First, I firmly locked the bedroom door. Then I spoke to the baby dragon sitting neatly on the bed.
“If someone seems like they’re coming this way, let me know.”
“Got it!”
Having received its mission, the baby dragon quickly toddled over to the door and sat down.
It nodded enthusiastically, as if saying I could trust it completely. I patted its head and sat on the edge of the bed. My heart was pounding with excitement and tension.
Back when “This Life is with a Dragon” was being serialized, I used to refresh the page every night at exactly midnight, waiting for the latest chapter.
I always hurriedly clicked the chapters marked “new!” and paid for them.
‘I never imagined I’d end up like this.’
I took a deep breath and tapped the “pay-to-wait” text.
<<You have selected Pay-to-Wait Episode 1.>>
<<100 coins will be consumed.>>
Alright. Let’s see what this “latest chapter” is all about.
The “pay-to-wait” text shimmered and burst into a bright white light. A world of black and white swallowed me whole.
I landed on my backside with a thud and looked ahead.
A huge screen stood like a gravestone. White was the background, black was the text—no, in this case, white was the screen and black was the writing.
At the very top, a familiar font displayed the title:
“This Life is with Bread – Episode 1”
Wait. The novel I entered was This Life is with a Dragon, right? Now it’s “with Bread”?
It felt like a parody of the original.
I immediately started reading below.
“Shuen smiled faintly. She arrogantly lifted her chin and gestured toward the sword held by Izael.
‘Go on, try stabbing me.’”
I blinked like an idiot.
This kind of scene didn’t exist in This Life is with a Dragon.
Even though I hadn’t finished it, I had read Izael’s side stories more than thirty times. So this definitely wasn’t the original story.
‘But stab what, exactly?!’
Frustrated, I slammed the screen. As if turning a page, new sentences appeared.
“Izael gripped his sword properly. His gaze toward Shuen was cold and unwavering. Shuen swallowed hard.
She wanted to step back, but her body wouldn’t move.
‘When does auto mode end?!’
Izael approached slowly. Though terrified inside, Shuen’s face remained confident. She urgently shouted to the system.
‘Hey! Isn’t your stopwatch broken?!’
As if answering her thoughts, a ding sounded and a message appeared:
<<Auto mode is in progress.>>
<<Remaining time: 1 minute 3 seconds>>
‘Damn system!’
Izael didn’t wait for her. He raised his sword.
<<Remaining time: 51 seconds>>
The blade gleamed blue, as if it would cut her down at any moment.”
I couldn’t breathe as I read. My fingers moved faster than my heartbeat as I kept turning the page.
“In the fear of death, Shuen regretted it too late.
‘If only I hadn’t gotten that final warning!’
At this rate, she would really be killed by her favorite character. Izael did not stop. The blade whooshed through the air.
‘If only I hadn’t said that back then!’”
That “that”? She had gotten a warning for saying something wrong. And now she was about to be killed by her favorite character because of it.
A chill ran down my spine.
I scrolled further, fully immersed—but only one line appeared on the white screen:
“To be continued in the next episode!”
“WHAT?!”
I screamed and stomped my feet in rage.
“Seriously?! You’re going to cut it off THERE?!”
Even though I knew I had no more coins left, I desperately hammered the “next episode” button.
But only a pop-up appeared:
“Oops! The next episode isn’t out yet~!”
It was the exact same pop-up from the original platform of This Life is with a Dragon.
That annoying message made me even angrier. The author had been infamous for cliffhangers, and readers always left desperate comments.
I had once left comments like “Author-nim, please give us an extra chapter.”
The familiar agony—painful yet addictive—tightened my chest.
But this time, it wasn’t just entertainment.
This story, This Life is with Bread, perfectly mirrored my situation. The idea that some unknown existence was watching me made my throat dry.
‘This is probably what my future looks like after being reincarnated into a novel.’
More importantly, the author’s cryptic words in the afterword haunted me.
That Izael might have a different ending…
‘Is this the “different ending”? No, wait—what did that even mean?!’
My head felt like it would explode trying to figure it out.
When I came to my senses, I was back in my bedroom. I was sitting neatly on the bed.
And right in front of me were golden eyes.
“Gah!”
I gasped and leaned back. The owner of those eyes was Hiser.
He smiled and asked, “Are you feeling better?”
“…Yes.”
I answered stiffly, frozen in place.
‘Wait—where’s Aka?!’
Just as I thought that—
A black lump fell from the ceiling and hit Hiser on the head with a loud thud.
Aka Terian was sprawled on top of his head.
The baby dragon stood dramatically and shouted,
“Surprise attack! Fear me!”
Hiser calmly grabbed the baby dragon from his head.
“Aka Terian.”
With one hand, he lifted it easily. The flailing baby dragon quickly escaped and flew behind me, hiding and peeking over my shoulder like a shield.
Hiser crossed his arms.
“So this is what you’ve been doing after running away…”
He clicked his tongue.
“Seems like you’re eating well.”
“What?!”
“You’ve gotten fat.”
Ding.
<<The Great Dragon Aka Terian breathes hot air in anger.>>
“I’m NOT fat!”
“Pig.”
“Not pig! I’m not a pig!”
Aka trembled in frustration on my shoulder.
“I-I’m not a pig! I’m a cute dragon!”
It flapped over and clung to my stomach, looking up with teary eyes.
“Right, Shushu?”
Before I could respond, Hiser cut in softly.
“Don’t fall for it. It’s all an act.”
“A-an act?”
Hiser smiled.
Aka immediately lunged and bit his hand. Hiser, unfazed, flicked it away.
“Aka!”
I caught the rolling baby dragon quickly.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Waaah… Shushu, it hurts…”
Tears welled up as it clung to my clothes.
I glared at Hiser.
“Don’t just throw a baby like that!”
“What?”
I hugged Aka tighter and muttered weakly.
“T-that’s just wrong…”
“Bad dragon!”
Hiser burst out laughing.
“You’re completely different from how you were in class.”
After laughing for a while, he finally said,
“Don’t worry. I know about your curse.”
…Curse?
I froze.
What kind of random thing was that?
Then suddenly—
Something clicked in my mind.
‘Wait. Does he know I’ve been possessed…?’
