I'm absolutely thrilled to share this story with the world! It's been brewing in my mind for a long time before I painstakingly jotted it down. It draws inspiration from many sources, including a story my cousin and I dabbled with back in 2010.

✧ An Asian high school story fused with sci-fi, romance and mystery. Yep, a genre-bending teen fic with crazy science to blow your mind.
Fun. Smart. Quirky. Romantic.

✧ Setting: Glamorous Asian eco-city set in the near future.

✧ Protagonist: Asian gamer girl.
Kawaii, hotheaded, anime-crazed, hetero ace, vegan, darkly inclined and an aspiring astrophysicist.

✧ Slow-burn romance—brace yourself for fluff, kawaii and tsundere.
✧ Rock music and bad boys (not toxic—e.g. Oga, Aomine, Sirius Black).
✧ Heartwarming friendship, family themes and bromance.

✧ A modern fairytale touch: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella.
✧ Dash of fantasy in the form of a video game world (MMORPG).
✧ Greek/Roman myth stuff, symbolism and Easter eggs.

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✧ Strict school system (Chapter 4+) based on real Asian schools.
✧ Shadow education, classroom raids and the ban on romance are real.

✧ Diverse characters.
✧ Asian society, culture and cuisine (many Sri Lankan elements).

✧ Real science and sustainable tech—including quantum physics and a massive 80km particle collider.

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✧ Rated E for Everyone (warning: mild cussing and mentions of drugs).

✧ 4K chapters (I'm sorry about the length—I initially didn't plan it with WP in mind).

✧ First in a trilogy. Sequel in the works.

Wondering why the title is Komoreby? At first glance, it's just the name of the city. It comes from the Japanese word komorebi, meaning sunlight falling through trees. This has layers of meaning in the story, but I'll let you decide that as you read. Check out the comprehensive glossary with science words, story locations and more!

Here's some hyperrealistic visuals of the story's eco-city, generated by Midjourney.

It might interest you to know that Komoreby High in the alternate universe is modeled off of actual schools, including its more draconian rules—some of which have been watered down. The strict parenting employed by Evanna's mom may resonate with some readers who come from more conservative societies. Tuition centers and private tutors (shadow education) are also common in quite a number of Asian countries. Komoreby is a very multicultural place, though it has a large number of Asians!

Evanna, the protagonist, represents people who don't get screen time in mainstream works (same as this school system and society). She's an eccentric blend of "different"—gradually brought out as the story progresses. She's modeled to convey an authentic voice—not simply attach labels for the sake of representation.

I've always been a science geek, so I've done extensive research for the sci-fi and world-building in this book. The sources are diverse—such as free Harvard courses on Edx, World Science Festival, Isaac Arthur's channel, science magazines and more. The story's high energy physics lab is based on CERN, while the particle collider is a bigger version of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). There's been wild speculation that the LHC can produce wormholes through which people can travel. This is currently restricted only to one's imagination.

Finally, I'm an artist and animator with a love for books and various nerdy passions. I live in a small island country in the Indian Ocean. It's the same place Arthur C. Clarke lived (I love his books)! So, yes, the art is done by me. My first language is Sinhalese. Perfecting English throughout the years has paid off, since here I am sharing this story with the world from my little room in Kandy.

This is my novel-writing debut. Komoreby has come a long way since I first uploaded it in January 2021! It has also undergone a lot of edits with feedback from awesome readers, judges and reviewers. Thank you so much for reading!

✧ Genres:
Young Adult · Teen Fiction · Romance · Science Fiction · Mystery · Speculative Fiction · Shoujo · School Story · Greenpunk · Utopia/Dystopia