The silence in the Library of Forgotten Realms was not peaceful—it was alive.
Kieran moved between towering black bookshelves that shifted slightly when not looked at. The floor beneath him was made of pages—literal parchment, faded ink bleeding beneath his feet, whispering forgotten names with every step. The scent of ancient dust, old leather, and burning questions lingered in the air.
He'd only just survived the trial of the "Chariot of Ruin" and unlocked a Tarot Skill: Ruin Drive. That gave him a glimpse into the terrifying system that ruled this world—not just power scaling, but narrative progression.
In this world, the story itself wanted something.
And Kieran was now inside its margins.
🌀 [SYSTEM UPDATE]
New Area Unlocked: Library of Forgotten RealmsHidden Passive Activated: [Editor's Footstep] – You hear the echoes of written fate.
He paused. Something was following him.
Not a beast.
Not a player.
Not even a boss.
But something... unwritten.
A shadow moved between the cracks of bookshelves. His heartbeat quickened, but Kieran didn't panic. He remembered what he was now. Not a scared reader flipping pages in his room. No.
He was part of the story.
And he had the power to turn pages back.
"Who's there?" Kieran's voice echoed, swallowed by layers of unread tomes. The air shimmered, and something stepped out from the side of a half-burned book titled Volume Zero: The End Before the Beginning.
It looked like a man, cloaked in ink. His face was blank parchment, eyes drawn in quill strokes that bled slightly at the edges.
"You've left the plot," the thing said. "And now, the margin watches."
🧠 [Unique Narrative Trait Unlocked: Reader's Revolt]
You're no longer bound by canon. You may defy written endings… but the consequences will chase you.
The creature—no, the Editor's Phantom—tilted its head. It didn't move aggressively. It simply waited, like punctuation at the end of a very important sentence.
Kieran steadied himself.
"I don't care about their ending. I'll write my own."
The Phantom blinked. The ink in its eyes rippled.
"So be it," it whispered. "Then walk the footnotes. Step into the margin fully. But beware… once you leave the page, you cannot return to its comfort."
The world twisted.
Kieran felt the floor beneath him dissolve into floating paragraphs and deconstructed sentences. The world wasn't crumbling—it was being revised.
🌌 [Dimensional Transition: Footnotes of Reality]
Tier: S++ Hidden RealmDescription: A place between canon and chaos. Where failed stories, cut scenes, and scrapped endings live.
Kieran stood in a hallway of broken possibilities.
Doors made of canceled ideas. Shelves full of characters who never made it past Chapter 3. A lonely melody played in the background—like a theme song from a series that never aired.
He was in the discarded imagination of countless writers.
"I was a reader once," Kieran whispered, touching the spine of a floating manuscript. "I devoured stories like this… and now I am one."
From above, an interface formed.
🎴 Tarot Trait Fusion Unlocked!
[The Fool] + [The Chariot] → New Trait: The VagabondEffect: Allows dimensional drift across unpublished realms. Cost: 2 Narrative Points per use.Side Effect: You may attract... editors.
He laughed.
Not because it was funny.
But because it was madness—this place was breaking the fourth wall, the fifth wall, and probably every wall that ever existed.
But he wasn't alone anymore.
In the far distance, he saw other silhouettes—players who had slipped through cracks, fallen between choices. Rogue characters, cut protagonists, re-written villains. And among them… a familiar face.
Dalia.
The girl from his dreams. The one he remembered reading about but never found in the actual book.
She had been… cut.
And now she walked the Footnotes, forgotten by every reader—except Kieran.
He ran.
She turned.
For a moment, their eyes met.
"Kieran?" she whispered. "How are you… here?"
He stopped just before reaching her.
The world around them held its breath.
"I refused to follow their script," he replied. "And I think… I can write you back into the story."
Tears shimmered in her eyes. Not out of sadness. Out of hope.
But then came the sound.
Footsteps. Heavy. Sharp. Not made of boots—but of keys striking paper.
Something else had noticed them.
Not a Phantom.
Not a boss.
Something worse.
"The Author," Dalia whispered, backing away.
"He's awake."
🔥 [Narrative Shift Imminent!]
WARNING: The Author has noticed your presence in the margins. Expect inconsistencies, spontaneous rule changes, and unpredictable boss evolution.Survival Tip: Play smart, write smarter.
Kieran narrowed his eyes. This was no longer a simple LitRPG. No longer just progression fantasy.
He was now battling the mind behind the curtain.
The Author.
And to beat him, he'd need to become more than a character.
He had to become a storyteller himself.
✅ Chapter End Goals Achieved:
Entered the Footnotes Realm
Met discarded character Dalia
Provoked the attention of The Author
Fused Tarot Traits: The Vagabond
Set up conflict with narrative controller