Future plans

"What do you mean you've read my story?" Leon asked, staring intently at the stranger. Then, crossing his arms and clutching himself as if to shield his body, he added with a face full of fear:

"Wait… Are you a stalker or something?!"

The stranger looked taken aback and quickly replied:

"No, of course not! Hm... How do I even explain this to you?" He paused for a moment, lost in thought, before his face lit up with an idea. Then, he began explaining how he knew about Leon.

"So you're saying I'm a character from a novel?"

"Well, not just a novel. There's also a manga and an anime about you. Although... I haven't watched the anime," the stranger admitted.

Leon staggered back, dropping to one knee, mumbling to himself:

"So my entire life... is just made up?"

He shook his head violently, rejecting the idea.

"No, this is impossible! My life's never been interesting enough for anyone to write about!" Leon exclaimed, glaring at the stranger.

"Huh?" The stranger shrugged. "I'm not talking about your real life. I'm talking about your life in this world. Who'd ever read about your boring real life?"

It was as though Leon had been stabbed by the cold, hard truth. A thin trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

"And what exactly happened in this world? I'm pretty sure I'd just want to keep living my quiet life as an ordinary guy," Leon muttered, clutching his head in frustration.

"Oh, that's not going to happen. You won't have a choice," the stranger said with a sly grin. "And I won't let you stay ordinary either. Do you know why? Because now that we're here, I can finally meet Angelica in real life!" He raised his fist above his head triumphantly.

Leon blinked in confusion before realization hit him.

"Wait, what? Why are you so obsessed with that villainess?!"

Before Leon could finish his thought, the stranger punched him square in the chest. Leon collapsed, gasping for air.

"Argh! You bastard! What the hell was that for?!"

"Oh, sorry. I like her so much I just couldn't help myself," the stranger said, spreading his arms apologetically.

"Cough... Whatever. Just tell me your name!" Leon demanded, slowly rising to one knee.

"W-well… This is going to be hard for you to believe, but my name is also Leon," the stranger admitted sheepishly. "That's actually one of the reasons I started reading the novel—because we share the same name."

"What?!" Leon exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.

"To make things less confusing, let's call you Leon One, and I'll be Leon Two," the stranger clarified.

"Uh... okay, I guess?" Leon One muttered. "So, can you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Leon Two crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

"Hmm... Where should I begin? Okay, I'll keep it short. I don't have a family. I was born in a country called Lapland and died in a war at the age of 20."

"Twenty?! You're younger than me, and yet you're lecturing me?!" Leon One growled, leaning in so close their noses nearly touched.

"Age doesn't matter when it comes to giving advice. Got a problem with that?" Leon Two replied, smirking like a troublemaker, as he bumped his forehead against Leon One's.

The two of them pushed against each other in a brief show of dominance before eventually backing off.

"Fine. Different question: what is Lapland? I'm not great at geography, but I've never heard of it. Must be some tiny country."

"What?! How do you not know about Lapland? Are you some kind of otaku? It's the seventh-largest country in the world!" Leon Two said, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Don't call me an otaku!" Leon One yelled back. "Fine, I'm from Japan. You probably know that already."

"Yeah, I do. But in my world, Japan doesn't exist," Leon Two replied casually.

"What?! Seriously? Then who makes anime and manga in your world?" Leon One asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.

"Who? Oh, the Kamagawa Shogunate," Leon Two answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?! You still have a shogunate?! Never mind. Let's get back on topic. You said you died in a war, right?"

"That's right."

"Then how did it happen? It's not fair that you know how I die, but I don't know about you."

Leon Two hesitated, visibly uncomfortable. But the threatening glare from Leon One convinced him to talk.

"W-well…" he stammered before recounting his death, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"And you have the nerve to criticize my death? Reading a novel on the battlefield, out in the open? Wow," Leon One said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"S-shut up!" Leon Two yelled. "Okay, enough about that. Let's talk about the plan moving forward."

"Plan? What plan?" Leon One asked, intrigued.

"I'll gradually tell you about some events. One of them you might even enjoy. But first, we need to get Luxon," Leon Two began, but Leon One interrupted him.

"Luxon? Listen, I don't want to stand out!"

"Shut up! Don't interrupt me, you bastard!" Leon Two roared, silencing Leon One instantly.

"Ahem. As I was saying, we need Luxon to avoid the worst possible outcome," he continued.

"Worst possible outcome?" Leon One asked, his voice trembling slightly with both curiosity and fear.

"Yeah. If we don't get Luxon soon, we'll end up being forced to marry a 60-year-old, ugly old hag who'll probably try to kill us," Leon Two explained matter-of-factly.

Leon One's face turned pale as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. The horrifying image convinced him instantly, and he nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's settled. Now the question is… what's going on right now? We need to wake up and regain consciousness," Leon Two said.

And at that moment, Leon's body began to regain consciousness.