It was a cliche story.
It was those kinds of stories in which an average office worker transmigrated into a novel and saved herself from a bad fate.
It was one of those kinds of cheap stories that I knew how it would end… but I couldn't stop myself from reading it.
There was magic, action, drama, shitty ex-fiancees, and love triangles.
It was a famous web novel. The story always ended on the cliffhanger. There were a lot of snu-snu moments. The male lead was so frustrating at times that I wished to go into the book and choke him. The female lead, who was so dense despite being from a modern world, made my blood boil at all times. Why couldn't she see the second male lead who was in puppy love with her? She should be with anyone else but that cold-hearted asshole male lead who kept forcing himself on her.
So, I had a lot of reasons to hate the novel. Yet I couldn't stop myself from reading it. I was addicted to it. I knew that it was a poison that kept giving me indigestion. But I wanted to read it till the end. I thought that I would be fine as long as the novel had a happy ending.
However, the ending was completely unexpected.
The evil ex-fiancee of the male-lead was absent for the last 100 chapters. It turned out that she went to the enemy nation and married the diabolic emperor who had killed his own father to get the throne. Later, she manipulated him into waging a war with the male lead's kingdom.
The female lead used her magical powers to help the male lead during the war. But she exhausted herself and died. The male lead went mad after her death. They lost the war. The kingdom went to the bloodthirsty emperor who killed all the people who were loyal to the male lead and the female lead. Even their son, who was only seven at the moment, was executed at the city's square.
However, the emperor was poisoned by the crazy ex-fiancee when he found out that she kept the male-lead as her pet. Then, she put the male lead's son as the puppet emperor and ruled the empire.
In the end, the crazy ex-fiancee won.
My stomach churned when I finished reading the ending. "What is this fuckery?"
[Author: I wanted to give an un-cliche ending to a cliche novel. Now, I can retire in peace.]
"Retire in peace?" I choked out the words. "RETIRE IN PEACE?"
I didn't invest my heart, energy, and hours of my life to read that shitty ending. I typed a comment on the last chapter.
[NotYourFan89: FUCK YOU, AUTHOR! WHAT KIND OF SHITTY ENDING IS THAT? YOU HAD ONE JOB! EVEN I CAN WRITE BETTER THAN YOU DO. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO COMPENSATE ME FOR THE MENTAL DAMAGE THAT THIS ENDING GAVE ME?]
I was just venting. After reading a 1000 chapters long novel, it was in my right to let out some steam.
[Ping!]
I checked the reply. It was from the evil author.
[Author: Goodluck then.]
"Huh?" I didn't understand why the author was wishing me luck. Did she/he send me luck for my visit to a therapist? The author must have gone mad after writing that crappy story.
I decided not to reply. After putting down the phone on the table, I started staring at the ceiling. I didn't like the feeling that I had after finishing a novel. The emptiness in my chest started to grow again.
It's strange how we always say that emptiness is growing when emptiness is basically a disappearance of what was already there.
"What do I do now?" I let out a heavy sigh. "Maybe I should stop reading web novels that give me heartache."
I knew that I wouldn't stop reading them.
"I won't mind transmigrating into a princess." I exhale, "It's better than living this life."
I was kidding.
My life wasn't bad. I had a good job and my family cared about me. I wasn't an orphan or some creepy antisocial girl who hadn't seen sunlight for months. I wasn't ugly. I was unmarried but I maintained my body. In fact, I was supposed to go on a blind date the next day. I heard that the guy was the president of a leading business group. My aunt, who was married to his second uncle, was playing the matchmaker.
If the date went well, I might live the life of those pampered female leads with rich husbands.
The thought of getting married to a handsome rich man took away my sour mood. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
***
And I wasn't happy when I woke up.
"What is this fuckery?" I stared at the crimson sky. "Where did the roof go?"
Was there an earthquake? It wouldn't be the first time if I had slept through an earthquake. My body was aching. I sat up, feeling grouchy. I didn't want to go on a date with back pain.
What if he and I go to a hotel after the date? I was a healthy woman. It was absolutely healthy for me to imagine snu-snu moments with the guy if he turned out to be sexy.
I wanted to be fit for the possibility of having snu-snu moments.
My brain turned blank when I saw the scene before me.
The ground was full of mangled corpses. My clothes were soaked with blood. Hopefully, the blood wasn't mine.
It had to be a nightmare. Why else a sane woman would wake up in the middle of corpses?
Just then, an envelope fell in my lap.
What's this?
I frowned at the envelope. Where did it fall from? It seemed like it suddenly popped out of nowhere.
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR DREAM CAME TRUE!
YOU PASSED THE DAMN TEST. YOU HAVE RECEIVED A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THE ENDING --]
I paused for a moment.
Why was this letter written in capital letters? It felt like the writer was yelling at me. What the hell was I reading?
[THIS WEB NOVEL WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN BY A DEITY WHO PUT A SPECIAL SPELL ON THIS NOVEL.
INITIALLY, ALL THE CHARACTERS HAD TRAGIC ENDINGS.
THE TRANSMIGRATORS ALWAYS HAVE TO CHANGE THE DAMN ENDING.
MY JOB WAS TO CHANGE MALE LEAD'S EX-FIANCEE'S FATE. HOWEVER, I WASN'T ABLE TO GIVE A HAPPY ENDING TO ALL THE CHARACTERS. BUT YOU SAVED ME.
THANK YOU FOR HATING ME. OTHERWISE, I WOULDN'T HAVE FOUND A WAY TO LEAVE THIS STORY. NOW, I HAND OVER THE REINS TO YOU.
SINCE YOU DON'T LIKE THE ENDING, YOUR JOB IS TO STOP THE EMPEROR FROM MARRYING THE EVIL EX-FIANCEE AND WAGING WAR ON THE MALE LEAD'S KINGDOM. IF THE EMPEROR DOESN'T WAGE THE WAR, THE MALE LEAD AND THE FEMALE LEAD WOULD HAVE A HAPPY ENDING.
HOWEVER, THIS DOESN'T GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL GET OUT OF THE WEB NOVEL.
IF YOU ARE WONDERING HOW TO GET OUT OF THE NOVEL, THERE ARE THREE WAYS.
1. CHANGE THE TRAGIC ENDING FOR ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS INCLUDING THE VILLAINS.
2. FIND A READER WHOSE HATE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SURPASS YOURS.
3. FIND THE DEITY.
When I was trying so hard to change the ending of the novel, you were CURSING me. Since you like to curse so much, I LEFT YOU A LITTLE GIFT.
BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS LETTER, I WILL BE GONE FROM THIS STORY.
P.S. If you die, you go back to the moment you woke up in the story.]