your friends came over, but you were helping your father in the fields. They said they'd come again today," Liria said as she dressed me in a little gown.
I didn't even know Lala had friends in this village.
"Hehhh... Who are they?" I asked with a sigh.
Playing with kids was like babysitting them—troublesome.
"It's those friends you mentioned two days ago—James and Natasya."
I instantly turned to Liria, now fully dressed.
"Eh? Them? What about Ryan?" I was surprised he wasn't included.
"Ohh, so the boy you like is Ryan, huh... You little flirt, Lala~" Liria teased me with a sweet smile.
"Hah...? No way! I don't like kids. He's a boy," I replied, annoyed, in a child's tone.
"Ah, come on, Lala. You're still a child too. Someday you'll grow up and marry a boy," she said as she tugged on my nose. "They said Ryan's coming too."
The mention of Ryan made my tiny body tense up... That boy was also an anomaly in Pe and Kob, just like me.
"Lala! Your friends are here to play!"
Liria shouted from another room. I quickly ran toward the voice. There, standing at the door, were the little protagonists I'd met two days ago.
Natasya smiled brightly at me.
"Lala!"
James grinned, showing off his neat, white teeth. He wore a typical adventurer's outfit with a cloth draped over his shoulder and down his back.
Ryan stood behind them, calm as always—cool and composed. He reminded me of one of my classmates from high school. Quiet, mysterious, and cold.
"You guys..." I muttered to the little protagonists.
"Hehehe," James' grin widened.
Liria tried teasing me again—this time about Ryan.
"So, which one of you is Ryan? Lala's been asking about you non-stop~"
I stared at her with a raised brow and clenched hands, clearly annoyed.
"Hah...!" I sighed, continuing in my heart, "This woman really thinks I'm just a kid."
Though, to be fair... I was a child.
"Ehh, Lala likes Ryan, huh~" Natasya said playfully, cupping her cheeks.
James laughed—this boy always seemed to be smiling.
Ryan, meanwhile, blushed bright red like a ripe tomato.
"Hey, snap out of it—you're from the future," I thought. "You shouldn't be blushing like some innocent kid when you're a grown soul in a child's body," I added deep in my mind.
"Have you kids eaten? If not, Auntie can make something," Liria offered warmly. As a mother, she was happy. Despite Lala's amnesia, she now had friends.
James, who'd been laughing the whole time, finally spoke up.
"Nah, no need, Auntie. We just want to play with Lala outside."
"Why do I have to play with you guys?" I snapped. Playing with children felt like babysitting. But honestly... playing with them was also part of avoiding my death flags.
"Lala!" Liria tugged my ear. "Go on, go play."
And so, in the end, we played together.
James, Natasya, Ryan, and me—becoming part of the childhood memories of the little protagonists in the most peaceful village of Pe and Kob.
Our small feet carried us toward the open fields where we played—green grass calming the eyes, surrounded by lush plants and a gentle breeze.
I haven't decided on the ending yet. But if it's a good ending, then this is the most peaceful place for James and his harem.
If it's a bad ending... I don't know what will become of this village.
James was full of joy. This boy might also be brave. I designed him as a protagonist who only knows how to laugh and smile—someone who's accidentally loved in the story.
Natasya—the girl—would become James' first love in the future, once he understands his feelings.
Ryan—maybe a rival, a friend, or the one who pushes James' growth. But his reason for returning to the past? I still don't know.
In this route—this alternate path—everything could change, even the grand premise I had built.
Maybe I'll guide them—as an adult inside a child.
Ryan... I hope you're not my enemy.
The morning sun, once warm, now scorched our skin. It was directly overhead, blazing fiercely in a sky almost free of clouds.
The three childhood protagonists and I had just arrived at the open field where we would play. Though it was my first time playing with kids Lala's age, it felt like a kind of nostalgia—one I could never buy back in my old life.
"So hot," James complained as we stepped onto the field.
A thought crossed my mind—talent and physical endurance. Though still young, perhaps their limits could develop faster at this age.
"Heh, you're already whining about the heat?" Natasya retorted.
At our first meeting, Natasya had been a bit shy. But now, the personality I designed for her was starting to show: a bright and energetic girl—just like the color of her hair.
Meanwhile, Ryan remained quiet.
But this time, he spoke.
"Let's sit under that tree," he said, pointing at a large one nearby.
He was calm, unlike the bully personality I had originally written for him. He seemed more composed and observant.
Maybe it was his soul—from the future—that made him seem so mature for a child.
"So you can talk, huh..." I shot sarcastically at Ryan. He looked a bit annoyed by my blunt jab.
We took shelter under the large, shady tree. For some reason, none of us really knew why we had come to this field.
Just like my generation in the old world—no phones, no tech. Our childhood was all adventure. We just knew where to meet up. No texts, no messages. Just instinct.
