The Drama That Stabbed Me in the Back
I hurled the remote across the room. “What the hell is this? Fuck!”
I’d been hyped about the live-action adaptation of MegaCorp’s Youngest Son, the web novel I’d been devouring lately. I’d even recommended it to my friends. And now this? A complete betrayal in the final episode.
“It’s nothing like the original! What the hell were they even trying to say?”
Fuming, I stormed over to the official MegaCorp’s Youngest Son website and opened the viewer forum. The comment section was already a raging inferno of pure hatred.
“Fine. I’ll add my fuel to this dumpster fire.”
My furious fingers flew across the keyboard in a frenzied dance. I hammered out a scathing 5,700-character review and slammed the post button. Only then did some of the rage finally ebb away.
“Sixteen episodes. Sixteen goddamn episodes of my life I’ll never get back.”
It was already late. A heavy wave of drowsiness suddenly crashed over me. Yeah… I had to go to work tomorrow. Better get some sleep.
I scrolled through the sea of identical rage for a while longer before finally closing the laptop. My eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. I crawled into bed, muttering curses under my breath until sleep finally claimed me.
…Or so I thought.
> Connection established.
> Soul synchronization: 99.7%… Complete.
> Welcome, User.
A cold mechanical voice echoed directly inside my skull.
My eyes snapped open.
The ceiling above me wasn’t mine. The musty smell of mold and old instant ramen filled the tiny studio apartment. Empty soju bottles and cigarette butts littered the floor. A cracked phone screen lay beside the bed, still displaying a suicide note I definitely didn’t write.
“…You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Quest Generated: [Survive the First Day]
Reward: Basic Status Window Unlocked
Failure Condition: Death
I sat up slowly, heart hammering against my ribs. The rage from the drama’s ending was still fresh in my mind, but now it was mixed with something far more primal.
Fear.
Because I knew this world.
I knew exactly how brutal, how merciless, how utterly fucked up the universe of MegaCorp’s Youngest Son really was.
And I had just woken up as the most pathetic, useless, soon-to-be-dead side character imaginable.
“Shit…”
I rubbed my face with trembling hands.
“This is going to be a long damn life.”