An unending vast of darkness with mind-numbing silence. As soon as the hand yanked Corin into the monitor, he was brought into this place where he just floated aimlessly. It was like floating in water without the sensation of water on his skin.
"Where… am I?"
His temples throbbed. In front of him was an eleven inch holographic screen, bluish in color, and semi-transparent.
[Universe transfer in progress: 78%]
"Um, hello?" he tried to call out with a shaky voice. He didn't know what to make of his situation. The only comfort he had was the hope that he was only dreaming and would wake up somehow.
And then…
"Hello… hello… hello…" The echo of his own voice came back, distorted.
After a while, a faint ripple stirred the sea of darkness ahead and Corin jerked his head. Coming from the direction of the ripples was a hesitant voice.
"Hello?"
It wasn't Corin's. It seemed to belong to a tired middle-aged man.
"Who's there?" the voice asked again. But before Corin could respond, the holographic screen in front of him let out a faint buzz.
[Universe transfer in progress: 100%]
And then… a light.
A light so bright it swallowed everything and blinded him momentarily, searing his vision white. It lasted for seven long, breathless seconds before abruptly fading, leaving him blinking furiously.
Sounds slowly entered his ears.
The chirping of the birds. The rumbling of vehicles in the distance accompanied by faint honks. Above him came a rhythmic thud thud sound.
And then—
A sharp, surprised gasp cut through it all.
He whipped his head towards the source. And there, above him, a young woman stood frozen, eyes wide, clutching a brown satchel to her chest.
"You… fell out of the sky," she said dumbfoundedly.
Corin blinked slowly, there seemed to be something wrong with his vision. Everything was swimming in this reddish-brown hue. Everything looked wrong. Like someone had slapped a sepia filter all over the place.
The young woman took a small step back, watching him with a mix of curiosity and wariness. Her posture suggested she was ready to make a run for it the moment he acted strange.
Corin raised a hand to his face, intending to rub his eyes clear of whatever was making his vision weird. But the moment his hand came into view, he instantly froze.
It wasn't a human hand.
One thumb and three, long fingers, four in total. Sleek and slimy. Imagine an eel minus the slime.
And at that moment, the holographic screen once again popped up in front of him.
[System Notice: You have been designated as the Leader of the Vysalor Race on Planet Crionis. As the sole adult Vysalor, you bear the responsibility of ensuring the survival, safety, and prosperity of your race.]
[Objective: Establish a safe and peaceful habitat for the Vysalor.]
As Corin read the wall of text, it hit him hard. As though a bucket of ice cold water was just poured all over him.
Planet Crionis. Vysalor.
He knew those words all too well. They were from his novel—Symbiotic Relationship. He'd written them himself!
He looked down at himself. His tan skin had turned into a dull, pale gray like that of a lemon shark.
His gaze then darted around. He was seated in what looked like a ship cockpit—retro-futuristic, with glowing panels, a wide curved windshield, and blinking knobs that hummed faintly. Exactly like how he had written it in his novel.
Then he felt it. Movement. Coming from behind him.
Turning slightly, he caught sight of three tentacles, a meter long each, swaying in the air like obedient extensions of himself. One blue. One red. One yellow. They moved exactly how he imagined them to move. Much like how one would use his limb, they moved exactly that way.
"Did… Did I just transmigrate into my own novel? And to a flipping alien race, too?"
As soon as words left his mouth, the holographic screen instantly buzzed, turning a deep, ominous red.
[ALERT!! Insufficient resources detected. Host interaction limited to pre-programmed responses.]
[Language output will be automatically adjusted.]
[NOTICE: Violating system protocols may result in punitive measures.]
Corin's frustration boiled over as he read the texts. "How am I supposed to—forget it! Just send me back!" he shouted.
Or at least, he tried to.
Instead, what came out of his mouth was a gibberish string of noises: "Kik! Kirikik! Kirikikik!"
The woman above him, whom he'd momentarily forgotten, tilted her head. "Uh… can you speak, you know, human? Human words? I read somewhere that your kind can do that." Her tone was cautious, as if speaking to a lost child.
Corin stared at her. He could understand her perfectly. And if he was indeed inside his story, then that meant this woman was Iris Emberly. Her appearance fit the description, too! Long black hair with side bangs. Blue eyes, pointy nose, thin lips, and white skin.
But before he could even attempt a response, the screen buzzed again, drawing his gaze back.
[System Alert! Protocol violation detected.]
[First-degree punishment initiating...]
His eyes widened. "Wait—what does that—"
But before he could finish, a sharp jolt of electricity ripped through him, cutting off his thoughts. Pain seared every nerve, and his vision went black as consciousness slipped away.
