"Ysa, will you be like us?"

I stopped walking and look at Aaline. Will I ever be like them? What does she mean?

"What do you mean?"

Aaline shakes her head at me. "Will you be like us? Will, you also made the same mistake we did? Will you also stray from the character you need to do? Will, you also fail the task?"

I don't know how to respond to Aaline continuous question. I want to answer her no, but can I really stick to that decision until the end?

I know I already made up my mind, but I still have doubts to myself. I want to do everything just to save them, the loved ones I have in the fictional world. Just to save their world, but I'm more afraid that in the middle, my emotions will get the hold of me. I'm afraid I will also make the same mistake they did.

"Ysa, can you promise me not to? Can you promise me not to fail your task? Ysa, I've been here for a decade... All these years, I've been blaming myself for all the bad things that happened to the people I love in the fictional world. I've been blaming myself to the point that sometimes I hated myself to the core. Ysa, please don't be like me. Can you promise me not to be like us? I would feel better to know that you finish your task and you have become a successful writer. Ysa, can you fulfill the dream we couldn't have?"

I am about to answer her when suddenly a voice interrupted us from behind.

"You need to promise us, Ysa."

We look back and saw Soiartze walking towards us. Aaline's eyes immediately light up when she saw Soiartze. She then runs towards Soiartze and clings to her arms like a child who just saw her mother after work.

I smile at the scenario. I'm happy that even after what they have experienced, they still find each other, someone who they could rely on. At least they are not alone.

Soiartze smile at Aaline and gently taps her head. It's as if she is tapping a child's head. Come to think of it, Aaline is way older than Soiartze but looking at the two. Soiartze looks older. Not because her appearance looks older but because of how she treats Aaline. She treats Aaline like a child.

I am still enjoying their interaction when Soiartze looks up to me. I immediately smile at her. "Do you feel better now, Soiartze?"

Soiartze just shakes her head. "How can you accept that you lost everything easily?" Soiartze smile sadly. "I will never feel okay, Ysa. It's never easy to accept that in the blink of an eye, everything you treasure was gone. Gone and will never come back. It's the worst kind of heartache that even time couldn't heal. We just need to deal with it and act like nothing happens."

I remain silent and rooted in my place. I don't know how to respond to that. I originally don't have many people besides me, but when I entered the fictional world, my life changes.

I have a loving family and friends. I already know how great it is to have someone who loves you and supports you unconditionally. And I don't actually see myself losing that unconditional love and support. Can I live without them? I doubt it.

Aaline looks at Soiartze and sighs. "Ysa, you need to promise us that no matter what happens once you get out of here, you will never comes back."

I look at Aaline, puzzled. What does she mean by that? She doesn't want to see me anymore? But why? Did I do something?

Aaline probably saw the anxiety in my eyes because she waves her free hand at me and pouts. "Please don't misunderstand me. I love having you around here, but I hope you could live a life different than us. I hope you could go back to the real world and fulfill your all time dream of being a writer. Not just for your sake but for us also. Ysa, fulfill the dream we could never have. For us, please."

Soiartze also seconded. "Ysa, you need to finish the task. Don't be like us. Please."

I nod my head at them hesitantly. I'm hesitating not because I felt troubled become of their requests, but it's because I felt like I would only disappoint them in the end.

Can I really finish my novel as Csille? The answer? I still don't know. I want to, but can I really do it?

"But I have a question. What do you mean that once I go back to the fictional world, I cannot go back in here no matter what?"

Aaline looks at Soiartze, but Soiartze just shakes her head at Aaline. Aaline sigh and look at me sorrily. "I'm sorry as much as I want to tell you everything, but I guess the seniors are the ones whom you should talk to. And I also heard from Earl that you will still need to go back to the Virtouse to talk to them, right?"

I nod my head, Aaline as a response. What does the senior and the Virtouse have to do with my question?

Soiartze noticed my situation, and she explains it to me. "We actually don't have any rights to say something to the newcomers. The ones who usually brief everything about this world and how this world works are the seniors. And all the remaining information will be given to you by the Virtouse."

"So, you cannot explain it to me even though you know what it is?"

Aaline nods her head. "It may sound weird to you because we could be the one explaining things to you, but the seniors and the Virtouse want to take extra precautions when it comes to new spirits. It's because one wrong move could result in them being stuck in here. The Virtouse is afraid that because of our inexperience, we will mistakenly advise the newcomer on things the spirit couldn't do. It's difficult to understand, but the bottom line is both the Seniors and the Virtouse just want to save the spirit from being stuck in here."

