I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

[Due to personal circumstances, the serialization has been discontinued. Thank you for reading 『The Path of the Demon King』 until now! I’ll return when I have more time!]

“Bullshit.”

The curse slipped out before I realized.

I think I cursed the same way when the five-updates-a-week schedule got reduced to four, and then to three.

The fact that the author was barely scraping by without a single saved manuscript showed clearly in the writing.

Back in the five-updates-a-week era, it was normal to reread the previous chapters rather than the mess of a new one.

So 『The Path of the Demon King』 switched to three updates a week, and more than half the readers dropped out then.

I hesitated while staring at the comment section filled with “I’m dropping this~,” but there was no alternative.

There were hardly any novels with this kind of minor aesthetic that I liked.

A protagonist transported to another world gathers the persecuted demon tribe and becomes the Demon King.

It sounded cool, but in truth, it was just the protagonist and villains throwing around meaningless lines while fighting.

And the villain organization weaving sinister plots in the background.

Sometimes, taste is a curse.

When there's no substitute, the reader clings to the work.

What can you do. If you're thirsty, you have to dig a well yourself.

Even at three updates a week, I decided to stick with 『The Path of the Demon King』 and immediately created a fan café.

After promoting it hard and recruiting members, it started running decently.

And then people began to ask questions.

What does this mean? Has this character appeared before? What role does this one play?

At first, I kindly answered, but got tired of repeating myself, so I ended up making a fan wiki.

The wiki pages… I wrote most of them too.

『The Path of the Demon King』, which at best was a moderate success, probably didn’t make enough money to live off. So the author must’ve needed another source of income… yeah, right.

“But stopping it here? That’s not okay!”

I ground my teeth as I looked at episode 300, suddenly the last chapter.

[Ha, so that’s how it was.]

[It was irreversible from the moment Valheit died….]

After a head-on clash between the Demon King protagonist and the Eight Council of villains, the Eight Council was essentially destroyed.

But then came a shocking truth related to ‘Valheit’, a mid-boss level villain who exited around chapter 150….

…and that’s where it ended. That bastard of an author.

Just when I thought he’d finally start tying up all the foreshadowing and run toward a kickass ending… he axed the series!

I couldn’t let it pass without saying something.

I took a deep breath and pounded at the keyboard.

[So in the end, you dropped it because you realized you couldn’t wrap up the foreshadowing. LOL. You twisted yourself into a pretzel to sound cool, didn’t even finish the story, and now you’re hiding behind “personal circumstances~”? What a waste of time, making wikis and promoting this.]

My finger hovered over the comment post button.

Even so, it stung to part ways with a novel I was once attached to like this.

I refreshed to see the reactions.

Familiar usernames were leaving comments.

– Wow, even this guy’s finally come to his senses lol. Author, you’re truly amazing.

– The guy who always claimed this was major among minors is flipping sides so fast lmao.

I scrolled past the mocking comments quickly.

They were just here for the spectacle now that it was over.

What I really wanted to see were the reactions of fellow readers who had stuck it out together.

– I told you they shouldn’t have killed off Valheit. Admit it fell apart after that?

└ Busted at the destroyed Eight Council HQ.

– It was fun when the Demon King was uniting the demon tribes and fighting the Eight Council. But after the Council fell apart, it all went to crap.

– Worst mid-series drop ever. So we get zero closure on the Eight Council’s goals, the missing Council leader, or the “end of the world” plotline. Authors like this should have their hands cut off, fr.

– A classic case of a novel that collapses after just throwing out foreshadowing… The protagonist gets all the highlight scenes, so the villains become too weak… Tension drops, so more foreshadowing gets thrown out… A great cautionary tale for aspiring writers. ㅇㅅㅇ

└ Damn, that reeks of old-man energy.

As they say, the scariest fans are the ones who become haters—sharp criticism was pouring in.

A novel that just threw out foreshadowing and then got dropped.

A very fitting evaluation.

