For a web novel author who died by truck-kun to be possessed by a character in a novel is a perfectly plausible event. Because that's a cliché.
If, by some chance, this monologue were written as a novel and read by someone, I’m sure you, the readers, would be nodding in agreement with me.
In fantasy novels these days, "Regression, Possession, Reincarnation" are very common tropes. They’re so common they’re even grouped together. As someone who writes fantasy novels in this era, I quickly accepted this trend.
But there was one thing I couldn't accept.
"Let me ask you again. Which family did you say I belong to, and who am I?"
"You are the third son of the Austri Ducal Family, Young Master Karvaldr."
Karvaldr Austri.
That character does not appear in my novels.
And yet, I know one character with that name.
One of the villains in the novel 《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》 is named "Karvaldr Austri."
And this 《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》 is not a novel I wrote. It’s someone else’s novel.
This is the point I absolutely cannot comprehend.
'Doesn't an author usually get possessed into a novel they wrote?'
They use hidden settings that only the author knows to gain various advantages, or conversely, they struggle to fix the half-baked settings they hastily scribbled down.
As far as I knew, the appeal of reading "an author gets isekai'd into their own work" lay in seeing those kinds of scenes.
In other words, there was no reason whatsoever for me—the author of a different novel—to be here.
When it's not my own novel, I'm no different from any other reader.
'Wouldn't it have been better to possess someone else? Surely there must have been at least one reader with specialized knowledge that could be put to good use in a fantasy world, right? If not, they could have just thrown the original author of this novel in here.'
《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》 is a novel that certainly lives up to its title.
Perhaps to make the protagonist the sole SSS-grade in the world as the title suggests, every character who gets involved with him dies. It didn't matter whether they were friend or foe—no one was spared.
Naturally, the character I possessed, "Karvaldr," is no exception.
'Come to think of it, shouldn't the original author be the one possessed, not me? Then shouldn't the story follow them as they go through all sorts of hell to save the characters, regretting and reflecting on how lightly they treated their lives? Isn't that the cliché?'
There must have been some mistake.
I'm in the middle of writing my third lighthearted healing novel [N1], so I have no idea why I've been thrust into a crazy killing novel like this. [N2]
No matter how much I think about it, I can't find a plausible reason.
I never complained about the plot of this novel in the comment section, nor did I even leave a comment at all. Nor have I ever had arrogant thoughts like, "I could have developed this material so much better!"
Furthermore, the last novel I read before dying wasn't even 《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》.
I avoided all these clichés, so why the hell did I get possessed into someone else's novel?
'It feels about time for a god or something to show up, apologize for the mistake, and transfer me to one of my own healing novels...'
I held onto that hope, but no transcendent being ever appeared.
All I could see were a middle-aged man and a young boy who had just introduced themselves as the personal physician and an attendant of the Austri Ducal Family.
If only they would change their story now and say, "Actually, we were a god and an angel."
"Do you really not remember anything? Not even who you are?"
The middle-aged man in the white robe shattered my hopes with his serious question.
For the record, this was the same man who had answered me when I asked who I was.
Since he had given me information, it seemed only right to answer his question as well.
"No, I don't remember anything at all."
When you find yourself possessed in someone else's body, the available responses usually narrow down to two.
Either you feign amnesia, or you act like the body's owner and play dumb.
In my case, however, I hadn't chosen the amnesia option voluntarily.
'Not a single memory is coming to mind.'
The "memory" mentioned here isn't mine.
I'm talking about Karvaldr's memories.
The memories of this body I've possessed.
The time for the possessed body's memories to flood my mind with a headache had long since passed, yet no memory synchronization occurred.
Therefore, I had no grasp of crucial information, such as what point in the original story I had been possessed into, or why the family's personal physician was on standby in Karvaldr's bedroom.
The reason I can still communicate with that physician is quite simple.
It's not because I received the basic benefit of possession, the language patch.
It's simply because the other person was speaking Korean.
It wasn't just my ears hearing it that way—it was actual Korean.
'You don't have to prove this is a world inside a novel like this...'
《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》 is a novel that, rare in this day and age, has no "Regression, Possession, Reincarnation" elements.
With no transmigrators or reincarnators, there was also no description stating, "The language here does not exist in the modern world."
This meant the original author had no need to create any particular settings regarding language.
Thanks to that, I suspect the author's native language was reflected in this world exactly as is.
"Young Master, you returned to the Ducal Castle a few days ago for your vacation, and you ingested poison that very night. If the attendant here hadn't come to your room to wake you early in the morning, you would now be..."
Once he confirmed I had no memories, the personal physician began to volunteer information I might be curious about.
Based on his statement, I gathered that my possessed body was still enrolled in the Academy.
