Thank you, everyone, for your love and support.
I was only able to finish this story because of you, the dear readers. There will be an epilogue chapter soon, following a two-week break. Right now, my mind feels completely blank, as if someone had knocked me on the back of the head.
After all, writing over 600 chapters without a single break isn't easy. My precious editor has wisely suggested that this break is necessary for my mental health, so it can't be helped. Hehe.
In the meantime, don't forget to show this humble author your support while I'm away!
Thank you.
.
.
.
Writing that message, I found myself observing and analyzing each sentence over and over, wondering if it was good enough to be posted on the platform.
Maybe it was.
Maybe it wasn't.
Honestly, it was a difficult moment.
To put it into perspective, I am this kind of person.
Lee Hojun (이호준)
Looking at my name from a certain point of view, it is undeniably simple, with a clean and straightforward structure. My father gave me this name because he wanted something that carried both sincerity and clarity.
In other words, it was a simple name for a simple individual.
Growing up, I never thought about it much and everytime I thought about it, there didn't seem to be any form of hidden meaning within that name aside from the Hanja (이) and (호준).
Come to think of it, I was the kind of person that liked to look into meaningless things.
Multiple people had already pointed this out but, apparently, it seems I am quite the peculiar fellow.
Perhaps that couldn't be helped.
In short, my life could be summarized like this: Lee Hojun, 27 years old male, web novel author.
And not just any web novel author, I am the writer of the hit series:
「Demon King's Paradox」
A long-running fantasy spanning 666 chapters, centered on the conflict between a regressor and the Demon King. The regressor was the story's protagonist. And as the title suggested, the Demon King stood as the ultimate villain that had to be stopped, or else the world would ultimately collapse.
At its core, it was a simple story.
Regression.
A doomed world.
An inevitable final enemy.
Elements that had already been written, rewritten, and recycled countless times.
Yet, for reasons I still struggle to understand, It captured the attention of a vast audience. The readership grew. The rankings climbed. Discussions spread. What began as a modest serialization quietly became a phenomenon.
There were even plans to adapt the novel into an e-book release and, eventually, an anime.
If you had told me that this would be my life just a few years age, I would have definitely laughed.
it was quaint.
I've spent seven years of my life working on this story and I was being rewarded for my struggles.
Certainly, seven years ago, I haven't anticipated such an outcome. Back then, I was just another university student with too much time and too many thoughts.
My notebooks were filled with half-formed ideas. My laptop was old enough to wheeze in protest whenever I opened more than three tabs.
There was no grand ambition nor declaration that I would become a bestselling author.
I simply wanted to tell a story.
And somehow, that was enough.
The first chapter received three comments. The second received five. By the tenth chapter, someone had written, "I'll follow this to the end."
I remember staring at that sentence for a long time.
Follow this to the end.
I had not even known if there would be an end.
Two years later, here I am.
Six hundred and sixty-six chapters.
Contracts.
Meetings.
Merchandise proposals.
Adaptation discussions.
And, most surreal of all, a bank account that no longer induces mild panic when I open it.
If I were to list the benefits of being a writer, it would sound almost absurd.
Freedom of schedule.
Working from home.
Fans who send messages longer than my own chapters.
An editor who politely pretend my sleep schedule is acceptable.
Invitations to events where people ask for autographs with trembling hands.
And the money.
After taxes, agency percentages, platform cuts, and all the invisible hands that claim their share, the remaining figure is still… ridiculous.
If I were to put it into words, the royalties alone could sustain a comfortable life. The adaptation advance added another layer of security. Digital sales continued to trickle in like a stubborn, generous faucet that refused to close.
By all measurable standards, I had succeeded.
However, when I close my laptop at night and the room returns to silence, there is something embarrassingly ordinary about my situation.
For all the grand battles I have written…
For all the romances I have orchestrated…
For all the emotional climaxes that left readers in tears…
I remain, quite impressively, inexperienced in one particular department of life.
Yes.
