|BACKSTORY-TIMELINE|

{The story of Leon Takuira's life was not a nice one, his only escape from reality was drawing, his imagination would take him too worlds he himself could not enter.}

{His dreamscapes were marvelous pieces of work.}

{Leon had a harsh childhood, born in China, in the state of Sichuan in the capital which was in Chengdu in the year 1998.}

{His birthday, July 7th.}

{Leon's life as a kid was peaceful as he was being raised by his mother and father as his older sister, Zin Takuira was 17 that year and it was his birthday that fateful day.}

{On the year 2006, Zin had went out to buy Leon a present with their father as Leon was at home cooking with his mother.} 

{It was then around noon when they turned on the news to see a robbery at a grocery store where on the screen showed Zin and his father.}

{Leon was shocked as he was in a panic, his mother tried to calm him down before-they heard the gunshot.}

{The TV screen kept rolling, Leon's mother started crying as Leon just stared at the screen where his sister was dying.} 

{What could he do?}

{He was a useless kid at the time, his father had survived, the robber who's name was Relion Gaxfiel was arrested and sentenced to death for the murder of eight people at the scene of the robbery.}

{Leon came to hate his birthdays as two years later on the exact same day was when the family was driving to Leon's Aunt Halei's place which the enormous earthquake of 2008 happened that day.}

{Luckily Leon had survived with his mother, but...his father hadn't.}

{The car had fell off the bridge they were driving on as they crashed into the water, Leon's father managed to save both Leon and his mother before some pieces of the bridge broke off, crushing Leon's father.}

{Leon despised this day, this terrible day.}

{He vowed to never celebrate it again, what used to be a happy day for children was now nothing more than a nightmare for him.}

{The rest of his birthdays were normal, nothing bad happened as he never celebrated once after that.}

{His mother took care of him lovingly, though he never seemed to respond with any positive emotions.}

{It took time until he was able to speak and move around again in 2011, Leon had met a friend during that timeframe as her name was Alice Seras.}

{She was a kind individual who treated him kindly, he had met her during sixth grade as Alice was a transfer student who had noticed him.}

{At the start of school, she tried to get him to open up to her as the days went by with barely any progress as three weeks had already passed.}

{Alice felt like giving up as she went to Leon one last time as he was once again, alone in the classroom, expect he was crying silently while staring at the ground.}

{Alice gasped as he looked like a broken doll, it hurt her heart as she comforted him that day.}

{Leon started talking to which he would never talk expect for when the teacher called on him, Alice was surprised but Leon talked with her as Alice finally achieved what she wanted.}

{They talked inside the classroom until recess ended, and so did lunch as they kept talking until the other students came back with the teacher.}

{They had become close friends in that short time span that was around a hour and a half as they opened up to each other.}

{Alice was a kid who never had a real friend due to her family's status as she had made her first friend in her life.} 

{The days passed as they hung out, Leon became more interactive, social, and emotional.}

{Though he always had a side to him that Alice would only see, that it was all an act.}

{Leon would only talk comfortably to people he trusted while Alice was worried for him, it was their second year in middle school in the year 2011 as they met up in the chess club during lunch as usual.}

{They talked together in a corner of the library as Alice asked something Leon didn't want to answer, the date of his birthday.}

{Alice seemed curious but Leon was horrified, he began breaking down as the memories rushed in as Alice was shocked by his sudden reaction.}

{Alice had to call the nurse as by the end of the day, Leon had calmed down but he was distancing himself from her.}

{Alice was sad as she didn't know what Leon thought of her, so she did the thing she hated most.}

{She used her family's power to find out more about Leon as she was saddened by the information she read.}

{Alice knew she had to apologize as the next week, Alice managed to get into a conversation with Leon about his family.}

{They had a fight as it got physical, both had injuries and were sent to the nurse's office but they soon made up.}

{A special bond had formed between the two of them but they didn't know it yet.}

{Leon was heading home that day when he was suddenly dragged into an alleyway, a person that looked similar to Alice made Leon surprised but he kept calm.}

{He analyzed his situation as their were two guards and the blonde lady that looked very similar to his closest and only best friend.}

{The woman revealed herself as Alice's mother which made Leon more bewildered to why she would do something like this.}

{Alice's mom, Zalriso Seras explained to Leon that he couldn't be around Alice anymore as Leon snapped.}

