After the End

Chapter One: Isekai

Once upon a time, in a (hopefully) imaginary world nowhere near the plane of reality, was a girl named Adelina Sweet, who, as her name obviously suggests, was a kind, loving girl who lived in a village as a commoner in the Kingdom of Irrealis, a peaceful kingdom where beauty and magic were equally as abundant. When Adelina's aunt learns about her incredible magical talent, she is permitted to attend the prestigious Irrealian Royal Academy of Magic. She faces bullies, challenges, and hints of affection from 4 different gentlemen at the academy. With the power of perseverance, friendship, and, of course, prospects of love, she conquers her biggest challenge yet- the fearsome Dominus Tenebrarum, a villainous spirit wishing for revenge on Irrealis for long forgotten actions. After she and her friends (more like lovers) slay the demonic soul, Adelina gets married to her favorite prospect of love and they live happily ever after.

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Pfft, ha ha ha ha ha! Tell me something I haven't heard of before! Isn't that how every fantasy you see works? Oh my god, hah! It's so freaking stupid, I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Of course, it doesn't matter how many times the plot is repeated, personally I would still read or watch it (I know, I am a more disappointing version of the average human, I'm sorry). I guess it's because the familiarity is somewhat... comforting? I don't know, but don't make me explain my personal decisions. I can't even explain them to myself.

Oh yeah! You are probably wondering who I am. Uh, hi! My name is Rosalie Crest, and after dying the most tragic of deaths, I unfortunately reincarnated into the fantasy game I loved as the villainess. Isn't that just awesome? When I reincarnated into Rosalie's 5-year-old self, I went to bed sobbing and crying since I knew my horrifying fate. After approximately 5 minutes of that, I got a firm hold of myself and summoned all the memories of all the isekai animes I had watched as well as all aspects of this game I learned about in my first life. With all the knowledge I had, I was ready. I was ready to go through this game and survive.

And I did! I trained in swordsmanship, increased my magic power through what I'd say mostly ethical ways, and made sure that the heroine didn't do anything that guaranteed fall of the kingdom, annoyed me, hurt me, gets me in jail, annoyed me, annoyed me, annoyed me (I know I said I love this game, but that DOES NOT mean I love the heroine. She honestly reminds me of Y/n, and that horrifies me. I am simply here for the boss fights, side characters, and magic- NOTHING MORE. Nothing more.)

But after surviving the onslaught of things that could have me sliced up into sashimi, I finally made it to an ending where I don't experience unimaginable pain. I may or may not have cheated a little bit, but when it comes to a happy ending, you do what you need to do. And now, tonight is the night where I finally write the epilogue to this story.

It was a quiet and unsuspecting night. The moon hid behind the clouds, ignorant, and the stars seemed invisible.

It's amusing to think how when I first reincarnated, I was so scared for my life, I just knew that the tragic end that was destined for me would finally get me. But I pushed through and used my knowledge of this world to save myself. It worked beautifully.

You know, I always used to think that I wasn't a very intelligent individual, but I guess that intelligence comes in all shapes and sizes- I guess what it took for me to show my intelligence was for me to be put into an environment that I would work well in.

My cloak concealing my face flowed behind me in the soft breeze. Eventually, I found a small clearing, and I tossed aside my shovel and set down my magic lantern, which lit up the surrounding clearing with a soft blue glow. I breathed out- I really hope nobody finds me. I reached into my satchel and pulled out the book that was the reason I made it so far.

Remember when I said how I may or may not have cheated a little bit? Well, this is how I "cheated". This is the Diarium Omniscientis. It was an ancient book that would make anything written in it come true, with absolutely no cost. The problem was that it would only respond to a certain type of language, the language of the world, and apparently, that is not English. Since nobody could use it, it was deemed obsolete and therefore thrown in a dumpster, long forgotten (for some weird reason, they did NOT want to preserve it for a museum or something. But I don't really care- it made my life easier). In the game, the player could find the book in a dumpster in the town market. If they opened it, they would see a note from the creator saying something like "Thanks for playing my game! I really appreciate your support! When was the last time you touched grass? Blah, blah, blah." It was a fun "breaking of the fourth wall", but if you tried to give the book to one of the main love interests in game as a gift, it would say something like "You can't give this to a heroine's love interest!" I always found that weird, considering the fact it was an ancient artifact, and who wouldn't want that? But that was really the least of my worries at the time, I was too busy cursing out Adelina for being the biggest Y/n on the planet. Online, there was a fan theory that the language that was simply a type of coding language- if the book broke the fourth wall, then the language probably should too. When I got my hands onto the book, I played a fun little game of trial and error, which finally led me to discover that the internet was right. Turns out that JavaScript, the one coding language I was a certified expert in, was the secret language (I'm sorry Internet for all the things I have said about you- those things were definitely right, but I am still sorry, since you saved my life)! Using the book, I was able to change my stats to better ones quickly, earn some allies, and make nobody important notice my little shenanigans- and by important, I meant the heroine and her four little minion-like love interests. And the king. And the headmaster of the Irrealian Royal Academy. Some NPCs too, surprisingly! Basically, anyone who had dialogue or sprite art in the original game. You get the gist.

It was extremely easy for me literally ALTER reality, and well, it made me feel kind of omnipotent alongside omniscient.

I had to constantly remind myself that thinking like that can lead to a failure of noticing outliers and the limits of what I can do. Or that someone followed me that night.

I flipped through the pages of the book, seeing all the code I wrote by hand during my time in this body (I'm going to celebrate my 14th reincarnation anniversary in about a month! I always like to have a little slice of tiramisu to celebrate my oh-so-vigorous work for that year) and started to feel a bit nostalgic. I was able to get my hands on the book after sneaking out of the palace at the age of 6 and slipping to find the book in a dumpster, and soon after found a padlock for it so that nobody would try anything. It makes me think of the time when I was a kid in my first life and I was obsessed with learning how to make computer games. I never truly got to fulfill that dream in that life.

I chuckled and murmured to nobody but myself, "Thank you, dear book, for making my life the easiest thing on the planet!" I sigh, and then continue, "Buuuuut now I must make sure no one's grubby and undeserving little hands touch you. Rest in peace, Diarium Omniscientis!"

I grabbed my shovel and was in the middle of stabbing it into the earth's flesh when I heard a voice that gives me something that is the legit equivalent to a heart attack.

"My dear, I didn't know you had the Diarium Omniscientis."

Author's Note: Was that chapter short? I don't know what makes a chapter short but, um, anyways-

Hi guys! Call me Manivak or Kavoii! Thank you for reading the first chapter of After the End! Wow, what a great start, am I right(I bet professional writers are looking at this and shaking their heads.)?

Updates will probably be pretty slow, but I will do my best to stay committed and not leave this story to dust! Also, I'm drawing the cover art myself, so that will be up soon.

And of course, as I am a beginner, constructive criticism is appreciated! Let me know what I can do better and how I can make my writing not taste like unseasoned pasta.

Thank you for coming across this, and have a good day you guys!