Prologue

Having crushed the ambition of the Great Heavenly Demon Emperor, who aspired to rule Murim, Lee Jaewon founded the Heavenly Martial Alliance. He dedicated himself to upholding justice in Murim, and lived happily ever after with his many wives and children.

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"Ah, I really struggled to get through this damn thing. Damn it!"

Seonwoo angrily tossed the phone he had been reading from.

The novel he had just finished was titled 'High School Senior! Going to Murim.' It was a typical high school isekai novel where the protagonist, a high school student who is reincarnated into the Murim world, stumbles upon ancient martial arts and becomes an absolute master. The protagonist then defends the world against evil forces attempting to dominate Murim.

One might guess the story's content from its provocative and straightforward title, but upon actually reading the novel, it turned out to be even more chaotic than expected.

The plot was incoherent and hastily put together, almost as if mocking all possibilities. The supporting characters were idiotic, likely a result of the author's attempt to portray a clever protagonist. Not to mention the charmless heroines who instantly fell in love with the protagonist at first sight.

At first glance, it seemed like any other typical high school isekai Wuxia novel found everywhere, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this novel's quality was even worse than the average in the genre.

The most disappointing aspect of this novel was the protagonist's actions, which were so frequently described in sexual terms that it was difficult to determine whether he was on an adventure or simply lusting after women.

From his martial arts master to his samaes1, peers, and sagos2, he devoured them all without discrimination, creating his own legendary tales of sexual exploits.

Even after entering Murim, he encountered six women addicted to aphrodisiacs, each positioned as the sole heiress of the six major families.

It would have been appreciated if he had seduced even the saint of the evil cult, who later emerged as the main antagonist, as it would have made the story's development much smoother.

This cursed book was designed in a way that anyone who slept with the protagonist, whether willingly or out of necessity, would inevitably fall for him.

What was even more ridiculous was that the protagonist's martial art style was based on lechery, which apparently grew stronger with each sexual encounter.

Despite the protagonist becoming the martial world's public enemy, all the characters in the novel were fixated on praising him.

The protagonist's enhanced abilities, the progression of the plot, and the resolution of conflicts; it was a low-quality novel that revolved entirely around his sexual prowess.

Of course, there are martial arts novels that feature erotic scenes, but this one takes it to a whole new level.

If we generously assume that the author's original intention was to highlight explicit sexual content similar to a Noru-pyo martial arts novel3, we might somewhat understand.

However, this novel was nothing like that. While it contained a significant amount of sexual content, it lacked any real appeal.

In the case of Noru-pyo martial arts novels, the sexual descriptions could be explicit enough to pique interest. However, in this novel, the writing was so poor that it failed to be the least bit enticing—it was simply boring.

Seonwoo reflected on his decision to purchase the novel.

It had been a mistake to click on 'Buy All Volumes' based solely on the title. Although he forced himself to finish it, considering it a waste not to, he ended up feeling only discomfort and unpleasantness, as if he had completed tedious homework.

"What was the publisher thinking, releasing this kind of novel?"

Seonwoo found himself blaming the publisher more than the author.

There was a time when, due to concerns about printing costs, such a disastrous novel would have been filtered out. But with the rise of digital publishing, there had been an increase in the publication of low-quality works, as long as they were stimulating.

If an author went too far, they should be stopped. However, when it reached this extreme, the fault seemed to lie more with the publisher.

He felt wronged. What had he done to deserve being stuck with such an awful novel?

With the thought that he shouldn't be the only one suffering, Seonwoo diligently wrote a review to ensnare others.

This was what they called a clickbait post.

Fortunately, whether it was because few people had read 'High School Senior! Going to Murim.' or because it wasn't worth discussing, the critique section and the ratings were empty.

"There's a saying that views depend on ratings and reviews. This was proof of how much readers relied on reviews."

He gave a full rating and wrote a very critical review.

While it was uncertain whether his excellent memory was necessarily a good thing, embellishing minor details from the novel and adding a bit of MSG to spice things up was not difficult.

Furthermore, he continued to praise the author and the work.

"Enough. I can't be the only one suffering; now all of you can experience it too."

