The high-speed train cut through the night, its rhythmic hum like an unending mechanical heartbeat. Naz sat by the window, adjusting his glasses, his eyes fixed on the final pages of a novel he had not let go of for days.
He wasn't reading it like any ordinary reader… he was analyzing it, memorizing its details, connecting its events as if he were living inside it.
He muttered softly,
"The final chapter…"
His fingers traced the page as he read the last lines with intense focus. With every word, a strange feeling crept into his chest… anxiety? anticipation?
Then… it happened.
The train jolted violently.
A sharp screech, an unnatural shake, as if the rails themselves were screaming. The lights dimmed, and the air inside the carriage grew suffocatingly heavy.
Naz lifted his head quickly, his eyes widening behind his glasses.
"What—?"
Before he could finish, everything went dark.
He opened his eyes.
The train was gone.
No windows… no passengers… no artificial light.
Instead…
A forest.
Towering trees, mist crawling along the ground, a heavy silence that choked the air. The cold smelled of earth and dampness filled his lungs.
He stepped back, his heart pounding.
"This… is impossible…"
He looked around quickly, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Then he realized.
This place… he knew it.
It was the beginning of the novel.
The same forest… the same descriptions… the same silence.
But this time… he wasn't reading it.
He was inside it.
Suddenly—
A sharp sound cut through the silence.
A rapid movement among the trees.
Before Naz could react, dark creatures emerged from the shadows.
Distorted bodies, glowing red eyes, sharp fangs… low-level demons.
They advanced toward him with terrifying speed.
He froze.
"Demons…?!"
This wasn't part of the beginning he knew.
Something… had changed.
One of the demons lunged at him, almost too fast to see—
But—
In a single instant…
A silver flash streaked through the air.
A sharp slicing sound.
A head fell.
Then another… and another…
Within seconds, all the demons lay on the ground, their bodies headless.
Naz staggered back in shock, his breaths uneven.
"W… who…?"
He looked up quickly, but…
No one.
The person who had done this… had vanished.
Before he could comprehend what happened—
He felt a strong hand grab him by the neck.
"—!"
He couldn't resist.
In a moment, he was pulled from his spot… as if the world itself had folded around him.
Everything disappeared.
Then—
Silence.
He found himself in another part of the forest, darker, quieter.
Finally freed, he spun around, his breaths rapid.
"Who… are you?!"
A girl stood before him.
Her long hair framed sharp eyes, weary yet piercing, as if she had lived far more than she should.
She looked at him calmly and said,
"I… am Vivi."
Naz stared at her, trying to connect the pieces.
"How… what's happening? Where am I?!"
Vivi sighed lightly.
"You're inside the novel… just like me."
Naz froze.
"What…?"
She stepped closer, looking him directly in the eyes.
"Time here isn't what you know… we are now four thousand years before the Great War."
His mind struggled to process the words.
Four thousand years…?
She continued,
"This is Takashira Village… inside the Katcho Empire. Its ruler made a pact with demons to protect it… and since then, the village has been under their control."
She paused, then added,
"And there was a priest… obsessed with the otherworld. A failed writer came to him, seeking fame… but he was deceived."
Naz clenched his fists.
"A writer…?"
She nodded.
"The priest forced him into a contract with a high demon…"
She stopped briefly, then spoke the name slowly:
"Lucifer."
Naz stiffened.
She continued,
"Lucifer is unlike others. He doesn't want to destroy humans or play with them… he loves reading. He watched that writer… kept him from succeeding… just to have him for himself."
"But…" Naz whispered, "why doesn't he appear?"
Vivi's eyes grew deeper.
"Because… he is cursed."
A heavy silence.
"He cannot enter the human world."
She leaned closer and whispered,
"But that doesn't stop him… from playing with us."
Naz stepped back, his mind racing with questions.
"How do you know all this?"
Vivi smiled… a tired smile.
"Because I… have lived this many times."
He froze.
"What…?"
She said,
"Every time I try to escape… or change the ending… Lucifer sends me back to the start."
She paused, then added,
"But… by chance… I drank an elixir that made my memories permanent."
She looked at him intently.
"And you… are different."
In that moment…
Naz realized something terrifying.
This was not just a novel.
Not just a world.
It was…
A game.
And he wasn't the one who started it.
He whispered to himself,
"This… is more than just a book…"