Perks for the Possessed
Episode 1
Chapter 1. The Era of Universal Possession
[(Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters) Surge in missing persons and fatal accidents! ▲Do not stay alone ▲Caution advised near subway stations, building rooftops, and riversides]
It was a familiar disaster alert. I took it in stride and hurried home from work.
Just around this alley and I'd be home. After suffering through dealing with unreasonable complainants all day, a gift of fried chicken would be just the thing.
I was feeling excited at the thought of gnawing on a chicken leg while binge-reading today's webtoons and web novels.
Flicker, flicker!
[▲Caution: Dark alleys on your commute home! Avoid areas with broken streetlights and take a detour!]
"……Gasp."
Right at that moment, a streetlight flickering above my head went out.
Uh, I need to get home quick.
Hard to believe, but the disaster alerts were real. Fatal accidents and missing person cases were skyrocketing across the country.
Online, rumors spread that the cause of this bizarre phenomenon was "possession." It sounded like the nonsense of people overly immersed in webtoons, web novels, and games, but it had some basis.
Looking into the phone records of the deceased, a common denominator emerged.
It was a sort of precursor symptom, and that was…
Bzzt, bzzt!
[◈Possession Life Insurance Notice◈
An era where you must prepare for the afterlife rather than your later years! A full-package guaranteeing survival upon possession is on a one-day special sale! For the price of a studio apartment deposit, you can live like royalty even in an S-rank survival difficulty novel!
Limited quantity: 3! Would you like to subscribe now?
(Yes/No/Opt-out)]
"……"
…it was the fact that they had received a spam message recommending life insurance.
"Wh-what is this?"
HOOONK!
Without any warning or logic, a truck barreled straight toward me.
CRASH!
'Mom, Dad, Oppa, I'll be seeing you soon…'
I died in a dark alley, struck by a truck.
Ding!
[Subscription confirmed!]
Just as I had pressed 'Yes'.✠
"Please open your eyes, Reader Code 1****5617."
"Huh? Where is this…?"
I came to my senses at the call, which sounded like a prison roll call.
What unfolded before my eyes was a place that looked similar to an airport boarding gate area.
People were receiving something and moving toward gates spilling with light. I, too, was standing in front of a counter.
I glanced to the side. A girl in a school uniform turned around with a smile, seemingly satisfied with her result, as a screen flashed above her head.
Reader Code 1****5613 Possession Assessment Results:
Original Work: The Princess Imprints a Rebel
Genre: 19+ Romance Fantasy Regression
Survival Difficulty: F
A specific phrase caught my eye.
"What? Possession assessment?"
"Yes, that is correct, Reader Code 1****5617. It is now your turn."
"Oh my god! The doggy is talking!"
Every time the Welsh Corgi with wings on its back panted, human words popped out.
"Haha, I am no mere doggy. I am the assessment officer for the 'Possession Management Bureau Assessment Headquarters' here."
"Possession… Management Bureau?"
"It seems you slept right through the orientation. Let me explain briefly. You have passed away, and this is the afterlife."
"Ah."
I remembered. The moment I experienced the 'precursor symptoms' that had spread like ghost stories on the internet, I was hit by a truck.
"Haaah…"
What a miserable life it was.
My mother died giving birth to me, and my father and older brother were struck by a wrong-way driver and went to join my mother.
After that, I was treated like a pest by my paternal relatives, who siphoned away the insurance money, and the moment I became an adult, I declared independence and scraped by on part-time jobs.
After enduring all sorts of hardships, I finally passed the civil service exam, thinking life would finally get a little easier.
But what do you know, I ended up dying, swept up in a national disaster in the prime of my youth.
'So my relatives are going to swallow my studio deposit too, huh? Sigh…'
The Welsh Corgi panted cutely in front of me as I sank into despair.
"Lately, the deities in charge of afterlife public works have taken a great interest in content. Masterpiece web novels get adapted into webtoons, games, and even movies, do they not? When the gods exert their power, they can manifest worlds—in other words, 'Dimensionalize' them. The project has currently advanced to the point of sending souls who die on Earth into these Dimensionalized worlds."
I learned a new fact: the final evolution of a blockbuster web novel was Dimensionalization.
"Of course, we don't just let anyone possess a character. Seeing as you were summoned to the afterlife before your allotted lifespan, you clearly possess an exceptional aptitude for possession!"
"Ah, yes…"
I wanted to protest the injustice of it all, but throwing a fit at a powerless, cute doggy would just make me a Karen.
Not that they gave me any time to argue anyway. The assessment began right away.
"Then I shall pull up the reading records for Reader Code 1****5617. My, my, you've explored quite a diverse range of genres. Romance, Rom-Fan, Fantasy, Wuxia, GL, BL, 19+…"
"Ahem."
