my heroine refuses to let me be reborn. If I haven't finished my novel

"Yue Fangxian" is the pen name of Lanling.

In the past, Lanling was just a young girl with dreams. Though she never aspired to be a famous singer or celebrity, she still wished to shine like a star at least once in her life—as a bestselling author with a devoted following, just like the writers she admired.

Lanling had nurtured this dream since middle school. She loved imagining magical worlds and would jot them down in her notebook whenever inspiration struck. However, at the time, she lacked the maturity to see a story through. She would write a few chapters, then abandon them to start something new, partly out of boredom and partly because of discouraging comments that drained her motivation.

"The story drags on and is boring."

"Is this all you can write? Just quit already!"

These were just a few of the comments she received, leading to a cycle of writing and quitting for years. Sometimes, she would write only two or three chapters, just enough to receive some praise and feel good momentarily, before stopping again. Her journey as a (beginner) writer went in circles—like a rubber duck endlessly floating around in a bathtub.

Then, one day, at the age of seventeen, she stumbled upon a reincarnation novel with a semi-harem theme. It reignited her passion, inspiring her to start writing again after months of inactivity.

"Reborn as a Purple-Haired Mage?!"—that was the temporary title of her new novel. It told the story of a young woman who died in the modern world and was reborn in another, becoming Cheripha Marielle, an orphaned slave with an extraordinary talent for magic.

By a twist of fate, Cheripha was admitted to Wrightheart Academy, the most prestigious magic school in the kingdom of Saga.

Through her adventures, she not only became one of the greatest mages but also found herself entangled in relationships with many handsome men.

Of course, it was a heartwarming, passionate, and dramatic love story, with some scenes being intensely romantic—enough to be rated 18+. Yet, at that time, Lanling hadn't decided on a final love interest, as she had crafted multiple compelling options for readers to ship.

This novel gained more popularity than any of her previous works, allowing her to reach an impressive sixty chapters. After nearly a year of writing, she finally felt that she might achieve her dream.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Her father fell into credit card debt and mortgaged their home, forcing Lanling to put her novel on hold to take on part-time jobs while keeping up with her studies. This happened just as the story was reaching a major climax.

Once she entered university, she could only write in small bits and pieces. By the time she entered the workforce, she had stopped writing altogether.

While financial burdens were one reason for her hiatus, there were other factors as well.

Ever since "Reborn as a Purple-Haired Mage?!" was left unfinished, die-hard fans had continued to ask about it and request updates. Lanling once jokingly wondered if, after her death, she would be hounded by readers in the afterlife, demanding she finish the story.

However, the reality was even stranger than she expected.

The one demanding an ending wasn't a reader—but the heroine of the novel herself, standing before her, urging the author to finish the story!

'Someone, please tell me this is just a dream…' Lanling thought, her eyes filled with disbelief as she read Cheripha's declaration. 'Dear God! You can't just have the heroine of my novel come and demand updates from the author like this!!!'

"Finally! You remember now, huh?" Cheripha stood before her, her cute face twisted into a frown. "Let me make this clear: I will never let you reincarnate. Yue Fangxian, your soul will remain here for eternity as punishment for what you did… to all of us."

"Y-You're just characters…" Lanling, kneeling on the ground, stammered half in disbelief. But Cheripha look down at her in anger. The small figure crossed her arms, resting one foot on its toes, her right index finger tapping against her arm in irritation.

"Oh, so you created us, and then just abandoned us like this?! Huh?!" Cheripha snapped, standing tall and fearless before her creator. "Isn't that cruel? Bringing us into existence only to discard us—how is that any different from throwing your own child into the trash?! Oh, but of course! If you wrote us in a notebook, one day that notebook would end up in the garbage. If you wrote us on a computer, the moment it breaks, we'd be torn apart and scrapped like junk, wouldn't we?"

"But I usually keep everything on a flash drive!" Lanling quickly defended herself. "Or save them in cloud storage!"

"And what if it gets lost? Or hacked? Have you ever considered that possibility?" Cheripha shot back. "How many times has your goldfish memory and clumsy habits already made things disappear?" At that, Lanling flinched—she couldn't deny it. It was all true. "And another thing, you have a terrible habit of procrastinating."

That last statement hit too close to home. Lanling could only swallow hard, sigh, and negotiate. "Fine. What do you want? What do I have to do to reincarnate?"

"This dimension was created from the desires of the characters in your novels—the ones who longed to exist and live. They forged this place to imprison you here forever, so you could suffer the same pain we endured."

With that, Cheripha snapped her fingers. Behind her, the shadows of countless characters began to appear.

Each one stared at Lanling with a mix of resentment and sorrow. Some of them—characters she had written—were even crying, their voices echoing through the void. But Cheripha remained firm, her voice sharp and unwavering.

