Is this plagiarism?
I recently found a story on Webnovel titled "Transmigrated As The Original Hero In A Game-Like World" by The_VapidClown. As I read through the chapters, it started to feel very familiar surprisingly quickly. The characters, the story, and almost everything about it felt incredibly nostalgic, like something I had read during the pandemic.
After some thinking and digging around on Novel Updates, I finally found a Korean LN called "Inside An Adult Game As A Former Hero" by (르닉) Renick in my reading list. I then checked another site and was shocked by how much seemed to have been copied. The characters, the story progression, and even the world itself were strikingly similar. When I say similar its a carbon copy of it by 97%, the other 3% is the protagonist has a different name.
Original: https://novelpia.com/novel/67060
Translation: https://novelbin.com/b/inside-an-adult-game-as-a-former-hero
Copycat: https://www.webnovel.com/book/transmigrated-as-the-original-hero-in-a-game-like-world_35385349000060505