Chapter 1

The Sprout Land: The Fall of a Kingdom (Quadlan Series)
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She makes the decision when she sees a giant rat swimming close to her head. She has seen it before when she was trying to patch the leak in the level above hers, so they wouldn’t drown in misery. If she was honest, stealing from the rich wasn’t as bad as killing one, so she knows she’ll be fine. If she wants to get out of Level 0—the poorest and lowest part of The Ruins—someday, she will need to do whatever it takes to achieve it. For now, stealing was enough.

 

The water goes above her waist now and she knows she will have to wait a couple of hours before the earth swallows it all, so she starts the ascendance. The worst part of living below the surface in a sewer system-like place wasn’t the climb of over fifteen meters without security equipment or the irritating heat that increased with the depth. It was the feeling of detachment from the world, the feeling of oblivion that came with living in a small space made with rocks mixed with concrete. She often wishes that she could fly.

 

There used to be a long ladder to climb, but The Ruins expanded downwards. Eventually, the ladder was not long enough to cover the whole climbing, and people started to carve holes in the walls to put their feet and hands on, which morphed into different paths to get to the surface. It was the only reason she had to explain her excellent physique.

 

“Do you know what time it is?” Jongdae asks with annoyance flashing in his eyes. “You had to meet me at four, the Festival is about to start!”

 

Seungwan rolls her eyes, throwing her bag on the closest sofa.

 

“The house’s flooded again,” she says, with a tone that lets him know it is part of her daily routine. “Besides, I don’t need a lot of make-up. Give me some decent clothes and I’m good to go.”

 

Jongdae scoffs because there’s no way Seungwan will get out of his house in her wet clothes (by now, they are almost dry) covered in dirt and smelling like three-day garbage on a hot city.

 

“You, my friend, are so funny. You will need a lot of make-up before looking decent enough for the Royals.”

 

She smiles, staying still while Jongdae does his magic. Once he’s done, Seungwan takes a tentative look at the mirror.

 

“Are you sure I won’t stand out?” She asks, pulling down her dress every time it rolls up.

 

“Affirmative. Now, go. And be careful, if you get caught, you’re as good as dead.”

 

Seungwan hums in acknowledgment.

 

“I’ll be fine.” But she doesn’t know who she is trying to convince anymore.


 

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Joohyun knows she shouldn’t, but she would rather escape the festivities. The Fallen Festival isn’t something she’s fond of, but her duties as the princess force her to attend every year. The Festival honors the dead—countless lives lost in a war she can’t remember since she was less than a year old, but there is nothing honorable about it. She sees booze and lots of food. There are fire-starters, psychics, forsawers, laughters, and a whole range of skilled beings with powers going from the silliest one (such as the power of turning the lights on miles away) to the most dangerous ones (those related to the mind).

 

For Joohyun, being surrounded by so many people is not the way she had expected to spend her day.

 

She smiles politely at the Grand Duke of who-knows-where (she knows he’s important because of his family’s emblem—a big, dark crow). Crows were often associated with the power of shadows, so she guesses he is one of those people that can turn into smoke at will.

 

“There he is!” her mother says with a nudge to Joohyun’s ribs, forcing her to smile at the boy. She doesn’t know who he is, but again, she recognizes him by the emblem.

 

“Junmyeon is a psychic,” The Queen whispers, “I bet you would make beautiful psychic babies.”

 

Joohyun rolls her eyes.

 

“I won’t marry him just to preserve some stupid tradition,” she murmurs while Junmyeon approaches them.

 

“Your Majesty,” he says, alternating his gaze between the mother and the daughter, “Your Royal Highness.”

 

“Oh, Junmyeon, you will be part of this family very soon, there’s no need for the titles.”

 

Joohyun chokes, coughing so hard she attracts the assistants’ attention.

 

“I’ll… leave you both to talk,” Joohyun says, gaining a disapproving look from her mother. “I’ll see you later.”

 

She walks past a group of clowns with the power of making people laugh, laughing at a dumb joke they told. She wishes her life would be that easy, making people happy with her powers and being free of all her titles. People expect too much from her and she is tired of pretending to care about power or money.

 

Once inside the palace, she climbs the staircase, getting rid of her shoes along the way. When she gets to the top, she hurries to her room, avoiding any contact so her family won’t get her to come back to the festival.

 

She throws her shoes somewhere inside the room, turning the lights on to change into her pajamas. However, she is startled by an intruder. The girl in front of her notices her too, because she stops what she’s doing, one of the imperial eggs in her hand—a gift from her cousin Minjeong VIII.

 

“Wh—Who are you?” Joohyun panics, her brain is paralyzed and she can’t bring herself to scream for help.

 

“Look,” the intruder starts, but she’s interrupted by a bang that she knows too well. Joohyun recognizes the sound too and she goes into full-mode terrified. They can hear shooting near Joohyun’s room, and the intruder takes that as her cue to leave. She hangs the bag full of jewelry on her back and stands on the ledge of the window as firm as she can, taking the impulse to jump to the ledge below.

 

Joohyun has jumped like that before since her training included escaping from that kind of situation. She could climb to another room and try to wait for the help to come, but she knows better. She will die if she waits, so she takes a leap of faith and follows the intruder who doesn’t seem to know she’s being followed. But, just before jumping, a bullet pierces through her left shoulder, making her fall. Joohyun waits for the impact to kill her.


 

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Sosha-kun
A lot of you must hate me right now, but I felt like it was the right ending for the story. I have more ideas that I may or may not develop in a sequel hehe. Please comment everything you think about this story

Comments

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hiyerimie
28 streak #1
Chapter 14: To be honest, I've read the sequel at a glance and I want to jump straight to the end of the story 😭
hiyerimie
28 streak #2
Chapter 4: I can imagine how poor Seungwan is here 😭
hiyerimie
28 streak #3
Chapter 3: aww soo sweet 🥰
winrina__09 #4
❤️❤️❤️
Baeismine03 #5
Chapter 24: So wendy is death?
reveclean
#6
Chapter 12: idk if I can still finish this 🤧
Adele101 #7
Chapter 24: Wow, i really like the story. Even though some of the chapter still confuse me, but i did enjoy it
Thanks and cant wait for the sequel
Qila98
#8
Chapter 24: Wow cant wait for the sequel
qiugui #9
Chapter 24: finish it in two days, cant wait for the sequel
WluvsBaetokki #10
Chapter 24: Whaaaaat wait... WHAT