Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. Her surrounding blurry and unfamiliar , her mind groggy as she tried to shake off the heaviness in her limbs.
The first thing she noticed was the scent of sandalwood, faint but distinct, filling the air around her.
She blinked a few times, adjusting to the dim light that filtered through the delicate lacquered screen that seems to provide a partition between the sleeping area and the rest of the room, casting a soft glow into the room.
This . . . wasn't her apartment.
She immediately shot up in bed, her heart pounding with anxiety as she scanned her surrounding.
The bed she was laying on was enormous, draped in fine silk with an intricately embroidered coverlet. Above her, a flurry of gauzy fabric hung from the polished wooden beams and around the room were ornate furnitures pieces, carved with delicate floral designs.
The walls were adorned with scrolls of elegant calligraphy and antique pieces she had only seen in historical dramas .
Everything around her screamed ancient beauty and then it screamed another thought. This wasn't her world.
Her fingers instinctively clutched the bed covers but even that small movement felt foreign. She looked down at herself and gasped , her heart hammering louder in her chest.
Instead of her usual pyjamas, she was donning a silk robe, delicate and light with embroidered lotus flowers trailing down the sleeves.
She reached up to touch her hair and was stunned, her jet black hair which should have been a mess from the sleep was unusually arranged in a thick braid, woven with thin strands of gold threads and small beads.
Then she couldn't keep still any longer. Her eyes darted around the room and then she noticed a small nearby mirror and she immediately slipped out of bed, her bare feets grazing the cold polished wooden floor.
But when she saw her reflection in the mirror, she almost didn't recognize herself.
"No. This isn't me ". She mumbled in disbelief and shock, touching her face and staring in the mirror. The face staring back at her looked so familiar and foreign.
Her eyes darted around the room, disoriented by her surrounding. Her heart raced in her chest as she walked towards the window and pulled back the latticework screen.
The view outside was breathtaking, a traditional Chinese garden, complete with a koi pond, stone bridge and willow trees swaying gently in the breeze.
The scene was serene yet utterly alien to her modern sensibilities.
She turned back to the room, moving on autopilot. No, this wasn't a dream, it felt way too real, the smell, the texture, the sound, they were all too vivid to be a mere figment of her imagination.
Then panic begin to set in as she tried to make sense of what was happening, she took a deep breath attempting to calm herself.
"Think, think, think". She muttered to herself as she stood hands akimbo, lost in thoughts.
Then she noticed a shelf in the innermost corner of the room and she found herself immediately drawn to it .
The shelf was filled with several scrolls and books. Then she noticed this particular seemingly familiar leather bound book which laid open and she picked it up.
It was a novel and she had this nagging feeling she had read it somewhere before but couldn't remember where she did. Her heart skipped a beat as she flipped the pages and realized that the settings in the book matched her surroundings quite perfectly.
She hurriedly pulled the book from the shelf now frantically flipping through the pages with trembling hands.
"Could this even be possible, have I somehow transmigrated into the world of this novel?. Wait, is that even possible?".
She flickered her forehead and couldn't help but feel that the thoughts seemed both thrilling and terrifying and somehow it was the only idea she could latch onto in a moment like this.
As she flipped through the pages, the familiar scenes and characters gnawed at her and then it all clicked.
"No, how could this be possible?. How did I suddenly become Peizhi?". She ran a hand through her hair frustratedly.
Nora, no Chen Peizhi sat down at the edge of the bed, the weight of the new reality settling over her.
"Guess you've figured it all out now, considering how smart if a girl you are!!!".
She shuddered as she heared the voice, she frantically scanned the room but she was the only one inside, then who said those words just now or was she imagining things.
"Here I am". There comes the voice again and she immediately rose to her feet upon noticing the ethereal mist hovering on the table.
"Who are you?". She asked with a shivering voice. "And why can't I see you but just mists". She asked again, indeed she could only make out the voice but not the face of whosoever was speaking.
"That , you don't need to bother about". The voice boomed again. "I am Mr Novel, the plot administrator. You've traveled from modern ages into a historical storybook as Chen Peizhi and unless you act according to the book and complete the story, you can't return to the modern times and might even get stuck here forever".
"Act accordingly to the book and stick to the stupid plot". She scoffed. "You sure are joking. Aren't you?. Previously, I thought if only I was the Chen Peizhi in the book, I would not let you control my fate like a plaything but instead defy you and now that I am , I will do exactly just that".
"Mind your choice of words, Young lady. I am the god here, the one and only creator and you can't do as you please. You're simply not allowed to!!"
"Then what am I allowed to do or be , to be painted as a bitter woman?. Well, you got that wrong".
"Oh my dear. This is the plot and I do whatever I wish to my characters. I created them and no one knows about them or what's good for them the way I do and besides, they all accept me as their god , so who are you to confront me !!!"
"I refuse to corporate". She replied, much adamantly this time.
"There can't be two kings in a kingdom. The earlier you accept this, the better. Finish your task so you can return to your realm in one piece!!!".
The voice added with a tone of finality and before she could reply, she felt a huge swoosh of wind and she could tell the plot administrator or whatever he called himself was gone.