The world spun, a nauseating blur of colors and smells. Maeng Haru squeezed her eyes shut, the last image seared into her mind: a truck, headlights like angry eyes, bearing down on her as she skimmed the latest chapter of "Love Me, Daddy" on her phone.
Then, darkness.
When her eyelids fluttered open, she was staring at a ridiculously ornate, four-poster bed, draped in crimson velvet. The air smelled of rosewater and something faintly metallic, which, considering the circumstances, she assumed was probably blood.
"Where…?" Her voice felt foreign, rasping like she hadn't spoken in years.
"You're finally awake, Kyla." A woman, a whirlwind of purple silks and elaborate jewels, appeared beside the bed. She had eyes like sapphires and a smile that could curdle milk. "I was beginning to worry about you."
Kyla. The name was like a slap in the face. Maeng Haru stared at the woman, recognizing her as the Countess of Necronomicona from the novel, the mother of Sofia Necronomicona, the supposed heroine who the villainous Kyla Hart had tormented.
"I'm sorry," she croaked, "I don't… understand."
The Countess, a name that felt both familiar and utterly alien, chuckled. "You've had a rather dramatic fainting spell, dear. But you're alright now."
A dizzying wave of memories washed over Maeng Haru. She was Kyla Hart, daughter of the Duke of Hart, a renowned warrior and the second-in-command to the Emperor. She had five brothers, all impossibly talented and fiercely protective of their younger sister.
But the Kyla Hart she remembered was a monstrous villain, obsessed with the Crown Prince Fedrick and intent on making Sofia's life a living hell.
"Where am I?" She tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea forced her back down.
"You're in your own bedchamber, dear." The Countess patted her hand, her smile unnervingly sweet. "And you're perfectly fine. We just need to make sure you don't go fainting again."
Maeng Haru's mind raced. She was in the world of "Love Me, Daddy," a world that had only existed as pixels on her phone screen. The story was a whirlwind of romance, betrayal, and political intrigue, a world that she'd devoured but never imagined she'd be a part of.
But something was wrong. She knew Sofia wasn't the innocent she was portrayed to be. She knew Fedrick was a manipulative, power-hungry cad. The plot, she realized with a jolt of horror, was a complete fabrication.
"What happened?" she asked, forcing herself to sound calm. "What caused me to faint?"
The Countess' smile widened. "Oh, nothing of consequence, dear. Just a touch of… overexertion. You've been working so hard on your new project."
Maeng Haru had a terrible suspicion what that project was. The memory of the villainous Kyla tormenting the heroine came back, vivid and cruel.
She had to get out of there. She had to figure out what was happening and what the real story was.
But before she could say another word, a deep voice boomed from the doorway. "Kyla, my darling, is everything alright?"
It was Cost Hart, her father, his face weathered and etched with worry. He was a renowned swordsman, his name whispered with respect in every corner of the kingdom.
Maeng Haru knew, with a sudden chilling certainty, that she was trapped in a world far more complex and dangerous than any novel could ever imagine. And she was no longer a mere reader. She was a character, a pawn in a game with stakes far higher than she ever could have imagined.