She widened her eyes and took in the clear blue sky above her, long branches of bamboo lazily swaying in the breeze she could also feel on her skin. Taking a deep breath, shot up.

“Shizun, Shizun can you hear us?”

Various voices were crowding her while she was regaining consciousness. The first thing she became aware of was the heaviness of the clothes she had on: what the heck was she wearing?

Looking down at herself in a confused manner she came to realise she was garbed in a somewhat questionable traditional Chinese dress. As a tested and tried nerd, the long, wide sleeves of that azure dress were unmistakable, but the fact her legs were uncovered was totally unacceptable. What kind of choice was that? Of course, in anime and donghua one could frequently find such unorthodox choices to show off the female protagonist’s beauty.

…

First and foremost, what was she doing wearing an almost-traditional Chinese dress?!

Still confused she lifted her gaze and saw she was surrounded by several girls dressed in quite a similar manner, if not plainer and definitely less daring. Their hairdos reminded her of those Xianxia period movies she had often watched on Nextflix.

She swallowed nervously and lifted her arm. While she was righting herself to an upright position, she realised she was wearing rings that loosely reminded her of clays on her ring and pinky fingers. Moving them gently, she came to the conclusion they were weapons. She shook her head slightly and straightened what little material she was wearing as a skirt.

Obviously feeling embarrassed and confused was to be expected as a first reaction, but she was far more worried about how she was expected to behave moving forward rather than what series of events had led to her being there. At least to begin with.

“Mistress Zhang YueLiang, how are you feeling? You lost your balance and you seemed confused…” the young woman facing her asked with a genuinely worried look.

She looked at her questioningly, but it was as if hearing that name had suddenly fired up all her synapses.

Mistress Zhang YueLiang?

A soft music started in the background and she quickly lifted her head in concern, it really reminded her strongly of the type of music call centres play when you are waiting to be connected to an operator, only succeeding in making you waste an hour of your time. In short, auditory nightmares.

Ting.

A browser window opened in front of her on a slightly blue background which was running some lines of code before giving way to some letters. A voice started up from thin air while the people around her froze mid-movement.

-龍-

Welcome to the “The Rise of the Last Light and the Fall of the First Sin” Customer Service. We are pleased to welcome you into the world of the novel!

A further light shone above her, so she lifted her eyes to see the name of Zhang YueLiang floating above her head. She felt frozen in place.

“What’s the meaning of all this? I was in my room, I don’t…”

As she was looking, the window became a chat in which some dots were appearing and disappearing, giving the impression someone was typing a message.

-龍-

You have been selected to proofread the book; despite your compliments, you have emphasised the presence of significant plot holes and poor development of the storyline. Having examined your answers to the questionnaire, we have entrusted you with the role of Mistress Zhang YueLiang.

The newly appointed Zhang YueLiang stepped back in utter shock.

Damn it, she had been teleported! But the novel was not an isekai!

Was she really Mistress Zhang YueLiang? Because, as a matter of fact, she was sure that that woman did not end well. Obviously she had not mentioned that event in her review as it would have been a massive spoiler, but she remembered perfectly well how this character ended up skewered by a thousand swords for having disappointed her faithful pupil, the same antagonist for whom she had lamented her indignation at the entire world of the internet.

Had she really become the woman who would be killed by Shi XinNian amidst his tears of pain and resentment?

She shivered at the vague memory. Those blades that would pierce her body would have been previously submerged in the poisonous rivers of the Dimension, causing her a pain unimaginable by either Demon or Immortal. Poison that was being paid with all the interest accumulated over the years. And to end it all with a cherry on top, after having turned her into a colander, he would rip her heart out while looking her in the eyes.

She had always pictured that scene as an immense gore blood bath. Saying that she would turn into a pool of blood did not even come close to describing the reality of that event.

She grimaced in desperation.

“No, no, no… what are you talking about? How can I be in the story? I am…”

-龍-

Your only identity now is that of Mistress Zhang YueLiang, legendary Cultivator who, a century ago, at the age of seventeen, defeated the terrible demon originated from her Sworn Brother JiShan and his thirty servants of darkness, who emerged from the depths of the Phantom Dimension. And now you are the Sworn Sister of the Great Master Zhang YouDao, keeper of one of the five celestial mountains, QingLong, and Mistress of the school on its first peak, Xin, the Tree-lined Springs.

