crazy idea i once thought of, what if the gods of these fantasy worlds go to other worlds like ours, implant the story in peoples heads who turn them into games and novels following that plot then look for players that match their preference and switch them out with the real people purely for amusement and/or to make the world more like how they want?
the "real" mana and Lunaria didnt act the way "god" wanted so it found substitutes so the "plot" goes the way it agrees with more
Possible but hard to say.
With the way the manga rolls, it would be a bored god/goddess if we go that route. But they would also be a massive huge dick like all the other antagonists against Lunaria.
If they implanted the story fully then OG Lunaria and Mana should have already acted to their parts so unless they're super bored, there wouldn't be a need for a swap out. Partial story implant and the human writers fuck it up, then justified swap out.
The only thing that seems to be consistent with this mysterious power is that it appears to act with mercy/good intentions.
Like the original Mana reincarnation from a miserable office lady to have a better life or letting OG Lunaria escape suffering while letting the reincarnator have choices for her wants/benefits.
The thing that's tripping me up about it's functioning is that Mana was from a fictional town and now Lunaria is from real Japan.
Was it sentient and knew the real world existed before Lunaria had a reincarnation that wasn't in the story? Or did it change to fit the new narrative with OG Lunaria's wishes/the moment new Lunaria hit the scene from the real world.
Granted this is all speculation until we get the reveal but it just seems like the most likely directions the writing would go in my head.