[The End]
'Huh? That's it?'
My mind sparked.
I couldn't help but be shocked.
A well of disappointment brewed deep down in my belly.
'The End?'
'Tch! Same old plot armour bullshit.'
'What even is this shit!'
I was livid.
Do you know what is worse than being livid?
…Tch!
It's being furious and yet unable to express your anger.
…Unable to explode!
That was how I was feeling.
I've been following this novel for two years now.
Anyone who had read it as judiciously as I have would be angry too.
…This ending was disgusting.
Heck, I was even throwing in Magic Castle gifts from time to time as a motivation to the author.
Don't get me wrong.
I love the story in general but the ending?
…Definitely not this ending.
The author could have done better.
Throws my mind back to the last two seasons of Game of Thrones.
…Or Madara's death in Naruto.
Sigh~
Over a thousand five hundred chapters, only for this to happen.
Instinctively, I swiped my phone screen, scrolling into the next page.
A part of me seriously hoped that another page of texts would roll out.
[Unable to load page]
[Try again]
Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried, nothing happened.
It was truly the end of My Villain Academia.
What was the point if the hero was simply going to win just like that?
…Not the victory that one deserved.
Rather a win simply because he was the protagonist.
The main character.
…Or because good prevails over evil or however the saying goes.
I could feel my facial muscles tense and my grip around my smartphone tightened.
Raising my head from the phone, I looked around briefly and gasped to calm myself.
I had not wished for anything now than to be inside my room.
That was the one place I could have easily shouted someone's head off if I wanted to.
A place I could vent all my anger and frustration.
Regardless of how disappointed I was, I couldn't show it inside a public bus.
I took another glance at the screen of my phone.
[The End]
Still the same message.
Nothing changed.
I didn't even bother reading the Author's Note as I was not, in the tiniest bit, interested.
I know the final arc was poor.
However, I hoped that the 200-chapter arc would improve with time.
Pfft! Nothing like that.
It continued to tip downhill, getting worse and worse everyday.
It's truly the hope that kills I guess.
I should have stopped reading two arcs ago.
But then, I couldn't.
This novel had 1538 chapters and I read every single one of them.
I couldn't just drop it.
I was basically a top 5 fan of the author.
…Magic Castles.
…Luxury Cars.
…Dragons.
…Golden Gachapons.
There was no tier of gift that I had not given.
I ground my teeth bitterly as I recalled even the times the author took breaks in-between.
Not that I cared though.
I mean, I'm mature enough to understand that real life happens sometimes.
…And real life can be messy as fuck!
I'm sure the author had his reasons for breaks, even the emergent ones.
At least he stayed true to his words of finishing the book.
Oh well, I guess that counts for something.
******
"Mackerville Junction," the small mic inside of the bus sounded, announcing the aged voice behind it.
"Anyone for Mackerville Junction?"
It was the driver who made a call for the next bus stop.
…My bus stop.
I had been so invested in this novel that it took four calls for me to realise myself.
"Yes, sir!" I shouted from the back of the bus.
"...Mackerville Junction!"
A little more time wasted and I would have been trekking back from the next bus stop.
Tch!
Almost an hour, if not even a little more, walk was not something I needed this cold evening.
I'd choose a warm, soothing bath with a cup of hot chocolate afterwards over that type of long walk.
It took no more than five minutes after the call and the bus came to a stop.
I meandered my way through the congested in-bus space until I reached the exit in front.
Escaping this sardine-esque packed crowd, I managed to take a breather for a few seconds.
Then, I reached for my wallet and counted some notes.
The money notes were roughened.
Even the driver couldn't help but stare at them in my hands.
As I looked at him, his eyes expressed hesitancy.
It was as though he was not sure if he should take it or not.
But then, I straightened them out.
"Here you go, sir."
I handed the money over to him, in a manner that he could see that they were still good notes.
Without wasting any more time, the driver swatted them out of my hands.
His eyes squinted and his brows furrowed as he looked at me.
He gave me such eyes like a father looking at a brat of a son.
Perhaps, it was because I had not answered his call sooner.
He certainly wouldn't understand.
I was not going to explain myself to him either.
What would I say?
I was triggered because of a novel?
Pathetic!
The door of the bus automatically shifted to one side as I approached it.
I alighted, making a quick jump to the edge of the road as I watched the bus drive past.
Barely a second after, I was hugging myself in search of some warmth.
"Sheesh! It's crazy cold here."
I had been carried away by the warm temperature inside the bus.
It was warm and cosy enough for me to remove my gloves, forgetting the biting cold outside.
I quickly took the pair of gloves from my jacket pocket and slid my hands into them.
"Ahh…!" I moaned with satisfaction. "That's much better."
Warmth has never felt so good as it did now.
Taking heavy steps on the snow-laden road, I made my way to my apartment.
It was a short journey.
…Barely fifteen minutes from Mackerville Junction.
Little did I know what fate had in store for me at this moment.
