Everything has a cause and effect.
All events come with a cause and a result.
And that holds true not just in reality, but in fictional stories too—like novels, for instance. No exceptions.
If a shotgun hanging on the wall gets emphasized in the first act of a novel, that's the cause. If the protagonist uses it to shoot the serial killer dead in the climax, that's the result.
A woman selling brand-new baby clothes still in their packaging must have the heartbreaking story of losing her child. A man wandering aimlessly through the desert with nothing but a single sword at his side surely has circumstances he can't speak of.
Even in novels, every event has its cause and effect. No—in fact, novels make those connections even clearer. Reality has coincidences, but in novels, everything is inevitable.
And people call that inevitability 'plausibility.'
Every novel is built on that foundation of plausibility.
Of course, whether the story's plausibility actually convinces readers is a whole different matter.
"...."
I stared at the smart phone screen glowing coldly in the dim light.
The heroine in the novel I'd just been reading had died.
And not just any death—she'd been raped right in front of the protagonist, then killed in a way too horrific to even describe.
The scroll ended with the protagonist shedding bloody tears and screaming for revenge. The very last line was just the dry notice: Era of Superhumans: Episode 468 - End.
I blankly stared at that final line. A whirlwind of thoughts churned in my head.
"Haa…."
With a small sigh, I finally put an end to the dilemma I'd wrestled with hundreds of times before.
It was a biting cold bus stop in January, wind whipping through like knives.
Huddled in one corner, I rubbed my half-frozen hands together and began typing out a long comment to the author.
— S-Grade MuttHello, Author. This is S-Grade Mutt, the reader who's been sponsoring you steadily since your work had three bookmarks on the Rising Stars tab. I've left countless comments and sent tons of sponsorships, but I think this one's gonna be my last. Yeah, you got it. I can't stomach reading any more, so I'm dropping it^^ Even after all four heroines got butchered, suicided, or sold off into some harem ending, I gritted my teeth and kept going. I wanted to see the protagonist and heroines rise above the tragedy. But this is how you repay me? Yang Areum gets raped to death?? Not just dying, not just getting raped—the last remaining heroine gets raped to death right in front of the protagonist's eyes. Do you really want every single reader foaming at the mouth and flipping out? I'm seriously asking: Author, do you have no idea how badly your plot's gone off the rails lately? Why else would readers be dropping like flies from a pay-per-chapter site that used to be packed? Just because you tagged it as 'tragedy' doesn't mean it's forgiven. There's tragedy, and then there's this. Does it make any sense for an academy story to wipe out every heroine? I've sponsored you every chapter, sticking with it desperately, but I can't anymore. I'm out. So you go take a hike too and quit writing crap like this^^
"Haa."
I hit the post button on the emotional rant I'd poured out. But the suffocating frustration pressing on my chest wouldn't budge.
I just wanted to vent this feeling to someone—anyone.
Didn't they say sharing pain halves it?
To share this agony, I logged into my usual novel community forum.
And sure enough, it was already ablaze over Era of Superhumans.
Broken-headed readers littered the boards everywhere. They'd zombie-like followed the latest chapters out of inertia despite the relentless brutality, only to finally realize their skulls were leaking brains. Now they were belatedly picking up the pieces of their sanity.
It couldn't be helped. They knew it was a poisoned apple, but it looked too damn tempting. Impossible to resist taking a bite.
Era of Superhumans.
Even now, after posting that massive drop comment, the concise punch of those six characters—going against trendy long webnovel titles—still tugged at my heartstrings.
It was a title that perfectly stroked the so-called 'male fantasy.'
And it didn't stop there. A protagonist who delivered ultimate catharsis as the heroic powerhouse. Attractive heroines and well-rounded side characters. Immersive descriptions and nail-biting plot progression.
Era of Superhumans was a masterpiece academy novel without a doubt.
Up until around episode 200, that is.
Starting with episode 215, 'Bloody Winter Break (3),' it spectacularly shed its academy skin—by killing off nearly every major and supporting character.
The heroines they'd built up? Mercilessly killed.
The protagonist's rival? Killed too.
The mentor guiding the protagonist? First to go.
Sudden massacre party. Tragedy churned out purely for more tragedy. Most readers dropped around then. I should've left with them. But my head already cracked wide open, I stubbornly kept chasing the latest chapters.
Because it was fun up to the midpoint. A masterpiece up to the midpoint. I desperately repeated that to myself.
Even if it was shaking now, it'd regain its form someday and give a satisfying ending.
Clinging to that faith in the author, I'd read this novel for nearly a year.
And today.
The moment the last heroine—who'd been the protagonist's pillar in utter despair—died, my patience finally hit rock bottom.
-Tap tap tap tap.
As if to claim compensation for all the love I'd poured into this novel, I vented every bottled-up grievance onto the community forum.
Pain shared is pain halved.
It was true. Reading comments agreeing and empathizing lifted my foul mood a bit.
But then.
Among the flood of replies, one familiar nickname made my mood plunge back underwater.
— Blissful Heavenly DemonEvery plot point has its reasons. Don't spout off when you don't even know what's going on.— MNRLMain character shows up lololol— Venus PantiesAuthor, explain yourself!!— Martial Alliance Leader Kim Gap-ryongBlissful Heavenly Demon, explain yourself!
Blissful Heavenly Demon.
He was the author of Era of Superhumans himself.
Yesterday's me would've welcomed his appearance. But today, anger overrode any joy.
What? Don't know? Don't spout off?
