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A Living Lie

Rxnq
14
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 14 chs / week.
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Synopsis
Posted on Royal Road under the same name: In a world split between two kingdoms and haunted by demons born from humanity's own failures, sixteen year old Akio Sekishiro wants one thing; to change it. Not for glory. Not for recognition. Just because if no one tries, the world stays broken. So he and his closest friend Kai join the cadets, Aurelia's front line against demons and the rebel forces of Verthasis. It should be the beginning of something good. It isn't that simple. Because Akio's goodness has always been performed rather than felt, his mercy mistaken for instability, his idealism slowly revealed as something built on a foundation he refuses to examine. And as the missions grow harder and the world refuses to cooperate with his beliefs, the gap between the hero he performs and the person he actually is begins to crack open. A Living Lie follows Akio's psychological unraveling and reconstruction: through guilt, self-deception, and the slow realization that the lie he's been living might be the only thing keeping him standing. Alongside him, Kai fights his own quieter battle. And somewhere in the wreckage of everything they cause and everything they lose, both of them are forced to answer the same question. Do you need to deserve life to keep living it?
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Chapter 1 - Prologue - The World Before

A rush of the wind presses against my face, the scent of grass turned sour by the coming rain.

It's wrong.

This world is wrong.

How the kingdoms of Aurelia and Verthasis fight each other with only one reason.

Fear.

Fear was what shattered the crown.

And since long before that.

Demons. Creatures that existed before the concept of time. Feasting on humans, on chaos.

Something needs to change. So why haven't I?

People fight and fight until all that's left is the pool of blood that they shed. It's tiring. Humans are wrong. And that's not good enough.

Being wrong, is not good enough.

Especially not for humans. Most people aren't evil. They are tired. Confused. Afraid. If someone does not reach out to them, they harden. If no one believes they can be better, they stop trying.

If this world is already ruined, then it does not need more blades carving pieces away, it needs someone willing to nurture what little still lives.

I will walk forward.

With the belief that even in a fractured world, something good can still be grown.

My feet find the ground. The grass is wet. Somewhere ahead, Kai is already waiting.

Because right now, we're fighting the wrong people.

Because right now, everything is just a lie.