I became a victim in a mystery novel - chapter 1 "This Can't Be Happening (1)"

Episode 1:

This Can’t Be Happening (1)

This can’t be happening.

When I saw the small pool of blood spreading out in a circle beneath the man’s broken head, the first thought that crossed my mind was this.

This can’t be happening.

Of course, no one would look at a corpse and think, “This is fine.” But in my case, it was truly, truly special.

This man is someone who absolutely cannot die here and now.

In a situation where a corpse lay before me, my thoughts were a jumbled mess, swirling in my mind like a video being played backward, recalling everything that had just happened.

Until I woke up, I had no connection to this place at all.

To cut to the chase, I am currently inside a novel. It may sound absurd, but it’s true. More precisely, I’m in the third work of the Detective Will Hunt series titled “The Tragedy of the Milne Family,” a mystery novel serialized online.

And I was just an ordinary reader who loved mystery novels. The mystery genre wasn’t particularly popular among web novels, but the Will Hunt series has quite a few fans and a decent level of recognition. That’s why there have been three installments in the series, not to mention a recent sequel that makes it four.

“The Tragedy of the Milne Family” had just concluded, so I took the opportunity to binge-read it all. The tricks weren’t particularly surprising, and the culprit was exactly who I expected, but the serial murders occurring in sync with the lyrics of a song were quite thrilling.

After staying up late to finish the mystery novel, I fell asleep and woke up in a room I had never seen before. There was no time to be surprised by the unfamiliar surroundings. The reflection of my face in a small mirror on the wall was also not what I was used to seeing—curly blonde hair and green eyes—this was a completely different ethnicity.

I was dressed in a stiff, black dress with a crisp white apron, a maid’s outfit, which I vaguely recognized. In the next moment, information about myself surged into my mind like a fountain: my name was Lena Brown, I was twenty years old, I worked as a maid in this mansion, what my duties were, and who I was friendly with.

Amidst all this, a strange voice echoed in my head. It wasn’t a sound from outside. The voice was clearly resonating within my mind.

“What nonsense is this? Who are you?”

In my confusion, I blurted out a question without thinking. However, the voice in my head whispered calmly, as if it were no big deal.

<There’s no need for a long explanation, so I’ll get straight to the point. You’re inside the mystery novel “The Tragedy of the Milne Family.”>

“Huh?”

“So you’re saying you’re the author? Wait a moment, what was the name of that author again?”

<No, it’s more complicated than that. The author of that novel only wrote a few obscure mystery novels in your world. But once a novel is completed, another world based on it is born in this vast universe. In that newly created world, the author becomes a god. I became the god of this world that way.

I was taken aback by this ridiculous explanation but somehow found myself accepting it. The voice in my head might have been a god, controlling my thoughts.

“I don’t know if you’re a god or what, but you’re saying this is a novel?”

<Exactly. I brought you here because I need your help. I’m a god in this world, and what I set up here will unfold as I planned.

“Wait! So you’re saying I’ve fallen into the world of a novel like a character? No, is this possession of a book? But what’s the difference between those two?”

In my confusion, I was distracted by something that didn’t matter, and the god’s voice rang out again.

People get transported to another world after being hit by a truck, falling off a roof, drowning, or waking up after being killed. It’s common to end up in another world without any explanation.

I calculated that the chances of ending up in another world are higher than winning the fifth prize in the lottery and slightly lower than the fourth.

“Then can’t you just make me win the lottery instead?”

<I wish that could happen to me in your world. Anyway, the reason I brought you here is…

Ignoring my chaotic feelings, the god continued calmly.

<Other gods looked at the world I created and laughed at it.

“So, other authors read the novel and gave it bad reviews.”

<It’s a bit different, but explaining it would be complicated, so let’s leave it at that. Anyway, I decided to turn the world upside down in a fit of rage.

“Are you saying the world is going to end for such a ridiculous reason?”

<No, I’m not planning to destroy this world. I just want to change a few settings. At least I don’t want to hear other gods say, ‘The events are predictable, the solutions are too obvious, and the situations themselves are boring.’>

“With that level of chaos, I don’t think changing a few settings will solve anything.”

I didn’t mean to argue back at such a time, but perhaps because I was in such an absurd situation, I couldn’t help but respond. However, the god seemed unconcerned.

<So I chose you as the person who understands my world best.

It turned out that I understood the contents of this novel the best, having binge-read it in my spare time. Now that I think about it, this was a truly unpopular novel.

<Editing the text is incredibly tedious… No, once a world is created, it tends to move on its own. So I’ll leave it to you, the character. Lead the flow of events in a different direction. Any form will do. It just has to differ from the original content. At least you won’t hear complaints like ‘It’s clichéd; the style is always the same.’

“I don’t even know how I’m supposed to do that.”

<As you know, this is a mystery novel. Catch the culprit. Solve the case. That’s all you have to do. If a new story is created, I’ll reward you by resetting your character. Do you want to be incredibly wealthy? Have the best looks in the world? Anything is possible. I’ll send you back to your world with a new setting.

“Deal!”

Looking back now, I can’t understand how I accepted such a ridiculous proposal in such a bizarre situation. But I was in a daze after being suddenly pulled into a strange world, and since the other party was a god of this world, I might not have had a choice.

With that, the voice vanished without waiting for my response. It felt like a phone call had been disconnected. There was a strong sense of relief in having the burden passed on to someone else, but now there was nothing I could do.