Seonwoo read the review he had written.

Having read wuxia for nearly 15 years, my life can be divided into before and after reading this novel—it is truly an incredible and shocking novel. At first glance, the title may seem childish, but the remarkable writing skills and the cleverly hidden breadcrumbs in the story, along with the top-notch service scenes, were so entertaining that I completely lost track of time and immersed myself in the novel...… (and so on)...…If I were to recommend it to someone, I would recommend it to aspiring writers or novice writers who aim to improve their writing. If you read it once, you will be able to learn a lot. I really think it's a novel that you should read at least once in your life. If it's the intriguing world within the novel, I would love to dive into it myself too. Haha.

Those who read this novel would find his review full of absurdities, to the point where they would snort in disbelief. Yet, he was confident that he had not said anything incorrect.

It was his first time seeing such an idiotic novel get published in his 15 years as a martial arts fiction enthusiast. It boasted a writing style even more disastrous than its childish title, and there must have been hidden clues (떡밥, a Korean literary term referring to subtle hints and foreshadows) within the story as well.

Either he hadn't picked them up even by the end of the novel, or the depictions were not enticing; there were many situations that he didn't like.

And he was sincere when he said that it's worth reading once in your life. How much motivation would aspiring writers get from seeing this trashy author write and publish a book?

It's possible that his words were greatly shortened, but there was absolutely no false content in them.

As he diligently wrote the review, he suddenly noticed that the clock was nearing 11:00.

Although he had worked himself up over nothing, Seonwoo felt satisfied as he lay down on his bed.

'Let's order some chicken.'

Despite his exhaustion, sleep eluded him.

The thought that sleeping now would be wasteful, especially with Sunday approaching, crossed his mind.

He felt compelled to reward himself for his hard work.

For the melancholic soul, there was only one solace.

Ding.

-50 minutes until delivery.

Seonwoo, having ordered the golden fried chicken, turned on his phone, wondering if there was another novel to read.

His intention was to pass the time until the chicken arrived.

'Huh?'

It was at that moment.

When he opened the app, a question mark indicated that he had received a message at the top.

'What's this?'

Seonwoo tapped the message with his index finger.

The title of the message then appeared.

[Hello, I am the author of 'High School Senior! Going to Murim' which you reviewed.]

The start of the message was astonishing. He had never expected the author to send him a message directly.

Driven by curiosity, Seonwoo tapped the message to read its full content.

-"Hello. I'm the author of 'High School Senior! Going to Murim' I've read your review with great interest. I'm very pleased to have found a reader like you who shows such deep consideration and affection for my novel. Until now, no one has praised my novel as highly as you have.

"Of course, who would praise such a crappy novel?"

Seonwoo felt a twinge of guilt. He felt remorseful because the author was touched by the troll review he had written.

-(Excerpt skipped) Therefore, I would like to offer a small gift to my number one reader and the subscriber who has understood my literary world the most.

The content of the message grew increasingly bizarre. What kind of gift was he talking about? He had no feelings of fandom, but he thought he would accept the gift, as refusing it would be rude.

-"You once said you wanted to live in my novel, right? I'll grant that wish. Please enjoy living in the world I've created."

"What kind of gift is this? This bastard is spouting nonsense until the end."

Seonwoo cursed the author several times for jotting down such nonsense, moved the message to the trash can, and pressed the delete button.

Suddenly, his head started to spin.

"What's this?"

His strength drained away, and his legs gave out. He didn't even have enough strength to move a finger. His mind started spinning, and he began to lose consciousness. "Ah… Fuck, I need to eat some chicken…" And with that, Seonwoo fell unconscious.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"Wake up, you rascal! How long are you going to sleep!"

At the sound of someone slapping his cheek, he opened his eyes to find a menacing man glaring at him.

"Who are you?"

"Has this guy gone crazy or lost his mind, Jangsam!"

At the sound of his loud voice, Seonwoo quickly regained his senses.

He looked around.

Countless people filled his view.

They sat in large wooden seats, all wearing Chinese-style clothes and staring down at Seonwoo.

'Where am I?!'

Seonwoo screamed internally.