NOVEL NEXT chapter 1
Chapter 1
With a hissing sound, the red ember at the end of the cigarette flickered and then died out.
BoooM!
With an ear-splitting explosion, the last bastion of humanity, the Upsilon satellite fortress, exploded in a blinding flash that filled his eyes.
The sight of the massive steel fortress, known as the ‘satellite,’ shattering into space debris was beyond belief.
…The man, Baek Hwi-yeong, scoffed.
“A fortress that can’t even stop a single Void Turtle.”
His voice was hollow, mixed with a hint of laughter.
No doubt, there must have been massive corruption during its construction.
Otherwise, it makes no sense that it couldn’t last even ten minutes before blowing up.
“…May this be the end beyond this death.”
He sat alone on the bridge of the warship, slowly plummeting to the ground, smoking his last cigarette.
The future foretold for humanity, no, for all the races that once ruled the galaxy, was an endless flight.
The galaxy had fallen into the greedy maw of the cosmic monsters known as the Creatures, and in the end, he had failed to prevent this foretold destruction once again.
“…If everyone had been alive, would it have been different?”
Was it regret at the end of his bitter smile?
A final regret?
Or was it an unresolved resentment?
…He couldn’t come up with an answer in the end.
And in his final moments, what filled his vision were the Creatures, surging as if to engulf the entire universe, and the burning bridge.
BoooM!
As his vision darkened from the impact that even a superhuman couldn’t withstand, Baek Hwi-yeong once again opened his eyes at the Central Special Operations Academy of that day.
‘The galaxy has perished.’
And Baek Hwi-yeong rose from his bed once more to prevent the foretold destruction.
“The sixth, no, the seventh time.”
「The End of the Galactic Chronicles
Author tls. I sincerely thank all the readers who have loved the Galactic Chronicles until now.
…To be continued…」
“…Is this an April Fool’s joke?”
I stared blankly at my phone, but nothing changed.
I read it over and over again, wondering if I had missed any sentences or important foreshadowing, but the only things that changed were my heart rate and blood pressure.
“Heh, heh.”
I had heard that when you get too angry, you end up laughing instead, and experiencing it firsthand, it was true.
Laughing like a half-crazed person, I clicked on the comment section, and as expected, it was already a complete mess.
This kind of novel (lill)
[BEST] Thank you so much for throwing my memories, time, and money into the trash. I’d like to give the author a gift to commemorate the ending, but the address… (see more)
[Likes: 15,321] [Dislikes: 1]
HaremPureLove (dbsl)
[BEST] After all that suffering, a regression ending, hahaha, just JOAT
[Likes: 13,329] [Dislikes: 1]
HeavenlyDemonWasOriginallyAWoman (tsts)
[BEST] Haha, what can I, as a reader, do? Haha, what can you who paid until the end do? Haha
[Likes: 9,921] [Dislikes: 1]
NameSurname (name)
[BEST] The real-name system for dislikes is amazing. Author, it was fun while it lasted, let’s not meet again. Then, 20000.
[Likes: 8,944] [Dislikes: 1]
The comments with the most likes didn’t have any curses, but the further down I scrolled, the more comments there were that made me worry about lawsuits.
“Is this what it means to throw away ten years?”
But I couldn’t help but like the countless curse comments.
That’s how shocking this ending was.
「Galactic Chronicles」
The title of the web novel felt extremely ordinary, but its impact was beyond imagination.
The SF genre is close to being non-mainstream in Korea.
However, this work was evaluated as having surpassed that limit.
‘If you dig deep, it’s detailed, but when you actually read it, the world-building is not complicated. The relationships of the characters that feel alive. The narrative that set new highs with each episode…’
Although it exceeded 1,000 episodes and had long hiatuses, it was made into webtoons, animations, and even a series drama, and both existing readers and new fans believed without a doubt that this series would become a classic that would be talked about for a long time.
Yes, unfortunately, that’s in the past tense.
The author left with a grand exit, leaving behind an unprecedented ending.
“I should have quit when everyone except the protagonist was dying.”
The main narrative, which had been fiercely continuing the war for galactic hegemony, suddenly changed. The protagonist, Baek Hwi-yeong, revealed that everything was actually to fight against the cosmic monster ‘Creature’, and then the author started to go mad.
From the protagonist’s allies, heroines, enemies, to supporting characters.
Literally, every character that could be killed started to be killed.
Still, the protagonist and regressor, ‘Baek Hwi-yeong’, survived to the end, so readers couldn’t let go of their last hope…
“Ha.”
The author, who always showed more than what was imagined, no matter how many novels fall apart towards the end, isn’t this a bit too much?
Readers didn’t ask for much.
Just like other novels, is it so hard to end with ‘And they lived happily ever after’?
“Is he crazy, really?”
No matter what he muttered to himself, the comments on the work had already exceeded 10,000.
“…Ha, fine.”
Recalling the Galaxy Chronicles merchandise he had collected over time, he immediately turned on the internet and ordered a few cardboard boxes.
He was planning to throw them all away.
