{I reincarnated not into the novel I criticized, but into another novel.}

"Hey, friend."

Seomun Yucheon, a young man from South Korea, stared seriously at his friend, Kim Hochun.

"Do you think this makes any sense?"

At Yucheon’s words, Hochun sighed and nodded with a defeated expression.

"Yeah, it doesn’t. How can an ending like this even exist?"

The two were staring at a web novel displayed on the computer screen.

The web novel, titled [Academy Hero Chronicles], adopted common tropes like an academy setting and a hero-type protagonist.

It was moderately popular, sitting at a mid-tier ranking on the site.

But for Kim Hochun and Seomun Yucheon, it was genuinely enjoyable.

There were four heroine candidates!

Perfect for the two friends, who loved such character-focused stories. They often debated which of the four heroines would end up being the main romantic lead.

Even the readers actively discussed it in the comments section.

"And this is the result?"

Seomun Yucheon stared blankly at the ending.

There had been endless speculation about which heroine the protagonist, Seomun Hyun, would choose.

But the ending was the worst possible scenario.

"Not Ise-na, who was there healing him from the start, not Princess Aria from another world, and not even Yoo Hyun-a or Ye Eun-chae, who openly expressed their feelings. What the hell is this?"

Kim Hochun vigorously nodded in agreement with his friend's frustration.

"Right? Kang Mi-hyun? Out of nowhere? She just pops up, and suddenly he drifts toward her? What happened to all the emotional build-up with the heroines?"

"It’s ridiculous. Seriously."

With frustration hanging in the air, Yucheon lay on the nearby bed, trying to calm his mental state. Meanwhile, Kim Hochun furiously typed out a comment under the final chapter.

[Does this make any sense? Watching Seomun Hyun's disgusting true nature was already painful, but at least the heroines made up for it. And now, you're telling me he suddenly drifts to that trash Kang Mi-hyun? Her hypocrisy and whitewashing are revolting. Thanks to this ending, she'll be forever etched in my mind as the worst character in genre novel history.]

Kim Hochun wrote a moderately restrained critique, though his frustration was clear.

Most readers agreed; only a handful defended the ending.

Suddenly, the author replied to his comment.

[Thank you for your opinion. Take care.]

As Hochun read the author's response, a strange light emerged from the computer screen.

"What the—?!"

It was a cliché he had never personally experienced, yet it felt strangely familiar.

"Is this one of those situations where you get possessed for leaving a mean comment on a web novel?"

Feeling uneasy, Hochun rolled to the side, but the light struck Seomun Yucheon, who had been lying on the bed recovering his sanity.

Yucheon's body vanished as though he had never been there.

"Y-Yucheon?"

Fear gripped Hochun as he called out to his missing friend, but another message appeared on the screen.

[Oops. Hit the wrong person? I'll send you somewhere else.]

"Wait—!"

That was the last thing Kim Hochun remembered.

'Damn it.'

A young boy who hadn’t fully developed his mind yet sighed as he stared at the ceiling.

That young boy was Baek Seo-jun—or rather, me, the reincarnated version. Even though four years had passed since my birth, I still couldn’t get used to being a child.

And today, after realizing which world I had been born into, I let out another deep sigh.

'Leaving a mean comment got me reincarnated… into this?'

It wasn’t even the same novel I had criticized.

Seomun Yucheon, my friend, seemed to have been sent there first, and since the seat was "taken," I must have been dumped into some other novel.

It didn’t take me long to figure out where I had ended up.

This world was from a light novel-style web novel I had read called [The SSS-Class Heir of National Power].

How did I know?

"Seojin! It’s Daddy! Peek-a-boo~!"

"Seojin! Mommy’s here~!"

The name of my four-year-younger brother, born to my new parents, gave it away.

His name was Baek Seojin, the protagonist of [The SSS-Class Heir of National Power].

This novel, as the title implied, was set in a hunter-world universe.

However, unlike other hunter stories, this world was dominated by the Kangin Guild, the most powerful guild in Korea, which effectively ruled over other guilds in a subordinate hierarchy.

Later, it would be revealed that the world itself was being prepared as "food" for the Black Serpent That Devours Worlds.

The existence of mana allowed humans to grow stronger, making their souls more valuable.

The villains—especially SSS-class villains—were another major problem.

In the original story, Baek Seojin fought these villains, building his fame. He later inherited the Kangin Guild, gaining overwhelming resources and power.

With the help of several heroines, he ultimately defeated the final boss—the Black Serpent That Devours Worlds.

"But right now, my situation is the problem."

For some reason, my new parents barely acknowledged me. Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung only cared for Baek Seojin.

"As long as they don’t abuse me, I’ll be fine."

I resigned myself to living quietly.

But on my 10th birthday, something happened that shattered my plans.

The scene was a puppet theater.

Screams erupted everywhere.

"AAAAAH!"

Blood filled the air, and bodies littered the ground.

It wasn’t monsters.

"Attention! Scream all you want. I’ll kill whoever screams the loudest first!"

One of Korea’s most infamous SSS-class villains, So Kang-seok, was laughing maniacally, surrounded by his henchmen.

Even my "parents," Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung, were paralyzed with fear.

"Don’t worry, Seojin. Mommy’s here… Don’t be scared."

Watching them prioritize Baek Seojin while I was left behind, a bitter realization hit me.

"They’re planning to abandon me."

I refused to let that happen.

I didn’t ask to be reincarnated, but I wasn’t going to die a meaningless death.

What I didn’t realize then was that things would get far, far worse than I could ever imagine.

Truly, miserably, and utterly worse.