If I had to sum up my life in a single sentence, it would be: “A person living an ordinary life—neither special nor unfortunate.” Literally speaking, I’d never had anything happen that made me incredibly happy or lucky, nor anything that made me terribly sad or unlucky.
Not at my family home, which I’d since moved out of; not when I first left my hometown and started living in a dorm as a university student; not even during my time in the military.
The only hobby I had left now, as a company employee, was browsing web novels. There was nothing better for taking my eyes off this hamster wheel of reality, if only for a little while.
“Hmm... Is there anything interesting?”
The popularity rankings were full of the same familiar titles as always. The new release rankings, which I didn’t usually use much, were no different. I skipped romance, I was tired of fantasy, and the rest didn’t really suit my tastes.
Then one work caught my eye.
Author: Anonymous.
Picaresque, revenge, female protagonist, modern fantasy.
“Aren’t female-protagonist stories usually categorized as romance fantasy...?”
Seeing that the rating, comments, and view count were all at 0, it seemed to be a brand-new, freshly uploaded work.
I could also see the phrase, “Be the first to leave a comment on this work!”
“Hmm... Should I give it a quick look?”
I didn’t usually read novels with female protagonists, but it wouldn’t be bad to think of it as trying out a new genre.
***
“Mm-hmm-hmm~”
Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Now not Seoul, just ruins. Through the ruins, a girl walked.
***
“...?”
That was the prologue I read. The spelling was a mess, the spacing was a mess—the textbook example of a novel opening written exactly however the author felt like writing it. Though I wasn’t even sure it was right to call this a novel.
“What is this, an elementary schooler’s diary? How did this even get approved?”
Thinking I should hurry up and find something else, I pressed back, only to see that Chapter 1 had been uploaded in the meantime.
Chapter 1: if u readthis u getpossessed fr!
“...??”
I was curious, so I clicked.
***
The girl walked through the ruins. As she walked through the city filled with nothing but debris, no longer worthy of being called Seoul, she softly whistled.
“Mm-hmm-hmm~ La la la~”
Swinging her delicate hands, the girl killed the hidden survivors one by one.
“Hide and seek, hide and seek~ Don’t let me see your hair~”
One beneath a collapsed statue.
“Hide and seek~”
One up in a tree.
“Don’t let me see your hair~”
Stroking her lips, she searched for her next victim.
“Where, oh where, are you hiding~?”
......
***
“Hmm...?”
In the end, I couldn’t overcome the thick scent of clickbait coming from the title and clicked it, but I was a little surprised by the atmosphere, which was a complete one-eighty from the prologue. I didn’t have any specialized knowledge, so it was hard to evaluate, but still... it didn’t seem that bad.
“I’ll read it diligently, so please, just don’t drop it midway...”
I’d hit like, recommend, and even turned on notifications, but those alone weren’t enough to reassure me. How much suffering had I endured from authors who vanished mid-serialization? Authors who disappeared saying they couldn’t think of any sentences were a dime a dozen, and there were some who seemed to have been traveling for years... On top of that, there were countless works that remained only as regretful memories.
I hoped the fairly interesting-looking work I’d found this time wouldn’t turn out that way. So I even wrote a comment, which I normally didn’t do, putting in a bit of sincerity.
-Honestly, judging by the prologue alone, it felt lacking, but Chapter 1 was fun. I think it’d be nice if the chapters were longer. Still, I enjoyed it!
With the modest hope that the author would see my comment, feel encouraged, and write even harder, I refreshed the work once.
-Honestly, judging by the prologue alone, it felt lacking, but Chapter 1 was fun. I think it’d be nice if the chapters were longer. Still, I enjoyed it!
ㄴYou read it, didn’t you? Congratulations!
“...Is this guy insane?”
It seemed this author had been swallowed up by their concept to a serious degree. Either that, or as I’d initially guessed, they were very young. Well, whatever... I didn’t really mind. As long as it helped me kill time on the boring bus ride home from work.
“Sir! I’m getting off here!”
“What the—! You’re supposed to press the bell! What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry!”
Just like now.
As soon as I got off the bus, cold wind brushed across my face. I shoved both hands into the pockets of my padded jacket and walked toward the one-room officetel I’d signed a lease for last year.
“Damn, it’s insanely cold...”
I entered the password for the common entrance and, luckily, pressed the button for the elevator sitting on the first floor. The room I’d rented was on the third floor, so I could have taken the stairs, but today I just wanted to ride the elevator.
The doors are closing.
The familiar mechanical voice sounded strangely eerie. So did the fluorescent light flickering intermittently, and so did my reflection in the mirror.
“...It’s just my imagination.”
Third floor. The doors are opening.
The dark hallway was as quiet as usual. I got off the elevator, walked over, opened the front door to my place, and when I turned back once, the elevator had already gone down.
The faint unease that had settled in a corner of my heart washed away, and soon, the fatigue of the day asserted its presence in its place.
“I should wash up and sleep... The weekend’s the day after tomorrow, so hang in there...”
I took off my padded jacket and hung it on the clothes rack, then pulled underwear and pajamas out of the drawer, getting ready to head to the bathroom. Just then, my phone vibrated.
Praying desperately that it wasn’t a message from my team leader, I turned on the screen and saw a sparkling notification that read, “A new episode has been uploaded!”
Author: Anonymous
Picaresque, revenge, female protagonist, modern fantasy.
Prologue: Prologue
Chapter 1: if u readthis u getpossessed fr!
Chapter 2: Three
“Three...? What’s this supposed to be?”
Maybe because I’d built up a bit of goodwill toward it, I clicked again despite the strange title.
***
2.
1.
***
And that was my final memory.