Chapter 1

Prologue: Damn Ongoing

“Shit.”

I spat out a curse as I saw the new announcement at the very top of the list of posts.

Why is it suddenly becoming an ongoing now?

We’ve had over 500 chapters released for free so far.

Disappointed, I refreshed the page for 10 minutes.

But neither the ongoing notice disappeared nor did the latest chapter come out.

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– Sorry, did you pull this just to show me this? Is the ongoing of the guy who swallowed the devil and regressed a real thing?

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I hurriedly started writing a 5,500-character message to the author.

It’s too precious to end like this.

I found this novel when it had 200 chapters, and I binge-read from the first chapter, leaving recommendations and supportive comments for every single chapter.

『The Regressor Who Swallowed the Devil』

A modern fantasy novel about the protagonist’s 11th life.

It has 8 favorites, and every chapter has exactly 8 views.

Despite that, it’s a strange novel that diligently and daily released 532 chapters.

This strange novel is about to meet a regrettable end today.

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– I apologize, but due to a major incident involving the protagonist, I have no choice but to suspend the serialization.

I will return the gold you’ve sponsored.

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To me, this novel was like an oasis in a desert.

But just like a mirage that deceives, ‘The Regressor Who Swallowed the Devil’ ended in an instant.

Yeah, most of the web novels I enjoyed ended this way.

I thought this time would be different, but in the end, it was no different.

“How can you go on hiatus right before the final chapter?”

The author had clearly written in the author’s note:

『Finally, the long-awaited final chapter!』

A short but promising sentence that made me anticipate the novel’s conclusion.

But now, it’s all a lie.

Is there any other novel as good as this one?

Maybe I should just re-read ‘The Extra in the Remake Novel’.

No, I should get 10,000 gold back and try one of the paid novels on Academy.

“Sigh.”

While having such thoughts, I was overwhelmed by drowsiness and lay down on the bed, closing my eyes.

Of course, I didn’t know at that moment why the novel I was reading suddenly went on hiatus, or what terrible disaster was about to befall me.

***

Tap, tap.

A strange sound echoed in my ears.

What is this sound? It sounds like someone typing on a keyboard.

No… I’ve definitely heard this sound before.

It’s similar to the sound of burning firewood at my grandmother’s house.

Did I fall asleep with some white noise from YouTube?

“Ugh.”

At the same time, a pungent smell hit my nose.

It was a very harmful smell, like something was burning.

Strange. I did a thorough cleaning a few days ago, so there shouldn’t be any such smell.

Feeling something was off, I hurriedly got up.

And I couldn’t believe my eyes at the surreal scene in front of me.

“Damn.”

My cozy one-room apartment was engulfed in flames.

Scarlet flames were devouring the furniture of the small one-room, and the fire had already spread to the blanket I was lying on.

My instinct told me I had to escape as quickly as possible.

I ran to the front door and immediately pressed the door lock button.

But the door lock seemed to be broken, as it didn’t budge at all.

Panicked, I tried to break the door like in movies and dramas.

But movies are just movies, right? My shoulder hurt, but the front door remained firmly closed.

“Cough! Cough!”

The one-room was already filled with thick smoke, and my body was sending signals.

If I don’t act soon, I’ll die.

“Cough!”

Is there really no way to get out of here?

Just as my brain was frantically searching for a solution, my eyes fell on the window.

The window was wide enough for a large adult male to pass through, and since I lived on the second floor, it was a manageable height to jump from.

Click!

With a desperate heart, I grabbed the window handle.

Fortunately, unlike the front door, the window opened smoothly, and I immediately climbed onto the window sill, feeling triumphant.

But as soon as I climbed up, my body froze like a stone.

“Rumble…”

Right below the window, an unknown entity was crouching.

It was a creature that should not exist in reality, a creature that should not exist at all.

A body larger than a whale, vertically slit pupils, scarlet eyes, and skin covered in black scales.

It was clearly a dragon.

A dragon, something that only appears in fantasy novels and movies, was staring at me with the eyes of a predator.

Whoosh!

Not only was I face-to-face with the monstrous creature at the only escape route, but the flames had already burned all the furniture and were about to engulf the entire room.

Now, I had to make a choice.

Would I die helplessly in the fire, or would I jump out the window into the unreal presence that was staring at me?

There was no time to think.

I kicked the window frame and jumped as high as I could.

Honestly, I didn’t think deeply about why I jumped. I just thought this way, I had a slightly higher chance of survival.

‘God, Buddha, please let my choice be right,’ I silently prayed to a god I didn’t believe in, hoping to survive.

But my prayer didn’t seem to reach the heavens.

“The time has come.”

Instead of divine salvation, a sinister and deep male voice echoed in my head.

As soon as I heard the voice, my head felt like it was splitting, and my heart was pounding as if it would burst. The intense pain made me curl up in mid-air, and I tightly closed my eyes.

And when I opened my eyes,

The dragon’s massive mouth was about to engulf me, and my vision went black.

To be continued in the next episode.

Episode 1: Damn Possession

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sizzle.

The sounds of chopping and cooking reached my ears.

What is this?

Why are these sounds coming from inside the dragon’s stomach?

No, am I even alive?

