The sun rose high above the sky as a warm morning breeze drifted through the room. Rien woke up slowly before glancing toward Kuto, who was sleeping like a dead pig on the other bed.
"Time to wake up, Kuto," Rien said with a sigh as he stood up.
A knock echoed from the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a woman entered carrying a mop and a bucket of water.
"From the inn service department, Master," the woman said respectfully.
Rien nodded before pointing toward the walls.
"Good. Clean those ornaments properly. And make sure to clean the fourth wall too. It's very important for this chapter."
The woman paused for a second, clearly confused, but nodded anyway before beginning her work.
Rien walked toward the bathroom.
Inside, he washed his face quietly while staring into the mirror with calm eyes.
"…Something feels wrong today."
He slowly tapped the mirror.
CRACK.
The entire world around him shattered like broken glass. The walls, the room, the bathroom — everything collapsed into countless fragments floating through endless darkness.
Rien calmly stepped through the cracks.
Clap.
The shattered reality disappeared instantly.
Now he stood inside a small room where Bharat sat on a bed, aggressively typing on a computer keyboard.
"What are you doing?" Rien asked casually.
Bharat didn't even look at him.
"Writing this chapter, idiot. And whose fault is it that your adventures keep getting more ridiculous every day? Who told you to kill Xeora and shake the entire framework of the story?" Bharat snapped.
Rien smiled faintly before sitting on a chair in front of him.
"That sounds more like your problem than mine. I'm simply too powerful for your framework. And honestly, what kind of biographer are you if you can't even keep up with my life?"
Bharat finally looked up, his eye twitching violently.
"Stop lecturing me and tell me why you're here."
Rien leaned back calmly.
"You already know why I'm here, Writer. This entire mess exists because you can't write better chapters for the readers. And who told you to write the story yourself? Your job is to record my journey, not control it."
Bharat pointed toward the computer screen with a deadly stare.
"You do realize what you just did is called breaking the fourth wall, right? Characters aren't supposed to jump out of their own narrative."
Rien looked at the screen curiously before smiling.
"Interesting. Your reality doesn't look much different from mine."
Bharat let out a heavy sigh.
"You think this is funny? Do you even understand what this will do to the upcoming chapters?"
Rien waved his hand dismissively before pushing Bharat aside and placing his own fingers on the keyboard.
"Move."
The keyboard clicked rapidly.
"Let me show you what a real writer looks like."
The narration suddenly paused.
Then shifted.
I looked at the screen calmly while continuing to type.
Bharat stared at me with disbelief.
"Great. First you break the fourth wall, then you leave the story entirely, and now you're changing the narrative into first person? Should I be angry or impressed?"
I smiled slightly without stopping my typing.
"What's the word count?"
Bharat glanced at the screen before rubbing his forehead tiredly.
"The previous chapter crossed one thousand five hundred words even though it was supposed to stay under one thousand two hundred. So now this chapter also needs to stay above one thousand five hundred to keep the pacing comfortable for the readers."
I stopped typing for a moment before looking directly ahead.
"…Readers really are terrifying creatures."
Bharat stared at the screen for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh.
"Your grammar is insanely good," Bharat said with widened eyes.
I smiled calmly while continuing to type on the phone.
"I know. Though honestly, your computer setup is terrible. Give me your smartphone instead. This thing looks like it survived three different wars."
Bharat rubbed his forehead before handing me the phone.
"Just write properly. Otherwise both of us are going to regret this chapter later."
I nodded casually while typing.
"Relax. I'm literally the protagonist."
I stood up and walked toward the door.
"Let's go outside."
Bharat immediately stepped in front of me and blocked the exit with the expression of a man who had already lost hope in life.
"You cannot walk outside wearing a hanfu. This is India, you idiot."
I looked down at my clothes before tilting my head slightly.
The white hanfu fluttered gently around me.
"…Your reality is unnecessarily complicated."
I continued typing while sighing heavily.
Bharat stared at me with absolute disappointment.
"What's your height again?"
Rien looked down at himself thoughtfully before answering with a calm smile.
"With the hanfu and shoes? Around 188 centimeters. Naturally, in this human form, I'm 194."
Bharat's soul visibly left his body for a moment.
He slowly pointed toward the bathroom.
"Go change. There should be something in there for an Eiffel Tower like you."
I nodded obediently before walking toward the bathroom.
"And leave the phone outside!" Bharat shouted. "You do NOT need to narrate yourself while showering."
I placed the phone outside before entering.
The narration paused for several minutes.
Mostly because the author refused to describe what happened inside the bathroom.
After a while, the door opened.
Rien stepped out wearing a black shirt and formal black pants. His long black hair reflected softly under the room's light while his calm eyes carried the confidence of someone who had destroyed multiple fictional universes before breakfast.
Bharat looked at him silently.
"…That's unfair."
Rien took the phone back from Bharat's hands.
"Now I shall handle this reality properly."
"You literally said that five minutes ago before trying to leave the house dressed like an ancient cultivator."
I ignored him completely before walking outside.
The streets were crowded with people moving around normally.
Then everyone suddenly started staring at me.
I looked around with visible confusion.
"Why are these people looking at me like that?"
Bharat walked beside me with the exhausted expression of a man who deserved financial compensation.
"You are 194 centimeters tall, have long black hair, a perfect face, and somehow look like a final boss wearing formal clothes. You basically look illegal."
I smiled calmly before typing again while walking through the street.
"Perhaps they are jealous."
Bharat looked directly at the narration itself.
"No, they're confused why a handsome fantasy emperor is casually roaming around in India ".
l grinned and slipped the phone into my pocket.
"Leave it to me. I'll control the narrative myself," I said confidently as I turned onto the street to the right.
Bharat stared at me from behind before letting out a long sigh.
"Just don't make any grammatical mistakes this time," he said sharply.
"Have a little faith in me."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
Before I could respond, a piercing scream echoed from farther down the street.
Both of us froze.
"What was that?" Bharat muttered, his eyes widening in shock.
My expression stiffened slightly.
"That sounded like a girl..." I muttered, concern creeping into my voice.
Without wasting another second, I quickened my pace and headed toward the source of the sound.
Bharat nodded and hurried after me.
"Why does today feel like the beginning of some weird anime episode?" he muttered with another sigh.