HERO'S QUEST: WORLD'S END. That was the novel I'd read, recommended after I finished my favorite book. I'll be honest—it grabbed me from the start, even though it had the worst rating I'd ever seen. 2.1 stars.
People absolutely trashed it. Even though it was free, the comments made it sound like the author personally owed them money for wasting their time. But I kept reading anyway.
It started cliché enough: commoner and his childhood friend get into an academy. But then it took darker, more twisted turns than anything I'd seen before. Allies became enemies in shocking ways. The most gut-wrenching moment was when the protagonist had to kill his own childhood friend to stop her from doing something catastrophic.
Maybe that's why the rating was so low. People couldn't handle the unexpected twists. Or maybe they were frustrated that many characters who switched sides had originally been heroines. The novel's world had more villains and villainesses than heroes and heroines.
That was just volume one. Volume two, after the tournament and the first major attack, got even darker.
According to the author, Hero's Quest was set in a small world. More accurately, only a small part of the world was still livable. After the last battle between gods and demons, most of the world was destroyed. Everything else was annihilated, leaving just one small continent.
This fragile land housed various races, but it wasn't safe. Mana in the outer areas became so unstable that staying too long led to mana pool combustion—your mana core overloads, unfiltered mana clogs up the system, and if you try to circulate mana in that state... well, you explode. Messily.
Worse, the corruption was spreading. The habitable region was shrinking, destined to become unlivable.
That's why all the races were at war. Everyone wanted to reach the "safer part" before it became corrupted too.
Humans had two empires—though "empires" was generous. More like kingdoms with scattered territories in the continent's center.
Around them were three other races:
The Vampires, growing more desperate as corruption closed in The Gyrods, volatile and dangerous creatures equally desperate to escape The Elves, who lived on the outskirts closest to the corruption
No one knew what the elves were up to. In the novel, they were barely mentioned. Their borders stayed sealed, refusing to interact with anyone.
But I knew their secret. I'd read enough to know exactly what those bastards were hiding.
It was what I'd planned to use to escape this dying world when I found Renay. At least, that was the plan. But now... I don't know what to believe anymore. My head's a mess.
I slipped on the uniform, not knowing what to do anymore. I don't see a reason to stay here. This world is doomed. Maybe I should just... leave.
That's what the elves were hiding. They weren't in this world anymore. There was a way out—a way to leave this world entirely.
And it was hidden in the elven empire.