Seo Won stepped off the bus, his school bag slung carelessly over one shoulder. It had been a long, exhausting day, more of the same. His life had never been extraordinary, and he’d long since stopped expecting it to be. With his average height, messy brown hair, and dull brown eyes, Seo Won knew he was the kind of person who blended into the background. His teachers barely remembered his name, and his classmates barely noticed him.

As he trudged up the stairs to his apartment building, his right eye stung again, the same irritation that had been bothering him all day. He rubbed at it, letting out an annoyed huff. "Damn test," he muttered under his breath. "They could’ve gone easier on me."

But his mind wasn’t on school. Not really. As soon as he reached his apartment and tossed his shoes into the corner, Seo Won grabbed his laptop and dropped onto the couch. His thoughts were consumed by [The 9 Abysses of Ruin], the novel he’d been reading obsessively for over three years.

Today was the day... the final chapter had been published. After years of waiting, theorizing, and rereading every detail, he would finally know how it ended.

Seo Won opened the website, his hands trembling slightly with anticipation. He had invested so much into this story. It wasn’t just a novel to him; it was an escape, a world that had felt more real than his own dull existence. Jinwoo Kim, the tragic protagonist, had captured his heart with his relentless determination to save the nine maidens and break the cycle of despair. Jinwoo’s failures had been heartbreaking, but Seo Won always believed there was hope, some way for the hero to win.

But as he read the final chapter, Seo Won’s excitement turned to disbelief. Line by line, his hope shattered.

"No…" he whispered. His eyes scanned the screen faster, desperate for something, anything, to change. But it didn’t. Jinwoo had failed. Again.

The abyss consumed him, and the nine maidens were lost. The story ended the same way it always did: in despair.

Seo Won’s hands trembled with anger. His teeth clenched as frustration boiled inside him. Three years. Three years of his life spent waiting, theorizing, hoping, and this was the ending?

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" he snapped, slamming the laptop shut. But the rage didn’t stop there. He grabbed the laptop and hurled it onto the floor with a loud crash.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the empty apartment. "Three years! I gave you three years of my life for this?!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

His breathing was ragged, his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms. He paced the room, cursing under his breath.

"It’s not just the story," he muttered bitterly. "It’s the author. They’re a goddamn sadist, enjoying this endless cycle of misery!" His voice grew louder. “And Jinwoo! what kind of hero gives up like that? After everything, you just let the abyss take you?!”

He let out a bitter laugh, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, sure, Jinwoo. You’re a tragic hero. So noble. So selfless. But what good are you if you can’t even win once?"

Seo Won felt his chest tighten, anger and disappointment swirling together in a storm of emotions. He glared at the shattered laptop on the floor, as if the broken screen could somehow respond to him.

"You’re all pathetic... "he spat, his voice low and venomous. "The story, the author, even you, Jinwoo. You’re all worthless."

His body trembled with rage, but as he stood there, chest heaving, he felt a strange chill crawl up his spine. It wasn’t just the anger. Something was wrong.

His right eye throbbed painfully, and a strange, heavy sensation filled the room. The light overhead flickered, and the air seemed to grow colder. Seo Won froze, his breath catching in his throat.

"What the—" he started, but his words were cut off as the world around him suddenly went black.

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On a higher plane, far beyond the comprehension of mortals, a figure watched everything unfold. Its form was indistinct, shifting and changing like smoke caught in a gale, but its presence was suffocating, an unshakable weight that pressed down on existence itself.

The figure’s gaze was fixed on Seo Won, pacing angrily in his small apartment, his voice rising as he cursed the story, the author, and even the protagonist he had once admired.

"How amusing," the figure murmured, its voice echoing through the void. There was no malice in its tone... only amusement, sharp and cutting. "This mortal dares to insult me. How bold. How utterly disrespectful."

It leaned back, the darkness around it shifting like a living thing. "To think, after all this time, someone would curse me with such venom. No prayers, no pleading~ just rage. Hah! Perhaps he deserves a reward."

The figure’s form solidified slightly, its features briefly resembling a human smirk before dissipating once more. "If I’m so inferior, as he claims, perhaps it’s time I prove otherwise. If he’s so certain he can fix my story, why not let him try?"

Its voice grew deeper, more resonant, shaking the very fabric of the void. "Let him face the world he has cursed. Let him rewrite what he despises with his own hands. If he succeeds, so be it. If he fails…"

The entity chuckled darkly, a sound that reverberated like thunder in the abyss. "Either way, this will be fun."

With a flick of its hand, if one could call it a hand... Seo Won’s soul was plucked from the mortal plane, yanked from his body as easily as pulling a thread from fabric.

Back in the apartment, Seo Won’s body crumpled to the floor, lifeless. His soul, however, was pulled into the endless darkness, the cold seeping into his very being as he tumbled through the void.

The entity’s voice followed him, wrapping around him like chains.

"You wanted to change the story, didn’t you?" it whispered, its tone dripping with mockery. "Let’s see what you can do, Seo Won. Let’s see if you’re more than just words and anger."

As Seo’s form disappeared into the darkness, the entity smiled, its amusement growing.

"This is going to be interesting."