The Bookworm’s Second Life
Jonathan
애독자의 갱생 라이프 Jun 16, 2026 16 views
chapter 1
<Prologue — “Would you try saving him?”>
“Damn bastard! What the hell did I even do wrong to deserve this?!”
Kim Yuhyeon swung his sword straight down without hesitation, as if he no longer needed to hear another word.
It was the moment that put an end to a long, long grudge.
gasnim: Wow, finally dying. That bastard.
Seori is completely black: Honestly, didn’t he get off too easy? If it were me, I would’ve cut off his limbs.
dadadadada: The protagonist is such an idiot. If he had killed him earlier, the heroine wouldn’t have died, tsk tsk.
zipongkiki: Thanks for the chapter.
IkoooUU: Isn’t this too lacking in catharsis? Seriously, this guy kept screwing over the protagonist like a pervert, interfering at every step and even causing his own woman to die, and now it ends so blandly?
iphelataramus: From a pathetic early-stage bastard to someone who committed all kinds of trash acts… and in the end he’s still asking what he did wrong lol. Yeah, he deserved to die.
After a while, the comment section became noisy.
It was because the long-awaited death of a character had finally arrived.
A villain who had been thought to be a minor character appearing briefly and disappearing.
But that character kept following the protagonist into the latter half of the story, committing all kinds of evil deeds.
Even a heroine supported by many readers met a horrific end because of that villain, and only near the very end of the novel was he finally killed by the protagonist.
“…Kind of disappointing.”
After a moment of thought, I slowly placed my hands on the keyboard.
As a loyal reader who had never skipped a single chapter and always left comments and recommendations, I wrote again this time too.
TheOneWhoReadsDiligently: I enjoyed this chapter as well, author-nim. So he finally meets his end by the protagonist’s hand. He was definitely a character who deserved to die, but honestly there were quite a few disappointing points. His sudden appearances interfering with the protagonist felt strange, and the character was too one-dimensional. Even though he stayed until the later parts, he didn’t leave a strong impact and remained just a third-rate villain. The other villains were similar too… The story up to now was okay, but the villains are too shallow and get used up too quickly. If they were more complex, this wouldn’t feel like a one-man show by the protagonist.
“Ha.”
After posting it, I clicked “Submit.”
Soon after, multiple replies appeared.
Some agreed: “True,” “The villains are boring.”
Others were hostile: “Oh, the author has arrived again,” “Then you write it yourself.”
But I didn’t respond to any of them.
As a reader, I was simply sharing honest impressions—not criticism meant to attack. There was no need to care what others said.
I was just imagining how the story might have been more interesting if it had gone differently.
[You have received a new message.]
A notification appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Thinking it might be a reward from a novel event I had entered, I opened the inbox.
But the sender was not an event administrator.
The sender was someone named “DoYouBelieve.”
The author of the novel I had been reading and commenting on all this time.
— Message from “DoYouBelieve”
Hello, “TheOneWhoReadsDiligently” user. I wanted to thank you for always leaving thoughtful advice and criticism from the beginning until now. I also wanted to talk about the comment you left this time.
It was the first time I had ever received a message from an author of a story I was reading.
After briefly thinking about how to respond, I sent a simple greeting and again emphasized my thoughts—that the villains felt too one-dimensional and were used up too quickly.
I hoped the next work would improve on those weaknesses.
[You have received a new message.]
But the next message was completely unexpected.
— Message from “DoYouBelieve”
So you felt the villains were too quickly discarded. Then… would you try saving them?
“…Is he mad?”
This message felt strange.
Why would an author say something like “try saving them” to a reader?
Maybe my words were misunderstood. I hesitated, then moved my hands to clarify—but at that moment—
—
“Please! Stop! Please let me go! Don’t do this!”
“Shut your mouth! A mere commoner dares to resist when the young master is showing you mercy?!”
With that, the knight named Trey violently threw the woman forward again.
