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𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 “𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝” 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍.

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IN A ROOM ~

[ The male lead of this novel, Jeon Jungkook, was neither the kind who started heroic and invincible, like a proud dragon of the heavens, nor the kind who was a loser, a good-for-nothing without merit—yet he managed to trend with tens of thousands of readers on Zhongdian Literature, inspiring countless other male fantasy novels to follow in his footsteps. ]

[ He was the kind of lead who was pitch-black, dark, and vicious, though before his heart blackened, he was the kind who suffered misery after misery. Immediately after birth, Jungkook was abandoned by his parents, swaddled in white cloth, and put in a wooden basin that was lowered into the River. This occurred on the coldest days of the year, and it was only thanks to fishermen pulling him out of the water that he didn’t freeze to death as a baby. ]

[ Because he’d been drifting along the river in the season when it was choked with thin ice. After that he spent his early years wandering the streets, hungry and cold—a dreary childhood. A washerwoman who worked for a wealthy family took pity on him, and since she had no children of her own, she adopted and raised him as her own. Mother and son were poor, and they suffered much humiliation at the hands of their rich patrons. ]

[ So after growing up in such an unhealthy environment. Foundation of Jungkook’s future twisted personality post-darkening—his inclinations to fight over every scrap, seek revenge for the smallest grievance, and hide murderous intent behind a smile. ]

[ Once, he withstood the beatings of the family’s young masters for a bowl of lukewarm meat congee. In the end, he was still too late, and he failed to give his adopted mother even a single taste before she died. By complete coincidence, he was selected for training by one of the cultivation world’s four great sects, Cang Qiong Mountain. There, he apprenticed under the “𝚇𝚒𝚞 𝚈𝚊 𝚂𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍.” Kim Taehyung. ]

[ After meeting Kim Taehyung Jungkook thought he could finally start down the righteous path. He couldn’t have expected that Kim Taehyung was fair without but foul within, trash of the lowest caliber. Kim Taehyung was jealous of Jungkook’s unparalleled and exceptional talent, and he secretly feared his disciple, whose cultivation improved by leaps and bounds every day. He always found new ways to taunt and demean Jungkook, even enlisting the boy’s peers to belittle him. Throughout these years of studying, Jungkook endured every humiliation. It was another heart-wrenching arc in his story, filled with blood and tears. ]

[ After much difficulty, Jungkook managed to turn seventeen, at which point he finally participated in the event the cultivation world held once every four years: the Immortal Alliance Conference. However, at the conference, Jungkook fell victim to Kim Taehyung’s scheming, and he tumbled into a crack in the boundary between the Human and Demon Realms—the Endless Abyss. ]

[ As it turned out, Jungkook had been born to the Demon Realm’s Saintly Ruler and a woman of the Human Realm; within his veins flowed the blood of the ancient, heaven-fallen demons as well as that of the human race. His birth father, Tianlang-Jun, had been sealed beneath a great mountain, trapped for all eternity. His birth mother had been a disciple from a righteous cultivation sect. ]

[ But shortly following Tianlang-Jun’s sealing, she had been expelled on suspicion of having secret ties to demons. She had died from a postpartum hemorrhage after giving birth to Jungkook, but prior to her death, she had set her son adrift from the lonely ship she’d birthed him on. It was the only way she had been able to give Jungkook a chance to survive. ]

[ Jungkook used Xin Mo to release his body’s seal on his demonic blood. Then, within the dark abyss, he single-mindedly cultivated and enlightened himself to otherworldly techniques before heading back to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. From there on out, Jungkook steadily headed down his dark path, never looking back. ]

[ Every single one of his old enemies suffered great torment and died a horrible death by his hand. With his steadily improving ability to lie and scheme, Jungkook won the trust of many people, feigning compliance while secretly plotting against them. He seized power and rose in position, beginning a reign of terror. ]

