What the Hell for 50,000 Won?
"Alright, time for Nureongi’s review where we chew, tear apart, and taste webnovels—today’s victim is..."
The usual opening lines, viewers popping up beyond the monitor, the chat window lighting up. After the familiar intro, I’d normally review a webnovel I’d personally read and recommend it. But the trash sitting in front of me wasn’t something I could recommend, not even as an empty compliment. No, it was a monstrosity—a total waste.
"...Haa. Nureongi fam, hate to say it, but you might wanna brace yourselves today. The novel we’re reviewing was requested by a viewer named Tanaka-kun. It’s called, uh, ‘As an Ordinary High Schooler, I Awaken and Transform into an Unrivaled Powerhouse?!’"
Jesus, just saying the title out loud made me cringe. What is this, some 2000s Japanese light novel title?!
And sure enough, it wasn’t just me—the Nureongi viewers were already buzzing before I even started the review. Yeah, honestly, I wanted to skip it based on the title too. But this subscriber shelled out a whopping 50,000 won to my humble channel, so I gritted my teeth and read it.
But no matter how much I call it humble, no matter how precious every subscriber is... I should’ve skipped this garbage! Aaaargh! I shouldn’t have taken that damn 50,000 won! What the hell was I thinking, reading this crap for pocket change?!
The webnovel requested by subscriber Tanaka-kun was pure waste from start to finish. Fine, the title mimicking some generic Japanese light novel? Whatever. The prologue where some ultimate evil villain wipes out Korea? Okay, pass. Setting the story in Japan? Tastes differ, so whatever. Even the protagonist whining crap like “Aah, I just wanna live normally~”, “Haa~ Guess it can’t be helped~”, “Women need men to protect them~”—I’ll chalk it up to taste too—ugh, I can’t take it anymore!
Is even the protagonist straight out of a 2000s light novel?! And the plot? It’s all “Japan’s so cool! Japan’s amazing! Japan rules!”—total Japan-boner bait. Reading it made my hands and feet shrivel up in secondhand embarrassment. This wouldn’t even fly as national-pride fanfic—it’d get roasted just the same!
I slogged through to the end purely out of a bare-minimum sense of responsibility since I took the money. Otherwise, I’d have dropped it halfway.
But what really made me call it waste wasn’t just the title, protagonist, or plot. This novel reeked of bigotry from the core. The refugees from Korea’s fall to the ultimate evil? The attitude toward them is a mess. I’m not asking for warm welcomes or neighborly love, but mocking and scorning them? Come on.
Take the early Korean villain: not only portrayed as pathetic and gross in his grief over losing his country, but the protagonist straight-up blames it on their weakness. That fucking racist dialogue gave me the creeps. And the heroines fawn over him like “So cool!” “Refreshing!” What the actual hell?!
The platforms take everyone’s money but let trash like this slide? Anyway, you could feel the author’s twisted, pickled-in-hate mindset oozing off every page.
No one else seemed to have read it like me—they were all just cracking up at my reactions—but at least everyone agreed it was crap. Well, almost everyone. One guy didn’t.
The chat, which had been roasting the novel left and right, suddenly turned its arrows on the intruding Tanaka-kun. Sigh, seeing him act up in chat too—not just the novel—confirms he’s the real deal, a purebred nutjob. No point engaging; it’d just tire me out. So instead of raging, I calmly moved my mouse cursor.
"Ah, our dear Tanaka-kun. Thanks for the 1,000-won pocket change. But what can I say? By my standards, your novel’s straight-up waste."
I clicked his ID in the viewer list and hovered over the [Permanent Ban] button.
"If you wanted compliments, you should’ve requested it in your own community. Anyway, consider the 50k compensation for my mental anguish. You’re out of this channel forever. Bye-bye~."
Click.
What the hell was he thinking, sending this to me for review? If you want reviews, go to your echo chamber. What a sight.
Fueled by righteous fury at letting such trash slide, I reported it to the platform. Then I moved on to the next one.
"Alright, trash cleared. Next up. Let’s see... ‘Does the Lady Want to Get Laid?’ Whoa, this title’s bad in a whole other way...".
Anyway, I figured it’d be just another ordinary day like always. At least, that’s what I thought back then.
“Customer. Customer! Customer!”
“Ugh, uwaaah?!”
“Eek!!”
A frantic voice drilled into my ears, snapping my eyes open. My whole body shook like I’d just woken from sleep paralysis, cold sweat pouring down.
What the...? I was definitely streaming from my room, so where the hell is this? My messy desk and monitor were gone, replaced by a sleek cafe interior bathed in warm sunlight welcoming me.
Then, a trembling voice spoke from beside me.
“U-um, excuse me, sir? Your... order...?”
“Yes?”
I turned to see a cafe waitress, face pale as a ghost, shaking like a leaf. Looking around in confusion, everyone at the other tables was staring at me, tense as hell. Some were even grabbing bags and edging away.
“Ah, uh... just a tall Americano, please...”
Ugh, this damn face of mine has never helped me once. No idea why I’m here, but I felt bad scaring the poor waitress, so I ordered something. Good thing I had my phone and wallet—I paid and sat calmly, piecing things together.
Whew. What the hell? No memory of leaving the house, so why am I in a cafe?
Sleepwalking? Amnesia? Or young-onset dementia?! Argh, I’ve been pulling all-nighters lately—did that do it? Please, anything but dementia!
I racked my brain for memories, but nothing. Sigh, first things first—where am I?
I turned on my phone to check location, and a breaking news banner at the top caught my eye.
“Huh? What’s this?”
I wondered if I’d fallen asleep to some webnovel or webtoon, so I checked the site. Nope—legit portal news main page.
“Today April Fool’s? Or did the journalists all lose their minds?”
Bewildered, a news anchor’s voice flowed from the cafe’s wall-mounted TV.
『Yes, the Hero Association just announced via official briefing the ascension of a new S-rank hero. Take a look at the screen.』
“Whoa, check it out—a real new S-rank hero.”
“Wow, she’s gorgeous. Skills are one thing, but that visual...”
“Knew Flare would make it. Saw it coming when she nabbed that villain last time.”
The cafe patrons murmured at the screen. News, articles, conversations—all heroes, heroes, heroes. Even someone out of the loop like me knew this wasn’t normal real-world talk.
Why’s everyone yelling about heroes?! Don’t tell me it’s not just dementia—my ears too?!
Just as I wondered if the world was pranking me, a chill flashed through my mind, blanketing my body.
“No way...”
My gut, honed from devouring countless webnovels as Nureongi, screamed danger. With shaking hands, I searched the portal for names from that trash novel I’d just reviewed.
And the results...
“—You bastard Tanaka-kun!!”
Soon enough, I realized I’d possessed the webnovel written by Tanaka-kun. Right before Korea falls to the ultimate evil.