With a faint hope that someone might buy them, he entered the Galaxy Chronicles community, but it was already the end of the century, as if the Antichrist had arrived.
Crunch-.
They say anger is contagious.
Even if he tried to hold it in, he couldn’t.
As if possessed, he searched the publisher’s blog for the author’s email, and recalling countless cover letters and letters of the heart he had read during his military days, he began typing furiously.
[Author, you’re really too much.]
Frankly, readers didn’t ask for much, is it so hard to write a happy ending like other authors?
No matter how hard serialization is, isn’t this the least bit of courtesy to the readers?
In the first place, whether you kill Instructor Jin Crow quickly at the academy…(see more)
“Whew.”
He never thought he would write 5,700 characters as they say.
Still, he felt relieved.
“Fine. What’s the point of getting angry like this.”
He sighed and was about to get up to smoke a cigarette.
Ding-.
Just as he was straightening his back, he turned his head.
Realizing it was an alarm sound from the computer speaker that rang belatedly, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
The email he had sent a little while ago had been replied to with a ‘Re’ attached.
“…Huh?”
It was a reply from the mysterious author who had never responded to any interviews or emails before.
Even the producer in charge had never seen his face, so it was impossible not to be excited about the fact that he had sent a reply.
He sat down, opening his mouth as if spitting out the cigarette he had just put in his mouth, and hurriedly clicked on the mailbox.
And soon, the monitor lit up brightly, and the contents of the email began to come in.
[Re: Author, you’re really too much.]
Hello, dear reader. This is tls, the author of the Galactic Chronicles.
It seems you didn’t like the ending. Unfortunately, the end of a world that has already been written cannot be changed.
But since you are a reader who loves my story so much, I have a special opportunity for you…
When he clicked on the email, the emotions he felt were a mix of excitement and slight anticipation.
Perhaps, moved by his sincere plea, the latter half would be completely remade, or maybe he would apologize for disappointing such a devoted reader and offer to buy him a meal—such dreamlike thoughts.
‘Wait a minute. This…’
But soon, his excitement and anticipation turned into fear and anxiety.
The more he read the contents of the email, the more cold sweat flowed.
It was only natural, as the content was something that would send chills down the spine of any web novel reader.
A primal sense of unease brushed past him.
So this is… the classic cliché of ‘that’ happening, isn’t it?
“No, no! I don’t want this! Please don’t!”
His survival instinct moved his mouth automatically, but at that moment, the monitor flashed a bright light he had never seen before.
[If you don’t like it, you know what to do, right? LOL]
The last sentence he read before his vision turned black made him finally certain.
‘This damn author deliberately messed up the ending to possess me.’
It was his last memory before losing consciousness.
*
He opened his eyes, clutching his throbbing head.
When he finally looked in the mirror, he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
“Heh.”
Disheveled black hair, unfocused black eyes.
A face so white it was almost pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and a black military uniform that looked hastily thrown on.
Just in case, I pinched my cheek and closed my eyes. I opened them several times, but by then, I had already instinctively grasped the situation.
How long had I stared at the mirror with vacant eyes?
Soon, I unconsciously muttered his name.
“…Jin Crow.”
One of the many characters in the Galactic Chronicles, and an instructor at the Central Special Operations Academy of the Human Synthesis Nation, the main setting of the story.
‘Of all people, why him?’
Anyone who enjoyed reading the Galactic Chronicles would know.
What kind of b*stard Jin Crow was.
To put it simply, he’s a depraved villain character with a delusional streak.
‘He became a wreck due to the wounds he sustained in the Third Galactic War, but everyone around him still thinks he’s strong.’
If only that were all.
Whether it was due to PTSD, the long military service, or just his inherently twisted personality, Jin Crow had a terrible reputation.
In the end, didn’t he die at the hands of the protagonist, Baek Hwi-yeong?
‘Stay calm.’
He roughly brushed aside the hair that kept falling and pricking his eyes, continuing his thoughts.
He struggled to calm his head, which felt like it was about to explode.
Then he began to briefly summarize the current situation.
– First, I have possessed a character in the Galactic Chronicles.
– Second, the character I possessed is none other than Jin Crow, a doomed, morally bankrupt individual.
Unconsciously, the corners of his mouth twitched.
Hmm, no matter how I look at it, I’m screwed.
“…Ha. Haha.”
They say that laughing in tough times is a mark of the elite.
He, or rather Jin Crow, admired the fact that he was elite as he looked around.
‘Is this the instructor’s quarters?’
Since Jin Crow was an instructor, it probably was.
Thinking that, he threw himself onto the nearby sofa and soon discovered a black cigarette case blatantly placed on the table, reaching for it.
Only after lighting a cigarette did he notice the glass and bottle of liquor at the end of the table.
“A hidden camera… there’s no way.”
He considered the last possibility, but what hidden camera in the world would go so far as to alter someone’s face?
In the end, he stared blankly at the hazy cigarette smoke dispersing into the air and muttered absentmindedly.
“I should have posted a comment. That was a mistake.”
Only then did he feel another sense of discomfort.
“……”
What the hell, why do I sound like this?