[Cancellation notice]
[due to some unexpected circumstance, the novel (Records Of Heroes) will no longer be supported, and no further chapter will be released.]
[if you have any questions regarding the site policy, please contact the support with the link below.]
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"no… no no NO NOOOO!!!"
"Th-this can't b-be happening!!"
Yelling at my computer screen in a desperate manner, I felt like I was hit by a truck.
The one thing that I actually cared for, over, just like that, and the worst part was that it's unfinished.
I knew the story would end at some point, and I was fine with that, but this... this is unacceptable!
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[2 hours prior]
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In a dimly lit office where only the clicking sound of a single keyboard and the tick of a clock can be heard, there is one man working.
His appearance is that of an early middle-aged man with dark brown hair, an uncleanly shaved bears and dark brown eyes.
One can tell with just one look that he's been working longer than he should have, he has bags under his eyes, his skin is quite pale, and he looks unhealthily skinny.
Looking at the clock showing 23h15, the man sighs and says.
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"Sigh… almost finished, just need to do some retouch to this document and I can finally go home."
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The man currently working overtime is me, 27 years old Theodore Lettore, while my age might be considered young, the accumulated stress over the years made me look older than I actually was.
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I lived alone in a single person apartment, and even though there is no one waiting for me, there's one thing I cannot wait to do when I get home.
And that's to read the final arc of the web novel I've been reading for the past 12 years. Having helped me throughout my most dark time, this novel was all I could think about all day, every day.
Motivating myself for one last push, I soon finish my work.
Once outside, I took out a cigarette and proceeded to smoke it.
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"Puff....haaaa~"
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Finally feeling like myself after twelve long hours of work, I couldn't help but make a weird sound. Checking my watch only to realize it was already past midnight, I headed towards my home.
Being too late to take the metro as it was already closed by now, I could only walk there.
On my way home, the only thing I could think of, was how to enjoy today's chapter.
I was so immersed in my thoughts that I almost took the wrong turn, but I made it to my apartment complex in the end.
Arriving in front of my room with the number 409 on it, I took out my keys.
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~Click~
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making a metallic clicking sound, the door was unlocked, and I was finally home.
Looking at my watch, I saw [01h10] displayed on the little screen, I was a little shocked, it had taken me close to 1h to get back home.
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"Sigh..."
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With a small sigh of relief, I took my shoes off and made my way to my computer.
Pressing the power button, I wait for the pc to turn on.
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[loading...]
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Seeing it will take a while as this is an older pc, I decide to head to my kitchen to make some tea.
After some time, the tea is done and I head back to my desk.
I make sure to make myself comfortable, before going to the web novel site.
I go to my song playlist and put it on shuffle and hit play.
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[Town of Forgotten Souls - by Samtar]
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"mhm now that the mood is set, let's go read!"
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Opening the website of the novel, I clicked on favorite and quickly found what I was looking for, as it was the only novel in there.
Clicking on it, I was met with an unpleasant sight.
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[Cancellation notice]
[due to some unexpected circumstance, the novel (Records Of Heroes) will no longer be supported, and no further chapter will be released.]
[if you have any questions regarding the site policy, please contact the support with the link below.]
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'....this has to be a joke, right?'
I looked at the message, still not understanding what was going on.
And so reread it.
1 time
2 times
...
6 times
...
12 times
...
?? times
I lost count of how many times I read this single message, and no matter how many times I read it, I couldn't understand...
No, I just didn't want to understand.
Looking at it again, it finally dawned on me.
.
[Cancellation notice]
[due to some unexpected circumstance, the novel (Records Of Heroes) will no longer be supported, and no further chapter will be released.]
[if you have any questions regarding the site policy, please contact the support with the link below.]
.
"no… no no NO NOOOO!!!"
"Th-this can't b-be happening!!"
Yelling at my computer screen in a desperate manner, I felt like I was hit by a truck.
The one thing that I actually cared for, was over just like that, and the worst part was that it's unfinished.
I knew the story would end at some point, and I was fine with that, but this... this is unacceptable!
How can I be satisfied by this.
But I didn't give up just yet, I search for about an hour on the internet to find any other site that might still have it. But I was faced with the sad truth, the novel not being popular was only on the official website.
.
It was gone, forever.
I couldn't even reread it.
I was trembling, could barely stand and had a hard time breathing.
Needing fresh air, I went to the balcony.
Taking out a cigarette with a trembling hand, I paused for a moment, looking at it.
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"tsk... I'm really not in the mood for that!"
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Clicking my tongue, I put the cigarette away.
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Taking time to breath, it took me a while to calm down.
When I was calm enough to think straight again, I began thinking of what I should do now that I had nothing to look forward to.
There really wasn't much in my life that I enjoyed, apart from this novel and maybe music.
And with it now gone, I was at a loss.
Earlier, I said I was fine with the fact the novel would end at some point, thinking about it again that might have been a lie.
Whether it ended like I wanted to or not, I was nothing without it.
Looking down at the silent street from my balcony, a thought crossed my mind.
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'If I have nothing to live for, why even live?'
