Wait, System! Stop Helping The Protagonist!

"Ahhhhhh! Help me!" A scream echoed inside a house made of stones and woods.

"What the-?" The man named Ashton, who just screamed, snapped out of his senses and looked at his surroundings.

The walls were made of rough limestone with a wooden pillar supporting the roof. There were many holes in the ceiling letting the sunlight pass through. A damp smell wafting through the air.

"Where am I? Wasn’t I burning inside a library?" Ashton questioned himself.

Ashton was inside a library, trying to finish reading his new favourite series. Just as he was about to begin reading the last arc, all of a sudden the fire alarm rang, descending the quiet library into chaos. When he tried to escape, one of the bookshelves to his right side collapsed on him. Resulting in his right arm dislocating and breaking back. He could hear the scrambled footsteps around him.

Ashton cried for help but no one answered him. Yet he didn’t lose hope. He screamed to the top of his lungs, facing the same outcome, just like he did for the rest of his life.

When the churning fire rushed towards him, consuming the works of intellectual humankind, he eventually let out one last shout, still hoping for someone to save him.

Then, just as the fire was about to gallop through him, his vision blanked. The next thing he saw was his current environment.

Ashton looked at his hands that still trembled from fright. "Did I wake up from a nightmare? But... Why did it feel so real?"

’Am I inside a resort or a prop house?’ Ashton wondered as he got out of the bed. He decided to go outside to see where he was.

However, the moment he opened the door, the scene in front of him left him speechless.

The next second, he laughed to himself. "How did I end up in the middle of a shooting set?"

Ashton felt like he was under a mass illusion. He was sometimes reading, dying, screaming or even shooting for a movie!

’Did I drink too much? Look at my tattered clothes and torn shoes. I actually look like a medieval peasant. The costume designer for this series might be a goat in the industry.’

Ashton grabbed a passerby woman and asked. "Miss, can you tell me which movie or TV series is currently filmed?"

Followed by his murmurs. "How did I end up here? Was I really dreaming? But when did I also begin my acting career?"

"Someone help! I got caught by a cursed one! This man is cursed! Please, call the Knights!" All of a sudden the man heard the woman frantically shouting and asking for help.

Ashton was bewildered. "Umm... miss. Can you get out of your role for a second? I am genuinely asking, Which movie am I in?"

Step! Step!

Metal footsteps entered the man’s ears. Turning his head to his right, he saw two behemoths in silver armor walking towards him.

"Holy shit! The props are too realistic." Ashton became amazed. He began to wonder which big-budget movie he was in.

The knights with visible golden energy enveloping them spared a glance at Ashton, which made his heart almost leap out of his chest.

’Which actor is this? He even has an aura around him.’

"Miss, what happened?" One of the knights asked the terrified woman.

"Sir, this man all of a sudden touched my shoulder and started asking about weird things. Things like movies, TV, sets and stuff. Then he started murmuring silently. Sir, this man is a cursed being. He might be a heretic." The woman stood behind the knight and glared at the man.

The crowd that formed around them also echoed the same sentiment.

"Yes, I also saw him saying that."

"I think this movie is a new cult. I heard from my friend’s twelfth son’s wife that in their town they already have three new cults emerging and the baron can’t do anything about it."

"It is our sin to be born in these troubled times. I pray the Great Lord Above saves us. Praise the sun!"

"Praise the sun!"

"Praise the sun!"

Ashton’s eyes widened in disbelief hearing that chant. Because he was too familiar with that phrase. The desolate land, a golden tree illuminating the world, a starry sky bearing gazes of outer gods, and grotesque and majestic beings roaming and resting in their thrones filled his mind.

’No, that world doesn’t have normal people like this. There is only one other world that took that phrase for reference!’ Ashton’s eyes widened in realisation when he thought of the book that kept him entertained every day. ’It is the book that I have been reading whenever I could. The Sanctuary of Blemished Divines.’

It is also the book he read before dying inside the dream. Or... was it a dream to begin with?

’Don’t tell me I transmigrated inside the book.’ Ashton began to doubt his own conclusion. He had read about this type of thing happening in fantasy stories and in much online literature. But to think it happened to him was something he didn’t want. He liked this book; its story, worldbuilding and characters deeply captivated him. However, this was also the reason he didn’t want to be reborn in this book.

Because aside from the protagonist group, everyone in this world had a sad ending. Just thinking of what happens after they leave this world makes his heart throb.

To prove his conjecture, he asked the knight before him. "Sir, my family just died and I just awoke from a nightmare, so I was confused. Sorry for touching you, lady."

Ashton bowed his head with a solemn expression. Seeing this, the knights softened a little, and the lady also decided to let it go.

"Good that you are self-conscious. Be careful from now on." Saying that the knights decided to leave.

However, their footsteps halted when Ashton asked something.

"Is the Great Knight of Arania alive?"

The knights who had softened became tense again. One could feel visible killing intent radiating from them and not just the knights but the pedestrians too. They all looked at Ashton with a hostile gaze.

Ashton’s pupil shrank as he knew he got his answer. ’I actually transmigrated inside the book!’