[ As the story unfolded, Jungkook’s heart blackened further and further. He returned to the Demon Realm and inherited the position of Saintly Ruler. Yet unsatisfied, he began to eradicate each one of the Human Realm’s great righteous sects, bathing them in blood, annihilating all who opposed him. ]

[ In the end, Jungkook became a legend spoken of for generations of immortals and demons, hailed for his unification of the three realms, the uncountable size of his harem, and his boundless number of descendants! ]

[ Who could have imagined that an upstanding young man like him—who had properly purchased the website’s VIP currency and read the novel’s official version—would find himself persevering before his untimely death to finish a novel so stallion, so money-grubbing and overly padded, that it left him speechless with rage? How could he not curse? ]

[ Proud Immortal Demon Way, by Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky. a grade-school level writing with landmines everywhere, breaking all suspension of disbelief. And because of that Vantae couldn’t bear to call that incoherent mess of a world the author had built a cultivation setting. ]

[ What kind of cultivation world had people using horses and carriages all day? What kind of cultivation world had people who, after achieving inedia, still needed to eat and sleep? What kind of cultivation world had an author who occasionally mixed up even the stages of Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul? ]

[ When faced with the protagonist, every single character acted like his total edgelord aura had devoured their intelligence—especially Jungkook’s master, Kim Taehyung, that idiot among idiots, scum among scum! His only purpose was to dig his own grave, and he hadn’t even managed to finish before he was killed by the protagonist instead. ]

[ So why had he started this book, even going so far as to read it to the very end? Don’t misunderstand, he didn’t enjoy degrading himself. The reason he had persisted was also what had caused him the most frustration. ]

[ Well he already told you himself. This novel had an incredible amount of foreshadowing, plot lines everywhere, mystery after mystery, layer upon layer of red herrings. And at the very end—not a single one paid off! It was enough to make him want to puke a fountain of blood. ]

[ Why were priceless herbs, spirit elixirs, and peerless beauties everywhere, like they didn’t cost a cent? Why were the villain's speeches and poses as they dug their graves and got offed all exactly the same? The dozens of maidens barely glimpsed, all of whom agreed to enter the harem, what happened to them? ]

[ All right, skipping that last one for the moment—who had been the culprit behind the scores of atrocities? Exactly what was the purpose of the unending list of characters so hyped up for being awesome and without equal? Why did none of them make an appearance, even at the very end?! ]

[ With that last sentence, in anger he leaves a message to the author hoping that he would do something about this trashy fuçked up story, and fill in the plot holes in this novel. without even thinking that what he send to author was not a message but a damn consent, to join on that world to change the world and ensure his own survive there. but alas if he knows that just one message would change his whole life starting from next day. he wouldn't be in so hurry to send it. Right? ]

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𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎?

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IN THE ENDLESS DARKNESS ~

[ It seemed like he was floating in a virtual space, one so dark that he couldn’t see his hand before him. The voice came from all directions. ]

[ In the midst of his ensuing vertigo, a man’s voice asked lightly beside him. ]

[ Vantae shuddered and settled his mind, forcibly peeling open his eyes. The scene that appeared before him was a massive, whirling flurry. It took a while for everything to finally coalesce and slowly become clear. ]

[ A white, gauzy canopy hung overhead, with finely crafted perfume pouches dangling from the four corners. ]

[ He wore a white robe of an ancient style. Next to the pillow lay a paper fan. ]

[ A handsome, elegant young man dressed in xuanduan formal robes sat by his bedside, looking at him with concern. Vantae closed his eyes, then sharply reached for that folding fan and opened it with a snap. He lightly waved it, fanning away the cold sweat pouring down his face. ]

[ The information overload was a bit much. He dazedly tried to sit up. As he did, the man quickly reached out to support his back, letting him lean against the headboard. ]

[ Having read many of Zhongdian’s transmigration novels, Vantae had long ago resolved the fact that, if one day he woke up to find himself lying in a strange place, the first words out of his mouth before he understood what was happening definitely wouldn’t be a carefree giggle and a “𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚜𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕—𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚠'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕!” ]

