Nearing the Finale Amid Exam Crunch
During exam season, the completion of Possessed Master is a Public Enemy of the Martial World was drawing near. The readers seemed to sense it too, as the comments were all over the place.
— AnonymousReader
Don't end it! Keep writing! Drop the next chapter! Or... maybe slow it down a bit, that'd be fine too.
— SadFan123
You can tell you're gunning for the end lately... so sad ㅠㅠ
— HaremHater
Ending better not be a harem.
— SideStoryBeggar
Author-nim, you'll write a postscript, right? Side stories too? Like 300 of them?
⭐ Top Comment
— GreedyWriter?
Author dude... this thing... it's gonna make bank... Stretch it to 1,000 chapters... Strike while the iron's hot... This could be your pension... Prioritize money over artistry...
Seo Joo-hwan let out a chuckle at the last comment. It was the kind of remark that made him wonder if it was from a rival author rather than a reader. In the web novel scene, successful stories often got padded out beyond the original plan. Not just web novels—any commercially viable creative work did the same.
'If I hadn't regressed, I might've stretched it out too.'
Love for the work mattered, but harsh reality forced compromises.
"It's already gotten a bit draggy as is."
Stories dragged for reasons beyond money. Passion for the work often bloated the chapter count—backstories, detailed settings, mundane daily life, deep psychological dives. Indulging those urges could turn 1,000 chapters into 3,000 without batting an eye. That's why writers had to constantly check their greed.
Writers forever balanced on that tightrope of restraint and compromise. No wonder nailing the perfect ending was so damn hard.
But there was something even more tragic than dragging it out.
"Next week, it'll hit the finale. At least it's not getting axed early."
If popularity let you extend it, at least you made money. The real misery was cutting it short due to lack of interest or funds, leaving stories untold. Seo Joo-hwan knew that pain from before his regression, so he was grateful to finish this one properly.
He sent the remaining epilogues to Choi Mi-hwa via email. An hour later, her call came in.
📞 Choi Mi-hwa
"Joo-hwan, this is really the end?"
Choi Mi-hwa cut straight to it. Her voice brimmed with regret, making Seo Joo-hwan burst out laughing.
"Yeah, that's the end. Why, not good enough?"
"No, it's not that... The ending's great..."
"Then what's up?"
"Of course I'm bummed! Aaaah! I wanted more!"
This was Choi Mi-hwa as a reader, not an editor, venting her disappointment.
"Ugh. When a series you always enjoy ends, it's bittersweet. Ah, my heart hurts."
"Whoa. Careful there. Shrink it more and it'll vanish..."
His deadpan joke set her off.
"You bastard! It's hurting, not shrinking! And mine's not small! Have you even seen it?!"
"...I have?"
"You... bad fucker, think big dick means everything?"
"Ah, mine got bigger."
"Crazy, even bigger? Bullshit."
"If it sounds like bullshit, come check."
Seo Joo-hwan cackled as they traded lewd banter. They'd hooked up once but never dated afterward—like a fling. He'd taken her virginity, but sensing his awkwardness, she'd cursed him out and told him to shut up and fuck her. Things got weird post-sex.
"Horny? Come over. I'll jerk you off once."
"Pfft. You'd lock the door if I showed."
"Duh. But now we're tossing obscenities without a care."
To outsiders, it'd look bizarre, but constant contact had evolved their dynamic into this.
Choi Mi-hwa
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Height: 161cm
Weight: 50kg
Affection: C+
Current Lust: C+
Fetish: Pictophilia (Mid), Narratophilia (Low)
Talents: Insight (A/A+), Speed Reading (B+/A+), Communication (C+/B+), Sharp Tongue (C/B+)
Her fetishes explained it: Pictophilia was addiction and arousal from pornographic images, videos, or text. Narratophilia was getting off on dirty talk, curses, and obscenities. No wonder their filter vanished over time. They'd already slept together, sure, but the real trigger was her kinks.
"You seriously not publishing that one?"
"Which? Lewd Demon Regression?"
"Yeah. You've got a ton serialized already. Always top 3 in adult bestsellers. Publish it."
"That's pure hobby."
"Go paid; it'd rake it in. Already got eyes on it. Such a waste."
