That One Comment I Should Never Have Posted
The game I had poured my soul into, Ariel, had finally launched. Thanks to its cutting-edge AI and ChatGPT integration, every heroine reacted with vivid, lifelike personality. The developers had sunk a fortune into it, and it showed—the world-building and storyline were meticulously crafted. I had given my life to this game. Ten thousand hours of playtime. In a reality where I repeated the same clothes, the same tasks, and the same soul-crushing routine every single day, Ariel was the only sanctuary that let me escape.
“Graaaawr!”
“Haaap—!”
The character on my monitor hurled a blade of sword energy at the Great Wyvern’s gaping maw. Technically it was just a basic attack, but my character’s Danjeon stats were so far beyond the average player’s that even a casual swing generated a visible arc of mana that exploded on impact.
—Shwaaa!
—Crunch!
“Graaaaaawr—!”
One clean cut. The Great Wyvern’s body split in two and plummeted to the ground like a broken kite. That’s the three-hundredth one… Mid-to-low level monsters like these were one-shot kills now. After months of cycling between work, home, and Ariel, my character’s specs had left ordinary high-level players in the dust.
I had my character slice the tail from the corpse, stash it in the inventory, and immediately return to the Royal Ariel Academy. Once there, I approached Lucy Amelia of the Alchemy Club—the one who had given me the quest—and handed over the three hundred wyvern tails.
“Wow! You actually hunted three hundred of them? Kain, you’re incredible as always! With this, we’ll have more than enough materials for the alchemy section of the final graduation exam!”
Lucy bounced with excitement on the screen. The reward was a small boost in favorability and a few enchantment scrolls. Truthfully, the favorability meant nothing to me. I had zero interest in the game’s heroine conquest system. All I wanted was to wander the vast fantasy world, face stronger monsters, and grow more powerful. I had only taken this quest because the enchantment scrolls were rare enough to be worth the hassle. Heroine quests usually offered stingy rewards anyway, with favorability as the main prize.
“Kain! My family’s count household is hosting a social gathering soon. Could you possibly attend?!”
Countess Family ‘Lucy Amelia’ has presented you with an invitation. Will you accept?
[Accepting increases favorability by +1]
Was she insane? Obviously I refused. I had already traded wyvern tails for the enchantment scrolls. Why waste more time? The Great Wyvern barely gave experience at my level anyway. Did she have any idea how much grinding time I had lost because of her?
I clicked decline without a second’s hesitation.
“Ah… I figured you’d be busy, Kain. Sorry for asking.”
Good. She understood. I moved my character toward the next hunting ground.
.
.
.
“It’s already one in the morning.”
Irritated at the time I had lost on the heroine quest, I had pushed myself too hard grinding. The clock had slipped well past midnight. Outside the window the sky was pitch black. …I had to go to work tomorrow. Any more gaming and it would affect my performance at the office. I shut down the computer, spread out the blanket on the narrow studio floor, turned off the lights, and lay down. Out of habit I picked up my phone.
“Maybe I’ll check the Ariel community before bed.”
The moment I logged in, one post caught my eye.
→ How the hell do I shake off this damn rogue prince?
Ever since I enrolled at the academy the guy keeps showing up and ruining my quests. Fuck. Just now he said he wanted to “borrow” my sword and straight-up stole it, so because of him I can’t progress the Chapter 1 “Manifestation of Talent” quest.
My heart began to race. A newbie. An actual newbie was asking for help. What kind of trouble had our cute little newcomer run into that they would post in a veteran-only section?
Well, I had no choice. If a budding sprout needed guidance from a salty veteran like me, I would gladly provide it. Unable to contain my curiosity, I clicked the post.
‘Manifestation of Talent… It’s been ages since I last saw that story quest.’
It was an ultra-early chapter, before the protagonist Kain Barbo awakened his genius sword talent. There was one character who antagonized him in that section—the rogue prince the newbie had mentioned: Cian Brace. He was the biggest villain of the opening chapters.
‘I was pissed at him in the beginning too.’
I could understand the newbie’s frustration. The guy would suddenly appear, demand materials under the pretext of “borrowing” them, steal quest items, frame the protagonist for theft, and trigger sudden mandatory quests. Among players he was infamous for being an absolute menace.
…It felt strangely uncomfortable seeing the name so similar to my own. Jian. Cian. His facial features somehow resembled mine, and the names were close enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
…Looking back now, he was nothing but a minor villain in the story. Once the timid protagonist Kain awakened his talent and displayed overwhelming power, the prince’s harassment stopped. A textbook example of a strong-weak-weak-strong character. If he saw my current character’s specs, he would probably tremble and piss himself on the spot.
A quiet chuckle slipped out. Then, as if possessed, I found myself typing a comment.
I turned off the screen and set the phone beside my pillow.
…At the time, I had no idea.
I had no idea I would come to regret writing that comment.
As always, actions taken too late leave behind irreversible regret.
…Why regret? Because I got possessed? No. If I had possessed the protagonist, I would have cheered, “Hell yes! Genius swordsman life is the best! No regrets whatsoever—this is perfect!” and happily embraced my new existence.
The reason I regretted that comment was simple.
I had possessed the body of the very rogue prince I had spent the previous evening enthusiastically trash-talking with the other users.
“What the fuck is this?!”
A massively obese body. A belly that protruded like a balloon and a face so swollen it looked ready to burst. The moment I woke up, this was the sight that greeted me. For some reason lifting my torso felt sluggish. A chill ran down my spine as I looked around at the unfamiliar ceiling and room.
A dizzying premonition flashed through my mind.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I dragged the heavy body toward what looked like a bathroom and burst inside.
“Uwaaaaaah—!”
The face staring back at me from the mirror was horrifying. The possibility I had desperately denied had become reality in the most brutal way imaginable.
…The greatest villain of Ariel’s early chapters. The worthless rogue extra, Cian Brace.
His face was reflected in the mirror right before my eyes.
“Gurgle…”
I foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
“What—! What’s going on?!”
People came running down the hallway at the sound of my scream. The door flew open. Three maids in uniform, one butler, and Pablo Brace—Cian Brace’s father—rushed in with shocked expressions.
“Kyaaaaaah!!”
“H-how did this happen…!!”
“I’ll fetch a priest immediately!!”
Each of them reacted exactly according to their role, as if following a script. Even as my consciousness faded and my body crumpled to the floor, I continued to deny the reality unfolding around me.