novelraw Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1. The Beginning of the Main Story (1)
Kendo, college student, 20-year-old freshman, etc.
These were the various descriptors that represented me.
However, at the same time, they were ordinary adjectives that would not be strange attached to anyone.
Even for an ordinary person like me, there was one hobby.
"Oh? It updated today."
Ding!
An alert rang out from my smartphone.
The notification conveyed the news that the latest chapter of the web novel I enjoyed reading had been updated.
At that sound, I immediately opened the web novel site.
Then, the screen of the novel I enjoyed every day lit up.
[Heroes Trying to Save the World]
A title so common you would likely have seen it at least once while passing by.
The content was also something commonly seen, much like the title.
The appearance of Gates and Dungeons.
Mysterious abilities that appeared simultaneously with them.
A record of life at an academy created to systematically teach those abilities.
Although it was a novel where the development of the story was somewhat predictable, I still liked this novel.
Tap.
I pressed on the latest chapter immediately.
Then, thousands of letters unfolded before me.
A single world created by the gathering of those letters.
Today, as always, I began to fall into that world.
And like that, a few minutes passed. When I had read all of the chapter posted today...
"What is this..."
I had no choice but to retract my initial thought.
"I am not seeing this wrong right now, am I?"
I could not imagine the next story as I usually did after reading.
I also could not press the 'Recommend' button that I pressed every day.
That was understandable, given that the content I just read missed every single one of my expectations.
"Everyone dies? Except the protagonist??"
Countless stories contained within a single chapter.
However, it was full of stories that dared not be included.
Everyone except the protagonist died.
Every single character who had fought through hardships and adversity together with the protagonist crumbled away.
[We agreed to be together... Please wake up, please wake up!!]
Kim Su-hyeok’s shout, in which his suffering could be felt acutely.
[In a world without you guys, what am I supposed to fight for...]
Kim Su-hyeok’s despair, in which not a shred of hope could be felt.
Every line of dialogue was telling me that what I saw was the truth.
The hand holding the phone began to tremble.
Intense rage washed over me at that ridiculous content.
"This isn't right... No matter what, this isn't right...!"
Just yesterday, I had fallen asleep with a happy heart, looking forward to the next content.
The appearance of a powerful SS-Class Gate capable of shaking the worldview, and the heroes who stepped forward to stop it.
If readers heard just this much, what would they imagine?
Ten times out of ten, they would think, 'Ah, by blocking that SS-Class Gate, the protagonist and the characters will take another step forward in growth.'
"But why the fuck are you killing everyone?"
But when I opened it, what was this?
Before the wall of that SS-Class Gate—which should naturally have been a part of their growth if it were any other novel—everyone except the protagonist died.
Yes, everyone, leaving only the single protagonist behind.
"If you were going to write it like this, you shouldn't have written it in the first place!"
What was the reason I loved this novel?
There are many other novels with similar themes, so why did I insist on this novel alone?
It was the vast narrative.
The narratives not just of the protagonist, Kim Su-hyeok, but of all the characters surrounding him.
This novel had written all those narratives.
And I loved those narratives so much.
"How could it be like this..."
A sense of betrayal welled up.
In fact, I had thought that it wouldn't be strange if it ended at any time.
After all, from a certain point on, I was the only reader of this novel.
A story that did not revolve solely around the protagonist, but portrayed all characters three-dimensionally.
If the author had done that in moderation, there would have been a few other readers besides me.
Because of that, it became a text that strayed too far from the trends of web novels, and eventually, the readers disappeared one by one, leaving me as the only one remaining.
"Still, you shouldn't do this."
There is such a thing as professional courtesy.
How could one twist the development so that a happy ending could absolutely never emerge?
Even if there is only one reader, as long as that one person exists, one should not write a story like this.
No, leaving aside professional courtesy, if you are an author, you shouldn't do this.
How can you give such an ending to your own characters that you created with affection?
"Damn it..."
I immediately opened the comment window.
A comment section I hadn't written in until now, thinking that even saying it was fun might actually become mockery.
Right now, no matter what happened, I had to write something.
Otherwise, the time I spent watching over this novel would be too unjust.
