The sky poured down rain as if the world itself were weeping.
The city that had once been full of life had now turned into a bleak battlefield.
Buildings had collapsed like the ruins of a forgotten past, while the corpses of humans and Daemons lay scattered across the broken, shattered streets.
Not a single living creature could be seen there, except for a handsome young man with black hair and blood-red eyes, standing alone amidst the ruins, his body covered in blood.
The condition of his body was horrifying to behold.
His left arm was mangled, and his internal organs were severely damaged. Blood would not stop flowing from his body.
Yet...
Even with those horrifying wounds, the young man's expression remained indifferent, as if he didn't care about the pain gnawing at him.
"This is not over yet..." he muttered softly. His blood-red eyes stared sharply at the dark sky above the ruined city.
The rain fell even harder.
Thunder roared, and flashes of lightning kept striking again and again.
At that moment...
The sky suddenly cracked like a shattered mirror, and thousands of Daemons poured out from the dark rift behind it.
"Finally..."
The black sword in the young man's hand let out a faint vibration, as if welcoming the arrival of the end of the world.
This was the beginning of the end.
....
[You have completed the story of Theodore La Apocalypse — Part Three.]
[A special reward has been delivered for successfully completing the storyline.]
Those words appeared on the glowing monitor after a young man named Evan Reviano finished playing an action RPG titled Estasia Fantasy World.
Or more precisely, he had just completed all the storylines of the seven main playable characters in the game.
"Is this the end...?"
The young gamer frowned in dissatisfaction as he stared at the message on the monitor.
"What kind of ending is this? Wasn't Theo supposed to break through his limits, gain a power-up, and defeat the Daemons in this scenario?"
"But why? What were the developers thinking? Why did they design it so that Theo loses and ends up like this?"
Evan was truly annoyed.
Theodore La Apocalypse was the character whose storyline he liked the most—the one he had played for over five years since the game was released. And now, that character had received the worst possible ending.
He couldn't accept it.
Evan gritted his teeth. He was about to open the community forum and post a complaint, but stopped when his phone suddenly vibrated on the table.
Letting out a long sigh, he shifted his gaze and picked up the phone to see who was calling.
But when he saw the name "Annoying Bitch" displayed on the screen, his expression immediately darkened.
"I thought this person would never contact me again," he muttered coldly before answering the call despite his reluctance.
"[Hello!]" A cheerful woman's voice came from the other end.
Hearing the familiar voice, Evan fell silent for a moment before asking coldly, "Why are you calling me?"
"[Hm, why do you sound so unhappy? Didn't you miss your mother after not seeing her for a year?]"
"..."
Evan remained silent, causing his mother to sigh helplessly.
"[I know you're still angry because I left you back then. I also realize that what I did was wrong. But please, Evan my dear, you're an adult now. You shouldn't—]"
"What do you want?" Evan cut her off coldly before she could finish speaking. He added, "I'll hang up if there's nothing important. I still have something I need to take care of."
"[W-wait! Please don't hang up yet! I have something important to talk to you about. It won't take long, I promise—]"
"Fine. Make it quick."
"[Is this how you talk to your mom?]" Evan's mother sighed before continuing, "[I heard your graduation exam is tomorrow. Have you studied?]"
"Yes. I just finished."
"[Good. I'm sure you'll rank first again, as usual. Ah, by the way, do you have a girlfriend yet? Hehe, don't be shy! Just tell your mom.]"
"I guess this is the real reason she's calling me." Evan closed his eyes for a moment before replying, "It's none of your business."
"[Oh~ Looks like my son is embarrassed because he still doesn't have a girlfriend, even though he's all grown up. How about I introduce you to a beautiful girl? She's your age!]"
"Why are you suddenly talking about that?"
"[Of course it's because I'm worried about your future. What if my handsome son gets tricked by some cunning woman out there? That's why I want to know what kind of girl you like, and if you don't have one, I can help choose a nice girl for you.]"
"Worried?" Evan muttered softly, letting out a faint laugh after hearing what his mother had just said.
How ironic.
Eleven years ago, when his parents divorced, he was left alone at home while they went to different cities to avoid each other leaving him with no one to take care of him.
Evan still clearly remembered the time when he went hungry for three days because there was no food or money at home.
Fortunately, his paternal grandfather came and brought food. From that moment on, Evan lived with and was raised by his grandfather.
However, his grandfather passed away about three years ago. Even then, neither of his parents came to the funeral.
Then, a year later, his mother suddenly reappeared and apologized for leaving him.
She asked him to move with her to another city, saying, "What kind of mother doesn't care about her child?"—which Evan firmly rejected.
How laughable.
After abandoning him and never even trying to see him for eight years, Evan didn't believe for a second that the woman truly cared about him.
Furthermore, Evan realized that she had other motives behind her sudden change in attitude, just like now.
"[Evan, are you still there? Why aren't you saying anything?]"
"That girl... Is she very beautiful?"
"[Of course, she is very beautiful. I'm sure you'll be surprised when you see her. She's very kind, like an angel. Only a girl like her deserves my son.]"
"She's rich, isn't she?"
"[Of course, she is—Ah, I mean—]"
Slam!
Evan immediately hung up and tossed the phone onto the table.
"What a waste of time."
He grabbed the mouse in annoyance and intended to continue what he had planned earlier: posting a complaint.
But before he could…
[Are you dissatisfied with the ending of Theodore La Apocalypse's story?]
[Yes/No]
"Huh? What is this? Didn't I already exit the game?" Evan stared at the suddenly appearing message with a confused expression.
But he still chose "Yes" because he was dissatisfied with the ending.
[Do you want to change Theodore La Apocalypse's fate?]
[Yes/No]
The second prompt appeared.
This time, Evan frowned as he looked at the question. It might have come from the game developers, or someone else with a specific purpose in mind.
"I don't know who sent this, or what they're planning. But if I can change that damn ending..."
Evan moved the cursor to the "Yes" option and clicked.
"There's no harm in trying."
Bzzzt!
Right after Evan clicked the "Yes" option, an electric buzzing sound suddenly rang out, and his computer monitor went black.
"What the—Urgh!"
An intense pain suddenly struck his head.
The world spun violently in his vision, as though space itself were twisting apart.
Then, slowly, everything faded to black.
Just before Evan lost consciousness, he caught a glimpse of the final message that appeared on the monitor.
[New Game Started]
This was the beginning of something that was about to begin.