Not that it didn’t have good points.

The foreshadowing was fun, and the villains weren’t complete idiots.

The mental chess matches between the protagonist and the Eight Council weren’t bad either.

Well, all meaningless now that the series was axed.

He deserved to be eaten alive. That guy who kept posting character settings on SNS. That guy who shared useless chronologies.

I turned off the monitor.

I thought I’d feel relieved, but the irritation only worsened.

How did I end up liking this crap, seriously.

If I dawdled any longer, I’d be late for class, so I got up from my seat.

It might be my last semester, but missing attendance was still fatal.

It felt empty to say goodbye like this to a novel that had been with me since the end of my military service and throughout my university days, but I wasn’t going to cling to it.

It’s not like 『The Path of the Demon King』 was the only thing to read. I could find something else.

Thinking that, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed to the door when a notification popped up on my phone.

The message was simple.

[Thank you for reading until now! I know it’s shameless, but please continue the story yourself!]

What the hell. Continue the story? Are they asking me to keep the series going?

Putting aside how irresponsible that is—I had no connection to writing.

Clicking my tongue, I stepped out the door.

My foot, which should’ve landed on solid ground, sank downward.

By the time I realized what was happening, I was already falling into a black abyss.

Just as I opened my mouth to scream, everything turned pitch black.

***

My eyes snapped open.

Cold sweat ran down my forehead.

What the hell was that?

I stepped outside. I fell.

The sensation of falling still felt vivid.

That was strange.

How do you fall just by taking a step outside?

Unlike the last thing I remembered, I was now seated.

A luxurious-looking chair and desk were in front of me.

Looking around, one thing became clear.

This was definitely not my house.

It was an antique-style study that screamed elegance, despite looking a bit worn.

Even the bookshelf, the books, and the teacups didn’t look cheap.

“What is this?”

As I wiped the sweat from my forehead, I gasped.

The skin on my hand was deathly pale, almost sickly.

I’d never been fond of the sun, but this was a new level.

I hurriedly checked the rest of me.

“My face too….”

The rough stubble I used to feel on my jaw was gone.

Not just that, but the shape of my face and nose also seemed different.

I needed a mirror. Thankfully, there was a large one in the corner.

I stood in front of it and my jaw dropped.

Disheveled gray hair. A skinny body and sharp features.

And most of all—closed eyes.

I hadn’t even realized they were shut.

And yet, I could see everything just fine.

But in the mirror, the me reflected had my eyes closed.

“Are these not gonna open?”

I tried moving my eyes.

Even as I furrowed my brow and contorted my face, the closed eyes didn’t budge.

And yet, I could still see everything.

After a few minutes of trying, I gave up on opening my eyes.

Not that my face looked weird with them closed anyway. Actually, I might even be considered handsome.

The real problem was figuring out who the person in the mirror was.

It definitely wasn’t me. The difference from my distinctly Korean features was too great.

As I kept thinking it over, one possibility popped into my head, and I shook it off with a dry laugh.

No way. That couldn’t be it.

It wasn’t a hypothesis a sane person would come up with.

Time passed like that.

I still had no idea who the person in the mirror was.

That hypothesis… Should I test it, just in case?

“Ron, come in.”

The door swung open, and a massive man stepped in.

He wore a suit similar to mine, but his muscles made it look like it would burst at any moment.

“You called, Lord Valheit.”

Just as I thought… Wait, seriously? Valheit? That Narrow-eyed guy from 『The Path of the Demon King』?

I couldn’t imagine there being another name this twisted on the tongue, but still...

When I turned my head, Ron, whose face was covered in scars, stood silently, staring at me.

“Ron.”

“Yes, Lord Valheit.”

“Explain who I am.”

“Yes. You are Count Valheit of the Eslick Empire…”

Ron answered without a moment’s hesitation.

That was how his character was.

The type who would die if Valheit told him to.

To summarize Ron’s explanation: ‘You are Valheit.’

Valheit.

