"There is a strange spell in your world, using books as the medium for travel. Anywhere, form places, dimensions, into the past or the future, but it's more than that."

"Whatever you do in those books will change them forever. And you can only dive into the same book once — well, not you, anyone. The spell won't trigger twice." Aratsuki explains.

At least, this does sound like an explanation that could pass in a fantasy novel, but not here.

She wants me to believe this bullshit?

I mean, I had stranger logic in some dreams before.

"The real world doesn't have magic. It only exists in fantasies and dreams. And even if it was real, I'm not a wizard."

My protest earns a few nods from the other anime girls.

"Yeah, if someone could pull it off, that's you, Aratsuki. I always suspected you had some magic in your blood, but this random guy?" The friendly rival character interjects, and I have to agree.

"No, that spell doesn't exist in our manga, I couldn't trigger it even if I wanted." The protagonist shakes her head.

But rather than convincing everyone, she drops the biggest bomb on them.

"What's a manga?" The Captain asks, looking as confused as the others.

Yeah. They're characters from a fantasy story, so it makes sense that they're unaware of it.

Even if they gained sentience and went off script, they'd think their world is real, and they are real.

So how does Aratsuki even know what a manga is and that they're all part of one?

"You mean to tell us, we're not real, and this average guy is?"

Ouch. But it's a good point.

What is real then? The Greeks?

Is this a history book or a mythical story someone made up?

"How do you know we aren't real if you're one of us?" The Captain asks the real questions, and a vague memory pops into my head.

The librarian or whatever. The girl behind the counter.

"She's not one of you," I claim with confidence.

While my brain is foggy with thoughts of Odysseus and Max mixing inside, this all makes sense.

"She came from my world."

"No, I did not. I'm, Nestor. I mean, Aratsuki, the Princess Knight." She protests, blushing harder than I've ever seen in the anime.

Something's off, I can't believe her.

"We're going off the rails here." The Captain slams her hand into the ground, making the earth shake below us. "You said something about an Anchor and a way to return home from here."

"Right." Aratsuki takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

What was so upsetting about what I said?

Through the hazy memories, I can see her standing behind the counter.

But then, she's also a manga character.

Which one is it? How would she know she's a fantasy character if she was one?

And how does she know about this Dive thing, if she didn't do it?

"Okay, listen, Odysseus. You are our Anchor, like it or not. You came to this world and somehow dragged us with you, but only you can change things and let us out."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"I'm not Odysseus," I interject when she pauses, but her glare stops me short of a proper introduction.

She takes another deep breath before continuing.

"You are Odysseus, that's the character in the book you took over. And I'm Nestor, not Aratsuki. She's Achilleus, you are Agamemnon, and you should have their memories too."

"Yeah. It feels like I should be mad at the Captain, even though we were always friends."

The rival notes, pondering.

"She stole my slave. A girl. And I refused to fight until—"

"It's not important now." The Princess Knight shuts her up, looking around.

"Whether we rewrite the book or not, the only way out is reaching the trigger, set by the Anchor."

"I didn't set anything, I'm still not the one who did this." My protests fall on deaf ears now.

She can be rather convincing, and her fellow anime waifus believe her before they believe me.

"You told me Odysseus wanted to return home and it's only possible if this war ends. Once that happens, we can also return to our world, but if you die, we'll be stuck here forever."

"Oh, that's bad news." The Captain — Agamemnon notes.

"I don't know how much you saw from the frontlines, but if we didn't intervene, it would have collapsed already."

"It's fine, they couldn't as much as put a scratch on me. We alone could turn the tides of the war, and it looks like fun." The rival — Achilleus punches into her hand, looking eager to fight.

"No, since we're here, I'm sure our enemies from the manga will show up on the Trojan side too."

Mentioning the word 'manga' causes chaos again, before Aratsuki calms them down.

"We don't have to win though. In that book, our side lost, and the Greek survivors returned home. That could also clear the trigger, we only have to ensure we all survive."

"That's a coward's plan." Achilleus challenges her, their rivalry sending sparks across the camp.

I never liked her character, but I agree. It takes all my courage to speak up though.

"Y-you said I can change the outcome of the book."

All eyes turn on me again, and Aratsuki's cold gray glance especially makes me shiver.

"There must be a reason we're on this side."

"We should try to win," I claim, and this earns some sympathy from the warrior waifus.

Not from the Princess Knight though, she's about to claw her face in annoyance.

"Were you listening? I said the evil characters from our story must be on the enemy team to balance things out, and we're losing already. The best we can do is escape with our lives."

"See, this is how I know, you aren't the real Aratsuki." I challenge her, earning another death stare.

"My greatest hero would never give up, hoping for a safe escape."