Lewd Demon Regression was his secret smut under a burner account—impromptu hobby fic with a simple premise, no real plot. Yet it drew crowds. Choi Mi-hwa sniffed it out unprompted, gave casual feedback, but the 19+ content led to dick-and-pussy talk, snowballing into smutty chats.
"I'll think after finale. Uploads are irregular anyway."
"Mm. Fair. When it ends, bring it to me first?"
"Obviously."
"Oh, right. Next project ideas?"
"Uh... vaguely thinking modern stuff. No solid hook yet."
Too many ideas made choosing tough. Nothing clicked hard enough. Lately leaning modern fantasy sans hunter tropes, but blanks there too.
"Pro stuff?"
"Ideally, but tough."
"High difficulty. Tons of research for accuracy."
"Exactly."
"No deep-dive hobby? Pros usually stem from hobbies outside day jobs—solid base from interest."
"Hm. Hobbies... nothing jumps out. I'll mull it."
His "hobbies" were mostly reading. Games and streams, but shallow. No base meant full research grind for pro fic.
As he moved to hang up:
"Uh, Joo-hwan?"
"Yeah?"
"Finale's done, uploads end next week... wanna meet?"
"Huh? For real?"
Seo Joo-hwan was caught off guard. They texted often, but face-to-face? Only at signing. (Wait, bumped into her with Han Su-ah and sis once.)
"I-I'm your editor. Gotta treat you right."
She tacked on an excuse. He scratched his eye, chuckling awkwardly.
"Sure, let's meet soon."
"When? This week? I'll shift my schedule, whenever suits you..."
"Ah, sorry."
Something clicked; he cut her off.
"Later."
"...Cuz it's awkward? I got no feelings, it's fine."
"Nah, not that."
He eyed the calendar by his desk, smirking wryly.
"Exams soon."
"Oh... right, college kid. Midterms."
His first uni exams.
He didn't actually need to grind his studies. University wasn't a place for him to learn academics anymore—he was primarily there to build connections. During lectures, he either caught up on sleep or plotted out his next novel. The rhythmic clacking of his laptop keyboard easily passed for diligent note-taking, earning nods of approval from his unsuspecting professors.
Participating in these midnight library sessions was purely for the fun of it. Why did he bother coming to university in the first place? It was to experience the vibrant campus life he had always envied before his regression. Back then, he had always been a solitary studier, romanticizing the idea of staying up all night cramming with a group of friends.
Scribble, scribble.
The soft sounds of studying filled the quiet reading room. During exam season, Da-an University kept its library open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, snagging a seat was a brutal competition; those who failed were relegated to studying in their respective department rooms. However, Seo Joo-hwan had managed to luck into securing a block of library seats on the very first day. He grabbed spots for himself, Jeong Ha-yeon, Yoo Ji-kyeong, Jang Deok-hoon, and even Lee Seok-chan. Right now, they were all grinding away like madmen.
'Ugh. It's stuffy as hell in here.'
Feeling stifled, he quietly slipped out of his seat and left the reading room. He had already prepped enough for his exams, so he was feeling completely relaxed. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA would be easy for him. Maybe even higher. Even though he had skipped most of his lectures since regressing, he remained entirely confident. A 3.5 was the absolute floor; a 4.0 or higher was definitely within the realm of possibility.
'Before the regression, I busted my ass studying.' Back then, he had no money and no friends—his studies were his entire life. He had graduated with an impressive 4.1 GPA, the classic hallmark of a loner nerd. He thought all that academic knowledge would have faded after ten years, but simply skimming through the textbooks was enough to jog his memory on the old exam questions.
Stepping outside, he placed a cigarette in his mouth and mentally tallied his upcoming meetups. "Let's see... Ji-kyeong, Mi-hwa, So-ra noona. Oh, and the company dinner in May, so Su-hee noona too." He folded his fingers one by one as he counted them off, then let out a sudden snort.
'Damn, Seo Joo-hwan has really grown up.' It was wild to think about how quickly he had gone from regressing to sleeping with beautiful women he would never have even dreamed of touching in his past life. A brief flicker of guilt crossed his mind, but he quickly brushed it aside.
"Pfft. Too late to worry about that now." He flicked the ash from his cigarette. There was no point in regretting his actions at this stage.