[YooCastle999: Author, honestly, isn't this too much?]
A comment written hastily with my right hand.
At first, I debated whether to write a curse, but I didn't.
Although they wrote this kind of ending, they were still the author of a story I had been with for five years.
This was my minimum conscience.
Ding!
"Huh?"
Not long after posting the comment, a reply was posted.
Checking it, the ID was 'ckdwhwk1'.
It is the author of this novel.
I immediately checked the reply that was posted.
[ckdwhwk1: What do you mean is too much?]
"......."
Why are they so confident?
They posted that kind of shitty writing and they are this confident?
For a moment, heat rose up and I almost wrote a severe curse.
'Phew, let's calm down.'
No matter what, cursing isn't right.
If I did that, we wouldn't be able to have a conversation.
After calming my mind, I posted a reply to the author's words.
[YooCastle999: Humanely speaking, isn't killing all the surrounding characters a bit wrong?]
[ckdwhwk1: The plausibility should have been sufficient, though?]
"Ow! Should I really just go and kill this %#$%@!!!"
After holding it in and holding it in, harsh words eventually burst out of my mouth.
"Does it look like I'm doing this because of plausibility right now? Huh?!"
Plausibility?
It is sufficient; of course, it is sufficient.
The author had been scattering death flags like crazy, enough that it wouldn't be strange if the characters died at any time.
And in the chapter I saw today, they just painted the final dot on the dragon's eye; there was certainly nothing strange about the flow of everyone dying itself.
But the problem isn't that.
"Who would read a novel if they are going to see shit like that!"
What is the reason one generally reads a novel?
It is because it can fulfill the reader's needs.
Because things that cannot happen in reality, which is like a gutter, are possible in a novel.
Because it shows the catharsis of defeating an enemy that seemed unbeatable.
That is why we are attracted to fictional stories and can love fictional worlds.
But a person called an author is spouting words like that?
[YooCastle999: Author. I am not doing this because of plausibility right now.]
[ckdwhwk1: Then what is the problem?]
[YooCastle999: Humanely, it doesn't make sense to kill everyone except the protagonist there.]
If I followed my heart, I wanted to tell them to delete the uploaded chapter right now.
The chapter uploaded today was that terrible.
However...
'No matter what, that probably won't work.'
I am merely a reader. Not the author.
Therefore, even if I express dissatisfaction with the story created by the author, I must not throw a tantrum asking them to delete or change it.
Therefore, among the requests I could make, I offered the most realistic one.
[YooCastle999: By any chance, could you write something like a side story later? Something like a 'what-if' scenario where everyone ends up with a happy ending.]
A very polite tone.
Even suppressing the emotions boiling up right now and minding my manners.
However, the comment that followed was a refusal.
[ckdwhwk1: I cannot write it. I am sorry.]
"...Did I make such a difficult request?"
Ah, that could be possible.
After all, am I not the only reader?
Asking for a side story when there is no income; I thought that, in a way, it could have been a rude request.
So, I immediately added a condition to the words I wrote first.
[YooCastle999: If it is about sponsorship, I can give as much as you want. I rarely spend money so I have plenty of it.]
The ending will likely flow towards a bad ending anyway.
I just wanted to see it, at the very least.
Not a bad ending, but a conclusion where everyone survives and ends happily—what kind of ending that would be.
However, it seemed the author had no intention of tolerating even my small expectation.
[ckdwhwk1: I am sorry again. I cannot do that.]
"......."
A firm will that showed absolutely no intention of writing it.
It didn't seem like they would listen even if I said anything more here.
So, I didn't post a comment after that.
Because nothing would change even if I posted more comments here.
"Fuck..."
Dissatisfaction burst out for no reason.
Writing is solely the author's territory.
I know that it is a part I dare not invade.
Even so, I couldn't help the sudden surge of anger.
"Haa... This is too much, really."
Perhaps I am the one who is strange.
To empathize this much with just a web novel.
But this novel was that kind of existence to me.
"It was everything to me."
The novel I first encountered during my most difficult moment.
To me, for whom every day was a moment I wanted to give up, this novel was hope and at the same time, salvation.