{All the anger that was inside of him bursted out as he bashed the face of the guard holding him into the brick wall behind them in the small alleyway.}

{Leon quickly grabbed a crooked metal bar nearby that looked like it was about to break by the smallest contact  as the second guard rushed at him.}

{Leon charged in as he jumped and tried to kick him in the face with his knee as the guard ducked.}

{Leon quickly swerved around in midair as he slammed the metal bar onto the guard as it knocked the guard out.}

{The other guard that had recovered from the wall bash was bleeding from their head as they glared at Leon who quickly took the broken pieces of the rusted metal bar and jammed them into the guard's shoulders.}

{They yelled out in pain as Leon looked at them with a cold gaze with no emotions behind it, Leon then turned to Alice's mother who was shocked and surprised as she grinned nervously.}

{She then offered Leon to work for her in exchange to protect Alice at all times being allowed near her or his family would be hurt.}

{Leon's eyes turned into one of a crazed person as he glared into her soul with murderous intent as the bloodlust was oozing out from all over.}

{The woman fell to her knees as Leon switched his expression or mask as he was now calm.}

{Leon accepted the offer as he warned her that if she ever hurt his family, she would die someway or another.}

{Years passed after this incident as Leon had learned how to speak Korean, Japanese, and English.}

{Alice had freed Leon from her mother's control as Leon was happy, his smile seemed genuine and real as Alice shed a tear.}

{She hugged him one last time as she kissed him, she had now come to terms with her feelings as Leon didn't rejected her.}

{Alice was happy as Leon left to Korea to hide as he got a job as a writer as he made a few stories here and there.}

[Though, he was reading a certain story by the name of TWSA.]

|CHAPTER ZERO|

It was a sunny day, a bit cloudy but I was used to it. I entered the subway as I got on the train home as I usually do. It was a normal day as I waited for the train to arrive at my destination as a person sat down next to me. I was an artist but...my life was really tough, I wasn't famous or anything else on the subject so I knew I would fail at life...or so I thought until today. It was suppose to be an ordinary day at first as I noticed the person beside me get out their phone as he was reading some sort of story that I recognized. 

It was called [Three Ways To Survive A Ruined World/Three ways to survive the apocalypse]

I checked my own phone as I checked the story he was reading as it was the same as what I was reading for most of my life here in Korea. It really was TWSA, the author had released the final episode as I read it. I was in awe as I read the last part of the story, it was a marvelous ending that showed the protagonist finally putting a end to his eternal suffering as I felt a jolt of what could feel like electricity run through my body as I read it intently until the end.  

|There are three ways to survive the apocalypse. Everything is fading and becoming unclear now. But one thing is certain. If you're reading this, you WILL survive.|

-THE END-

[THREE WAYS TO SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE

-FINAL EPISODE]

TLS123

I didn't know what to say as I was surprised, what did it mean I would survive?

"Oh, my. At this rate you might get sucked into your phone." A voice said as I almost jumped out of my seat, I glanced over as a person had come over to talk to the man who was sitting beside me.

"H-Hello." The man said as he looked a bit nervous as the woman was smiling brightly

"Are you heading home?" She asked him as he was still clutching his phone

"Yes, you too?" He said as all the shakiness in his voice was now gone as I watched silently without turning my head. The person who was on the other side of him got off the subway as the woman sat down while still grinning cheerfully

"Yes, I got lucky. My team manager is away on a business trip." She said as the man scooted away towards me as he had a bit of sweat going down his neck

"Do you usually take the subway home?" The man asked as I felt a bit weird just listening to this conversation, they didn't even notice that I was able to hear them.

"Ha..." The woman sighed heavily as she looked at the ground

"Actually, someone stole my bicycle." She answered as the man seemed surprised as his eyes widened

"You commute to work on a bike?" He said as if he didn't believe it as the woman looked at him

"Yes. I've been a lot of overtime lately, so I thought I could use the exercise." She said as she continued "And I have some personal reasons too..." She smiled as the man was smiling back from what I could see, I looked at the ceiling as I closed my eyes.

