Ch.2- Manga's Will.

Amy woke up with her back sore. She was lying on stone ground in what looked like a dingy medieval alley.
“Ughhh… what the…” she groaned while caressing her head.
After a few shakes of her head, she looked left and right, frowned as she took the environment in, and then pushed herself up; something that she immediately regretted as she immediately fell while a feeling of dizziness took over her.
Amy exhaled and inhaled multiple times, while trying her best not to have a panic attack; memories of what had just happened with the self-proclaimed Goddess were currently assaulting her mind.
Okay, Amy, first things first, assess the situation.
She looked down at herself. She was currently barefoot and in her pajamas, which consisted of oversized pants and a long shirt with the drawing of a cute cat. Definitely the worst possible combination to get isekai’d.
With a groan, she pushed herself up once again, wincing as her palms scraped against the rough ground. “This isn’t happening. I refuse to believe this is real.”
Honestly, at this point, she did start to believe all this was real, and denying her situation over and over again probably did not help much, but it sure made her feel better.
And speaking of things that made her feel better— Amy, filled with rage at the whole situation, suddenly kicked a rock, and obviously she regretted it immediately after as she remembered she was literally barefoot.
She hopped around while clutching her foot, telling herself over and over again how damn stupid she was.
It was as she kept jumping like a rabbit that she noticed it. There, where the rock had landed, there was a leather bag on the ground.
Curious, Amy limped towards the satchel. Once she arrived, she debated whether to open it for a few seconds as it looked awfully suspicious, but eventually decided that her situation was already as bad as it could get and went for it.
She crushed it down and slowly opened it. And to her surprise, inside was something she recognized: a book.
“Isn’t this…?”
It was the same red book with the yellow triangle in the center that the Goddess had been reading after whatever weird spasm had arrived to her.
Did the Goddess send it along with her?
Amy pulled it out from the satchel and towards the light, then opened it. Every single page inside was white.
“What am I even supposed to do with this…?”
It was exactly as she was saying that words suddenly began to appear on the blank pages.
[MANGA’S WILL INITIALIZED. USER: AMY STAKE. BEGINNING TUTORIAL MODE.]
Amy’s eyes shot wide open, and she nearly dropped the book into the ground. “What the—”
[Hello Miss Stake.] A robotic voice suddenly spoke. [I have been sent here by the Goddess as a sort of assistant to you. My capabilities are extensive and my uses reaching almost infinite; however, due to my constraints I’m currently here only to aid you in small matters related only to “Quest for Avalon,” the manga you will be living on from now on. For example, I’ll report information such as your current reader engagement and your power gained from them, which are both now at 0]
“What in the… What are you talking about? Who are you?”
[1. Please provide one question at a time. 2. This unit just explained both of these questions.]
Amy stared at the book with a frown before realization struck her.
“Shit, this is a cringy isekai system… This day can’t get any worse.” She shook her head and took a few deep breaths before asking. “Where the hell am I?”
[Location: Eldoria Capital City. Warning: This area contains possible hostile creatures with a danger estimated at 5 to 50. Your current combat rating is 0.]
Amy’s eye twitched. “I know it’s Eldoria; what I’m asking is obviously not that.”
[Correct.]
“What do you mean correct… Are you making fun of me?” She squinted at the book.
[Negative. This unit does not possess any sort of humanity.]
“Could’ve fooled me.” Amy snorted, then looked around. “So what now?”
[Now I’m analyzing your personality… And complete. My assessment is that you possess low linguistic adaptability, seemingly defensive humor mechanisms, and are very rude. Some trauma perhaps? These traits are intriguing.]
“…”
This thing has to be making fun of me.
[This unit “finds” your personality very unusual, so it will copy your behavior for improved communication efficiency.]
“Wait, what—”
[Wow, you really are ungrateful. I’m trying to help you, yet you keep on complaining and complaining? How about some thanks?]
Amy’s mouth dropped as she blinked multiple times and was about to say something but bit her tongue. Right now it wasn’t the moment; first things first, figuring everything up.
“What now?” Amy repeated.
[Follow me.]
“Where?”
[To somewhere to discuss your situation.]
Amy frowned while looking at the book. “And what exactly is my ‘predicament’? That goddess said something about readers and power and…changing the story? Made zero sense.”
The book sighed once again— kinda rude, honestly. [Just follow.]
The book began floating. Amy opened her mouth, closed it, and threw the whole thing into her deal-with-it-later pile, which was getting bigger and bigger by the moment.
They both walked out of the alley towards the shiny street. As her eyes adjusted and fell into the other side of the light, Amy felt her heart beat a bit faster.