"So why are we even here?" I asked the others.
Natasya and Ryan looked at me with blank, innocent eyes.
James, on the other hand, just grinned his goofy grin.
"...You're kind of a loner, huh?" James blurted out. And honestly, he wasn't wrong.
His face was so stupidly cheerful it annoyed me. Why had I created him like this?
But truth be told, I liked him. He was the most honest person in the entire world of Pe and Kob.
"You're the one I trust most in this world, James," I thought, staring at his goofy face.
"Too bad your dumb expression doesn't match your handsome looks..." I added silently.
We chatted casually about things I already knew—like their full names.
Natasya Dea—this girl was inspired by one of my exes, a stunning beauty. Though her personality was nothing like the real Nasya.
James Arthur—his name was simple, and his character even more so. Classic teenage fantasy hero: kind, silly, and strong. As he grows up, he might turn into a bit of a flirt.
And Ryan...
Ryan Shevchenko. Honestly, I didn't know who he really was. This boy didn't match the plot I had written. He was melancholic. His name was taken from a guy who once stole my ex, mixed with that of a famous footballer. His physique was incredibly athletic.
The reason behind his name? He was James' rival in romance. Ryan never gave up easily—but unlike James, he wasn't naturally loved by the heroines. Still, he was loyal. He never betrayed anyone. In fact, he respected James deeply.
"Ugh, I'm bored. Hey, there's fruit up there," James suddenly said, climbing the tree we sat under.
"If you steal fruit like that, you'll get kicked out of paradise, you know…" said the melancholic boy—Ryan.
"What is this, the novel of Adam and Eve?" I thought, raising an eyebrow.
Natasya just smiled.
Then I spoke up—about magic.
"I want to learn magic," I said, sitting with legs outstretched, my hands propping me up against the grass.
"Whoa, me too!" Natasya chimed in, eyes sparkling.
Meanwhile, Ryan and James were still discussing the fruit.
"You too, huh Nasya…" I already knew. Natasya had strong magical potential.
"B-but we're just village girls… how could we ever learn magic?" Natasya added, worried.
Behind us, Ryan and James finally joined the conversation.
"Don't worry, Natasya. When we're older, I can get us in through my family name. I'm a noble, after all," Ryan said from behind.
We all turned around.
From up in the tree, James replied, "Heh, you'll be embarrassed recommending us. We're just village kids." He paused. "But my dad's a merchant. He's got connections too!"
To me, this felt like a small rivalry between James and Ryan—just like in the plot I'd written. Even if James didn't mean to challenge him, his honesty always made things sound that way.
"Then we need to train… so we can get into the academy easily," I said, trying to ignite the fire of motivation in them.
My goal was to help them grow.
All the protagonists smiled at me—even Ryan.
There was a warm silence between us, until James fell out of the tree.
"W-wehhh!"
Thud!
"Ow!!"
He landed right on top of Ryan, who was standing below.
We all laughed—including James.
Ryan, however, looked less than amused.
At first, I thought playing with them would be a waste of time—like babysitting a bunch of wild kids. But it wasn't.
It felt warm. A nostalgic vibration stirred in my heart. I felt like I was becoming part of a purer world again.
Not like the work I had to do in the office... or the silence in front of my laptop screen at home.
Now, I had friends I could talk to. I could even laugh with them.
"I mustn't let my guard down. I have to avoid the death flags," I reminded myself, reaffirming my true goal.
Even if this warmth felt real... it would mean nothing if I died without ever finishing the story. There's no guarantee I'd return to Earth.
Ever since that system appeared two days ago, I've been afraid. But today... I felt like I was born again.
Then, I invited them to start training—preparing for the academy. Ryan acted indifferent. He was good at hiding things.
He didn't look like someone from the future.
"...I'll use this stick as my sword," James declared, raising a small tree branch to the sky.
Ryan grinned and grabbed a branch of his own.
"Their rivalry never ends… not even when time rewinds," I thought, watching the two boys before me.
Meanwhile, Natasya and I focused on sensing mana—deepening our connection to it, expanding the invisible power we could feel.
I knew their talents. I knew their potential.
But me?
I didn't know Lala at all. She was an extra character I never planned or even designed.
The system said I was the Final Boss. That meant my potential power might be immense—enough to influence the entire story.
First, I would deepen my understanding of mana. I wanted to learn the basics of magic.
Second, physical limits. How far could the body go before it surpassed logic?
Third, swordsmanship. This world was one of swords and sorcery—alive within a manuscript.
Ten years from now, I would grow. I would live not as Yoga Permana—but as Lala Rosalia. I made up my mind to embrace this world.
No more screens. No more offices.
Now, magic and swords would color my story.
And deep inside, I vowed:
"…I'll write my own destiny. Just watch, damn system."