Hi there everyone! I haven't ever written an introductory section like this one before so here goes nothing...

This story started in late May of 2018. It started off as being written by two people (including me) before it increased to three briefly. Now, the previous co-authors of the story have become my editors/proofreaders instead and I still greatly appreciate their work. If you're looking to join my "Editors' Council", I would be happy to have you on board! 

This story was originally published on Archive of Our Own (AOW) before being moved to Wattpad (where it is still there currently) and finally here. In order to treat my readers fairly on both platforms, I will be putting different extras on both platforms and chapters will, of course, be the same. 

Since uploading on here gives me a new opportunity, I will most likely be editing the chapters that are currently on Wattpad on here to make them better (don't worry, no major plot points will be changed). The changes I make on here will be reflected on Wattpad most likely as soon as I finish this entire story.

Now you're probably going to ask... when are you going to finish this story? And to answer that truthfully, I have no clue! I am currently hoping to end it in June of 2020 but we'll see how the story progresses since I only have a rough outline anyways.

I think I've covered everything that I need to at this point! I hope you're looking forward to reading the first chapter of Exeuntes, coming out on the 1st of April, 2019.   

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Added on 01 July 2020

I've just read the previous version of this introduction and realized I only focused on the background of this story rather than the story itself! So to address some questions and concerns I've received, I've decided to add onto that in this section.

Firstly, a common question I receive is: do I need to have an understanding of Final Fantasy XV and its lore/original story to understand this story? The answer is pretty simple and that is a no. I will always try to explain new concepts and words in the story, either explicitly (I have and plan to add a mini "glossary" section in the "description" section of some chapters) or implicitly (in the text itself). Regarding the story, this book will have a different ending than the original story and has some new characters and characters that are not really present in the original story. However, if you do have an understanding of the video game's lore/its original story, it will help in understanding the story more though quite insignificantly. That is because the main idea/storyline of this book is different and does not follow the same one as the original story. With that being said, don't expect this story to not have any elements from the original story at all—it definitely does!

Another question I receive is: is this story fanfiction? Well, the answer to that is... kind of. Like I said in the previous paragraph, this story has a completely different main idea/storyline and does not try to alter the original's (the main characters of this story are original/made up by me and the Editors' Council and thus different). However, it does have many elements and ideas that are in the original and does include some characters and all the locations and names of the original. But the order and specifics of incidents and events are different which deviates from the normal definition of "fanfic". In short, the answer to this question really depends on your definition of "fanfiction" and what it is to you. Personally, I think it isn't though even some members of my own Editors' Council disagree with me! In the end, I don't really care what you call it, so as long as you enjoy the story!

And finally, a question I've received recently is: has this story changed from what you envisioned in the beginning? And the answer to that is most definitely. The current complete draft of this story ends much earlier than what I expected since we've added a lot of plot points that were not even there when both of us (Muhammad and I) first began writing this. I attribute this partially to the fact that we never had a clear outline and plan going into this but also to the fact that sometimes what we write forces us to go in a different direction than what we originally planned (the characters usually have other ideas). Am I happy with these changes? Well... this is the first story I've actually put a lot of effort into and the first I've published (online). It definitely isn't perfect and I really did want the ending to be what I planned in the beginning. But this story in its entirety is already over 75,000 words so I thought I'd end it before it just keeps rambling on and on... no one wants a story that's just filler, right? The Editors' Council unanimously approved me ending this where it is and we eventually came to an agreement on a new ending. Besides, I plan to continue this story's "universe" and developing it even further... 

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Added on 23 November 2020

This is an old version of the story! I won't be updating this version anymore so check out the edited chapters over on Wattpad (the links are provided at various places around this "series")! I will, however, be migrating the specials over to here and deleting the ones on Wattpad. Future specials and extras will also be Tapas-only exclusives, this goes for anything related to the Exeuntes Extended Universe (EEU)! 

A second story (not necessarily a sequel to this "book") is in the works. Watch this series or the Wattpad version for updates! Thank you for reading!