A count ruling a nameless domain at the edge of the Eslick Empire. Advisor to the Eslick royal family.

And the arch-enemy of the protagonist, the narrow-eyed No. 2 of the Eight Council, who plotted sinister schemes behind the scenes in various nations.

He had a decent amount of popularity and plenty of foreshadowing, but was written out almost anticlimactically around chapter 150.

Still, because of the final words he left before dying, he continued to be mentioned afterward.

[You’re making a mistake.]

[…What?]

[You will, without fail, regret this moment someday.]

It wasn’t a plea for life, nor was it a resigned acceptance of death.

And…

‘The Demon King, who truly despaired and regretted everything right before the series was dropped.’

The exact reason for that was never revealed in the end.

“Leave me.”

“Yes.”

Ron bowed politely and left.

I unknowingly clutched my head and pulled at my hair.

People always joked about reincarnation into fictional worlds, but now that it was real, I was speechless.

Still, my conversation with Ron wasn’t totally unproductive.

At the very least, I figured out where in the story timeline I currently was.

‘Before episode 1 has even started.’

Looking on the bright side, maybe I could use the position of a powerful villain organization's second-in-command to prepare a few things.

On the downside… my life was screwed.

I had possessed a character who was guaranteed to die in chapter 150—a villain fated to be executed by the protagonist.

‘…First, I need to check if I have a status window.’

No matter how minor the aesthetic, 『The Path of the Demon King』 did have a status window.

Granted, it was originally a power only the protagonist had, but I’m technically a possessor, right?

When I muttered “Status window,” a scroll appeared midair and unfurled with a flutter.

‘Yeah, this is what the Demon King’s status window felt like.’

The overly dramatic interface had that signature feel of 『The Path of the Demon King』.

The first screen displayed a basic summary.

I couldn’t just skim it.

These were the kinds of things you needed to read carefully to avoid missteps later on.

No. 2 of the Eight Council.

Count of the Eslick Empire.

Count of a nameless domain in the far corners of Eslick.

The land is cursed, and the mansion is avoided for being haunted—but that suits him just fine.

▷You are him! Even if you don’t look like him, you are him!

I blinked.

What the hell kind of tone was this?

Putting aside the cringeworthy earlier lines, what was with the whole “You are him!” bit?

Were they trying to get me to accept the situation quickly? That I’m Valheit?

More importantly, there’s nothing really useful here.

Clicking my tongue, I pushed the top of the scroll sideways, and another page slid into view.

[Abilities]

• Snake creeping in the shadows.

You are a demon who has lived for hundreds of years!

You are… !@#$%….

• The origin of magic.

You have mastered all magic!

• One bound by contract (Contractor: Freya)

You are bound by contract and your abilities are restricted! Refer to the Skills page!

The tone continued to swing wildly like it had bipolar disorder.

“At least there’s some usable information.”

That slightly unkind tone was also part of what made 『The Path of the Demon King』 charming.

Not that most people liked it, though…

Still, considering I had all these excited footnotes, my situation was better than the original protagonist’s.

It wasn’t surprising to learn that Valheit was a demon—I already knew that.

But hearing that I became a demon did feel strange.

I hadn’t lived a pure life, but I wasn’t exactly a bad guy either. I didn’t even have the guts for that.

Well, whatever. Let’s move on.

But “origin of magic”… Does that mean Valheit invented magic? Or is it just referencing how he was a character specialized in magic in the original?

Either way, it didn’t sound like a bad ability.

The issue was this contract entry…

I decided to save the details for later and kept flipping through the status window.

There weren’t that many pages.

Overview, Abilities, Skills, Relationships, and… a Timer?

I instinctively tapped on the timer.

The first line that caught my eye on the long scroll was extremely simple.

[Timer]

300 episodes until the world ends.

(View details!)

Not 300 hours, or 300 months, or 300 years—300 episodes.

“This is… the same episode count as 『The Path of the Demon King』, isn’t it?”