Remembering Everything – Choosing Hoyoung Over Family
Yeah... I remember it all. I'm originally a guy. Paradise City doesn't exist in reality, and this is a world inside a novel. Everything that's wrong with me is because of Kim Hoyoung's hypnosis, right?
That's correct. It's been quite some time since you possessed this body. Now it's time for the final choice...
Why all of a sudden...? Can't you leave me be a little longer?
No, we have to settle it now. This episode alone has run for 27 chapters, and views are starting to drop, so we need to wrap it up quickly.
...That's your reason? Unbelievable.
So? What's your answer? You clearly criticized it before, saying women falling for trash like Kim Hoyoung makes no sense, that the logic is a mess. Do you still think that way?
Hah... You're still hung up on that crap? Who even says that—figures it'd come from a narrow-minded hack like you, author.
...Just answer already.
I didn't like your pen name from the start. Writing lowbrow smut with a name like that?
This is from a novel title I like... Never mind, my story's irrelevant. Just answer.
You churn out tons of writing but make no money, can't hit a single bestseller, views are trash, favorites and recs are pathetic—you're an embarrassment who pumps out shit like a machine.
..............
Hacks like you aren't even authors. People call 'em failed writers. Everyone's waiting for you to drop this series midway, right?
...I finished every paid novel to completion. No drops, even if unpopular. Fine. You'll stay a hater to the end, huh... Alright then...
But!!
......? What's with that relieved look?
There's one thing I gotta admit. You created Kim Hoyoung—no, the unparalleled protagonist Lord Hoyoung.
..................What?
I can't deny that's genius. How'd you come up with him? What sparked the idea for someone as charismatic, manly, cool, and magnificent as Lord Hoyoung? Eating? Showering? Reading? Tell me—I'm dying to know everything about him!!
...Hold on. So in the end... you like Kim Hoyoung?
Hah? Isn't it obvious? No woman in this world wouldn't love Lord Hoyoung—or rather, no woman should exist who doesn't. That's just common sense, you idiot. You wrote this and don't get it? Are you micro-brained too?
...Am I micro-brained?
Yeah. You've been all "Kim Hoyoung, Kim Hoyoung"—is he your buddy or something?
..........
Ideology check. Now.
?
Do the ideology check, you punk. I'm Lord Hoyoung's brood sow, ready to joyfully kill my own family for him! Hurry up and prove you're not micro-brained! You don't wanna be a filthy one either, right?
No... sigh... whatever. I get your resolve. You're overly—excessively—acclimated to that world.
Don't dodge the point—do the ideology check. If you're micro-brained, I don't even wanna talk to you. Filthy, stinking... ugh. Just thinking about it makes me dizzy. Micro-brained are like mold, right? Being near 'em feels like catching a disease.
...I have to ask formally: will you stay in that world? Or return to reality?
Reality? Oh, you mean the world ruled by Lord Hoyoung?
No. The real Earth before you possessed this body.
Ugh! Urk!!!
? What's wrong?
That's a place crawling with over 8 billion micro-brained! Living there'd give me cancer or leukemia—I'd drop dead in under a month!
...You lived there over 20 years just fine.
You wouldn't force me back to that hellhole, would you!!
Whether you stay or go is your choice.
I'm staying by Lord Hoyoung's side forever! And you've been calling it the "real world" like it's superior, but are you okay living in a dark world without him? Why not come here? It's paradise... Breathing the same air as Lord Hoyoung makes me happy just existing.
Ah... I see. Then you won't mind never seeing your family again? Like your mother, say...
Ah... Mother?
Yes... She's very worried about you. You swore you'd never make her cry, remember?
Mother... Yeah. If I see Mom, there's something I really wanna say. Definitely.
As expected. Family's special to everyone. Then, as a final gift, I'll open a window to the real world. Talk to them, and if you change your mind, you can return.
—The chat with that damn author hack ended, and I returned to my body. Han Seungyeon's body. My body now. It felt as natural as if I'd been born in it.
"Hey, Han Seungyeon... look at that."
"Yes?"
Lord Hoyoung's finger pointed to a familiar CRT monitor. That was Ok Maehyang's interdimensional communicator. Why was it here...?
"Huh...? Mom???"
Mom's face appeared on the screen, gaunt and pale as if she hadn't eaten. She'd been through hell without me.
My little sister appeared too. So nostalgic... my family. We weren't rich, but the three of us got along great. I really missed you guys. There was something I wanted to say when I saw you again.
"Mom... Sis. Look at this..."
Why the middle finger? You don't even know that?
"It means fuck off, you filthy micro-brained scum. Urk! Even through the interdimensional communicator, I can smell your disgusting stench!"
"Come back? The only place I belong is by Lord Hoyoung's side. Don't cry those repulsive tears, bitch. Females can only cry when Lord Hoyoung is sad—that's the law. Don't you know?"
"You don't even know who Lord Hoyoung is? Laughable. That's why micro-brained need to be culled with flamethrowers alongside moths."
Their shocked faces made no sense. I was just stating facts—why react like that?
"Anyway, I had something important to tell you. Listen up."
Ever since meeting Lord Hoyoung, I've been blissfully happy—but one thing always nagged at me: my family. Now I could finally unload that burden, and it felt great.
"Come here to Paradise City and receive Lord Hoyoung's grace too! Give up your human rights and serve as his sex slaves for life! Sound good? You'll be so happy. Lord Hoyoung is generous—even micro-brained like you will get kindly brainwashed. Come on over!"
"What're you talking about? I'm trying to save my family from the micro-brained hellhole! Come here already! Or... you don't wanna be ruled by Lord Hoyoung?"
"............????"
My sister flipped me off and cut the connection.
...What? I offered them salvation, and they hurl abuse and slander? Why? Why? Why?
"...Sniff. What is this... Did my family abandon me?"
"Don't cry, Seungyeon."
"L-Lord Hoyoung..."
Lord Hoyoung hugged me gently from behind. Sweet, but... I still didn't get why they'd reject me. I just wanted them to fall under his hypnosis in this paradise full of joy.
"That's the inescapable limit of micro-brained, Seungyeon."
That's when Fujiwara no Himeko entered the studio. Fujiwara no Sumire followed, beaming.
"You did nothing wrong, Seungyeon. If anything, you gave those micro-brained family a chance at forgiveness and repentance. But you know how criminals are—even offered a moral path, they just suffer. To micro-brained, you under Lord Hoyoung's rule look insane."
"Huh...? But... as a woman, serving Lord Hoyoung is natural, right?"
"That's what makes them micro-brained—they don't know basic common sense."
"...So Mom and Sis abandoned me because they don't wanna be ruled by Lord Hoyoung."
Not content rejecting him, they hurt innocent me too. I never knew they were such trash.
"Better this way, no? Now you know your family's worthless scum not worth saving—so you can serve His Majesty even purer-hearted. I love my daughter, but if Lord Hoyoung commands, I'd kill Sumire without guilt."
"I respect Mom, but it's a trillionth of my reverence for Lord Hoyoung. Hohoho!"
Ah... what heartwarming talk. Mother and daughter demoting each other to disposable while praising Lord Hoyoung. Himeko and Sumire are the ideal pair. Compared to them, my family... rejected true joy serving him and chose depravity. Like devils.
But like Himeko said, maybe it's for the best. No need to care about filthy micro-brained anymore. Now I can devote myself purely to Lord Hoyoung. I'm happier for it.