Ji-won loved novels more than anything.
Whenever life felt boring or stressful, she escaped into stories. Stories where characters fought for love, where the quiet girl finally became strong, where everything eventually found its happy ending.
Tonight she was reading the last chapter of a very popular novel.
"Moon of Lies."
She had spent three nights reading it without sleep.
Her eyes moved quickly across the final lines.
The villain had won.
Ji-won blinked.
"…What?"
She flipped the page again.
No extra chapter.
No twist.
That was really the ending.
The main character of the novel, Luna, stood in the final scene smiling softly as everyone around her believed her innocent act.
But Ji-won knew the truth.
Luna was never kind.
Behind that sweet smile was a girl who lied, manipulated people, and used their feelings like tools.
And yet…
She won.
Ji-won groaned loudly and dropped the book on her bed.
"Are you serious?!"
She sat up, grabbing the book again like it had personally offended her.
"All the good characters suffer and the manipulative one wins? What kind of ending is that?"
Her frustration grew the more she thought about it.
The person she felt the worst for was Aria.
Aria was only a side character in the story. Quiet, kind, always helping others.
And she had liked someone for years.
Chen.
But Chen had eyes only for Luna.
Even when Luna treated him like a toy.
Ji-won frowned.
"Poor Aria… she deserved better than dying like that."
In the story, Aria tried to expose Luna's lies.
But Luna turned everyone against her.
In the end, Aria died alone, misunderstood by everyone.
And Luna continued pretending to be the perfect girl.
Ji-won crossed her arms angrily.
"If I were Aria, I'd destroy that fake girl in five chapters."
She stood up and grabbed her jacket.
"I need air. That ending is too annoying."
Outside, the night air was cool and quiet. Streetlights glowed softly across the road.
Ji-won walked slowly, still thinking about the story.
"Honestly, the characters in that novel are blind," she muttered.
"Chen should have noticed Luna was lying from the beginning."
She sighed.
"And that CEO character… what was his name again…?"
She snapped her fingers.
"Ah right. Kim Min-jae."
He was the only person in the novel who seemed suspicious of Luna, but even he never fully exposed her.
"What a waste of a good character," Ji-won complained.
"If I were inside that novel, I'd change the entire story."
Just as she said that—
A loud horn blasted.
Ji-won froze.
Bright headlights rushed toward her.
Everything happened too fast.
Her mind went blank.
The sound of tires screeching.
A flash of light.
And then—
Darkness.
Complete silence.
…
Ji-won slowly opened her eyes.
Her head felt strange.
The ceiling above her was unfamiliar.
White curtains moved gently with the breeze.
She blinked several times.
"…Where am I?"
She quickly sat up.
This wasn't her room.
The bed was large and elegant, the furniture looked expensive, and the room felt like something from a drama.
Confused, she stood up and walked toward the mirror nearby.
The reflection staring back at her made her heart stop.
The girl in the mirror…
Was not Ji-won.
Long dark hair.
A delicate face she had seen before.
Her hands began to tremble.
"…No way."
She whispered the name slowly.
"Aria."
The side character.
The one who died in the novel.
Before she could understand what was happening—
A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
[System activated.]
Ji-won froze.
[Host identified: Aria.]
[Tasks will be issued to guide the host through the story.]
Her eyes widened.
[Complete the tasks to return to your world.]
Ji-won stared blankly into the mirror.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
She had complained about the novel's ending.
And now—
She was inside it.