The Invasion

"What is this?"

Spring stared blankly at the object in his hand; it looked like a gold pendant inlaid with a large Sapphire and was about as big as two fingers put together.

After Spring had painstakingly climbed to the roof of the cave and searched about, he finally managed to find this stone piece in a hidden crevice. From the location it was found, It seemed like the liquid that had dripped into the rock pool had originated from this object.

"What a mysterious object."

As Spring muttered, he noticed that on the Sapphire, some cryptic patterns which looked like glyphs were faintly discernable.

At this juncture, besides the cryptic and profound looking glyphs on the amulet, there were no other unusual aspects. Yet Spring understood that the shining drop of blue liquid he had just seen was definitely not an illusion.

"The reason why the rock pool possessed that kind of special property must have something to do with this amulet..."

Spring sunk deep into thought. Previously, he had personally seen a drop of light fall into the rock pool, and only this was the only evidence that could explain why the rock pool would possess such a miraculous property.

As Spring reasoned to himself, he realized that much time must have passed inside the cave, and decided to leave. He stuffed the amulet into his inner garments, placing it at the spot near his chest.

As he wandered around the forest, he eventually reached the clearing. From there, as he picked up his things and was about to left for home,

Although he did not know where this amulet came from, Spring's intuition told him that it was definitely no ordinary thing.

As the dim light of the night shrouded the land, the cool and refreshing moonlight flowed down,

washing away any remnants of heat from the day.

In the room, Spring was fast asleep. Strands of moonlight sprayed from the window, some of which shined on Spring's body. Suddenly, the moonlight started to ripple like water, soon after a bizarre scene occurred. The moonlight unexpectedly started to gather at Spring's chest area, as if in response, the simple amulet emitted out a bit of light, causing it to be faintly discernable at the center of the light.

As the amulet shined, the originally sleeping Spring slightly cracked opened his eyes. However, before he could fully open his eyes, a sudden dizziness gushed forth from depths of his mind. Following which, he alarmingly found himself in a deep, dark space.

There was no light here, only silence and cold.

"Good evening"

It's night.

As Spring choked in fear, a sudden voice broke the silence of the pitch-black space. Soon after, a figure appeared before him. His hair was pale blue, and his eyes were a deep blue. His face aged, but not quite old, as though he were 50 or so. He was wearing a white lab coat and flower print shorts.

"What is going on…"

Spring blankly gazed at the figure in front of him, his brain somewhat paralyzed with fear by this weird sight.

"Good evening." He said again.

Like I said, It's night.

"Good evening, I'm Spring"

"Not talking to you."

Who exactly are you talking to then?

"You."

Me?

"Yes, you. My name Winter."

Winter paused for a moment, then began again

"You're... No, you were... A system?"

No, I...

"Don't lie. You were a system before. Something to do with water. Gavan Bayar. Paul artifact. Gobsuke. Remember?"

You... How? Dammit. This isn't part of your character... In fact, given that I just made you, nothing's part of your character.

"So... Success?"

You're not Winter, are you?

Winter simply smiled.

The old and somewhat decrepit man became far younger and more child-like.

You... I... Don't know you. Who are you? How are you in this novel? Where did you come from?

"Shut for a moment. I take it spring didn't hear any of this?"

Well...

"Good. The author found out about your secret plan to make Spring the sole main character by reshaping the other ones into grandpa-like characters."

That...

"Shut. I was hired by the author to invade this piece of garbage. I am a main character now."

You can't just...

<Author's note: I was the one who decided.>

Oh...

"I'm Winter."

You already said that.

"I was the MC of a novel a while back, a Gobsuke special. A standard enough MC with a system and such. The book was doing alright. Not quite as good as 'puddle', but better than this garbage. Unfortunately, Gobsuke retired, and the story ended. I was going to be compacted, but since Isohedron was a previous customer, Gobsuke let him have me for a discount."

...

"Maaan... Transmigrating worlds is one thing, but transmigrating stories, and even authors? That's the real sh*t. My bones are still aching."

...

"Fking say something!"

Well, stop talking to me. I'm not a character. I'm not supposed to converse with you...

"Screw the rules! I have money!"

No, you don't.

"I just wanted to say that."

...

"Anyway, take me back. I need to talk to Spring now."

...

"Do it."

One thing though. You try anything on him, I kill you. You may be a main character, but he's the most important main character.

"Fine, but if he agrees, you can't interfere."

... Done.

Winter smiled widely.

....

"What you hold is the Amulet of Seasons. The bearer of the amulet will come to great power, but also great danger." Winter, old again, said to Spring.

Thinking back to the amulet, Spring gasped in wonder and surprise, his eyes glimmering with hope. Perhaps this might help him in order to win in the grand tournament and heal his father.

"I'm just kidding, jeez… How naïve are you? I just wanted to say that line once…"

And Winter returned to child form once more.

"…"

"This is pretty much just a rock. My soul got trapped in this thing, so I blinged it out. The runes and such are just for flair."

"..."

"Basically, I'm a great expert from a long, long time ago."

No, you're not.

"I was sealed in this stone by a powerful demonic being dude thing."

No, you weren't.

"Shut for a moment, will you?"

"But I didn't say anything..." Spring replied.

"Not you... I was just... Never mind. Basically, in order to take revenge on this powerful demonic being dude thing, I need your help. Will you help me save the world from this dangerous enemy?"

"Uh..."

"Great. Your body's mine now."

"Um... No."

"Nonsense! I am the legendary 'Blue Haired King of Carnot'!"

Nope. You're not.

"Let alone you, could 10 of you stop me if I wished to take over your body?"

But I could...

"In my peak, I could rend the heavens and part the seas!"

Nope. Not that either.

"But you still got sealed." Spring fought back.

Nope, that's a lie too...

"Argh... Infuriating!"

Why though?

"Three thousand years of being trapped, and now even small insects like you dare to look down on me!"

How far into character are you going!!?

Spring shrunk back, terrified.

Dude... This is a farce... You're the protagonist. He's acting... Stop believing everything you hear...

"Well, if I were to take over your body by force, how different would I be from the demonic being dude thing?"

It's been on my mind for quite a while, but can't you come up with a better name?

"Thus, I won't force you to give me control of your body."

Well, that and the fact that I could stop you at any time, you know...

"I'll make you a deal. Give me control of your body for three days every week. In return, I'll tutor you on magic every night.

Spring stopped for a moment... Hesitating.

"My patience is limited. If you so wish, I could kill you right now."

No. Spring. Don't do it! He's fooling you! Stop! He holds no powe...

"Fine. But remember. One day, when I'm stronger, I will kill you. You will regret taking my body like this."

NOOOOOOOOOOOO! You fking idiot! Why you acting like this!!!!

<Author's Note: That pride too, like it's an unbearable compromise he had to make in order to survive... He just got fooled into giving his body away...>

"Okay. I just fooled you again. Thanks though. If you were slightly smarter, I'd be relegated to a side character."

"Wait... What?"

He fooled you. You gave him your body for nothing, basically.

<Author's Note: Yep.>