NOVEL NEXT CH 1
**Finally, it worked.**
The boss monster was defeated, and we succeeded in clearing the gate.
At the same time, my body, which had been barely holding on, collapsed without strength.
“Hana!”
“ Hana!”
I could feel two men running toward me, calling my name.
“Hana, open your eyes. Look at me, Hana.”
“Move. We need to take her to the hospital.”
I thought I should reassure these two people who were already bickering over me.
Hey guys, I’m not dead yet.
When I forced my eyes open, I saw Kang Han and Sa Ma-yeong’s faces through my blurry vision.
Both of them were covered in blood and looked in far worse shape than I was.
When I raised my gaze a bit more, I noticed the numbers floating above their heads.
《 ♥ 300 》 《 ♥ 300 》
A faint laugh slipped out of me.
*Who could possibly stop these guys?*
Just then, the system, which had been silent for a while, kindly informed me of my status.
[ Current Health: 1% ]
That made sense.
I had used every bit of my strength in the final battle to transfer my power to the two of them.
As I felt someone’s warm arms lift me, my mind started to drift away.
It seemed we had safely escaped the gate.
*Click! Click, click!*
The sound of cameras filled the air from all directions.
Journalists’ excited voices followed.
“Has the apocalypse really been stopped?”
“Guild Leader Kang Han! Guild Leader Sa Ma-yeong! Could you say something to the public?”
“What is the condition of Hunter Hana?”
“You’re the heroes who saved the world—how do you feel about it?”
Suddenly, the steps of the person carrying me stopped.
At the same time, Sa Ma-yeong’s cold voice spoke next to me.
“The one who saved the world is Hana, not us.”
Then, Kang Han followed in a low voice.
“We’re on our way to the hospital. Move aside.”
As always, his tone was polite—except for his final words:
“Before I clear you all out.”
Just as I closed my eyes again, a blue system window popped up in the darkness.
[ Warning! Warning! ]
[ Penalty for excessive skill usage is in effect. ]
It was starting, finally.
*What kind of curse are they throwing at me this time?*
As I listened to the cheap *ding-ding-ding* sound of a slot machine spinning, a flashy system message appeared.
[ Result of Penalty Random Draw! ]
[ You will enter a ‘coma’ until your health and injuries recover. ]
Damn it. That’s harsh.
But I laughed.
It was because of the final message that popped up before I lost consciousness.
[ Congratulations!
Thanks to your efforts, the apocalypse of Earth B-2907 has been indefinitely postponed. ]
With the last 1% of energy I could muster, I moved my lips.
“We… won.”
*Hell yeah, I’m rich now.*
—
**???**
“Kang Han took his last breath, looking up at the sky devoured by the gate, black tears streaming from his unblinking eyes.
And so, the world came to an end.
– *End of “Stop the End of the World”* -”
“Is the author out of his mind?”
My hand trembled as I held my phone.
“This is the ending? It ends like this?”
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it.
No matter how much I scrolled down the screen, the word “END” didn’t disappear, and there was no button for the next chapter.
“The world just collapses, and everyone dies—that’s the ending?”
The fantasy novel *Stop the End of the World*, which I had been reading for three years, waiting eagerly for each new chapter, wasn’t supposed to end like this—with such a bad ending.
The main characters, each with a massive fan following, were all killed off. And with just one line—“In the end, they failed to stop the apocalypse”—the story concluded in the most irresponsible way possible.
The emptiness I felt was quickly replaced by rage.
“I’m going to *%$# the author* and make him *&@%@*.”
Sure enough, the comment section was in chaos.
[ Hanisaranghae: Excuse me?? This is the ending? ]
[ Sejongmac4ever: If you have a conscience, refund us. Seriously. ]
[ BarksAtBadStories: Woof woof woof! This story sucks! Woof! ]
Some readers were screaming that the story couldn’t end this way.
[ Nopethankyou: Here’s the publisher’s email address → [email protected] ]
Others were sharing the publisher’s contact, suggesting everyone protest together.
Don’t call it over-immersion just because it’s fiction.
The author had tormented the main characters relentlessly throughout the story.
At the start, Kang Han was introduced as the leader of the Justice Guild, which was once among Korea’s top five guilds but had since fallen into ruin. Later, the author developed a phenomenon called “Berserk” caused by dark energy leaking from the gates, leading the hunters—now dear to readers—to their deaths one by one.
Every time someone died, the comment section became a funeral.
Still, readers stuck with the story, hoping to see the surviving characters find happiness in the end.
“And then they throw this garbage at us?”
After taking a deep breath, I calmly started typing a comment.
[ NahHana: Hey, author. Weren’t the protagonists fighting to stop the apocalypse from the start? If you were going to give us this stupid dark energy plot, you should’ve given them a way to counter it, or at least dropped that plot entirely!! Thanks to you, I had the pleasure of riding this express train to hell. All the characters suffered so much it feels like your story is just an exercise in misery. Honestly, this is pure incompetence on your part… ]
It got a bit intense, but I wasn’t wrong.
My comment was posted, though it quickly got buried by the flood of furious readers.
“Sigh, what’s the point of this? It’s just hurting my fingers.”
Feeling exhausted, I flopped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
Reality started creeping in—the reality I had been avoiding by reading *Stop the End of the World*.
I opened my banking app, only to be greeted by a pathetic balance.
“There goes next month’s rent and utility bills.”
Even with my part-time jobs, I was barely scraping by. Saving anything was a luxury.
I didn’t have anyone to share my struggles with—not family or friends.
That’s why I had spent what little money I had on *Stop the End of the World* every month.
“Now what’s left to enjoy in life?”
I muttered as I rubbed my eyes.
I hadn’t even showered after work, but sleep was creeping in fast.
Maybe the shock from the ending hit me harder than I thought.
*That damned author.*
I forced my eyes open and reopened the web novel app, staring blankly at the word “END” on the screen.
“Come on, author. Just say it’s a time-loop plot and launch season 2. I’ll pretend I never saw this if you do…”
With that, the screen of my phone dimmed, and I surrendered to the heaviness in my eyelids, drifting off to sleep.
—
*Beep—Beep—Beep!*
“Ah! What the heck!”
A blaring alarm jolted me awake.
“Why is this emergency alert going off? Wait… what?”
**Emergency Alert**
[Gate Prediction Management Bureau]
*Gate Opening in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. D-class gate opens in 10 minutes.*
*Titan Guild en route.*
*Citizens are advised to follow the instructions of the staff on-site.*
Something was off.
I rubbed my eyes and checked again, but the message stayed the same.
“What… is this?”
Something was clenched in my left hand.
A crumpled, wrinkled slip of paper.
“Mega… Lotto?”
What the heck?
Did I buy a lottery ticket while drunk again?
And then I noticed my surroundings.
“Wait, is this… a hospital?”
I was connected to an IV drip, wearing hospital clothes, in a pristine white room.
“Why am I in a VIP room?”
The realization hit me like a punch.
This was no ordinary hospital—it was the setting of *Stop the End of the World*.
Somehow, I had transmigrated into the world of the novel I cursed so much.