"R-Release me! You're leaving me breathless!"

Shaking his small paws beneath my hands, I held my dog still, preventing any movement, observing the strange scene in which he lived confined.

I'm a hikikomori longing to become a millionaire by working from home, and together with my dog, who suffered a traffic accident a year ago, we've decided not to bother each other, each staying in our own rooms in the house.

However, while my room might have been somewhat cluttered with some books scattered on the floor or a glass of water left on the desk, my dog's room was a mess:

Books written in a strange language, drawings stuck on the walls and ceiling depicting four-eyed beasts engulfed in flames fighting against unicorns in a fierce battle, hundreds of scattered sheets all over the floor, and behind them, a stack of manuscripts piled on a dozen vases with strange objects that seemed to come alive, attempting to grab my attention with a growl.

Everything, absolutely everything in the room was incredibly strange.

But the worst of it all.

"Why do you have all of this here?! First of all, how can you even speak?"

"T-That's exactly why, let me explain, plea—"

"Those drawings plastered everywhere, tell me, why are they identical to the battle between the leaders of the warrior races from the fifteenth arc of Fush Naemon's web novel, 'I'm a Husky LVL 999,999,999,999'? I mean, it's not a coincidence. Paragraph thirty of chapter 1345: The Battle of the World's Saviors, 'when I had nothing left to fear before my eyes, the unicorn weaved a vast web of red silk, calling upon the legendary beast that sprouted from the ground, toppling trees aplenty.' I'd believe you if it were just a coincidence like any child's drawing, but," not releasing him, I pointed to a drawing of a spider breaking through the ground among the many papers. "This one here is painted in crimson red with golden frost sprinkled on top, just as the author described it in a series of tweets because his editor reprimanded him for not including it in the book. Do you want to tell me that all of this is just some scribbles you surely made like a foolish dog?! Are you my dog or some kind of entity that has taken over its body?!"

While still holding him in my hands, Finn began to tremble, a wide smile spreading across his face, stretching his paws toward me and letting out joyful barks.

"You read the web novel! You read the Webnovel version!"

I looked coldly at my dog, who sat at his laptop with a nervous smile.

However, for the next hour, I lay on the floor and proceeded to read it.

"Uhm... Emma, you see, I wanted to tell you about all this. I knew you would find out sooner or later, but I never thought you'd love my work this much."

Finn came closer to my side, nuzzling his snout against my arm, still wagging his tail with great excitement.

"It really makes me so happy... to meet such a big fan like you."

"[...] When I crossed the hundred-meter hill in search of the energy orb, I realized I had lost ten kilos of my weight. The curse of the hill was real, so I had to be quick...[...]"

Finn took a step back, looking up to meet my eyes.

However, I was no longer in that world. In that moment, I wasn't myself anymore.

I was immersed back in that world. In the world that Fush Naemon wrote, the one that I wouldn't stop reading for anything, not even to finish the author's words.

I needed to read it until it was finished. And because of that, I didn't notice my dilated pupils or my mouth voicing all the words from the text, reading aloud to myself in a low voice.

"Emma...?"

"[...] When everyone was frightened, there was no doubt. The dragon had awakened, but if I didn't have the energy orb with me, it would be the end. I had only one solution left. To sacrifice myself...[...]"

"W-Wait, wait, wait," Finn took a leap back, watching as I scrolled through the pages of the file every ten seconds, "That happens much further along from where you were reading a moment ago. You're reading it too quickly, can you really appreciate a book if you read it that way?"

"Shut up."

Finn distracted me for a moment with his constant barking, so I looked at him coldly.

I spent the next hour of the early morning reading the entire book, finishing it with a sigh and a dry throat. But finally, I had finished it.

.......................................................................................................... I didn't know what to say.

Finn, on the other hand, stayed by my side, a clear blush on his cheeks, jumping joyfully from side to side.

"I love you! I love you! I love you! Thank you for reading my work! I'll give you a signed copy when I have it in my paws!"

I left my phone on the floor, wearing a blank expression.

I had confirmed it, no matter how much I wanted to deceive myself, I could recognize the prose of my favorite author anywhere.

Fush Naemon, my favorite author...

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I have the best owner in the world!"

It was none other than my little dog, spinning excitedly on the floor.

