Resonant Rewrite

Time Until Death: 4 Hours and 45 Minutes

"Am I really going to die?"

The words escaped Rin's lips, trembling and raw, as she stumbled back from the ominous gate. Her breathing was shallow, her chest tight as panic clawed its way into her mind. The gate loomed ahead, massive and foreboding, its surface shimmering with a faint blue outline that somehow emphasized the utter blackness within.

A low growl emanated from the void, distant but unmistakable, like a predator prowling just out of sight. Rin's legs felt like jelly, threatening to give out beneath her. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as if the sharp sting would wake her from this nightmare.

"This… this can't be happening," she whispered. Her voice cracked as her knees buckled slightly. "This has to be a dream. It has to be!"

Before her brain could spiral further, a screen materialized in front of her, glowing an angry red with words she didn't want to see.

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SYSTEM WARNING:

Time Until Death: 4 Hours and 45 Minutes

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It blinked ominously, as if to mock her fear.

"Oh, shut up!" Rin swatted at the air like a lunatic, as though she could physically slap the screen away. "You're not even real! I refuse to—"

But no amount of angry flailing made the notification disappear.

She let out a strangled laugh, the kind that teetered dangerously close to sobbing. "Why is this happening to me?!"

Her mind raced, fragments of memories clawing their way to the surface. I was at home. I was… I was working. No, wait—before that….

24 Hours Earlier

Laughter filtered faintly through the paper-thin walls of a modest studio apartment. Rin Calloway, 25, sat cross-legged on her chair, her desk illuminated by the pale blue light of her computer screen. A video played in the background—a montage of adorable cat antics interspersed with the chaotic destruction of some action movie. Rin's expression was a mixture of amused detachment and focused determination as her fingers danced across the keyboard.

The screen displayed her work in progress, a manuscript with the title: Bound by Resonance. She glanced at the flashing reminder icon in the corner of her screen with the words.

DEADLINE TOMORROW.

"Tomorrow's the deadline. Yeah, yeah, I know," She rolled her eyes, opening the notification panel and marking it complete. Her gaze returned to the last few paragraphs of her story.

"Almost done," she muttered.

Her manuscript stared back at her—a sprawling fantasy epic she'd been laboring over for weeks. Rin leaned closer, skimming the final chapter.

"Let's see… heroic resolution, check. Villain defeated, check. Everybody gets a happy ending, check." She sighed contentedly.

With a few final keystrokes, she saved the document and attached it to an email. Hovering over the "Send" button, she took a deep breath and clicked.

"There. Done. Take that, capitalism."

Leaning back in her chair, Rin stretched her arms above her head, satisfied but drained. With a triumphant smirk. Finally, a solid ending! One the readers will—

Her phone buzzed violently, breaking her reverie. Her editor's name lit up the screen: "Kawra Edits". She picked it up, seeing her editor's name: "Kawra Edits".

Rin sighed, muttering, "what now?" She answered the call.

"Rin! Got your draft. Great work as always," Kawra chirped. The man's voice was so sickeningly cheerful that Rin wanted to strangle it through the phone.

"Uh-huh. Thanks," she replied flatly, already bracing herself for the inevitable "but."

"So, about the ending…"

There it was.

Rin clenched her jaw. "What about it?"

"It's uplifting, right? Everyone gets their happy ending. Love triumphs, yadda yadda. Don't get me wrong—it's well-written! But…"

Rin's grip tightened on the phone. "But?"

"Well, tragic endings are really trending right now. People want emotional devastation! You know, deaths, betrayals, unresolved love. It sells like hotcakes!"

She blinked, her hand tightening on the phone. "Tragic? But that's not—"

"Look, I know you don't like writing sad endings, but trust me, the market is eating this stuff up. Heroes dying, love left unfulfilled—it's golden!"

Her lips thinned as Kawra continued to ramble, oblivious to her mounting irritation. She imagined him leaning back in his chair, grinning like he'd just solved world hunger. She glanced at the doodle pad next to her computer, where idle sketches of story ideas sprawled out. Without thinking, she started drawing a cartoon dinosaur with sharp teeth.