I didn't clear my throat out of embarrassment. I did it out of pride for my non-discriminating taste.
"Do you have a preferred genre?"
"Rom-Fan childcare stories!"
That's right, Rom-Fan child-rearing.
It's the best. It's a healing genre with low survival difficulty where you minimize hardship and walk only the flower path and the money path. Quite literally the absolute best genre for possession!
I rambled on, pouring my heart out to convey my affection and sincerity for the genre.
"I lost my parents and older brother at a young age and was treated like garbage by my relatives, so I've never once received proper familial love. So I really, really want to possess the protagonist of a childcare story and experience familial affection."
"Yes, I will take that into consideration."
The Welsh Corgi diligently typed away at the keyboard.
And a short while later.
"The assessment results are out. Please look at the screen, Reader."
"Yes!"
I clasped my hands together and looked up.
Reader Code 1****5617 Possession Assessment Results:
Original Work: Regress Until the World is Saved
Genre: Fantasy Raid Infinite Regression
Survival Difficulty: S
"……"
I stared blankly for a moment.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Corgi panted with all its heart to congratulate me.
"Ooh! S-rank, the one that only appears once in a hundred thousand! I knew you'd have outstanding aptitude as a possessor! Congratulations!"
Excuse me. Do you think this is a Hunter rank? The survival difficulty is S-rank, why are you congratulating me!
The Welsh Corgi wagged its tail enthusiastically, saying it was the first time seeing an S-rank in person.
While I felt like I was losing my mind, I rummaged through my memories of the original work.
'Regress Until the World is Saved'.
This novel was a frustrating regression story with a million sweet potatoes that I had read way back in middle school.
It was a story about a protagonist belonging to the Order who regresses dozens of times to save a world perishing from the outbreak of Demon Realm Dungeons. You could tell how frustrating the plot was just by looking at the comments left during its serialization.
-The bastard who recommended this as a masterpiece, come out.
-The MC is seriously so frustrating. Waste of cash.
-I recommend this if you want to choke to death eating a million sweet potatoes lol
Of course, there were kind readers who defended it.
-Our MC is just a slow grower, okay?
-Tsk tsk, you Cider-passes.
However.
-Readers are Cider-pass? Nah, the MC is the Sweet Potato-pass.
└Sweet Potato-pass ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Great name, I admit it, for real I admit it.
└I only kept reading later on for the satisfaction of seeing the MC die ㅋㅋ
└Same here. The only refreshing part is when the Sweet Potato gets crushed ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
That was how the protagonist earned the nickname: Sweet Potato-pass.
'Ugh, I'm doomed.'
The people who saw my screen started to murmur.
"Oh my god, that person is S-rank…"
"Oh my, how awful."
"The original work is 'RUS'? That novel is pure hardcore Sweet Potato."
"That's unfortunate."
The Welsh Corgi resumed its administrative duties.
"Since you like childcare stories, S-rank, I'll have you possess a cute little girl. She even has pink hair!"
"Who is she?"
"The daughter of a commoner servant who gets bossed around by… the villainous noble family that bosses around the protagonist."
"A tree on the side of the road would have more screen time."
She was practically the lowest of the low on the food chain.
My nose tingled as I realized surviving would be impossible.
"It will be fine. Once you possess her, you'll receive help from the support system provided by the Management Bureau… Oh, wait, S-rank!"
"W-why? Is there another problem?"
"It's not that! I just realized, you were the very first purchaser of the Possession Life Insurance Full Package! You have absolutely nothing to worry about!"
"Possession Life Insurance Full Package? What's that?"
At that moment, the eyes of the people who had been looking at me with pity instantly filled with envy.
"You'll find out soon enough. We can't have the queue backing up, so please pass through the gate."
"Uh, wait a second…"
"May the blessing of the God of Possession be with you!"
"Aaah!"
I was sucked into the world of the hardcore Sweet Potato regression fantasy novel, *Regress Until the World is Saved*.
Chapter 2. How a Possessor Levels Up Their Specs
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"Ugh…"
I opened my eyes amidst the system messages. A shabby, low wooden ceiling came into view. It seemed to be an attic.
[
Ah, so this was the support system provided by the Management Bureau that the examiner mentioned.
Once I got somewhat accustomed to it, I sat on the edge of the bed to get down.
"Huh?"
My feet didn't reach the floor, dangling in mid-air. I was a bit flustered by how short my limbs were.
I ran pitter-patter over to where the mirror was.
Beyond the mercury-coated glass, a ten-year-old girl with pink hair was blinking her light green eyes.
"Wow, I look like a doll."
After sticking to the mirror and admiring myself with my mouth hanging open like a narcissist for about ten minutes…
My brain finally remembered the tragic reality.
'Aaaah! They put me in a body like this, but it's not even a childcare story!'
Perks for the Possessed