Feeling guilty wasn't going to stop him from having sex, anyway. It wasn't like he had any plans to seriously date anyone right now. Furthermore, with the Lust System bound to him, having sex was practically mandatory for his survival. He might as well enjoy it completely guilt-free. He was done tiptoeing around and living cautiously in this life. Sure, his lifestyle might create some noise and drama down the line, but he had learned a valuable lesson from his brief dating stint with Jeong Ha-yeon: Faking being a nice guy was ultimately much trashier than just being honest. It was better to own his desires; the real ones who accepted him would stick around. He wasn't planning on going full trash mode, he just wanted to adopt a freer, more honest mindset.
"Phew. Why does Korea have to be so strictly monogamous?" he muttered to himself.
If polygamy were legal, he could build a proper harem. He didn't have any willing takers for that kind of arrangement just yet, but the thought alone made him chuckle.
"Fuck, this is why I can never write smut in a modern fantasy setting. Only one heroine in a smut novel? Nah, that would never work."
As he stood there muttering to himself like a madman, familiar voices approached from behind.
"What is that psycho babbling about now?"
"I don't know. Something about monogamy and smut? Do you think his brain is fried from studying?"
"Nah. Hyungnim is just in deep thought plotting out his next massive hit! That's classic Joo-hwan hyung for you...!"
"Ugh, why does this otaku treat me and Joo-hwan so completely differently?"
"He's nice to me too, Seok-chan. It's really just you he treats like that."
"Oppa! Give me a smoke!"
Turning around, Seo Joo-hwan found his four friends standing behind him. Jeong Ha-yeon and Lee Seok-chan were the ones calling him crazy, Jang Deok-hoon was busy fanboying over his writing process, and Yoo Ji-kyeong was practically salivating for a cigarette, as usual. However, he noticed one glaring oddity. Seo Joo-hwan blinked in confusion.
"Why do you guys have your bags?"
Not only did they have their own backpacks, but they were also holding his.
Jeong Ha-yeon simply grinned and tossed his bag at him. He caught it reflexively. Lee Seok-chan let out a wheezing laugh.
"Yo, Joo-hwan!"
"Yeah?"
"Studying absolutely sucks dick, right?"
"Duh."
"If it sucks, what should we do instead?" Seok-chan asked, a devious glint in his eye.
"Have sex," Joo-hwan replied deadpan, sliding his thumb between his index and middle fingers in an obscene gesture.
Lee Seok-chan roared with laughter, while Jeong Ha-yeon and Yoo Ji-kyeong immediately recoiled in disgust.
"Hahaha! That's my bro!" Seok-chan cheered.
"Seo Joo-hwan, you absolute perv!" Ha-yeon yelled.
"Oppa, you're such a creep!" Ji-kyeong added.
Joo-hwan ignored them and pointed directly at Ji-kyeong. "Raccoon, shut it!"
"Racc...?" The raccoon in question instantly went quiet, her jaw dropping in offense. Meanwhile, Lee Seok-chan kept cackling like a maniac.
"Sex? You absolute loon!" Seok-chan wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "But seriously, if studying sucks, we ditch it! Let's go play billiards!"
"I still have to study!" Ha-yeon protested.
"So you're not coming?" Seok-chan challenged.
"...Just for one hour. No, wait, two hours max," she quickly compromised.
"Bullshit," Joo-hwan called out.
"Lying ass," Ji-kyeong chimed in.
"Ji-kyeong?!" Ha-yeon gasped, feeling betrayed.
"Hehe. Sorry, unnie, but I hate studying too. Let's just go play instead!" Ji-kyeong laughed.
"Are you seriously turning into another Seok-chan?" Ha-yeon asked, horrified.
"Unnie! How could you say something so mean!"
"What did I even do?!" Seok-chan demanded indignantly.
"Seok-chan hyung is definitely a bad influence," Deok-hoon observed quietly.
"What did you say, you otaku fuck?!"
Seo Joo-hwan watched his bickering group of friends fondly, a soft smile playing on his lips.
'Huh. I guess this explains why my grades were so impossibly high before the regression.' The reason for his past academic success had finally been revealed: having friends was a massive distraction.
That night, giving up entirely on their exams, the five of them hit 1st Street and partied until four in the morning before finally heading home.