I kept my slow, measured pace as I walked.
I was already used to this and didn't mind.
For some reason, the snow felt heavier today.
Maybe it snowed more than usual.
I wasn't really paying attention since today was quite the busy one at the store.
My phone was my companion as I began another quest.
The quest of finding a new novel.
I started to seek out a new novel on the app to invest my time in.
However, I was discouraged even before I went through fifty of them.
It was always Milf this or that.
…Sugar mummy this or that!
'Not everyone likes mindless smut,' I complained internally with a disappointed expression.
I was displeased with the myriad of booba covers that stared right back at me.
Clickbaits!
All of them!
…Fucking clickbaits with the zero content!
Come on, guys!
For Pete's sake guys!
I didn't mind the harems anyway.
Ahem! I cleared my throat.
Well, harem doesn't count in the genres I dislike.
As long as the harem was good and not too much, then I'm good.
I make exceptions to good harem stories.
But why in the hell am I seeing a web novel with incest.
These new authors are wilding!
A couple of minutes into my walk and I had only discovered one web novel that seemed like an interesting read.
…Light Master by the author, Innocent_Four.
The synopsis was enough for me to add it to my library.
I hoped to check it out later.
I was new to web novels on this particular platform.
However, I am an avid reader of books anyway.
Not just fiction books.
Even nonfiction books too.
The just concluded story was my first ever read on this web novel app.
That book left a remarkable impression on me.
Enough to make me stick around for two solid years.
I'm sure fellow readers would justify my anger.
******
A right turn at the end of one street.
…A turn that would take me to my street.
Then I heard a croaky voice.
"Let's have it."
The voice sounded nothing short of certain.
I tried to turn around.
Then I felt something solid poke my back.
This man pressed me with this item again and placed his hand on my shoulder.
Feeling how it was some sort of firm mass pressing against my back, I could guess what weapon it was.
…A gun.
I stopped, trying to make sense of what was happening.
I was being robbed.
What kind of tough luck do I have!
"Have what?" I asked, faking ignorance like I didn't understand him.
Something snapped inside of me.
Muscle memory.
Not looking to digress, but I was once into MMA.
…Or at least, something that looked like it.
Not the big dogs that you see on TV anyway.
I was on the path to the top until I suffered an injury.
…A knee injury that ended my career.
It's been four years and I've not forgotten.
It was because of this injury that I'm now stuck with manning a store.
What a drastic turn.
Muscle memory and flight-or-fight response kicked in.
The fact that I was in danger may have probably awakened the old me.
But this body was different now.
This body was weaker than it used to be.
It was not as nimble anymore.
Bam~
My head spun and I staggered forward.
Either this thief was quicker and skilled or I had completely lost both touch and speed.
He landed the first blow before I could.
Before I could regain balance, I fell to the ground.
Such blunt force.
A strike with the bottom of the gun and his fist was enough to push me to the ground.
I massaged my neck, feeling a pang of ache travelling from there to my head.
I had lost it.
…I had lost grip of the small bag I was holding.
Before I could realise myself, the attacker had already taken it.
My blurring vision was gradually starting to clear.
Despite this, I could make out a faint view.
A faint view of the man counting the money in that bag.
No way, he was going to have it.
If he escapes with that bag, then my life is over.
That was the total of the week's sales from the store I work at.
I was going to do the account with my boss tomorrow.
What am I going to explain to him?
What would even make him believe me given the amount involved?
Mustering courage from out of nowhere, I got up and made my way to the man.
Before he realised it, I was close and managed to put up a little struggle before he shoved me back.
"Give it ba—"
Bang~
Then all I saw was black.
******
(Prison Hospital, Ethernium Security Prison)
Beep~ Beep~
The monitor that sat by the bedside beeped ceaselessly .
The graph-like lines on its dark screen were changing.
They were flatlining.
A bad sign.
This prison was giving up.
Only a matter of seconds and he is dead.
"""Code Blue! High Dependency Ward 5!"""
"""Code Blue! High Dependency Ward 5!"""
"Page Dr. Brexham! Now!"
The young doctor was distressed.
He was sweating buckets as he performed chest compressions.
The nurse ran in and out doing different things.
Setting up infusions.
Bagging the patient.
…And finally, calling Dr. Brexham.
Beep~ Beep~
The team did their best.
Trying every medical skill they knew.
Regardless, the inevitable happened.
The young doctor cleaned sweat off his forehead as he turned to the nurse next to him.
He shook his head.
This was a signal that all measures had failed.
"Anthony Cross. Aged 16," he said as the nurse noted in the prisoner chart.
"Time of death, 1:06pm. Primary cause of death. Intracerebral haemorrhage following blunt trauma to the head.
"Secondary cause of death, possible pulmonary embolism."
The doctor and nurse continued with making the death report.
However, something strange was happening.
…Happening to the recently deceased.
The doctor did not see or notice this.
Neither did the nurse.
Bzzt~
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