Higher Level / Lower Level Explained

This post aims to explain what the FL means when she talks about the SML possibly being at a "higher level" or trying to figure out what "level" the SML is at. 

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TL;DR - In the real modern world, the FL skimmed a transmigration novel about a fictional girl who transmigrated from a fictional modern world into a historical novel (a novel-within-a-novel). Then the FL transmigrated from the real modern world into the transmigration novel she skimmed. The FL thought her own story might also be a transmigration novel and that the SML might be from the *actual* real world and might've read her novel (a novel-within-a-novel-within-a-novel) before transmigrating into it, which would give him a big information advantage and put him on a higher level than her. If that speculation turned out to be wrong, then the FL would be on the highest level. 

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The Synopsis of The Devil's Beloved Consort

Recall the synopsis for The Devil's Beloved Consort at the very beginning of the drama. It said that it was a transmigration novel (Transmigration Novel B) about a girl who read a historical novel (Historical Novel A) and then transmigrated into that historical novel. Transmigration Novel B exists and can be read by people in the real world of the FL (the real world of Story C), and in that real world the FL is asked to edit the transmigration novel (Transmigration Novel B).

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A Novel-within-a-Novel-within-a-Novel

Historical Novel A (A Thousand Trees Blossoming at Night in the East) - A historical novel. In the original version of this historical novel, Xie Yong Er is only a cannon-fodder character.

Transmigration Novel B (The Devil's Beloved Consort) - A transmigration novel that tells the story of a girl from a fictional version of the real world (where "City A" is the capital of the fictional country that this protagonist is from) who reads Historical Novel A. After reading Historical Novel A, this girl is transmigrated into Historical Novel A, takes over the character Xie Yong Er, and changes the events of the historical timeline so that Xie Yong Er becomes the main character.

Story C (How Dare You) - In the TRUE “real world”, the FL is tasked with editing Transmigration Novel B. She skims Transmigration Novel B (which covers the events of Historical Novel A and how the transmigrator female protagonist changed them), is transmigrated into Transmigration Novel B, takes over the character Yu Wan Yin, meets two other transmigrators, and changes the events of the historical novel so that Yu Wan Yin becomes the main character and Xie Yong Er is sidelined into being a secondary female character.

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Multiple Worlds, Multiple Timelines

So there are at least two “real worlds”. There is the seemingly TRUE “real world” of Story C that the FL is from before she transmigrates, and there is the definitely-fictional “real world” of Transmigration Novel B, which is the fictional “real world” that the transmigrator from Transmigration Novel B is originally from before she transmigrates. In that fictional "real world", the girl who becomes Xie Yong Er in the story originally lived in "City A", the fictional capital of her fictional country in the fictional "real, modern world" where she lived before she transmigrated into Historical Novel A.

And there are three versions of the same historical novel world events.
--The original version of these events is told in Historical Novel A.
--A modified version (influenced by one transmigrator) is told in Transmigration Novel B.
--A different modified version (influenced by at least three transmigrators) is unfolding in Story C.

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Levels

The FL has skimmed Transmigration Novel B, so she knows that the transmigrator who took over Xie Yong Er came from a fictional “real world”, which is described in that novel. The FL assumes that the “real world” that she (the FL) came from is actually real, but she acknowledges that it is possible that her “real world” might *also* be fictional. There could be a novel-within-a-novel-within-a-novel setup so that Historical Novel A exists in Transmigration Novel B which exists in a separate novel that tells Story C (so… Hypothetical Novel C) and that Hypothetical Novel C could exist in a world that was actually real. In that scenario, the “lowest” or “least real” world would be the “real world” in Transmigration Novel B, above that would be the “real world” that the FL came from in Hypothetical Novel C, and then there would be a separate “higher” or “more real” world where Hypothetical Novel C existed and could be read by a “real” person.

At one point, the leads wonder if Xiahou Bo (Prince Duan / the SML / antagonist) might be a transmigrator. If he was a transmigrator, the FL knows he didn’t come from the same world that the transmigrator who took over Xie Yong Er came from (the fictional “real world” in Transmigration Novel B), because the FL skimmed Transmigration Novel B and there wasn't anything about Xiahou Bo being a transmigrator. So that would leave two possibilities. Either: (1) he came from the same world that the FL came from (in which case he might’ve read Transmigration Novel B in that world, just skimmed it like the FL, or just read the synopsis like the ML who transmigrated and took over Xiahou Dan); OR (2) the world that the FL came from is actually fictional (she is just a character in Hypothetical Novel C) and Xiahou Bo came from the TRUE “real world” which is “higher” or “more real” than the FL’s world. 