"If you refuse to let us be born… or if you bring us into existence only to abandon us… then we will do the same to you."

The characters standing behind Cheripha were mostly featureless black figures, resembling dark smoke molded into humanoid shapes. Some were solid and well-defined, while others were so faint they were barely visible, as if they might disappear at any moment.

Lanling noticed that none of them were as clear and detailed as Cheripha. She figured it was because those dark figures were from stories she had barely started—just a few chapters in—so they lacked a fully formed appearance or personality. The ones from stories where she had written only a prologue were nothing more than faint shadows, like mist ready to fade away.

The only ones with even a little color were from stories where she had managed to push through twenty or thirty chapters, like Cheripha. But even then, the splashes of color were few compared to the overwhelming darkness.

And when she looked at the sheer number of characters surrounding her from above… it wasn't just in the hundreds—it was nearly in the thousands!

"These are all the characters you've created across forty-seven different stories. Not a single one of them finished. As for the number of characters you've personally written… so far, there are nine hundred and sixty-seven of us."

Cheripha's eyes glimmered with sadness as she turned back toward the shadowy figures. She whispered something too soft for Lanling to hear, and slowly, the hostility in their gazes faded. With another snap of her fingers, they began to vanish.

"But if you complete just one story—'Reborn as a Purple-Haired Mage'—then we will all let you go," Cheripha declared before pausing for a moment.

"As the character with the most developed story and the greatest power in this place, I, Cheripha Marielle, have made a deal with the others. They have agreed to give up their own stories so that mine can be completed. In return, we will all release you to be reborn."

With those words, she snapped her fingers once again. This time, a small table appeared between them, along with a high-backed chair for Cheripha and a plush purple sofa for Lanling. On the square table sat a sheet of parchment and a quill pen.

"In order to make things fair for both sides… Why don't we draft a contract, dear author Yue Fangxian?"

Cheripha spoke as she gracefully took her seat in a luxurious wooden chair draped with soft furs. She crossed one leg over the other, rested her elbow on the armrest, and leaned her face into her palm like a true queen.

Cheripha's silver eyes gleamed with the sharpness of a seasoned negotiator—someone who knew she held the upper hand.

"Before we get into the serious negotiations, let me lay down the first rule of our agreement," Cheripha said with a knowing smile.

"I want… a happy ending. Nothing less."

Cheripha smiled brightly, but Lanling was visibly sweating, only able to force a smile before using her hands to push herself down onto the sofa that had been conjured up, with no choice but to do so. It seemed that, as a writer, she alone wouldn't be able to handle the desires of all nine hundred and sixty-seven characters, especially now that the pen was no longer in her hand.

'Damn it, is there no space for a cutting story to end this?' Lanling thought in frustration, sighing secretly before continuing, "…I don't want to write an open-ended or bad ending either, Cherifa, if possible."

"It's possible," Cheripha said. "Because that's what we want, and deep down, you want it too."

The young famale with black hair hesitated for a moment before slowly sitting down on the purple sofa. Lanling remembered that it was her favorite sofa at home. Her delicate hands absentmindedly brushed against its softness, as if lost in thought.

After a brief moment, her hand stopped, and Lanling looked back at Cheripha and spoke up.

"Alright, Cheripha, as both a writer and a character... let's start drafting the contract, shall we?"

No one knew how long it had been, as there was no sense of time in this dimension. Around her, everything was white, and the doorway to another realm shone with the usual iridescent white light. Of course, an invisible wall was still there, blocking the way as always.

Lanling was still sitting on a chair with a small table placed between her and Cherifa, surrounded by characters who acted as witnesses to the agreement regarding the continuation of the story that had been left unfinished, as well as the rebirth of the writer who had created them.

On Lanling's left, there was a coffee cup with a familiar scent emanating from it, reminding her of the little café she liked. Beside it, there was a small child-like character, a shadowy figure almost translucent and so clear that their true gender couldn't be identified.

The small figure stood there, almost starring, if it had eyes that seemed to shine like glass, scrutinizing Lanling, as if assessing whether she wanted anything more.

Despite feeling somewhat hesitant due to the suddenness of the situation, Lanling eventually spoke up. "Go rest."

The little figure nodded eagerly before running back to join the other shadowy forms.

Once the figure had run off, Lanling turned back to Cherifa and continued their conversation.

Some time passed, and finally, the two of them completed their agreement. Cherifa signed the paper, leaving a fingerprint on it, then pushed it toward Lanling.

The young woman read through the agreement again before signing it, just like Cherifa had done.

The ink on the paper sparkled with golden hues, running down the lines from top to bottom. The first term of the agreement read, "First Agreement: Happy Ending," followed by a rather long list of terms, which made the young woman smile awkwardly.

However, Lanling could only sigh at the agreement.