Aaline looks around first before she inches closer and whispered something to me. "But I kinda doubt that. They probably don't want us to explain things to the new spirits because they are afraid that we will say something we couldn't say."

I frown at Aaline words. What does she mean by that? I thought the Virtouse are the ruler of this world?

Soiartze shakes her head, Aaline. "It's better not to talk about this openly. Let's get inside my room first." Soiartze suggested, and Aaline immediately agreed. So, the three of us walk towards Soiartze room.

Soiartze's room is the same size like my room. Actually, all the rooms in here are identical to each other. The only difference there is the design on the inside.

Soiartze has a lot of movie posters and CDs on the rack. There are also papers on the study table. I look at it, and it's a script.

Aaline immediately lay on the bed and roll on it like a child. Soiartze shakes her head and looks at me. "Feel free to sit everywhere." She probably notices my interest in her posters and CDs. "Oh, that. I collected that after I came here. It's the only that makes me happy."

Aaline sits up and looks at the posters. "It's more like. It's the only reason why you are still living in here." Aaline then looks at me. "Soiartze still couldn't get over her idolizing to that actress. I mean, yeah, she's lovely and a great actress but she is also the reason why she is here. I don't understand her."

Soiartze immediately reacts to Aaline words. "Hey! Can you please leave her behind? And it's my personal choice to do so. How about you? Did I ever question you why you always get mad at Earl for no apparent reason?"

Aaline immediately flustered just by the mere mention of Earl's name. I immediately smile. This gal definitely has a thing for Earl but does Earl reciprocate that? I hope so.

"Hey! Can you not mention that jerk? My blood is still boiling every time I remember him. Hmph. He's stupid! Also, we're not here to talk about that useless guy, aren't we?"

Soiartze smirks at Aaline. "Why don't you want to talk about Earl? Tell me, Aaline, do you like him?"

Aaline immediately stands up and throws Soiartze the pillow on the bed. "Can you please not think like that. We all know how useless that guy is."

Soiartze laughs at Aaline. "Okay, okay, chill! I was just teasing you. Why are you overacting?"

Aaline pouts at Soiartze. She then looks at me like she's asking me to side her. I smile at her childish behavior. If I don't know Aaline, I'll mistake her as a teenage girl or probably a child.

Soiartze sits beside Aaline and looks at me. "You're wondering why we cannot tell you everything we know, right?"

I nod my head as a response. I also look for a chair to sit on.

Soiartze and Aaline look at each other for a couple of minutes before they look back at me. Soiartze is the one who explains things to me.

"Ysa, this world is created because of us, lost spirits of the arts. When it was first created, it just sounds like those typical isekai stories where a person transmigrated to a world, and then she uses the identity of someone from that world. All the spirits before do what their characters are supposed to do. They do it without question because all they want is to be the artist they really want to be. Also, unlike us, they have the full control of their body." Soiartze stops and nods at Aaline.

I gasped when I heard the last line. What? They could control their body, unlike us? But how come we cannot?

Soiartze nods her head. "Yes, they have the full control of their body. It's because the Virtouse thought that they wouldn't do something that would affect that plot entirely. And they did. They still stick to the plot. But they didn't expect that someone won't. After this world existed, no one ever strays from their character. At first, the Virtouse thought that it wouldn't do any harm to the spirit of the fictional people's lives, but they are all wrong."

Soiartze smile sadly. "They thought that that spirit would stop what she is doing, but it's already late when they realize that the story changed drastically. When they notice that the spirit and the male lead are in love with each other and the female lead was left on the sideline, the Virtouse got angry. They try to fix everything, but it's already too late before they could even do something. The fictional world collapses, and all the fictional characters living in that world die."

Aaline interrupted Soiartze. "Oh, oh, this is the exciting part is."

Soiartze glared at Aaline. "What's interesting to it? It's the reason why we are stuck in here, and you find it entertaining?"

Aaline just pouts at her and urges her to continue the story. Soiartze shakes her head and continues. "The Virtouse thought that the spirit died, but they are shocked when one day the spirit showed up to this world. The Virtouse tried to bring back the spirit to the real world, but no matter how hard they try they couldn't bring her back. In the end, they just left the spirit lives in here. After that incident, they thought everything's going back to normal. They thought that the spirit is just a one time mistake."

"But what they are wrong again because, after that, many spirits started to rebel. They started to do what they want without even considering about their task or how their characters should act. And the results are drastic. The fictional world, where those spirits live, collapses, and all the spirits showed up in this world. Right that moment, the Virtouse changes the rule in this world. They started to take full control of our character's bodies once we entered the fictional world. They also prohibited us to fall in love with any characters in the story."