#second act if

demo (coming soon).

You die, and when you open your eyes, you’re on the edge of a cliff.

Somehow, the webnovel you were obsessed with in high school is your new reality. You’ve landed in the middle of a civil war, inhabiting the body of the story’s crown mage— the protagonist’s right hand and closest confidant. The mage, you realize, whose shoddily-written death in the middle of the story is what spurs the protagonist into winning the war. But there you are, unharmed on the night of your supposed murder. 

Everything derails from there. Nothing is as it seems, and this story is far more twisted than you had been led to believe. Despite the changes caused by your arrival, you think you still know how to reach the story’s fated ending, and you hold out hope that all you’ll have to do to make it out alive is fight a few little battles with your overpowered magic. 

(The thing is, you’re growing unsure about whether the ending you read is truly a happily ever after.)

Well, one way or another, you’re determined to reach an ending and get home. What kind of ending, and whether it matches destiny’s plans for you— that, you’ll figure out along the way. Good luck; plot armor can’t help you now.

SECOND ACT is meant for mature audiences only, containing themes of war and associated traumas, including but not limited to: violence, death, abuse, mental illness, psychological trauma, morally complex relationships, and self-harm. 

hi there!! (omg the weaver/seamstress nickname is amazing i love it)

are mages able to weave better by utilizing conceptually lower threads to make up for higher concept threads?

the answer to this question is in theory, yes! it’s definitely possible, however it’s much more difficult to do this, just because there are more complexities and moving parts as you move to higher level threads. 

(first though, i’ll clarify that controlling vitae threads is more like controlling a biological process, rather than controlling actual physical matter!)

it would be difficult to control someone’s skeleton via mundane threads because a mage would have to take into account every bone, joint, and muscle that they want to move, and at the same time fight the bodily forces or instincts working against them. using vitae would be easier, as vitae threads are more about triggering bodily processes (so muscle contraction, or a certain reflex, for example).

the same sort of works with your second example of chemicals, though i would say that research or scientific knowledge on these chemicals is generally not very advanced in this world as of yet, so it’s a bit up in the air about how efficient it would be for a mage to attempt this (i’ve got a bit more to say on this, but for brevity’s sake, i’ll leave it to the actual story to demonstrate this, i think!)

Also is there a specific reason or hypothesis regarding the 4th/Karmic(?) Threads that scares the mage tower enough to ban research? Did someone break something by proving they exist?

Also, I just wandering why the protagonist (mc’s best friend) is not an RO? Is it because they’re already have someone they like?

thank you for the well-wishes, anon!

the protagonist (the prince, now king,) is currently not an RO because i have certain plans for him! i'm currently toying with the idea of making him a secondary RO, meaning that you can get pretty close to him (much closer than other non-romanceable characters), but his ending in the story will not be affected by your actions, at least with respect to the romance.

hello anon thank you so so much for your interest! i haven’t seen other IFs like these so i decided to just go and write it myself :))

gave some fun facts in a previous ask and decided to use this opportunity to talk about the setting a little bit!

the setting of the novel itself is a little hand-wavey medieval-ish, in the way most transmigration novels are. (if you’re aware of ace attorney’s ‘japanifornia’ location, i would say it’s something like that but centuries in the past, korean-european.)

the novel takes place in the nation of Gwynhae, a holy kingdom run by its royalty and backed by the Seraphian Church. currently sitting on the throne is the newly crowned king (and original novel protagonist)! just a year ago, Gwynhae successfully took down the barbarian tribes (whose territories were also known as the Driftlands) after a long-standing war. Gwynhae seems to be recovering well, though from your meta-knowledge, you know that various challenges are soon approaching this idyllic land.

magic in this world, also known as Threadwork, is a highly-coveted power. some are blessed with the ability to see the Weave– the fabric that binds reality together– and even fewer are blessed with the skill and strength to manipulate these threads. the Mage Tower of Gwynhae is the best place to go to learn about Threadwork, and is where the crown mage grew up!

there are three main types of threads, each of which is increasingly more difficult and costly to manipulate: mundane threads (matter and physical elements), vitae threads (living things and biological processes), and cognis threads (emotions, perception, the mind). there is research being done into the fourth layer of the Weave– the threads of fate and causality– but this is considered taboo, and is strictly forbidden by the Mage Tower.

hey anon!! sorry this took me so long, life unfortunately got in the way TT thank you for the kind words! on that first question... well, mc and kaina definitely already have an established dynamic in the initial novel, but you'll be discovering more about that in the story itself when you're dropped into mc's body, so just wait a little and see! ;) now, for the fun facts! i’ll refrain from making this too spoilery, at least before the demo is out, but i hope these satisfy your curiosity a bit! throwing in the other ROs too :>

AVELIENNEKA

she loves sweets, especially anything intensely sugary and rich. the more tooth-rotting, the better.

she always wears her dark hair in pretty, intricate updos, with a myriad of different accessories and ribbons in it each time. you’ve never seen it down; all that thick hair must be heavy.

KAINA

she maintains a large and extensive garden. surprisingly, this is something she doesn’t leave to the servants to take care of. daisies are her favorites.

she can mix a mean cocktail; her concoctions are very popular at parties and balls. she’s not much of a drinker, though.

HAISEN

he’s a very skilled musician. he used to play the lute, in his free time. it’s a shame he won’t be able to do that again for a while.

he used to spend so much time in the sun that his hair would lighten. it’s grown out by now, but you can still see some golden strands and ends if you look closely.

ISORIN

his excellent memory makes him a good card counter. he’s not very skilled at the actual card games, unless he cheats. which he does, often. he hasn’t been caught (yet).

hi, there isn’t a definite length yet, but i’ve outlined around ten chapters!

lol you’re right, in a way!

don’t worry, mc will be the protagonist of this story.

this is such a creative idea will be eating ts up when its released. what inspired this project?

thank you so much for your support!