How Does 'Wellness' Critique Self-Help Culture?

Bima is just an introverted, scrawny kid used to living behind a gaming screen and being a constant target for body shaming. But his life takes a drastic turn when he wakes up in a ruined city crawling with zombies. In the midst of the chaos, something even stranger than the apocalypse emerges: the "Single Survival System," which hits him with absurd missions likes maintaining an ideal BMI, getting revenge on his bullies, and landing his first kiss. Every mission isn't just a ridiculous challenge; it’s a matter of life and death. Forced out of his comfort zone, Bima must face his dark past. He crosses paths with Donny, his former bully who is now a zombie, and Kevin, an ex-gym influencer who has transformed into a fanatical cult leader obsessed with the perfect physique and extreme protein intake. Amidst the chaos, Bima meets Lia, a tough convenience store clerk who harbors a deep-seated trauma toward food. Together, they survive nonsensical threats, ranging from zombie food vloggers obsessed with livestreaming death to grotesque mutants lurking underground. But the madness is only the beginning. Bima’s reckless actions catch the attention of a far more dangerous entity: the Master AI Fitness Freak, an artificial intelligence that views humans as inefficient unless they meet extreme nutritional standards. With the help of Riska, an AI with cold, business-like logic that shares a secret connection to Bima’s past, the battle shifts into a clash of ideologies: perfection versus happiness. In a world that worships muscles, protein, and ruthless efficiency, Bima fights back in an unexpected way, using Indomie as a symbol of balance, hope, and humanity.

Those words defined Claire Reid's entire life—and her death. At twenty-eight, she dies in a hospital bed surrounded by the family she sacrificed everything for: the father who forced her to quit school, the sister who took everything she had, the husband who treated her like an inconvenience, and the mother who demanded endless gratitude for their abuse. As her heart stops, Claire sees their relief and realizes the devastating truth: she wasted her life loving people who never loved her back. Then she wakes up. One year earlier. One month before her family frames her for theft. This time, Claire refuses. Refuses to give money. Refuses to stay silent. Refuses to be grateful for crumbs. Armed with knowledge of their betrayals and a fury born from her wasted first life, she systematically dismantles their manipulations, exposes their schemes, and reclaims her identity. But when she tries to leave her cold, arranged marriage, something unexpected happens.

The novel consists of several mini-stories about therapy sessions at a therapy clinic named "Soulmate", but the letters "m-a-t-e" were broken in a storm. Each mini-story is narrated by both the psychologists and the patients, describe the patients' worldview, why they do what seems "mentally ill" to us. We often say that the patients' head is abnormal, that their way of thinking is so weird. But is there any possibility that it's because they received different (whether right or wrong) information, so they react differently? Is that just because we "normal people" haven't got enough understanding about this world? Throughout the story, we could see that therapy sessions are a two-way arrow. While the experts are affecting the patient, the patient is also influencing them,“When you look deeply into the darkness, the deep darkness is also looking into you". The story does not make any conclusion about who is right or which world is real, maybe all of them are real, maybe they are all virtual, or maybe, it all doesn't matter. Isn't the world where we live? Wherever you live, that's your world.

On our third wedding anniversary, Kent gave me a gift. A black metal wristband. Cold. Sleek. He called it a new product from his company—a pain-sharing system. The other user was Violet. His "girl bro." The person he was closer to than his own sister. Kent brushed a hand over my cheek, his gaze soft. "Clara, you're too coddled. You should learn from Violet. She's tough." Then he snapped the wristband onto my wrist. So while Violet got a full-back tattoo and an entire sleeve, I felt every single needle. When Violet went wingsuit flying, I collapsed at home. Every bone in my body felt shattered. I threw up blood. While she soaked up attention online as the "extreme sports queen," I was drowning in nonstop pain. Kent sat beside me, holding my hand as he cared. "Just hang in there. Violet's just being herself. As my wife, you should be more understanding." To finally push me over the edge, Violet decided to livestream herself jumping into the ocean to make me die in her place. Their friends couldn't wait to watch. Later, I watched calmly from a hospital room as the system slowly drained the life out of her. Kent looked deranged as he demanded to know why I wasn't dead. Because I had already reversed the system. All her vitality had become the nourishment that sustained me.

As the third-generation heir of the Oakenfeld Medical Group, 33-year-old Frost bears the weight of being the Chosen Son. However, having witnessed the cruelty and hypocrisy embedded in family feuds, he finds himself profoundly exhausted by family love and anything that stirs his emotions and prompts love. A solitary panther, he discovers solace and fulfillment in one place alone: the operating table. On the other hand, Bianca, a dedicated yoga instructor, grapples with severe allergies that can lead to fainting spells triggered by the scent of spring flowers or even someone else's cooking. Committed to a life of celibacy, her primary goal is to purchase a house. Bianca harbours a significant secret despite being labelled a "rich client harvester" by her peers due to her hard work in accumulating wealth. Their paths cross dramatically during a commercial shoot that takes a tragic turn, where Bianca sacrifices her life to save Frost. Despite this courageous act, animosity brews between them. Surprisingly, Frost, determined to express his gratitude, decides to buy an entire neighbourhood for Bianca. Rejecting his offer, Bianca is left stunned when she stumbles upon Frost's deepest secret. Unveiling a chilling revelation, the secrets of these two individuals converge toward a distant, mysterious, and sinister direction.

The first sign wasn’t the deaths. It was the air. When twenty-five-year-old ER doctor Naomi Sinclair notices healthy people collapsing for no medical reason, she expects to find a virus, a toxin, or something medicine can explain. Instead, every test points to the impossible. Her patients are breathing. Their blood carries oxygen. Yet their bodies are dying as if they never inhaled a single breath. As panic spreads across New York and all over the world, a powerful company called Aelion introduces a revolutionary device that seems to keep people alive when nothing else can. At the center of it is Aiden Vale, a calm, brilliant executive who always seems to arrive with exactly what the world needs. The more Naomi works beside him, the harder it becomes to ignore the connection growing between them and the questions she can’t stop asking. Then a scientist disappears after revealing a terrifying discovery on live television. Mysterious warnings begin appearing in Naomi’s life. Overnight, the impossible becomes ordinary, and she soon realizes the greatest threat may not be the people who are dying, but the reason they’re dying at all. As the air grows deadlier and the line between salvation and deception begins to blur, Naomi must decide who to trust before every breath becomes a luxury. But when the person holding the answers is also the man she’s falling in love with, how do you save the world without losing your heart… or your very last breath?