"Uh-huh," she murmured, tuning him out as her dinosaur finished chomping down on a panicked little man in a suit. "Sure, I'll rewrite it. Whatever." she said in a monotone, adding flames around the dinosaur's mouth.

"Great! You're the best, Rin!" Kawra chirped before hanging up.

Rin threw her phone onto the desk and groaned, slumping forward. "I swear, one day, I'll write a tragic ending just for him. Spoiler: it'll involve a dinosaur."

She glared at her screen, the manuscript taunting her. Rewriting the ending meant dismantling the hard-won character growth and the hopeful resolution she'd crafted. It felt… wrong.

"I'll do it later," she muttered, pushing away from the desk.

Hours passed, and night fell over the city, but Rin remained in her studio, hunched over her desk, pacing restlessly. The weight of the rewrite pressed on her, battling the creeping dread of rewriting the ending she'd loved. Her cursor blinked mockingly on a blank page, daring her to ruin her work for market trends, but motivation was scarce.

With a heavy sigh, out of habit, she switched tabs and pulled up reviews of her previous stories—a mistake she immediately regretted.

The page loaded, and the flood of negative comments hit her like a punch to the gut.

"Clichéd plot."

"Why does the protagonist even exist?"

"Worst ending ever. Does the author even know how to write?"

"Who let this amateur write fantasy?"

"The protagonist is so annoying I wanted them to die halfway through."

Rin's jaw clenched as her eyes scanned the vitriol. "Clichéd? I poured three months into that plotline!"

her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, you wanted them to die halfway through? Well, guess what? Maybe you should have died halfway through your comment!"

"Worst ending? You want bad endings? Fine! I'll give you bad endings!"

She gestured at the screen like the commenters were standing in her living room. "And who let me write fantasy? I don't know, maybe THE PUBLISHER?! Ugh!"

Her voice echoed in the empty room as she continued ranting. But after a while, the fight drained from her. Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sank into her chair, her anger dissolving into quiet despair.

Her shoulders slumped, and her defiance flickered out. Her reflection in the darkened screen showed her weary face., she saw not a fierce writer defending her work but a tired, frustrated young woman trying to hold it together.

A tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away with a sniffle. "Stupid reviews. Stupid Kawra. Stupid tragic endings."

But as she moved, a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her like a freight train. Her vision blurred, and her head grew heavy.

"What…?"

 Without warning, her body slumped forward onto the desk. The world went dark.

Arrival in the Void

Rin awoke to a sensation unlike anything she'd ever felt before—like floating and sinking at the same time. She opened her eyes, expecting to see her cramped apartment, the clutter of her desk, and the faint hum of her computer. Instead, an infinite expanse of blackness stretched out before her, disorienting and vast.

"What the—" Her voice cut off as she spun around, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

Behind her, a portal loomed. It was massive, its edges pulsating with an eerie blue light that seemed almost alive. The center was a swirling abyss so dark it devoured any sense of light or sanity. Rin took an instinctive step back, her heart pounding.

"Nope. No, no, no." She shook her head, disbelief coating her every word. "This is… nope. I'm dreaming. That's all. Just a weird nightmare brought on by deadlines and caffeine."

Her eyes flicked to her wrist, and her stomach dropped. A strange, glowing band had appeared there. Numbers and text scrolled across it, and as she looked closer, her breath hitched.

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ID: Aria Felstone

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Rin froze. "Aria Felstone? No... no way," she whispered, her voice trembling. She reached up, touching her face. The shape of her nose, the curve of her lips—everything was wrong. This wasn't her. This wasn't her body. It was… it was Aria Felstone's.

"No. Nope. Not happening," she laughed, but the sound was sharp and hysterical. "This isn't real. I just… fell asleep, that's all. Any second now, I'll wake up in my studio and curse myself for eating that expired yogurt." But deep down, she knew this was no dream.

Another soft chime broke through her spiraling thoughts, and a translucent screen appeared before her, flashing with harsh red text.

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SYSTEM INITIALIZING…

Welcome, Aria Felstone.

Mission: Survive the Dungeon Raid.

Time Until Death: 4 Hours and 45 Minutes.