"¿PUEDE PRESTARME DINERO?" The female voice said

"Pardon?" The male voice responded in a confused tone

"It's Spanish. It means 'Please lend me some money.'"The feminine voice replied as I opened my eyes

"You're studying hard." The man said as the woman leaned to see what was on his phone

"What about you, Dokja? What are you reading?" She asked as the man moved his phone away from her as he was still grinning

"Oh, I'm..." The man called Dokja began to say as he put his phone down to show her

"Is it a novel?" She said curiously

"Yeah...I guess you could say that I'm studying Korean, haha..." Dokja chuckled as I sighed mentally in my mind as TWSA was not such a normal novel to say the least

"Wow! I love novels! My favorite authors are Murakami Haruki, Raymond Carver, and..." The woman kept talking as she looked so innocent, I felt bad for her if she ever actually reads it...but I guess I knew who the other person looked like as they read this all the way to the end with me.

"Who's your favorite author, Dokja?" She asked cheerfully as she seemed to be shining radiantly like a pure source of light

"You probably wouldn't even know if I told you. Haha..." Dokja said in a nervous manner as he looked at his phone, he seemed to be thinking deeply as I checked the comments on the last episode before the epilogue.

"Dokja!" The woman called out to him as he turned to look at her as he stared for a few solid seconds before responding

"Oh! Come to think of it, it's already been a year since we started working at the company. We started around this time last year. Time sure flies by, doesn't it?" Dokja quickly said as I thought about it in more detail as I blocked out the noise as I began thinking

What day is it now? I checked my phone as the time was now 6:53 PM as the day was-

"I have to live my own life." Dokja said as my eyes widened, I leaned back in my seat as I turned to look at him.

"Your own life..." The woman muttered as my mind became blank

"...You're so inspiring, Dokja." She said as I remembered things I didn't want to remember

"Sorry?" Dokja said as he tilted his head a tiny bit as he looked confused

"I should also live my own life!" The woman said as I was stunned by her reaction

"Like you, I'll strive to live my life to the fullest." She declared confidently that I almost chuckled in response before-

"Bzzt-"

A message? I checked my phone as in the comment section was the author of TWSA replying to the two comments saying "Thank you."

I was surprised as the other person who had read this all the way to the end replied to the message saying "Are you the author of TWSA?" Dokja Kim texted

I quickly sent a message "Your story was amazing as usual, it's a honor for you to write this for us readers."

The author, TLS123 replied with "Thanks to the both of you, I was able to finish my story. I also won a prize in a contest."

I felt a fuzzy feeling as my favorite author had complimented me, I grinned with excitement hoping no one would notice as I sent a reply "That's amazing!"

Kim Dokja texted "Congratulations! But what kind of contest?"

TSL123 replied "It's not a big contest, so you wouldn't have heard of it." and then the author continued by mentioning "Oh, and the series will become paid content soon." 

The author kept messaging as he was explaining to us about the epilogue

"Starting with the epilogue today, TWSA will become paid content."

"As a token of my gratitude, I would like to send a special present. Could you both send me me your email address?"

I stared at the words before sending a message "Alright." while Kim Dokja had replied with "A present?"

"After all, I was able to publish my story thanks to my readers." TSL123 texted as I was just surprised, I didn't believe it. 

"Ding!"

A small sound came from my emails app as I checked it as it said I had one new message, was this the present? I checked it as the message said "Mr.Takuira, starting at 7 PM today, TWSA will become paid content. This will help you. I wish you all the best."

I was shocked as the author had somehow figured out my name, I spelled my last name backwards as a reader for the story but it was strange. I checked my favorites as TWSA had disappeared, I was in disbelief as I had a bad feeling about this. The lights went out as I accessed the situation and my surroundings as I held on tight my seat as the train started coming to a halt with a loud screeching noise.

"CCCRRRRREEEEEAAAAAKKKKKK!!!"

It was then I realized the world had changed, the time had struck 7:00 PM as a announcement from the train operator was being announced.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE."

I was in a panic before calming down as I was in a few situations like this before during my time as an assassin working for Alice's mother

"P-PLEASE, EVACUATE...EVACUATE...!"

The announcement was over as the train had came to a halt as a flash of light emitting electricity appeared as a strange voice started talking

"THE FREE SERVICE OF THE 8612th PLANETARY SYSTEM HAS COME TO AN END."

I was in denial but I had to come to terms with reality, this was...

"THE MAIN SCENARIO WILL BEGIN NOW."

I knew, at that moment. Fantasy had became reality, the world I looked up to so much had appeared before me.

"What a bad joke..."