Light blue screens flickered before my eyes, promising "skills" and "titles" that seemed mystical. As I scrolled through them, my mind became more enamored with the curiosity of my predicament, so much so that I had assumed I was in a wild dream. A dream set in the novel I had read before my life had been turned upside down. 

"The Princess is Escorted to Heaven" was a novel centered around a beautiful woman born into the clutches of slavery. With flowing white hair, fair skin, and captivating red eyes, her image as enchanting as her past was dark. Held in a thick metal cage since birth due to her mothers early imprisonment, her life was nothing short of a nightmare. Day in and day out, she could see and hear the caravan shoot dirty looks at her tattered skin, or poke fun at her fragile appearance. On one fateful day, in the depths of a large mountain range, a large pack if monstrous wolves the size of elephants attacked. The mighty caravan filled with adventurers of both lesser and advanced skills fought back with all their might, but the still carnage occurred. During the painting of the white snow with blood, her cage was shook off of a wagon by the tumbling of a dying wolf, rolling down the hill. As the cage struck a large tree, she was free. Seeking refuge with a weak, lifeless body, she found herself in a cave, much similar to the one I now found myself in. 

However, here our stories diverged. In her world, she encountered a group of brave male leads, tower climbers known as Challengers, who fought mercilessly against the dragon lying across from me. The trauma she endured from watching them continuously batter the creature until it was unrecognizable, along with the trauma from her entire childhood robbed her ability to speak. Even as she was unable to speak, her beauty bewitched the men, compelling them to bring her along their arduous quest due to some self-gratifying righteousness they felt. Together the group embarked on a large journey up to the 50th floor where it was said that one individual would grant you any wish whether wealth, skills, or even revival. The journey up to the top was treacherous, to say the least. Countless battles filled with death and destruction only further traumatized the girl, with each battle she felt as if she was growing one step closer to her untimely demise. She had not felt saved from death, it only felt as if it was delayed. 

Once they reached the Heaven that was the 50th floor, they realized that what they had been told was true, to an extent. The men chose to save the beautiful young woman from her inability to speak, yet as they saved her she new that she could not continue on in the same way. So right after, she killed herself alone in her room. 

Critics found the narrative destructive to the notions of love and relationships, dismissing the story to a mere glorification of captivity and controlling male leads. Overtime, the story diminished in popularity leaving only a few readers hooked on the descriptive, but haunting imagery of it all. I think I was holding onto some hope that the girl would have a final comeback, speak her mind, but it never happened, at least I don't think so. 

In the cave that I now stood, the walls reverberated the very essence of the novel. The dragon's presence, the brisk breeze flowing in through the hole in the wall, and the blue notifactions–it felt more than just a connection to the tale that I had once immersed my entirety into, it was inexplicable. I leaned over, peering into a thick pool of blood left behind by the defeated dragon, me reflection gazing back at me. A young girl, no older than 15, skin as radiant as snow and eyes as enchanting as rubies peered into my soul. Thick, long white hair cascaded around me trailing down my entire body, like a lingering memory of the darkness that she, now I, had once endured. And now, I had found myself within that very realm, ready to right the so many wrongs. 

The thrill of living out a dream in a fantastical world, bolstered by my company's paid leave provision for my severe injury and coma, had initially blinded me to my reality. This was no mere dream; it was a tangible reality, as tangible as the world I had left behind. 

Uncertainty of the future clouded my thoughts, yet I was pushed with determination to uncover the mysteries of the very realm I now lived in. I took a deep breath, and readied myself for what the future had to behold. Little did I know that this journey would alter my understanding of reality and life forever.