I was an utterly ordinary guy, the kind you could find living anywhere in South Korea.
The background was a bit unusual, sure, but otherwise, everything about me was completely average—an average guy through and through.
I'd gone through elementary, middle, and high school like everyone else, gotten into a mid-to-lower-tier university in Seoul, and even served my mandatory military time. Average in every way.
If there was one hobby that didn't fit my average life, it was reading web novels from obscure authors.
Among those no-name writers' web novels, you'd sometimes find hidden treasures no one else had discovered, or stories that perfectly matched your tastes in ways popular works never could.
That novel was just like that.
It was about falling in love with an older sister figure who was boarding at your house—a super ordinary premise, but heartwarming and fun pure love story.
Maybe it appealed to me so much because it was the kind of sweet, innocent romance my own bland life could never offer.
But that novel had another heroine besides the main one.
She was a classmate of the protagonist named Hyun Seol...
This character, Hyun Seol, was a rare defeated heroine in a pure love story—one who'd already confessed and been rejected.
All the readers knew it: Hyun Seol would never be chosen by the protagonist, Kim Do-yoon.
But the way it happened was just so heartbreaking, so utterly sad.
You could clearly see she liked him, she was dropping hints left and right, she adored him so much... yet the guy she loved was into another girl.
I found myself completely captivated by that character, who shed tears while trying to accept the truth but not knowing what to do about it.
Her heart was so kind, she was so beautiful, and her situation was so tragic.
When she confessed again and got rejected for her pure, gentle soul, clinging to her friend and sobbing her heart out... it hurt me.
In a fit of that pain, I left my first negative comment to the author.
— 순애조아순애체고_3Hey author, I almost never comment... but can't you make Seol-i happy? She's confessed twice and gotten rejected both times—giving her a happy ending wouldn't hurt, right? At least show her happiness in a side story. Make her truly happy, please? Don't you feel bad after creating her? Have you no heart? How could you do that to Seol-i...
After that, I kept pouring out my complaints in the comments.
Starting from how he never gave Seol-i a chance, to the protagonist completely missing her advances, the tragedy of her crying her eyes out in the rain after rejection, and even imagining the pain she'd go through afterward—I packed it all in.
Even as I wrote those complaint-filled comments, my head knew the truth.
In a pure love story, the main heroine was set in stone, and a defeated heroine like Seol-i was just there to enrich the protagonist's tale a bit more.
I knew it, but I kept writing like I was possessed.
Once I finished, I realized for the first time I had the power of a toxic reader in me. The comment was easily over a thousand characters at a glance.
I posted that rant full of dissatisfaction and immediately pulled the covers over my head.
I had to sleep if I wanted to head to school tomorrow.
Drifting off to sleep with a satisfied heart...
*Bzzz!*
My phone vibrated.
I turned on the screen to check the notification and couldn't help but be a little shocked.
The author had replied to that massive rage comment I'd just posted.
Whether because she was an indie author or just her personality, she replied to most comments.
But I never expected a reply to this kind of toxic one.
Half curious, half worried, I checked the reply.
Worried she might've been hurt and decide to take a day off serialization or something.
But the reply was ridiculously short and absurd.
— PureLakeThen the reader can make her happy! Fighting!
Make her happy how? Did she expect me to jump into the novel and do it myself?
I was so dumbfounded it bordered on ridiculous. I irritably turned off my phone and went straight to sleep.
And when I woke up again...
...I learned that sometimes the impossible really does happen.
*
Hard to believe, but just three days ago, I was a healthy 23-year-old military dischargee.
Now, I'd suddenly entered a web novel and become a baby.
Not a total infant—seven years old, right before starting elementary school.
My appearance was exactly like my childhood self. Average, the kind of face you see everywhere.
Well, the chubby cheeks and sparkling eyes made me cuter than before.
"Mommy! Mommyyyy!"
"Aww, my little Haneul~ You're awake~?"
A woman approached, calling my name—Kang Haneul.
I nodded vigorously at her, giving an affirmative reply.
"Yeah!"
"Such a good boy~ Getting up all by yourself now?"
This 'mom' was stroking my head and showering me with praise.
Honestly, the word 'mommy' felt so awkward.
I was an ordinary person, sure, but my background was a bit unfortunate.
An orphanage kid abandoned in a baby box. That was me.
I'd never had a mom or dad.
So calling this stranger 'mommy' for the past three days felt incredibly awkward.
Still, I was kind of enjoying the situation.
Experiencing a mother's love, a family's love—something I'd never had—made me happy beyond words.
"Haneul, time for breakfast, then off to kindergarten!"
"Yeah!"
I nodded eagerly at her words, scarfed down the food she gave me, and started getting dressed.
Breakfast was simple: toast topped with a fried egg. But it was delicious. Maybe because it was made with love.
I wolfed down the sandwich, brushed my teeth, and began putting on my clothes.
"My little Haneul's dressing himself already?"
"Y-yeah! I can do it!"
At first, when I couldn't adapt at all, she'd tried to change my clothes for me.
The embarrassment and fluster had made me insist I could do it alone, leading to a huge morning fight with this 'mom' I'd just met.
Thankfully, my stubbornness won, so now I could dress myself.
Really lucky. Even if I'd gotten used to pretending to be a seven-year-old, having someone else change my clothes would've been mortifying. I might've burst into real tears.
Actually, I probably would've.
"Good job with the clothes, my son~"
Getting praised nonstop just for dressing myself... I was gonna die of shame. My embarrassment meter was maxing out—I might just keel over.
I suppressed the rising humiliation, finished dressing, took her hand, and headed to kindergarten.
The kindergarten was a five-minute walk from our house... Man, 'our house' still sounded weird.
Anyway, it was in a building that tall. I'd never seen a kindergarten in a four-story structure before. Sure, some might be that high somewhere, but this was the first time I'd seen an entire four-floor building dedicated to one.
"Haneul~ Listen to your teachers today, okay~?"
"Yeah! Got it~!"
I waved my hand enthusiastically in response to her goodbye.
Then I followed the teachers inside.
Up the stairs to the second floor, I headed to the classroom where the girl who proved this world was from the novel awaited.
I tossed my bag into my cubby, then looked at the girl reading a book in the corner.
Black bob haircut, big sparkling eyes, cute button nose, lips slightly parted in amusement at whatever she was reading.
A girl with an adorably hamster-like face—lovely and endearing—and a pretty uncommon name.
Hyun Seol, according to the name tag on her chest.
Hyun Seol. The girl I'd rooted for so hard in the novel... but who'd played her destined role as the defeated heroine. She was right here in the same space as me.
No way it was a mistake. She matched the author's descriptions almost perfectly—she had to be Hyun Seol.
I strode right up to her, of course.
Gathering my courage, I called out to her.
"Hey, Seol-i. Hi."
Startled by her name, she glanced my way...
*Patter patter!!*
And bolted away for real.
In the novel, Hyun Seol was shy around everyone except the protagonist and his friends.
Sadly, that 'everyone' included me.
Hey, author—at least make her less wary before shoving me into the story!
If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've filled that 5,700-character comment with even more complaints.