A story where no one gave up and wrote their own narrative.
A story where they eventually became shining existences.
Although these are things difficult to even find in reality, they achieved it in this novel.
Not just the protagonist alone, but everyone.
That is why the heroes appearing in this novel were all objects of admiration to me.
They were incredibly precious people.
They were people I wanted to protect at all costs if I could protect them.
Just as a shabby little handkerchief to someone can be a product of memories more precious than anything to someone else.
This novel was that kind of existence to me.
"So now I won't be able to read it..."
Every hero except the protagonist died.
The vicious schemes of villains, the danger caused by sudden Gate rampages, etc.
Amidst various incidents, even as the heroes I admired lost their lives one by one, I endured it while thinking of the remaining ones and read on, but now even they have all died.
The existences that saved me can no longer appear.
So how could I continue to read this novel?
Just as I was thinking that and was about to remove this novel from my interested works list.
Ding!
A single notification was heard from the phone.
The identity of the notification was the author.
What on earth do they have left to say?
I debated whether to just not look, but soon checked the comment.
Thinking that since it is a novel I won't read anymore, checking the last comment would be fine.
[ckdwhwk1: I am truly sorry. Even if I want to change it, I cannot change it.]
It is what they already said earlier.
Are they trying to mock me?
However, the author's comment did not end there.
[ckdwhwk1: However, if it is you, reader, you might be able to change it.]
"What?"
What does this mean?
The author cannot change the text the author wrote, but the reader can change it?
[YooCastle999: What does that mean?]
[ckdwhwk1: Will you help me?]
An author answering a question with a question.
I rolled my brain to try and understand the meaning of the author's words.
However, there was absolutely nothing that came to mind.
However.
"For now, let's say I will help."
I don't know what it is, but aren't they saying there is a possibility to change it?
How could I refuse when they say it could go towards a story that saves my precious heroes?
If I can protect them, I will protect them at all costs.
Thinking that, I posted a comment immediately.
[YooCastle999: Understood. If it is something I can do, I will help with everything.]
[ckdwhwk1: ...Really?]
[YooCastle999: Of course.]
After my comment, the author’s reply did not appear for quite a while.
Are they trying to send a private message separately?
That could be possible.
I don't know what they are going to say, but there was no particular need to do it in the comments.
It was then.
When a voice was heard as if ringing inside my head.
[Please, I entrust this to you.]
"What is th..."
What just happened?
Did I hear an auditory hallucination?
However, my thoughts could not continue from there.
With that as the end.
Because my consciousness was cut off.
***
I slowly opened my eyes, which I had closed for a moment.
Then, what I saw was a vast auditorium and the people filling it.
And the name tag 'Choi Yu-seong' attached to my chest.
I could perceive once again that I had entered the novel.
'To think asking for help meant something like this.'
At first, I was angry, but now that time has passed, I was okay.
It was just that the author and I had different dreams in the same bed.
No one had ever told a lie in the conversation.
Thinking that, some peace of mind returned.
'What exactly is their identity?'
Rather than cursing the author, I thought about them.
Sending someone into a novel. That is something impossible normally.
I have seen novels of that genre, but I never once thought it would be possible in reality.
'So I just posted the comment.'
Wasn't there a joke saying that if an author speaks to you, you must ignore it unconditionally?
But how many people would take that seriously?
How many guys would imagine that an author would actually put them inside a novel in reality?
'But this author achieved it.'
How on earth?
While I was thinking such thoughts, the moderator's words were heard again.
"There will now be an oath from the top cadet, so everyone please be quiet!"
Top cadet.
At those words, the thoughts I was having until just now disappeared from my mind.
Because right now, there is something more important than that.
I followed the moderator's words and looked at the podium.
Then, what I saw was a young man with deep black hair.
Just seeing his figure, I felt as if my mind was going dizzy.
'Kim Su-hyeok...'
The protagonist of this world.
The figure who survived alone in the end.
He is preparing to stand on the podium.
At that sight, I had no choice but to have gloom in my eyes.
'It is starting.'
Right now, this moment.
The main story of this world.
Which was full of nothing but tragedy, was about to begin.