If that second option was true, it would potentially be a big problem because it would mean that Xiahou Bo could’ve read Hypothetical Novel C in the TRUE real world before he transmigrated into the historical novel world, which would mean he would have a lot of information about the FL and about how events could play out in the same way that the FL has a lot of information about Xie Yong Er and how events might play out because she read Transmigration Novel B.

Hypothetical Novel C would have the most information (it would cover all versions of the historical timeline and two fictional "real worlds" of other transmigrators - so Xiahou Bo would be on the highest level of knowledge / insight), Transmigration Novel B would have the second most information (it covers two versions of the historical timeline and one fictional "real world" of another transmigrator - so the FL would be on the second highest level of knowledge / insight), and Historical Novel A had the least information (it only covered the original historical timeline - so the transmigrator who took over Xie Yong Er would have the lowest level of knowledge / insight out of all the transmigrators, but still more information than the characters who were not transmigrators and only existed in the historical world).

[Note: The transmigrator who took over Xiahou Dan only read the synopsis for Transmigration Novel B, so he had very little information about the characters or the plot.]

The FL later concludes that Xiahou Bo is probably not a transmigrator, but she acknowledges that she has no way of knowing for sure whether her “real world” is actually real or if it is fictional / if her story is actually just the plot of Hypothetical Novel C.

so helpful!! what's really fun in that novel-within-a-novel is that both main characters are not the expected 'transmigrators' , it was only supposed to be xie !  

is the novel A (A thousand trees...) a classic in China's litterature? commonly known? 

then the mecanism of the 'transmigration' could be making ur own version in any character, novel B just happens to trace Xie... 

This is an excellent and detailed description. I think the only reason I understood what was happening in the show is because I saw a dream within a dream last year. Along with another transmigrator story (I can't remember which one) but it did have this idea of a story of transmigratora within the story and the higher level was an author typing out the story even after the transmigratora had returned to the "real world". 

I should not read thia during midnight. Its giving me stroke . Ill be back tomorrow😭

 Bella:

This is an excellent and detailed description.

Thank you!

 Bella:

Along with another transmigrator story (I can't remember which one) but it did have this idea of a story of transmigratora within the story and the higher level was an author typing out the story even after the transmigratora had returned to the "real world". 

That sounds vaguely familiar. 

A bit like Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, but not exactly?

 sanetaaa:

Wow, thank you so much! I was so confused why XYE was also a 2D character and now it's so much clearer. Appreciate the breakdown!!!

You're welcome!

Thanks for the kind words! 

 Ryylikeshandsomemen:

I should not read thia during midnight. Its giving me stroke . Ill be back tomorrow😭

Okay. Be safe 😅

 KrayTran:

What about ML? Is he from another timeline? Where does he fall into this?

The ML comes from the same world as the FL - the world of Story C, where Beijing exists and the transmigration novel that the FL was asked to edit for adaptation into a drama (Transmigration Novel B) could be read. 

But his circumstances were different than the FL's circumstances in a few ways. 

First, the ML transmigrated from the real world of  Story C after receiving a notification about Transmigration Novel B on his phone when he was in math class as a ninth grader in 2016, and that was when he transmigrated into the novel. So he transmigrated into Transmigration Novel B  from an earlier year in the real world of  Story C (from 2016 rather than 2025) and at an earlier age (at the age of 14 or 15 rather than 24+) than the FL. 

The ML then lived in the world of Transmigration Novel B for 16+ years without meeting another confirmed transmigrator, whereas the FL met and confirmed the status of another transmigrator (the ML) within hours of her arrival in the world of Transmigration Novel B.

And the ML only read the synopsis of Transmigration Novel B before he transmigrated into the story, so he only had very limited knowledge of the events of Transmigration Novel B (e.g., that the protagonist of the story was a transmigrator who became a royal consort). Whereas the FL had skimmed the whole novel (Transmigration Novel B) before she transmigrated into it, so she had a lot more knowledge of how things happened in that version of the story. 

 Bella:

@AH I think you're right. It was love game in the eastern Palace I was trying to recall 

Oh, good! I enjoyed that one, too. 😊