[ In other words, a person slow-wittedly trying to find their footing. Rather, Vantae concentrated on acting like he’d just woken up, expression absentminded. ]

[ The man’s next sentence, single and earnest, confirmed all his suspicions. ]

[ At this moment, something dinged, and the mechanical, Google-Translate-like voice from his dreamscape spoke again. ]

[ Of course, Vantae didn’t say this out loud, but the voice swiftly responded. ]

[ Vantae was sure now. He’d hit the jackpot—he’d transmigrated! Transmigrated into a story he’d just finished, moreover, even if it was a pitch black stallion novel he’d hated, and even if it came with some kind of ßhîtty “𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖.” As a 21st century veteran VIP reader of Zhongdian Literature, Vantae had read various types of do-over and transmigration male power fantasy novels year in and year out, so theoretically, he could have happily and easily accepted this fact. ]

[ But of all people, the shell he was borrowing just happened to belong to the male lead’s scum villain master, Kim Taehyung. So this… Uh, made the situation rather complicated. The amicable-looking elder-brother type beside him was Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s current sect leader, Kim Taehyung’s Senior Brother, the “𝚇𝚞𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚞 𝚂𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍,” Jung Hoseok. ]

[ There was a very important reason Vantae emphatically thought “𝙵𝚞𝚌̧𝚔” at the sight of Jung Hoseok. In the original work, Jung Hoseok’s death had been caused by his good Junior Brother, Kim Taehyung, okay?! ]

[ At this moment, the victim was facing his own “𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚛” and showering him with concern. The pressure was immense. On second glance, though, the story hadn’t yet unfolded to that point. Jung Hoseok was still in perfect health, meaning that at this point in time, Kim Taehyung had yet to reveal himself as a hypocrite, and his reputation was still pristine. ]

[ Though his character ended up suffering quite a bit, during his read, Vantae had been rather fond of him. He was just about to relax when a string of words floated eerily to the forefront of his mind. ]

GLIMPSE OF ORIGINAL NOVEL ~

[ Within the dark, gloomy room, a metal chain hung from a beam. At the end of the chain dangled a ring. The ring was fastened around a person’s waist—if it could still be considered a “𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗.” This “𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗’𝚜” appearance was filthy and disheveled, like that of a madman. The most frightening thing about him was that all four of his limbs had been severed. His shoulders and thighs were only four bare knobs of flesh. When touched, he would let out a hoarse “𝙰𝚑𝚑𝚑” sound. His tongue had been torn out too, rendering him unable to form complete words. —Proud Immortal Demon Way, a selected passage on Kim Taehyung’s fate. ]

[ Vantae—ah, no, Taehyung—rested his forehead on his hand. He was in no position to lament the horrors of other people’s deaths—the most horrific death was his own, okay?! Henceforth, he had to avoid any critical errors! ]

[ The moment Vantae had these thoughts, a long string of alarms erupted in his mind, as if one hundred police cars carrying one hundred shrieking divine beasts were zooming past. It was so cacophonous that he shuddered, clutching his head in pain. ]

[ As a novel reading person, Vaetae had seen a number of fanwork-related terms here and there—you know what I mean—so of course he knew the definition of “𝙾𝙾𝙲” stands for “𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛.” defined as breaking character or acting in a way inconsistent with the character’s canonical personality. ]

[ Original world? But in Vantae’s original world, his body had already expired. In other words, if he lost all his B-or-Whatever-Points, what awaited him was, in short, death. Well, if he just ignored the male lead and avoided doing anything, things would be fine, right? He raised his head and scanned the room, but among the disciples waiting on him by his bedside, he didn’t see anyone that matched Jeon Jungkook’s description. ]

[ Vantae Remained straight-faced but was secretly filled with glee! Was it possible that the time wasn’t right? That the male lead had yet to apprentice to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect? ]

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𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎.