“Christ, it’s actually Eldoria…”
They were in a marketplace with vendors everywhere and a bunch of people with cat ears and dog tails.
She stepped out of the alley while looking everywhere frantically.
It was after a few minutes of taking everything in that she realized something. People were looking at her. Not full-on staring, but definitely noticing.
“What’s their deal?” she mumbled as she began feeling self-conscious.
[If you saw a chimpanzee walking down the streets, you too would turn to look, right?]
Amy’s head snapped towards the book with a glare.
[Too rude? Sorry, I’m still trying to find the right angle to use your personality. I didn’t have a will of my own till very recently, you see.]
Amy kept glaring at the book for a few seconds more before turning away. Disciplining this awfully rude book could wait; first things first.
It’s the pajamas, the fact that I’m barefoot, or the Goddess making something to my face?
She walked quickly as she searched for any kind of mirror. The book sighed as it followed her silently. It wasn’t long before she found a shop with a dark interior that allowed her to see her reflection clearly through the window.
Holy fuc…!
The face she expected to see wasn’t hers; instead, it was one with bright golden eyes, perfectly symmetrical features, clear skin, and, most confusingly, blonde hair.
“…I look like a cosplayer from an anime.”
[You indeed do. Since you are a character in this story, you obviously have to look the part. Don’t worry about it.]
“Well now I’m worried.”
The book sighed— how was it doing that without lungs? Yeah, sure. She shouldn’t be that surprised about a book that literally flies but…
[Can we please keep going?]
Right…
Amy looked at herself one last time in the mirror before she continued walking, following behind the floating book.
An uncomfortable feeling swarmed inside her as she followed the book; really, looking all pretty and beautiful truly didn’t fit her.
Regardless, she continued following the book away from the market until they reached a store with a wooden sign above the door that said “The Dreamer’s Brew.”
Without any pause, they entered and approached the counter.
“I think I’m having déja-vu,” Amy said with a frown as she stared at the store’s interior.
[Back in Act 1, this is where the protagonist of the manga first meets their mentor.]
Uh?
“Are you saying I’m going t—”
Before Amy could finish, an elderly woman with white hair greeted them at the counter. Her gaze stayed on the floating book for a few seconds before it returned to Amy.
“Good afternoon, young lady. What would you like today?”
[Ask for chamomile tea.]
“Uhh… Can I have chamomile, please?”
“That’ll be twenty copper coins.”
The book suddenly flipped open, and a small pouch literally appeared from its pages and floated toward the woman.
The woman seemed surprised at first, but she accepted it anyway before nodding and going away towards teh interior of the store.
Right after she left, Amy’s act fell, and her jaw dropped. “You have money too? Seriously?” she whispered.
The book’s pages ruffled slightly. [Yes. And?]
“Ugh, whatever. I’m done with being confused for today.”
Both Amy and the book sat at a table. They only had to wait for a small bit before the woman came back.
“Your tea,” the woman said while setting down the tray. “And some sweetcakes, on the house.”
What a nice person. Amy thought, then said, “Thank you,” with a smile.
She bowed again to Amy, then glanced at the book. Her gaze stayed on it before leaving.
Once the woman left, Amy leaned forward. “Are flying books not that weird or something? Because I haven’t seen anyone freak out over you.”
[I am most probably being mistaken for an artifact. They are not unheard of, after all, just extremely uncommon.]
“I see… By the way, can you even drink tea?”
[What do you think, Sherlock?]
Amy frowned. “Well, I was wondering if maybe the floating, sentient, magical book with gravity powers and maybe ties to divinity could drink tea. Just saying.”
[Touché… And, No. I can’t eat at all. This is for you.]
“Seriously?”
[Yes.]
“Seriously? This is actually for me?”
[That’s what I said.]
“Well, then, thank you. You might be grumpy and somewhat of an annoying book, but it’s good to see that you aren’t a bad pers—err, object.”
[I’m currently copying your personality based on our limited interaction, so it’s yourself who you are talking about, you know that right?]
“…” Amy acted like she couldn’t hear the comment and instead poured some tea, watching as it shifted from blue to purple in her cup. Weird.
She took a few sips, letting the calm wash over her, and then returned her gaze towards the book.
“So what now?”
[Dunno.]
“…” Amy stared at the book. “What?”
The book’s pages ruffled in what seemed like a shrug. [I’m here to observe and provide limited help. Not to handhold you through everything.]
“Cool, cool, cool… So I’m supposed to figure out everything myself?”
[Yep.]
Amy closed her eyes and took deep breaths for a couple of seconds before opening them once again.
In times like these, it was better to just go with the flow and not think about anything. So what if she got transported to another world? So what if she was in a grimdark manga with a floating book beside her? So what if the thing that she had dreamed of since childhood happened in the least desirable way possible? She would not worry about any of it right now, maybe later, but right now she really didn’t want to.