She stared at the image of herself as she appeared in the novel. The character had always been considered and described as one of the beauties of the Infinite Realm. While she looked to be in her twenties, the pitch dark almond shaped eyes of the Immortal stared at her with evident judgement in her stare. Although it was only a picture, it felt as though the temperature around her plummeted, almost as if she were in the presence of a warrior deity descended onto Earth to defeat evil once and for all.

She swallowed, thinking faintly that, minus the glaring stare, they looked quite similar. Actually, it was her… if she had been Asian.

She started shivering again once that realisation dawned upon her, so she decided to ignore those details.

Her long dark brown hair was styled simply as it was for all Cultivators, with a detailed hairpin representing the head of a dragon holding the traditional queue with a long silver clip at the end. The dress she was wearing, while acknowledging tradition, was also revolutionising it. A aquamarine qibao wrapped around her softly to then stiffen around the neck, with hanfu sleeves, and two high side slits with silver embroidery around the edges, reaching all the way to her hips. Her legs, on the other hand, were covered in a thin nylon layer. She lowered her face to inspect herself and found that indeed she was wearing tights… the historical accuracy was even more flawed than she had imagined, given the lack of descriptions.

-龍-

The novel amends the lack of descriptions by inserting external elements drawn by the author’s imagination and cultural background. Furthermore, there is no reference to an exact historical period but only a vague remark about the customs and traditions being from traditional China, without geographical specifications. Therefore, there is no such thing as historical accuracy in this context.

She lifted an eyebrow while she sceptically studied the talking window.

“You are not very receptive to criticisms, are you?”

Were they suggesting the cultural background the novel used as reference were video games? She shook her head.

Focussing on the image again she sneered, still shocked by the impossibly detached expression she was sporting in that picture. It almost looked like someone had just offered her a bite of rotten fish and she was trying her best not to breathe in. Probably beautiful, she thought they looked too much alike considering the other was a work of art, but obviously an asshole. That is how she would have described that image.

She sat down once again, and the window followed her down to allow an undisturbed viewing.

-龍-

The experience includes a fully immersive journey into the novel, whereby you will be allowed to interfere and remedy the mistakes made by the author while playing the part of Mistress Zhang YueLiang.

Zhang YueLiang lifted her eyes to stare at the words on the chat window. As if hearing them had not been enough.

“How can I leave?” she asked timidly.

-龍-

Once you have completed your task you will be allowed to choose whether you wish to leave this world or stay. That is, only if you will manage to satisfy both the antagonist and the protagonist.

“Wait, what?” she asked anxiously. Why did that sentence sound ominously like an ultimatum?

-龍-

For your mission to succeed every character must be 100% satisfied with the narration. This does not mean everyone must have a happy ending, who must die will die, who must live will survive, but this is only if their story has evolved fully.

Horrified by those words, she blanched at the prospect.

No isekai she had ever watched had demanded such a steep price. And to top it all off it was a massive loss seeing how she was not dead in her own reality.

“Doesn’t this mean that I am also destined to die regardless of what I do?”

-龙-

Absolutely not. You are one of those characters whose destiny changes depending on the level of satisfaction expressed by the other characters. If you can design new story arcs while resolving the plot holes perhaps your chances of survival will improve.

“What do you mean, my chances at survival will improve? Isn’t that saying that I’ll die regardless?” she asked, spreading her arms open.

At that point she realised she was shouting at a window popped up from nowhere filled with code and talking with a voice whose origin she was yet to identify. Her arms fell after that.

-龍-

We are not allowed to give you any more details to not invalidate the fullness of the experience at hand.

She was certain she was now sporting the same facial expression of the Zhang YueLiang still facing her. She truly felt as though she had been offered a bite of rotten fish, but in order not to die from hunger she had to accept it regardless. She fell in on herself as if all her spiritual energy had been depleted, even though she knew Zhang YueLiang had gallons of the stuff.

This was madness, but it looked like she had no choice but to play along.

-龍-

Now we will give you some instructions so you may move on.

The woman lifted her eyes sceptically toward the window.

-龍-

To progress you must go through the entire story. At the moment you are a few seconds away from the beginning of a key event, an untold backstory.

“Will there be many of these untold backstories?”

-龍-

Because this is a fully immersive experience, you will live every day of the novel.

This fish was starting to stink more by the second and her nausea had increased. Zhang YueLiang lay down on the floor.

“What next?”

-龍-

You will be instructed throughout the narration. We suggest you stand up and your current behaviour does not match the Original character’s in the story.

As it said so the background music stopped, and she just about managed to right herself before the people around her unfroze.