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Everything around me suddenly felt meaningless, and I felt empty.
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Taking out the cigarette I put away earlier.
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"Guess I could use one last smoke"
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I lit it up and smoked it slowly.
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"puffff...."
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After there was nothing left to smoke, I step over the balcony railing.
With one last sigh, I monotonously said.
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"Here goes nothing…"
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And jumped.
...
The fall felt like an eternity.
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While falling, I thought back about my past.
When I was young I got diagnosed with apathy syndrome, apparently I wasn't interested in most things, and lacked some emotions such as empathy, fear, and sadness. I was even disinterested in my own personal safety.
The doctor prescribed me antidepressants I had to take to help me get better. Though I took them at first, I soon stopped, due to the pills giving me nauseating headaches, and the fact they didn't even work.
And when I was around fifteen years old, right when I was about to enter high school, my parents died in a car accident.
The sudden loss of both my parents did not make me sad, much to my displeasure. I felt like a monster, not being able to cry for them is not something I was proud of.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my parents, I just couldn't feel sad when they died.
I began to think I would never feel anything, this made me seclude myself from others, I even began planning my early death.
But like a light through darkness, I found a newly released web novel.
Its story was a bit cliché, but it made me feel stuff I never experienced before.
Reading it made me experience the emotions I lacked for the first time, I cared for the characters, I felt bad for them when they got hurt or were sad. Something that never happened to me with anybody in my life, not even my parents.
The story was about a world like ours, but in 2009 something called the rapture happened, the sky began cracking like glass and monsters and demons began overflowing earth, this caused one third of humanity to die.
But the catastrophe also brought some blessings, new races only seen in fantasy like the elves, the orcs, the beasts man and the dwarfs. Those new races became allies to humanity until they could stand on their own.
After a while, humans began to change, every kid that passed the age of 16 now had a chance to awaken.
And each awaken could use some weird intangible force called Mana that allowed them to use things like magic and skills.
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The story starts 150 years after the rupture in a futuristic style world where Mana and technology were mixed together.
Living alone with his comatose father, the protagonist called Luke Iroas, a highly talented and righteous youth, joins the Crossroad Academy.
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A school made to train young awakens as heroes to, in the future, fight off the demons that are slowly getting stronger and stronger.
His father, Gordon Iroas, an ex S ranked hero, is in comatose due to a not so simple problem, he was plagued by a powerful curse that slowly ate away at him. And the only way known to heal him is to kill the one who placed it.
Though being unable to find the person responsible even after graduating, he fails to save his father, he then vows to find and kill the bastard who is responsible for his father's death.
With the discovery of the Demon God approaching arrival, and the increasing demons attack, the world fell into panic, all the awakens and heroes were made to participate in the upcoming war.
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Accompanied by the comrades he made in Crossroad and some other places, they fight and defeat the demon god... Or at least they were supposed to, but with the novel canceled, I would never see how it ends.
But with no more time to think, my head hit the ground with a loud crunch and everything went dark.
…
'it hurts'
…
Surrounded by darkness, I felt like I was underwater. The pain from the fall still lingered for quite a while until it finally subsided.
...
'so this is death... kinda boring if you ask me'
...
Just like when I was falling, the time seemed to be passing slower. I don't remember for how long I stayed in this state, hours, days, weeks maybe, I didn't know.
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Until, out of nowhere, I started hearing a beeping sound that came at regular intervals.
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bip...bip...bip...
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'god this is annoying'
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as soon as I thought that, I woke up in an hospital bed.
I quickly found the source of the beeping, it was a heart rate monitor polished to the right of my bed.
Looking down at myself, I found out I was covered in cables and had an IV in my arm.
Scanning the room a bit, still feeling a little groggy, I exhaled.
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"Sigh... looks like I survived"
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Right after I said that a nurse walked into the room with an IV bag in hand, from the looks of it she was here to change the one I was currently attached to.
Our eyes met, and she let out a small surprised sound.
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"Oh! You're finally awake."
"I'll call the doctor right away"
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"..."
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Before I could even say anything, she was out of the room.
About 5 minutes later, the doctor walked into the room.
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"Hey, how are you feeling?"
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"Alright I guess, I'm feeling a little weird though."
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"Ah, don't worry about that, you just woke after a week, of course you're going to feel weird."
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"A week?"
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Was I only out for a week? Falling from the height I did was not something a week of hospital could heal.
'Something is wrong.'
But before I could even finish my thought, the doctor dropped another bombshell on me.
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"Yep, you took quite the nasty fall. I swear, kids these days. Your mother was worried sick."
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"My mother!?"
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I was more shocked than earlier as this was something that simply shouldn't be possible, my mother died more than 10 years ago.
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"Yep, as soon as the nurse found you, she called her. She should be arriving any time soon."
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~BANG!!~
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Not even two seconds after he said that, a woman came crashing through the door. She had long deep brown hair that were undone, and green eyes with big dark bags under. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
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"SON !!"
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She came rushing at me with tears in her eyes, and before I could do anything, she was hugging me.
I had a lot of questions, but the one that bothered me the most right now was...
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"Sorry, but who are you?"