My eyes slowly opened and I realised something wasn't right.
Why? It's because there was nothing where the skies was supposed to be.
Looking around, I immediately noticed I was in a place deviod of anything and everything. To be more specific, I was inside a white space where there was nothing except the colour white.
It was strange. Wasn't I fighting monsters on a battlefield with my companions a few moments ago? Am I dead or was I inside a dream?
Despite not knowing the answer, I stood up from the ground and decided to walk around.
So I walked and walked....
How much time has passed now? I continued to walk but I found nothing. It felt like I walking through an infinite corridor with no end or beginning.
Just where is this place? More importantly, how do I leave? How much more should I walk like this until I find an exit? Should I continue walking? But where? Was this like a maze?
Should I continue walking in a straight line or should I go left or right?
The suspense was driving me insane. I suddenly remembered that there was a torture method where the victim was placed in a white room devoid of anything except the colour white. The bed would be white, the food served would be white and any furniture in the room would be white. It was done to mentally break the victim without causing physical harm.
Wasn't my current situation similar? Was this the penalty for altering the flow of the story?
[You have been trapped in the White Room.]
I smiled. It was so ridiculous that it was funny.
The gods alter the flow of stories all the time and I got punished for just doing it once. Indeed, it was ridiculous that I was placed here since the change I made was small. The Wolfman was a grade 7 monster so n the grade scheme of things, itt was utterly insignificant.
Then I suddenly recalled something.
In this world, there was something called the Laws of Principality. These unbreakable laws governs the flow of everything in the vast universe including the threads of fate and the narratives of every story— All living creatures will die eventually, one cannot travel through time and change their destiny, one cannot obtain something without losing something in return (Alchemy).
To change something, one must pay a price (Karma). Mortals are bound by the cycle of death and reincarnation.
These are the main laws that governs the story of 'Songs of the Fall'. Even the conceptual gods can only influence it to a certain extent depending on their grade. Giant constellations have the greatest influence while the historical/heroic constellations have the lowest influence. However, there were two beings that can break those seemingly unbreakable laws without facing the penalty.
「 The Reincarnator and the Regressor. 」
The words of the novel 'Songs of the Fall' started playing in my mind.
「 The Reincarnator retains their memories and abilities from past lives, allowing them to consciously navigate the Cycle of Death and Reincarnation with foreknowledge and experience while the Regressor can travel back to a certain moment in time upon death which challenges the Laws of Temporal Integrity 」
To summarise everything, the reincarnator and the regressor were anomalies in the system. How they can do this, I don't know. Simply because the author did not explain anything. Perhaps it was done on purpose to create an air of mystery.
Soo Jinyoung and Song Jaewon.
There was even a theory that those two contained the fragments of giant constellations. That theory was believable. If it was those guys, then it was possible. Maybe it was just one of them or maybe it was two giant constellations behind the reincarnator and the regressor. The people behind them were currently unknown. However, the giant constellations behind those two would have to pay an heavy price.
Then there was me. A third anomaly that was introduced into the story— I began to think about it while I continued walking through the while space.
There was no Kim Jakga in the entirety of Songs of the Fall. And now, my actions must have changed the flow of the story. Yes, I have definitely changed the flow of the story with my presence.
I killed a major character during the beginning of the nightmare, saved people that were not supposed to be saved and continuously changed the plotline of the story so there was obviously disorder. Then again, the disorder wasn't caused by only me. There were several people that have read the 'Songs of the Fall' and as such, obtained secret knowledge just like me.
They will change the flow of the story since they have knowledge and expand the disorder. But I realised that I was the main source of the disorder.
I made direct contact with the two protagonists of the story. There was also my skills. Two skills to be precise— The Omniscient Wall and Endless One
Two skills surrounded in mystery and the anolamy that possessed them.
I thought about the Omniscient Wall. It was a strange skill that allowed me to gain information about the story. Because of it, I even survived things that would have naturally killed me.
Was there a skill similar to the Omniscient Wall?
No, It was an imaginary wall of Information that only I could access. Perhaps it was a gateway to somewhere I did not know but I placed that thought at the back of my mind.
Then there was the other skill...
Zero One.
If it was phased in another way, it could be called the Power of the Pen.
"Damnit, is there really no way?"
My voice echoed. It echoed for a long time but there was no response. Perhaps he entities here were already gone so it was only me.
A sudden sense of helplessness washed over me. It wasn't able to contact anyone from here and the influence of the gods could not reach here. If it could, things wouldn't have been this hard.
As a final resort, I tried using the power that got me stuck here in the first place.
[Unique skill 'Zero One' cannot be activated.]
[Skills cannot be activated in the white room.]
I see. Even 'that' didn't work. What was I thinking? Of course, it wouldn't work.
I forgot there was a condition like this. It made sense. It was the reason why constellations could not escape from here once trapped.
I laughed. The white room was a terrible room that can drove a constellation into insanity. Maybe I was already running insane.
Was this what it felt like? To be completely hopeless? Even the power of the writer could not do anything. I felt like a bird trapped in a cage.
At this point, it was meaningless to even continue.
「 Jak ga. 」
Suddenly, a voice was heard. It came from behind me.
There was someone here? I was about to turn my head until I realised something. Was there truly someone that hadn't ran insane in this place?
I trembled as I came to that realisation. Was it even safe to turn my head? If there was someone in this place, they would be a constellation. If I turned my head, I would die...
「 Jak ga. 」
Someone called out again. It was a beautiful voice that seemed out of this world. Wait, if that was the true voice of a constellation, I would have been dead already.
I reluctantly turned my head to face the person behind me. Once I turned back, I saw a strange woman. Or should I call her a girl?
It was a girl wearing a pure white dress, around 10 years old. Her face was blurred so I couldn't see her facial features but she reminded me of someone I knew.
No, I couldn't be...
Surely, this person infront of me couldn't be that person. It wasn't possible. That 'person' had already left this world a long time ago...
「 Jak ga, you lo ok all gro wn up no w. 」
My eyes shook. I suddenly remembered something that happened a long time ago. It was a painful memory. It was a memory I wanted to forget.
[Punishment time has ended.]
[Your soul will return to your original body.]
My vision distorted. The image of the surrounding white space and the small girl were slowly disappearing. There was a strong force pulling me out of the white prison.
The small girl continued to watch me as my soul disappeared from this world. For a moment, the girl seemed to be smiling at me.
「 We wi ll meet aga in. 」
My consciousness cleared up.
I released a breath of relief. If I had stayed there just a little longer, I would have really gone insane. Once I returned to the story, I took notice of the surroundings.
The battlefield was ruined, there were countless corpses, and there was the knights fighting the monsters. A lot of time must have passed since there was only a few monsters.
Then I saw my body laying on the green grass. I had a soft expression as if I was having a nice dream. The party members gathered around it. Lee Suhye was unconscious, Angelica was crying and shaking me repeatedly.
...Jakga!
...Jakga!
...Wake up!
Look at the people that were waiting for me. Yes, it was time for me to return.