A strong man—no, not an ordinary one, but a knight—flung her like luggage, and she collapsed onto the ground.
“Tch. Like father, like daughter. Stubborn as a bull.”
Trey straightened himself and waited for his young master’s next command.
The order to strip her clothes.
The thrill of tearing away a resisting woman’s garments had been intoxicating.
“Sir, she’s finally quiet. Shall we move to the next step?”
“……”
There was no answer.
After waiting a little too long, Trey cautiously spoke again.
“Sir? May we proceed?”
“……”
“Sir? Is something wrong?”
“……”
“Sir?”
“Can you just shut up?”
It was not the voice he was used to hearing.
Normally, the young master would be excited at the sight of his “meal,” trembling with anticipation.
But now something was different.
A cold, subdued voice. A face twisted as if in discomfort. Fingers pressing at his temples.
This was not how he should behave in front of his prey.
‘What’s going on?’
Even though a trembling woman was right in front of him, his young master simply sat still.
He exhaled heavily, rubbed his forehead, covered his face, sighed again, then muttered to himself while looking up at the ceiling.
Eventually, the young man turned his gaze toward the woman on the ground.
It was unusual, but Trey thought—as always—he would soon clap and order to continue.
“…Ah, damn it. This isn’t it.”
But the words that came out were completely unexpected.
“Sir?”
Confused, Trey looked directly at his master.
At that moment, the young man’s eyes flashed as he looked down.
Was he going to punish him for disrespect?
The young man lifted a finger.
Trey quickly lowered his head and knelt.
“Outside… is it daytime?”
“Pardon?”
“Is the sun still up… or has it already set?”
It was completely unexpected.
Trey, relieved, answered that it was already night.
The young man grabbed his head.
“Ah… God…”
“Sir? What’s wrong, Sir Si-on?”
Si-on Clausen.
A minor villain who appeared early in the novel and was supposed to be quickly discarded… but instead became a persistent enemy of the protagonist.
His first appearance was attempting to kidnap and assault Lucia, the daughter of the protagonist’s benefactor and teacher, only to be stopped and crushed by Kim Yuhyeon.
Although the timing wasn’t specified, it was clear from the story that moonlight had been shining on them during the rescue.
Which meant—
The protagonist was already on his way.
A monster who had once been a Korean college student, then became a martial arts master in Murim, earning the title “Sword Immortal,” and later fell through a dimensional rift into another world.
A man who could cut down any enemy with a single sword.
That kind of monster was coming here.
‘Shit!’
This was not a dream.
Everything was too real.
And everything was unfolding exactly like in the novel.
The kidnapped woman. The approaching hero.
And the villain about to die.
‘I need to survive!’
This was no ordinary protagonist.
He had already lived as the strongest in multiple worlds.
And now he was rushing here to save the daughter of his master.
‘What do I do? What do I do?!’
Si-on grabbed his head, desperately thinking.
He had started the story by directly antagonizing a world-class monster.
There was no time to prepare.
The enemy was already coming.
He might break through the door any second and turn him into minced meat.
‘Should I beg?’
Say it was a mistake?
But remembering Kim Yuhyeon’s personality—
He did not casually take lives, but his punishment was merciless.
He had already cut off Si-on’s arm in the original story.
And that same man was now coming here.
‘No… that guy wouldn’t just say, “Oh I understand, let’s forgive him.”’
Then there was only one option.
Si-on swallowed hard and looked between the trembling girl and the kneeling knight.
“Sir Trey.”
“Yes, sir.”
He picked up a candle stand beside him.
He blew out the flame and pulled out the candle, holding only the stick.
‘I don’t know if this will work… but I have no choice.’
Fortunately, Lee Jihoon had learned something very useful in his previous life in Korea.
“Sir?”
And then—
He smashed the knight’s head with all his strength.
“Idiot! I told you to properly take care of an important guest, and this is the kind of disrespect you show?! You useless extra trash!”
“Gahk!”
Among the lessons Lee Jihoon had learned in Korea…
