In a small, cluttered apartment, a teenager was eating at a table.
"Sip."
He was a young man with dark hair and dark eyes, thin and slight in build, with sunken cheeks and pale skin, eating an appetite suppressant soup.
"I wish I had something better."
This soup was all he'd eaten after being abandoned by his mother at the age of five.
Despite its appearance and taste, it was what had kept him alive all these years.
Barely...
He looked away from the right side of the soup to see his phone, which was on the webpage of a novel he was reading.
The Hero's Rise...
It was a story about a character who defied the odds to emerge stronger in the end, and he was waiting for the final chapter.
"Ding."
A notification came up for the chapter.
"Finally."
Just as he was about to grab his phone, he burst into a cough.
"Cough, cough."
He fell to the floor, feeling his heart pound to almost explosion as he clutched his chest.
'Is this the end of me?'
He thought as his vision began to fade.
'At least I won't suffer anymore.'