『F**k you, you f**king b**tard. I’ll f**king kill you!』

“Huh!”

I suddenly opened my eyes at the incomprehensible shout echoing in my head.

Fortunately, I was still breathing.

“Ugh.”

Feeling nauseous, I lay down and dry heaved. My body was drenched in sweat, my head was spinning, and my vision was blurry.

Was it because the nightmare was too vivid? The aftereffects were severe.

To regain my composure, I repeated deep breaths for a few minutes and massaged my temples. Gradually, I calmed down.

But I couldn’t be happy.

“Dae-yong! What’s wrong?”

I saw a person clearly in my now focused vision.

An old woman with a gentle expression and curly perm hair.

The old woman was looking at me with a very worried expression.

“Who are you?”

My maternal and paternal grandmothers, the most familiar grandmothers to me, have long passed away.

So, this old woman is not someone I know.

“…You’re still half-asleep. Go back to sleep.”

“No.”

The anxiety that followed after waking from the nightmare made me quickly get out of the futon.

This place was definitely not my room.

It was an apartment with a completely different structure from my one-room.

Feeling something was wrong, I was drawn to the door on the right side of the hallway leading to the front door and immediately opened it.

Behind the door was a common bathroom.

The bathroom had a slightly larger mirror than the one in my house, and as soon as I saw my reflection, I was shocked.

In the mirror, my high school kickboxing athlete self was staring back at me.

***

It’s been a week since I fell into this strange world.

I’ve been living like a shut-in, eating the meals prepared by my so-called grandmother.

I spent most of my time playing with my smartphone.

I watched videos on an app called NewTube, posted on a site called MarvelInside, and laughed maniacally at web novels similar to those from my world.

My maternal grandmother went down to the countryside yesterday.

Just before leaving, the old woman looked at me with a sympathetic gaze, but of course, I found her gaze burdensome.

– At 2 AM today, a ‘D-grade Door’ opened in Ingye-dong, causing a commotion. Fortunately, thanks to the quick response of the heroes from the Suwon Association, there were no casualties.

I keep trying to accept my situation by watching the news on TV.

The first thoughts that came to mind were simple guesses like, ‘Am I still dreaming?’

However…

Although it’s something that shouldn’t exist in reality, I’m not dreaming, nor am I being toyed with by someone’s prank.

“Not a dream?”

Muttering to myself, I slapped my own cheek, hoping this absurd situation would end like a fleeting dream.

But there’s no way a dream could last for a week.

Unfortunately, there’s no waking up from this damn reality.

Possession.

A surreal phenomenon that often occurs in the opening of many web novels, where the protagonist is suddenly thrown into a different world.

It seems I’ve really been possessed.

And not just any novel, but specifically into the world of that damn ongoing novel, ‘The Regressor Who Swallowed the Devil,’ a world filled with superhumans and monsters. Damn.

To make matters worse, the character I possessed is neither the protagonist, the protagonist’s rival, nor a heroine.

“My information.”

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Name: Kang Dae-yong

Date of Birth: December 24, 2014 (Currently 17 years old)

Height: 176cm

Weight: 65kg

Blood Type: AB

Stats: Strength 120 / Stamina 120 / Magic 10 / Agility 70

Mana Attribute: Fire

Skills: ??? [Unlocked upon achieving specific conditions]

Talents: ??? [Unlocked upon achieving specific conditions]

Traits: Imugi [View Details]

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When I spoke softly, as in the novels, an information window appeared in front of my eyes.

The information window is like a game character’s stat screen that only ‘superhumans’ in this world can summon, and it has the feature of being visible only to the person themselves.

“Why does it keep appearing?”

Anyway, since it appears every time I call it, it’s now certain that I’m in the world of ‘The Regressor Who Swallowed the Devil.’

When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I thought I had just been transported as ‘me,’ but in fact, I had possessed the character ‘Kang Dae-yong.’

So, who is this Kang Dae-yong?

A minor character who only appears in the Academy part and is not even mentioned in the subsequent story, with a decent body and abilities but no real contribution to solving the plot.

“Huh.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

Given the situation, Kang Dae-yong’s stats seem woefully inadequate to overcome this sudden predicament.

And why do I need to achieve specific conditions to unlock talents and skills?

The original Kang Dae-yong’s setting didn’t have anything like that.

“Sigh.”

Why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong?

I just enjoyed reading that damn novel with 8 favorites, leaving recommendations and comments.

Sure enough, the novel didn’t lie; it even shows my mental state as a message.

I’m so grateful I could cry.

As negative thoughts were cracking my mental state, I found some solace in the messages that appeared.

So, I can easily acquire talents?

Is this a special bonus for being possessed in a novel?

With a slight excitement, I spoke again, just like when I summoned the information window.

“My talents.”

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· That’s not enough to break this body!

· ??? [Unlocked upon achieving specific conditions]

· ??? [Unlocked upon achieving specific conditions]

· ??? [Unlocked upon achieving specific conditions]

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A new talent really appeared in the talent list.

Talents are abilities that are either innate or require immense effort to acquire.

I have a total of 4 talents, including the hidden ones.

The protagonist has 7, so 4 is quite a lot.