I Became A Slave To The Mastermind

"Anyone can tell that this guy is the mastermind."

I muttered to myself while reading a novel.

'The Indomitable Hero!'

Had become the mastermind's puppet.

Although it's a common, third-rate novel, this story has quite a large readership, as it showcases popular fantasy elements and decent writing skills.

As a fantasy novel enthusiast, I've followed this novel with the author up to around chapter 200, and I think it's quite worth reading.

It's a story about a righteous protagonist who never gives up and fights to bring peace until the very end.

It may be boring perhaps. But I don't think anyone dislikes that.

Before I knew it, I glanced at my phone, and it was 1 AM.

The thoughts I had while reading the novel before going to bed made me want to share them with others, so I logged into the Indomitable Hero community. In this space, where various posts about critiques and praises of the work were being uploaded, I hit the 'Write Post' button.

[Isn't it obvious that Athena is the mastermind?]

She's strong enough to overpower the protagonist, yet she doesn't seem to have any real intention of defeating monsters or demons.

She helps the protagonist from time to time, but it's only because she's interested in him, not out of any good will.

She just watches from behind with her arms crossed, waiting to backstab everyone in a surprise twist at the end.

Even the line she delivered at the end of chapter 142 seems like a clue.

Above all, I was certain after seeing Lily scared when she looked at Athena in this chapter.

Lily's hometown is Drax, and Drax is a region managed by Athena.

If Athena were a good person, would Lily have any reason to be frightened?

I predict that later on, Lily will expose Athena as the mastermind.

I'll also drop a few links to other suspicious points in the comments. Check them out ᄀᄀ

.

"Did I write too passionately…?"

What started out as a light-hearted post ended up becoming more serious as I got increasingly fired up.

It's because I'm frustrated.

The 'Athena' I'm certain is the mastermind is so popular that she's ranked as the 5th most liked character in the novel.

A cold, dominant beauty with overwhelming power, who occasionally helps the protagonist—though not yet a heroine, she seems to be solidified as such in the readers' minds.

It was obvious that the readers would go crazy when the author hits them with the betrayal, so I uploaded the post with all the suspicious clues I could gather.

I felt a sense of satisfaction, as if I had helped other readers avoid getting blindsided by the twist. With that feeling of fulfillment, I turned off my phone.

'I really don't want to go to work…'

Having finished preparing for bed, I cursed the drudgery of being a working adult, closed my eyes, and fell asleep with little trouble.

Zzzap!

"…Wha…what?"

I woke up instinctively to a sound that seemed like the power was cutting off.

Did I hear it wrong?

After looking around and confirming that there was nothing unusual, I instinctively turned on my phone screen.

AM 4:44

Of all times, why did I have to wake up at this time?

I felt an uncomfortable unease.

But thinking that I should sleep a bit more for work tomorrow, I tried to push aside the unpleasant feeling and turn off my phone.

However, the numerous notifications on the screen caught my attention.

'Huh? Why are there so many notifications?'

When I checked, they were from the notifications I had set up in the 'Indomitable Hero' community.

"Seems like the post I made earlier became a hot topic."

When I checked the post, there was a HOT label marking it as a popular post, with countless recommendations and comments attached.

Comments

ᄂ Athena is the main character, why are they saying she's the mastermind?

ᄂ There's some logic to that..?

ᄂ It's just nonsense, don't believe it.

ᄂ At first, I thought it was nonsense too, but after reading the OP's post, it kinda makes sense.

ᄂ I'm here for a preemptive pilgrimage. Please help me do well on this year's college entrance exam.

Judging from the responses, it seemed like a lot of people were believing my theory.

"I'm telling you, Athena is the mastermind."

Feeling proud, I started replying to the comments one by one.

As I diligently responded, I eventually reached the last comment.

"What…what is this?"

ᄂ What the heck, who are you to just spoil things? I've spent months painstakingly preparing this plot twist, and as a reader, shouldn't you just read and enjoy instead of blabbing about it everywhere?

Seriously, I'm so pissed off; didn't you ever hear that you're not supposed to spoil things for others? I've got dozens of chapters planned around Athena's plot twist, but because of you, the impact is ruined. You're responsible for this.

Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility.

Take

Responsibility.

Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility. Take responsibility.

"Is this person crazy?"

Seeing this manic response made my head spin.

I mean, is this person really the writer or what?

I have no idea why they're freaking out over something I just wrote based on my own imagination.

But since I've learned through several years of online community life that the world is full of different people and all sorts of crazy folks, I could easily dismiss the comment.

And then, to get even a little more sleep for work tomorrow, I tried to turn off my phone's screen.

Bzzzzzzzzz

"Aaaaah!"

I threw my phone to the ground, feeling as if my hand had been electrocuted.

The phone hit the ground with a thud and then showed a strange light on the screen.

I approached to check what the light was.

Take responsibility.

The words "Take responsibility" were written in large white letters on the screen.

"What do you mean by taking responsibility?"

Take responsibility, take responsibility, take responsibility.

Goosebumps started to rise as the strange phenomenon continued.

But it felt familiar, as if I had seen it somewhere before.

After thinking it over, I remembered that most of the possession novels I had read started like this…

'No way, this can't be happening, right?'

Yep, it's happening.

"W-wait!!!"

Take responsibility.

'Oh crap…'

And just like that, I lost consciousness.

The end.