Despite commanding legions of fictional characters and manipulating destinies across timelines, I, Lee Hojun, one of the many bestselling web novel author, is still a virgin.
It is almost poetic.
I'm already reaching my early thirties yet still a virgin.
One would wonder if I wanted to become a Great Sage. Perhaps that is part of the reason why I overanalyze everything infront of me.
Brrring…
Oh? This is
Looking at the familiar name displayed on my smartphone HCD screen, I hesitated for a moment then tapped on "answer" with a serious expression.
–Author-nim.
"Yo, isn't this my precious editor? What's the situation.
–Don't you already know? When are you going to release the epilogue for 「Demon King's Paradox」
The expected question that I feared with all my might.
"I'm thinking about it."
–You're thinking about it or you don't know. Which is it?
"Sadly, the latter."
–Ugh. Good grief. I expected such a nonchalant reply.
As you have already guessed, the person sighing on the other end was my precious editor.
To put it bluntly, she is a producer who have been …with me since the early days. Back when the comment section could still be read in under five minutes.
Back when three-digit views felt like a miracle.
Han Soo-min.
A producer who had reviewed my messy outline, stared at my inconsistent power scaling charts, and still said, "Let's try it." It could be said that she was the first person to notice my potential as a writer and the one who saved me by dragging me into this world.
Seven years later, she was still on the other end of my calls, sighing as if raising an overgrown child.
I said lightly.
"You sound tired."
–I am tired. Your readers are restless. The platform is restless. The marketing team is restless. Only you, the author, are at peace.
"I wouldn't call existential dread peace."
–Semantics.
I could practically see her pinching the bridge of her nose.
–You ended the final chapter on that scene. That line. You can't disappear for two weeks after that.
"That line was impactful."
–That line was cruel.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
Cruel, perhaps.
The regressor standing before the Demon King.
The final paradox unresolved.
A single sentence that could be interpreted as salvation… or ruin.
Cliffhangers were dangerous tools. I had always enjoyed using them.
"I told everyone there would be an epilogue. I just didn't specify how long it would be."
–Are you stuck?
"That's the question. Am I stuck? Not necessarily. Something along those lines, yet not."
Seven years.
When you pour yourself into a world for that long, closing the door feels unnatural.
Like abandoning a living place.
"It's as if I don't know how to say goodbye properly."
There was a brief pause on the line.
Then—
–You don't have to make it grand. You've never been a grand person, remember?
I let out a quiet laugh.
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"
–It's accurate. Your strength was never spectacle. It was sincerity. End it like you started it.
She added casually,
–After all, there are many readers waiting for this story. So don't overthink it and take your time.
"Is that so? I'll keep that in mind. I'll send you a draft in a few days."
–Three.
"Five."
–Four.
"…Four."
–Good. And get some sleep.
The call ended with a soft click.
I stared at the dark reflection on my phone screen.
How funny.
A bestselling author now faced with the simple task of writing one final chapter.
My greatest challenge was a farewell.
「There are many readers waiting for this story.」
…Should I be moved by that sentence?
Of course, I already knew it was true.
There were paid readers waiting for the final chapter. There were casual readers who simply wanted to see how it all ended. And, inevitably, there were those reposting the chapters illegally, refreshing their screens just the same.
In one way or another, countless eyes were fixed on this conclusion.
Waiting.
Perhaps that alone should have been enough to stir something inside me.
A surge of responsibility.
A sense of urgency.
At the very least, motivation.
Instead, what I felt was something quieter and heavier.
Expectation is a strange thing. When it grows large enough, it stops feeling like encouragement and begins to resemble pressure.
Six hundred and sixty-six chapters had led to this point.
An ending does not simply conclude a story.
It defines it.
I let out a slow breath.
Maybe I was overthinking it again.
That, too, couldn't be helped.
I opened my laptop once more.
The blank document glowed softly in the darkness.
For a long moment, I only listened to the hum of the machine.
Then, slowly, I began to type.
"Epilogue."