If he knew how much attachment I'd poured into Era of Superhumans, he'd never say that.
Before I knew it, my fingers were furiously hammering the phone keyboard.
— S-Grade MuttIs that so? If every plot has its reasons, then why'd you trash the plausibility?↳ Blissful Heavenly DemonTrash the plausibility? Which part of the plot lacks plausibility, exactly?↳ S-Grade MuttAre you seriously clueless? Just look at today's Yang Areum rape-murder plot...
That sparked our argument. The board ignited instantly, with comments piling up into the dozens, then hundreds, on that single post.
I fired off replies without a hitch. After reading the novel dozens or hundreds of times, rattling off its flaws was easy.
— S-Grade MuttTo nitpick, the world-building's messed up from the start. The Academy's a national key facility, but every incident gets handled by students or teachers. What national academy has zero security guards?↳ Blissful Heavenly DemonThat's just novel license;;; It's an academy story—gotta have students shining. If a pot-bellied 50-year-old guard handles everything, what's the fun?↳ Venus PantiesOof, that's weak, author.— Still AliveMutt wins by default.
See that? No rebuttal to my solid logic. Comments poured in affirming I was right. A smug grin crept onto my lips from the superiority of beating the author in debate.
Yeah, superiority.
Petty superiority.
Arguing with him changed nothing meaningful. Winning a spat with the author wouldn't alter the written story. What was done was done.
Other authors might tweak things due to backlash, but Blissful Heavenly Demon? No way. The guy's pride in his work pierced the heavens.
— Blissful Heavenly DemonNo, seriously—do you really want to see security guards stealing the show in an academy story?
There it was. Nitpicking to the end, refusing to concede.
I sighed and went to turn off the screen when a new comment popped up right below.
— Blissful Heavenly DemonNo, seriously—do you really want to see security guards stealing the show in an academy story?↳ Blissful Heavenly DemonThen why don't you go do it yourself.↳ Power Mage RosaPossession flag raised lolololol↳ Nguyen Hunter"I've Become an Academy Guard"↳ Nan-cheonS-Grade Mutt, watch out—you're getting hit by construction steel next and possessing the novel.↳ Barbatos↳ ReplyNah, reincarnation truck is the classic.↳ MNRLDidn't the protagonist in Blissful Heavenly Demon's last work get stabbed by a robber and possess? That's pretty spot on?↳ Still AliveWhy's it gotta be so complicated ffs? Just lightning, clean and simple.
The sudden possession bait had me chuckling despite myself.
What? Do it myself? If I could, I would.
An academy tale where teachers, students, rivals, allies—even built-up heroines—all drop dead equally. The genre's ultimate problem child.
If they'd just send me into the novel, I'd fix that godforsaken plot no matter what.
That very thought crossed my mind.
-KABOOM!!!
A earth-shaking vibration hit alongside a massive explosion of sound.
"Huh?"
Across the street, smack in the middle of the road, a massive steel beam was embedded.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Someone's crushed! Call 119! 119!!"
Beneath the red steel beam, blood even redder spread out in all directions.
The opposite side of the road turned into hell in seconds. I stared, mesmerized. The college girl next to me was frantically snapping pics with her phone camera.
But the chaos didn't end there.
-VRROOOOMMMM!!!
A sudden roar made me whip my head around—a heavy cargo truck barreling straight for the bus stop.
"Wh-what?!"
-KABOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
Screaming awkwardly, I bolted from the stop. By a hair's breadth, the truck pulverized it entirely. Without looking back, I dashed across the zooming traffic to the sidewalk.
"Huff. Huff. Huff…."
-Squelch.
Finally on the sidewalk, catching my breath, something warm trickled down my cheek. It hit my lips—metallic tang of blood.
Wiping it with a finger, bright red smeared across it.
Suddenly, I thought of the woman who'd been beside me—and spotted the red chunk of flesh under the debris pile. At the same time.
"Urp!"
Vomit surged up my throat. I doubled over, hands on knees. Breath ragged, body shaking nonstop.
Someone died. Right in front of me.
What the hell is this?
What the actual hell?
What in the world is going on?
My mind went blank from the sudden crisis. The accident looped endlessly, never progressing.
"Get the hell outta the way!!"
"Stop right there!!"
Then, from the crowd, a man charging with a kitchen knife. People scattered in panic. I was one of them.
The knife-wielding man vanished down the road, police chasing a beat behind.
No time to adjust—new incidents kept piling on.
That moment.
A sense of wrongness hit me.
'S-Grade Mutt, watch out—you're getting hit by construction steel next and possessing the novel.'
'Nah, reincarnation truck is the classic.'
'Didn't the protagonist in Blissful Heavenly Demon's last work get stabbed by a robber and possess? That's pretty spot on?'
Steel beam. Truck. And now a knife-wielding robber.
All straight from the forum comments moments ago.
"...."
I shook my head hard. Forum jokes coming true? Ridiculous. This wasn't some novel world. No way that happens in reality.
Probably all coincidences.
Just a construction steel beam falling by chance, a truck driver crashing by chance, a robber passing by chance.
I desperately tried to convince myself, but deep down, I sensed this was no coincidence—it was inevitable.
-Rumble.
'Why's it gotta be so complicated ffs? Just lightning, clean and simple.'
The overcast winter sky, dark thunderclouds—blue electricity crackled up with a snap.
"...Plausibility's gone mad."
The next instant, a jolt raced through me, and my vision went pure white.