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[ In his previous life, Vantae had been well-off growing up, and he’d basically qualified as a modest example of a second-generation rich kid. His two older brothers had been set to inherit the family business, and he’d doted on his little sister. The entire family had been very close. From early on, he’d known that even if he idled the rest of his life away, he’d never want for food. Perhaps due to this carefree upbringing, devoid of either competition or pressure, he came to believe that ranking in the top ten of a competition was good enough, so long as it had more than ten people. ]

[ Therefore, he’d never understood what scum villains like Kim Taehyung were thinking as they dug their own graves. The original Kim Taehyung had both training in cultivation and the qualifications to prove his experience, not to mention the self-restraint to put up a facade. He wanted for neither standing nor reputation, and with the support of the world’s largest sect, he would never want for money either. ]

[ So why did he not even have a speck of the poise expected of an immortal? Why did he act like one of those bitter courtyard-complex concubines with too much time on their hands? Why was he so unable to tolerate the main character no matter how innocuous his behavior, and why did he spend day in and day out scheming up new torments for him, even getting others to do so in his place? ]

[ Even if Jeon Jungkook was blessed with heavenly talent, and even if his aptitude was exceptional to the point that he was more or less cheating… There was still no need to envy him to that extent, you know? ]

[ Still, the blame didn’t really lie with Kim Taehyung—it lay with the author. These types of villains were everywhere in the novel, as numerous as carp in a river. It was just that Kim Taehyung’s character had been especially detailed and especially rotten. What could you do, though? The ultimate boss in this book was the protagonist himself. How could a firefly outshine the sun and moon? ]

[ The cultivation world had dubbed Kim Taehyung the “𝚇𝚒𝚞 𝚈𝚊 𝚂𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍,” so naturally he had the appearance and bearing to match. Even now, glancing left and right into a blurry bronze mirror, Vantae was quite satisfied with what he saw. ]

[ It was a fine-featured face with pitch-black eyes and brows, thin nose and lips, and a most scholarly air. Combined with a slender body and long legs, he could more or less be considered beautiful. Though his real age was unclear, this was a cultivation novel: Kim Taehyung had achieved Mid Core Formation, which meant he’d perfectly preserved his youthful appearance. He was certainly many times better-looking than Vantae’s original form. ]

[ The moment Vantae thought of Jungkook, he was instantly struck with a pounding headache. He wanted to go see Jungkook, who was currently shut in the woodshed, but as soon as he took a single step, that ear-piercing notification rang once more in his mind. ]

[ A youth around sixteen years old, tall and thin, promptly ran in through the door. ]

[ Vantae couldn’t help but send a couple more glances his way. Ming Fan’s appearance was respectable and handsome enough, it was just that he was a sharp tongued person. thinking this Vantae internally tsked and lamented. ]

[ Knowing that this child’s fate in the original work wasn’t much better than his own, Vantae couldn’t help but look at him with the pitying gaze of a fellow victim. ]

[ Ming Fan was plainly unnerved. Whenever Taehyung had called for Jungkook in the past, he’d always referred to him as “𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝,” “𝚄𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝,” “𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑” or “𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙.” He’d hardly even used Jungkook's name more than a few times. Where did this sudden change come from? But Ming Fan didn’t dare question a command from his shizun. He jogged to the woodshed right away and kicked the door twice. ]

OTHER SIDE ~

[ In short, not only did he have to clean up the original Kim Taehyung’s messes—the Kim Taehyung who’d had a veritable mob of enemies coming for his ass—he also had to stop other characters from creating more messes. He didn’t even know if he could preserve his own sorry life, and here he still needed to ensure that the main character preserved his OP-ness, time in the spotlight, and harem size. All those unsolved mysteries, those plot holes the author had neglected to fill, and now Vantae had to grab a shovel and sweat away, filling them in himself. ]

[ Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky had claimed that Proud Immortal Demon Way’s purpose was perfectly clear, and that each word had been written with a single goal in mind: to satisfy the reader. This was especially evident in how, in the future, the OP male lead would play innocent, a wolf in sheep’s clothing hunting other wolves, exacting revenge against lowlifes, generating enough satisfaction to overturn the heavens. ]

[ Thus, the work’s popularity had swelled rapidly as it grew longer and longer, until no foot-binding cloth could compare to its length. Keeping track of the plot had been stressful even as a reader. Insane landmines were everywhere—how could he manage to avoid all of them?! ]

[ Subjectively determined, situationally determined—what an all-purpose remedy. Vantae scoffed, then upon hearing the door open, looked back to see a youth slowly walk in. ]

[ The youth spoke respectfully even though his movements were unsteady, and he still managed to stand perfectly straight. The small smile that had been forming at the corner of Vantae’s mouth froze. ]

[ He was definitely dead! Before him was the face that would, in the future, infatuate everyone who saw it, from eighty-year-old women to infants still in their swaddling clothes, the Gary Stu protagonist’s face—and he’d beaten it to this extent?! He was dead! ]

[ But even though this face bore clear evidence of abuse and was covered in injuries, the protagonist was, as expected, still the protagonist. Jeon Jungkook's two eyes were as bright as morning stars—a tender shoot of a handsome young man. That firm yet humble countenance, demonstrating his noble and unyielding spirit. That pencil-straight back and stance, evincing a proud core that would rather break than bend! ]

[ In that instant, a flood of parallelisms and other stylistic devices flooded through Vantae’s heart, passage after passage jumbling together into countless stanzas of praise that almost spilled forth out of his mouth. Luckily, Vantae managed to rein it in, albeit while internally yelling about how close he’d come. The underlying hardware of this protagonist’s halo of excellence was really too much—he almost couldn’t hold back! ]

[ Vantae had assumed his role quickly. Even though he’d done something daringly subversive by handing over medicine, he’d also done it with a nasty attitude. Therefore, it was passably in line with Kim Taehyung’s hypocritical nature—his tendency to do evil while he simultaneously feared others finding out. ]

[ Indeed, the System didn’t send an OOC notification. That made Vantae let out a sigh of relief. Jungkook had expected that his Shizun had called him for further “𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.” He never would have thought he would be offered medicine. At first, he froze, then he respectfully received the small bottle with both hands and said, with honest gratitude. ]

[ At this point in time, Jungkook's face was still full of innocence, his smile sincere and gentle like the warm dawning sun. ]

[ Prior to his darkening, this male lead’s personality was that of a model and upright youth; shine a bit of sunlight on him and he’d glow, give him a scrap of goodwill and he’d return it tenfold—that type. It would not have been an exaggeration to call him a little lamb. ]

[ If Vantae hadn’t read Proud Immortal Demon Way, he would have found the sight of this scene heart-wrenching, and he probably would have shed a couple of sympathetic tears for Jungkook’s plight. As it was, he’d seen everything from beginning to end from an omniscient perspective, so he’d been privy to Jungkook’s plentiful and colorful thoughts post-blackening. ]

[ To wit, Jungkook’s current pitifulness directly correlated to the future ferocity of his wanton laughter as he ground his foot into your head. Though he would wear the mask of a kind and humble gentleman, inside, all his thoughts would be about how he’d rip out your tendons, pull out your bones, peel off your skin, and hang it all out to dry. ]

GLIMPSE OF ORIGINAL NOVEL ~

[ Jungkook smiled. “𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝.” [😇] —Proud Immortal Demon Way, selected passage number two. ]

[ Vantae asked in a deliberately aloof tone as he moved to sit in a sandalwood chair. With that single “𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚔𝚘𝚘𝚔.” ]

[ Jungkook’s back also shook with a clear shudder, but he still managed a smile tinged with shyness. ]

[ At his silent yelling, that demonic System’s warning notification started blaring incessantly. ]

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