"Wait," I thought of a possible response that could break the theory, "How do I know you didn't steal this writing from the real Fush Naemon?"

Upon hearing me, Finn let out a slight cheerful snort, grabbing his laptop again and began typing rapidly, almost at the same pace as I worked on my spreadsheet data.

I sat behind him to see exactly what he was doing, and I was amazed to see a new entry on Fush Naemon's blog being written live in front of me.

When Finn finished writing it, he published it, and immediately I received the notification.

"Chapter 107... The protagonist Husky trapped the first legendary beast in a jar and temporarily stored it in a portal he learned about a few chapters earlier from the village sorcerer."

Finn immediately nodded, wagging his tail again and bouncing around his room.

He approached the piled-up sheets and pushed some of the jars in front of me as I drank from the water, moistening my throat.

However, I ended up spitting out the water when I saw who he had brought before me.

"Let me out! You evil beast, you cursed Husky! I'll put an end to your stupid owner as soon as you let me out of here!"

"Well, well... it seems you've been spying enough to understand what's happening here. At least introduce yourself properly, will you?"

In front of me, confined in miniature form inside a glass jar, was the first main villain of the story. The demon king, now transformed into nothing more than a tiny Doberman that was smaller than the jar used to contain him.

"At the end of the second book's epilogue, additional material was added, implying that he was locked in a jar and left there for eternity after turning him into a strange dog that never closed its mouth, or at least that's how it was written. If that's true... if that's what the book says, and therefore it's fiction, why is he here in the present...?"

"Because everything this fool writes is what actually happened! And how did you say he described me? Give me more details, it's an order!"

Finn placed his paw on the jar, extending his claws.

"I said... introduce yourself."

One of my dog's eyes started emitting blue sparks, immediately silencing the tiny Doberman trapped inside.

"I-I'm... Darkness, the demon king of my world. It's... a pleasure to meet you." Bowing, the Doberman made an effort not to embarrass himself further, while Finn averted his gaze from him, then turned back to me with a completely different expression, one filled with happiness and excitement.

"Everything written in my web novel... it's actually my diary from the other world."

I was stunned.

Of course, considering he was my favorite author, it all seemed somewhat fictional, but this...

But the worst part was that, no matter where I looked around, everything was filled with evidence that what he was saying was true.

I brought a couple of fingers to my forehead, closing my eyes, and silently screamed, trying to reason through everything I had been told.

"You say you traveled to another world?"

"That's right. I brought back many memories; I was thinking of giving you some. I have a special one here..."

"Hold on, I'm not done. Please answer... how did you do it? Or why, even? Or at least... when? You've always been confined here after last year's accident."

Like me, the demon king also turned to look at Finn, who smiled sheepishly.

"He didn't look like this in my world. He was a powerful Husky... now, he's nothing more than a simple pup. I wonder the same thing. What happened to you?"

Placing a claw on top of the jar, Finn, a year and a half old pup, chuckled lightly, choosing his words carefully, thereby silencing the tiny Doberman.

"I lived a whole lifetime until my death in the other world. I lived there... for hundreds of years, or maybe even a millennium, I can't recall. But there came a time when I died of old age, and when I least expected it, I woke up at your uncle's veterinarian. And here we are... Ta-daaa..."

Waving his paws in an attempt to be amusing, I covered my mouth, taking a gasping breath.

"You were in a coma for a couple of days. Just that... and during that time, you say you lived a millennium there?!"

"It was only a couple of days?! I-I was expecting it to be a couple of months at least. Were my injuries not severe enough for me to heal that quickly?"

"... My uncle told me he tried to heal you as best as he could, but the next day after the surgery... you were as good as new. As if you had healed completely on your own."

"That means... when I acquired the Absolute Regeneration ability, it was also transferred to my body in this world."

"And that's why... you could do all those things when you were in the other world. Your mind remained synchronized while you were asleep here and awake there," added the little demon king, listening to the entire conversation.

"Like a Bluetooth connection!" I commented, seeing Finn's eyes sparkle uniquely.

"That would explain a lot... wow. How incredible... Thanks to my efforts in the other world, that's why I'm alive here again..."

Finn swallowed, as if recalling things he decided to avoid thinking or talking about, letting out small, sad puppy whimpers. I gently held him, feeling somewhat nervous as well, and placed him on my lap, stroking his head...