- - -
In a room where everything was white—the walls, the floor, the ceiling… Corin groaned as he felt a persistent poking against his cheek. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Despite the pristine white surroundings, his vision tinted everything in a brownish-red hue, an effect of whatever strange transformation he'd undergone.
What greeted him next was a tiny, chibi-like figure, no taller than his knee, holding a stick, which it used to poke him again.
"Oh! You're awake now. Great!" the creature chirped, its voice high-pitched and strangely energetic.
Corin squinted at it. The chibi had long silver hair that practically shimmered, enormous ruby-like eyes, and a mouth that curved into a perpetual cat-like smile. Its round face seemed almost too expressive for its tiny body. It wore a flowy black dress with red, silk ribbon as a belt.
"Who—" Corin was gonna ask who she was but was stopped mid-way.
"Don't move too much! You're still rebooting," the chibi said, tossing the stick aside and offering him a tiny hand. Surprisingly strong for its size, it helped him sit upright.
"Alright, let me explain," the chibi began, pacing dramatically in front of him, hands clasped behind its back like a seasoned professor. "I sincerely apologize for the rough landing. Due to a system bug, some errors occurred. You were supposed to have a full briefing and proper training before being thrown into your role. But, uh... those bugs? Yeah, they shut down the firewall and stole a bunch of critical data, including yours!"
Corin blinked at the chibi, his brain struggling to catch up.
The chibi spun on its heel, pointing a tiny finger at him. "Now, don't you worry! The thief was caught immediately, and we did retrieve the... uh... huh?" It paused, noticing Corin's blank, incredulous stare. "Why are you looking at me like that? This is the part where you're supposed to nod dramatically and say, 'Got it, what's next?'"
But contrary to the chibi's expectations, Corin asked something else entirely. "Who are you?" His words trembled, not from fear, but from the whirlwind of confusion and frustration building inside him. His eyes darted down to his alien limbs—the long, eel-like fingers, his dull gray skin, the tentacles…
"And why… why am I here?" His voice cracked. "Bring me back! Fix this now!" He swung one of his tentacles at the tiny figure in sheer frustration, but it swayed awkwardly mid-air, completely uncoordinated.
The chibi raised a brow, unimpressed. Her initial excitement fizzled out completely and her expression darkened a bit. "Uh-huh. Are you done? Because panicking isn't going to fix this."
"Panicking?!" Corin barked. "I've been turned into a—whatever this is—and dumped into my own story! If you don't—"
The chibi cut him off with an exaggerated sigh, dramatically retrieving the stick it had tossed aside. "Right, showing is much easier anyway."
The chibi cleared its throat with theatrical flair. "As you can see," it began, waving the stick in the air. A 42-inch translucent screen materialized in front of Corin, showing a certain part of the Terms & Conditions "You agreed to this. The evidence is right in front of you!"
On the lower right corner of the screen was a video of him clicking on the box—something he couldn't deny doing—replaying on loop on that exact moment.
Corin squinted at the text. His already widened eyes somehow managed to widen further as he read the texts.
TERMS & CONDITIONS – EXCERPT
Section 7(a): Transmigration Clause
By clicking "Agree," the participant, hereby referred to as Corin Wolsey, consents to the following:
• Full transmigration into the fictional universe Symbiotic Relationship as a Vysalor, including but not limited to physical, cognitive, and environmental adjustments.
• Transfer of all creative rights and intellectual property pertaining to Symbiotic Relationship to Phantasia Productions, hereafter referred to as the "Company."
• Immediate forfeiture of any prior claim to a human body, Earth-based existence, or the right to sue the Company for existential crises resulting from said transmigration.
Section 10(d): Responsibility Clause
The participant will assume the role of Leader of the Vysalor Race and is required to fulfill their designated objectives to maintain survival within the fictional universe.
Section 12(c): Non-Negotiable Clause
By selecting "Agree," the participant acknowledges that no cancellation, reversal, or withdrawal is possible.
Corin's jaw dropped. "What the hell is this?!"
The chibi leaned on the stick like it was a cane, giving him an innocent shrug. "You clicked it, buddy. Nobody reads the fine print these days."
"That—No! This is insane! I didn't actually think I'd be sucked into my own story!"
"Yeah, well, intent doesn't really matter, does it? You signed your life away," the chibi said, putting on a pitiful face.
"You tricked me!" Corin snapped.
"Tricked you?" The chibi gasped in mock offense, pressing a tiny hand to its chest. "Oh no, no, no. You were the one who didn't read the terms, my dude. That's on you." It tapped the screen, zooming in on the bold header: "READ CAREFULLY BEFORE AGREEING."