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Her stomach dropped again as the words lingered in the air. This wasn't a nightmare; this wasn't some weird trick of her tired mind. This was real. The timer... ticking down like a death sentence. Her mind scrambled, trying to grasp the situation.

"No. This is impossible," Rin murmured. She pinched herself hard, yelping when the sharp pain registered. Okay, maybe not a dream.

Her inner monologue raced. I'm in the body of Aria Felstone. I wrote this character... This is some messed-up joke.

She turned her gaze toward the swirling portal, her heart hammering in her chest. A dungeon raid? Me? The thought sent a wave of panic crashing over her. She wasn't cut out for this. She wasn't supposed to be here, facing some inescapable fate.

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Time Until Death: 4 Hours and 43 Minutes.

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Her hands trembled as she gripped her head, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her. "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the vast, empty space. The void gave no answer, just the unsettling hum of the portal behind her.

Another chime sounded, its sharp tone cutting through the tension.

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TUTORIAL START: Equip Your Gear. Prepare for Battle.

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"Battle? Are you kidding me?!" Rin snapped; her voice laced with disbelief. This felt more like a bad joke than a real fight for survival.

She stumbled to her feet, her legs unsteady, and glanced around. The desolate terrain outside the gate seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. The ground was cracked and barren, dimly lit by the sickly glow of the portal. Nearby, a small pile of items glinted in the faint light.

Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the setup from countless dungeon-raid scenes she'd written—sword, shield, leather chest plate, and a pouch of health potions. She couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

"Oh, sure. Battle. Why not? Let's just throw in a dragon while we're at it." Despite her sarcastic tone, she crouched and grabbed the gear, her hands shaking as she strapped the armor clumsily around her. The sword felt heavier than she expected, the shield awkward against her arm.

"This is insane," she muttered, her thoughts a blur. But even through the haze of fear, a small part of her began to awaken, that familiar feeling of the writer inside her stirring. I wrote this. I know how it works. I can figure this out.

Another chime rang out, cutting through the swirling panic in her mind.

Objective Updated: Enter the Gate. Survive.

Her heart sank, dread curling in her stomach. The glowing portal pulsed ominously, waiting, beckoning her forward. Enter the gate, it says. Like it's that easy. The words tasted bitter, but she clenched her fists. Panic gnawed at her, but determination was starting to grow, too. If this was her story, then she knew how it worked. Gates were deadly, but they followed rules—rules she had created. She could survive this.

"Okay," she muttered, her voice a low whisper as she steadied herself. "Think, Rin. You wrote this world. You can survive it."

The shadows surrounding the gate seemed to ripple, sensing her resolve. A small, anxious laugh escaped her as she stepped forward.

"This isn't how I imagined my debut as an action heroine," she whispered, the humor strained. "But if I wrote it, I can rewrite it."

With a deep breath, she crossed the threshold.

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The portal swallowed her whole.

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Stepping Into the Void

As Rin stepped into the portal, the sensation of falling intensified, and the blackness around her swallowed her whole. Her heart raced as her body tumbled through the void, a sense of weightlessness and vertigo overwhelming her. This wasn't just a game; this wasn't something she could simply write her way out of.

She landed hard on the ground, her breath knocked out of her as she struggled to push herself up. The portal behind her closed with a sickening snap, leaving her in complete darkness. She blinked, trying to adjust her senses, her mind still reeling from the surreal, impossible reality of the situation.

"Okay," she muttered through gritted teeth. "This is it. I'm in the middle of a dungeon raid, but it's real this time."

Her mind raced, thoughts swirling like the ominous shadows around her. A part of her wanted to scream out in frustration, in anger, in desperation. But there was something else there too—something that pushed her forward. She couldn't back down. Not now.

Rin's eyes narrowed, focusing on the faint outline of a distant figure. The darkness was thick, but she could make out the faintest hint of movement. And she knew, deep in her gut, that her first task in this twisted, deadly world was about to begin.

"If I die," Rin muttered through clenched teeth, "I'm haunting Kawra first."

With that, she took her first step toward the unknown. And whether it was fate, her own creation, or a cruel twist of irony, she was ready to face whatever came next.