#0. Into the Novel

I died, and the world met its end. (The End)  

"What the heck..."

I stubbed out the cigarette I had just lit. The story was trash. I persevered to the end, only for it to conclude with everything being ruined. It was a novel that had been serialized for over 400 episodes. I kept reading because I liked the dark atmosphere and detailed descriptions, but suddenly, today, there was an announcement that it was the final chapter.

It seemed a bit rushed, but lately, it had become somewhat of a trend to disguise epilogues as side stories, so I figured it was just that and paid for it. But today's content was all there was.

"What happened to defeating the final boss and getting a happy ending?"

I had high expectations, only to be slapped with an ending worse than an open one, a bad ending hastily scribbled out. It felt like the kind of brief sentence you’d get from making the wrong choice in some trash game. In disbelief, I pressed the comments section.

[If you are not satisfied with the ending, please leave a comment.]

"You are so dead, seriously."

Furious at the provocatively written comment, I angrily hammered away at my keyboard. After a long bout of typing, I had left a lengthy comment of about 5700 characters.

"Is this guy crazy or what? Can I get a refund?"

Honestly, I deserved a refund for this. I sighed deeply as I navigated the site, realizing I was making a fuss over a mere 200 won and decided to play a ranked game instead. My golden Saturday weekend was already off to a bad start.

'Wait a second. What if this guy is trying to bait me for a settlement?'

I had written all sorts of curses, but thinking about it now, it was enough to get me sued. I had every right to be angry, but maybe I went a bit—just a bit—overboard? Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

[GulPeelEater(NewNewAndWallamss): Sorry, I got a package. Be right back.]

[KST P1 Carry(Mao kai): Where do you think you're going mid-game? This rift's gotten so relaxed. LOL If you don't gank within 10 seconds, I'm throwing.]

[ItachiBarks(Twitchy): Woof! Woof woof!]

Ignoring my teammates' taunts, I hurried back to delete my comment and saw a notification marked with a 1.

"No way."

I clicked the notification to see that the author had replied to my comment.

I was relieved it wasn’t a private message.

[Thank you. I look forward to your continued support.]

"Thank you?"

As I was trying to figure out what that meant, light started pouring out of my computer screen.

"...Huh?"