And also that I had almost died from poison a few days ago.
"Who on earth poisoned me?"
"Well... um..."
"Don't tell me you still haven't caught the culprit? It was a major incident where the son of a Ducal Family almost died."
"There is a likely suspect. However, it's rather..."
"Come to think of it, you said I was the 'third son' earlier. Does that mean my older siblings, perhaps..."
"No, that's not it."
When I hinted at the possibility, the physician shook his head calmly without even a flicker of surprise.
His reaction seemed to say, 'Well, with no memories, it's natural to think that way.'
《I Alone am the SSS-grade Einherjar》.
According to the plot of this novel, often called 《NaSE》 for short, this possessed body did not fully inherit the family's unique abilities. [N3]
Because of that, he wasn't treated as a son by his own father and fell behind in the succession.
Even if left alone, he posed no threat, and trying to kill him would incur a penalty if caught.
Therefore, Karvaldr's sister and brother had no reason to poison this body.
Even though I knew that well, I feigned a suspicious expression and observed the physician's face.
This was a kind of threat.
If you don't want to see me running around yelling, "One of my siblings poisoned me!", then you'd better reveal the suspect.
I felt sorry for the physician, who was sweating with a troubled look, but I had no choice.
According to the plot of 《NaSE》, this possessed body dies after graduating from the Academy.
But I am not the "real" Karvaldr, which means I might not be able to avoid the dangers he did.
So I had to find out, one way or another, who poisoned this body.
Dying by the hands of Mr. Truck-Kun, waking up in someone else's body, only to be murdered shortly after—isn't that the worst possible future?
The memory of my death suddenly surfaced.
As I unconsciously clenched the blanket, the physician spoke.
"...It was you, Young Master."
"The Duke?"
"No, no! Young Master Karvaldr, it was you. You purchased the poison on your way back, and when you were alone late at night, you consumed it."
The unexpected answer made me gasp.
"Huh?"
To think Karvaldr would attempt suicide by ingesting poison.
This was never mentioned in the original novel.
The suspicion that the physician might be lying crossed my mind, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"That said, you don't need to worry, as your life isn't filled with misfortune."
He seemed to think "Karvaldr" might try to take his own life again.
I guess he was trying to comfort me in his own way, but it also sounded like he was mocking me, saying, "You eat well and live well in a good environment, so why did you do such a thing?"
Either way, it was a useless addendum.
I don't want to die again, and in the original novel, Karvaldr didn't die by suicide.
'It's not like I stole the body of someone's beloved family member, nor did I hijack someone's precious life. It's a relief that I don't have to feel sorry for anyone, but...'
Do I really have to live in this world of 《NaSE》?
Just what kind of bastard came up with the atrocious idea, "Let's chuck a healing novel author into a dark fic!"
As I was agonizing over this thought, the door burst open without warning.
The one who entered was a middle-aged man accompanied by a lion.
The "lion" I'm referring to here isn't a messenger (saja, 使者) but a lion (saja, 獅子), one of the great cats from the Felidae family.
It was a truly unexpected entrance, yet no one here questioned it or freaked out.
That's because the white lion with purple eyes was the Familiar of this family's head, Hárðr Austri.
Since this is the first appearance of a Familiar, it would be the author's duty to explain what they are.
But unfortunately, now was not the time for that.
Because an event as sudden as the white lion's appearance had just occurred.
—Slap!!
The man who appeared with the white lion Familiar—clearly this possessed body's father—connected his palm with my cheek.
As you might have guessed from the sound effect, it was by no means a gentle caress.
It was a strike delivered with enough force to whip my head to the side.
Having been struck so suddenly, I felt a surge of anger.
I reflexively shot my eyes up to glare at Hárðr... but then I raised my head and looked at him normally.
The reason was that a white-furred beast was breathing just inches away from me.
'Why did this lion get so close...?'
The top priority for most protagonists of villain-possession novels is "survival."
I was no different, so I didn't dare talk back to the beast's master with it right in front of me.
If that beast's paw hit my cheek, it wouldn't just end with my head turning.
But my pride was too hurt to show that I was # Nоvеlight # scared.
So I put on a mask of utmost calm and carefully observed Hárðr's face.
He wore an expression that went beyond indifference, bordering on annoyance.
No matter how you looked at it, he did not appear to be "a man so worried about his son's well-being that he impulsively struck him out of anger over the suicide attempt."
If that were the case, he would have at least flinched or shown some sign of surprise.
'He hit me on purpose.'
As if he had simply done what needed to be done.
Looking at that impassive expression, I understood why this possessed body had attempted suicide.
No—in the first place, this man before me is the only reason Karvaldr would do such a thing.
Because in the original novel, this character was always lonely and plagued by anxiety due to his father's indifference.