Just go with the flow, Amy… just go with the flow…
“Fine then…” She said after a long pause. “I suppose the first step is to enter the Academy, where the main plot happens then. That’s where all the important characters are, right? Somehow, I need to get into Class S if I want to be relevant to the plot.”
Class S was the elite class that wasn’t divided by year. If you were talented or unique enough, you could get in, which was convenient since the protagonist was a second-year. If classes were separated by year, she wouldn’t be able to interact with the main cast even if she got in. But since Class S mixed years except for the third years, who spent it entirely outside the city, her main hurdle was obtaining a unique special ability.
[Not a terrible plan. Though there is one small issue…]
“Let me guess, I’m basically powerless?”
[That too. But I was mostly referring to your outfit. It’s too plain. You look like an NPC right now.]
Amy looked down at her attire, then frowned. “Your shitty self-proclaimed Goddess gave me these, you know?”
[Look, I can’t let you interact with the story, wearing that thing. So I’m going to fix them.]
Amy tilted her head, confused. “Weren’t you plagiarizing my personality? Why the sudden change? That doesn’t seem like something I would do.”
[First of all, I’m not plagiarizing you; I’m copying you. That’s different. And second of all, I am still my own being. Moreover, despite us just having met each other, I believe that is something that you would probably do—just like most humans—if it cost them nothing. Either way, as a final favor—and I do mean final—I can provide you with something more… suitable. Stand up, please.]
Amy hesitantly stood up while glancing around to make sure no one was watching. Luckily for her, the elderly woman who had served her was busy with another customer, and her back was turned.
[Now, hold still.]
The book began to glow with a warm light. In an instant, Amy’s pijama was replaced by fantasy clothes straight out of a manga. She now wore a white fitted bodice, a dark ankle-length skirt, practical but stylish boots, and dark gloves on her hands.
“Whoa~ This is actually really nice.”
[No need to sound so shocked. I have excellent taste. And remember, this is the last favor (or at least the last big favor). From now on, you’re on your own.]
Amy barely paid attention to its words. The clothes were weirdly comfortable, more than they had the right to be.
After sitting once again, she turned to the book. “Thank you,” Amy said, still examining her new outfit. “It’s—”
Amy paused as the door to the tea shop opened, and she saw who had entered.
No way…
The dark hair falling across one eye, the Arcanum Academy emblem on his dark uniform, the sword with a red blade at his belt, the edgy look on his face…
“It’s him,” she whispered to the book. “Holy, it’s actually him.”
[Yeah, and right on schedule too. The protagonist himself, just as the Filler Arc is wrapping up.]
“Filler Arc? Is that why you brought me here?”
Amy mentally reviewed the story’s timeline. If they were at the end of the Filler Arc, then that meant… Oh crap.
[Yup, today’s the last day to register at the academy and the beginning of classes for second years, in two hours specifically. Your chance to join the story just walked through the door.]
“And you’re telling me this now!? How am I supposed to get powers in two hours?” She kept her voice down but wanted to scream.
[Calm down, girly. It is not that serious. The next chapter starts in a little under two hours. Plus, time flows differently between worlds, so if you can convince people you have powers in this chapter, and if your ability seems unique enough, you should easily get into Class S.]
The young man—Crow, the protagonist of Quest for Avalon—moved with confidence. His dark eyes scanned the tea shop before he settled at a table in the corner.
This is my chance.
[Well?] The book prompted. [What are you waiting for?]
“The hell do I do?” she whispered urgently. “I can’t just walk up and tell him my situation!’”
[That would indeed be ill-advised.] The book agreed. [You need to consider at least what character type you want to be before approaching.]
Amy bit her lip and forced her brain to think.
What role would give her the best chance to gain popularity and have an easy time? Childhood friend? Too late for that. Mysterious transfer student with secret knowledge? Maybe, but very risky and potentially dangerous from the future onwards. Rival? Hell no, people would hate her. Mentor? She would make a fool of herself. Comic relief?
[I suggest you start by making your introduction somehow. Before your opportunity walks out that door.]
Amy took a little more time before deciding. She had no time to prepare a good cover without plot holes, so the mysterious persona had to do…
As to how she would introduce herself… There was still something only she could take advantage of… knowledge of the future.
If she managed to fool the audience into thinking she was a seer, she would be able to get into S-class rather easily; after all, they were extremely uncommon, if her memory serves her correctly, which, honestly, was a dangerous gamble to take.
She took a deep breath, straightened her new clothes, ran a hand through her golden hair, and then took her first real step into the story she had once sworn to despise.