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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: I've Entered a Martial Arts Novel
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I've entered a martial arts novel.
Having crushed the ambitions of the Heavenly Demon Emperor who sought to dominate the murim world, Lee Jae-won established an organization called the Heavenly Martial Alliance. He upheld justice in the murim, fathered countless sons and daughters with his many wives, and lived happily ever after.
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"Argh, I really forced myself to slog through that crap."
Seon-u hurled his phone across the room.
The book he'd been reading was a novel titled High School Senior Goes to the Murim! It was your typical ego-boosting tale: a high school student reincarnated into the murim world gains an ancient supreme martial art through sheer luck, rises to become an absolute master, and saves the world from villains trying to conquer it.
The title was so blatant and sensational that you could guess the plot without cracking it open. But once you actually dove in, you realized it was even more of a mess than expected.
Settings jammed in willy-nilly with zero regard for logic or consistency. Side characters drawn as idiots because the author was desperate to make the protagonist look smart. Heroines who fell head over heels for him at first sight, every single one utterly charmless.
At a glance, it seemed like just another mass-produced ego-trip martial arts novel. But this one was a cut below even those low standards.
The absolute worst part? You couldn't tell if the protagonist was on an adventure or just screwing his way through the story. It was packed to the brim with sex scenes.
Starting with his master who taught him martial arts, then his junior sister, fellow disciples—no woman was safe. He built a legend of conquest.
Even after venturing out into the murim, he ran into six women addicted to aphrodisiacs, each the sole heiress of one of the Six Great Clans, no less.
And when he later banged the Demonic Cult's saintess—the big bad's reveal—it greased the plot wheels like nothing else. Case closed.
In this garbage story, any woman who slept with the protagonist—willingly or not—fell hopelessly in love with him. No exceptions.
Even more outrageous: thanks to the nature of his martial arts, every romp made him stronger. As if that wasn't enough, he had techniques perfectly suited for it.
When he should've been public enemy number one, every character in the novel was too busy singing his praises.
His power-ups, plot progression, problem-solving—it all started and ended with sex. Pure trash.
Of course, martial arts novels loaded with erotica aren't unheard of.
If the author had aimed for straight-up smut from the get-go, like those pornographic wuxia flicks, it might've been forgivable.
But this wasn't even that. Sure, sex scenes took up a huge chunk, but they weren't arousing in the slightest.
Real smut at least gets you hot and bothered. This? The writing was so amateurish, it was boring and tedious.
Seon-u reflected on his poor judgment for buying the novel in the first place.
Clicking "buy full series" based on the title alone was his mistake. He'd powered through out of spite for the wasted money, but it felt like homework. All he got was lingering regret and disgust.
"What the hell were the publishers thinking, putting out this drivel?"
Seon-u cursed the publisher more than the author.
Back in the print days, production costs meant some basic filtering—no way something this atrocious would've slipped through. But with digital ebooks booming, any sensational garbage got greenlit left and right.
When an author goes off the rails like this, the publisher should've reined them in. Their fault was bigger.
And he felt wronged. What had he done to deserve picking this steaming pile?
"I can't be the only one who suffers." With that thought, Seon-u fired up the review section to create another victim. Classic bait-and-switch.
Luckily—or not—no one else seemed to have read High School Senior Goes to the Murim!, or maybe it wasn't worth reviewing. The ratings and comments were empty.
They say views come from ratings and reviews. Proof that readers relied on them heavily.
He slapped down a perfect 5-star rating and unleashed a savage takedown.
His freakishly good memory made it easy to twist the novel's details with a dash of sarcasm.
And he piled on fake praise for the author and the work.
"There. No way I'm suffering alone—you're reading this too."
Seon-u read over his handiwork.
Fifteen years deep into martial arts novels, and this one split my life in two—before and after. The title looks childish at first, but the writing skill, the foreshadowing hidden masterfully in the story, the top-tier fanservice... I got so sucked in, I lost track of time... [excerpt]... If I had to recommend it, it'd be to aspiring writers or rookies. One read, and you'll learn tons. It's a must-read at least once in your life. I'd love to jump into that intriguing world myself lol.
Anyone who'd actually read the novel would scoff at the blatant lies. But Seon-u was proud—no falsehoods there.
It was the first time in his 15 years he'd seen trash like this published. The writing was a disaster beyond the childish title. Foreshadowing? It existed, just never paid off. Fanservice? Plenty of setups, they just weren't sexy thanks to the prose.
And yeah, it was worth reading once—for the sheer shock value. Aspiring writers seeing crap like this get published? Instant motivation.
Condensed, sure, but zero lies.
Lost in writing, the clock had crept toward 11 PM.
Satisfied despite the wasted energy, Seon-u flopped into bed.
'Maybe order some fried chicken.'
Drained, but sleep wouldn't come.
Tomorrow was Sunday anyway—too wasteful to crash now.
He deserved a reward for his efforts.
Only one soul-soothing comfort for a gloomy night.
Ding!
-Delivery in 50 minutes
Seon-u ordered golden oily fried chicken and fired up his phone again, hunting for something else to read until it arrived.
'Huh?'
That's when he noticed it.
A question mark notification at the top of the app—a new message.
'What's this?'
Seon-u tapped it with his thumb.
The message title popped up.
[Hello! This is the author of High School Senior Goes to the Murim!, who left that review.]
The opener floored him. No way the author had messaged him personally.
Curiosity piqued, Seon-u opened it fully.
-Hello. This is the author of High School Senior Goes to the Murim!, who left that glowing review. I read every word. I'm thrilled to meet a reader with such deep insight and love for my work. No one's ever praised it like this before.
"Duh, who'd praise that steaming pile?"
A twinge of guilt hit Seon-u. His troll review had genuinely moved the author.
-(excerpt) So, to my very first reader—who truly gets my literary world—I'm sending a little gift.
The message grew more intriguing. A gift? He had zero fanboy vibes, but free stuff was free stuff. Manners said accept.
-You mentioned wanting to live inside my novel, right? I'll make that wish come true. Please enjoy the world I've created.
"Gift my ass—this guy's spouting nonsense to the end."
Seon-u grumbled curses at the author's absurdity, trashed the message, and hit delete.
Then his head started spinning.
"What the—?"
His body went limp, legs buckling.
Not a finger could twitch.
His mind fogged, consciousness slipping.
"Ah... damn it, the chicken's coming..."
With that, Seon-u blacked out.
Slap slap slap
"Wake up, you punk! How long you gonna sleep?!"
A sharp slap to the cheek jolted his eyes open. A fierce-looking man loomed over him, glaring daggers.
"Who're you?"
"You lost your mind or what, Jang Sam?!"
The man's bellow snapped Seon-u fully awake.
He glanced around.
Dozens of people filled his view.
Crowded into a massive wooden hall on benches.
All in traditional Chinese garb, staring down at him.
Where the hell am I?!
Seon-u screamed internally.
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