Final Thoughts
Yes, the story ends here.
I have to apologize to everyone; I am truly, truly sorry.
I originally expected a million words, but it wrapped up at over three hundred thousand, which I hadn’t anticipated at first.
However, in my view, although the ending feels rushed, it isn’t an unreasonable abrupt ending at least—it gives everyone a happy resolution.
Now, let’s talk about the current situation of this book.
First, the results: this book has been released for a month, and so far it has gained fifty thousand bookmarks, four hundred fifty thousand fan points, and twenty-three thousand subscriptions, with about nine thousand readers expected when it concludes.
That’s a decent outcome, and it’s thanks to everyone’s support, so I want to express my gratitude and remorse once again.
When my friends heard I was concluding, they were all very shocked, even a good brother I’ve known for a long time jokingly said he would like to beat me up.
In fact, they’re right.
If I continued writing for the purpose of making money and reached a million words, regardless of how the follow-up plot turns out, I could at least earn another hundred thousand.
And based on my previous outline and stored plot, hitting a million words wasn’t particularly difficult; many of the foreshadowed plotlines I buried in the early stages haven’t been utilized yet.
For example, Xivista’s identity as a princess could lead to a major storyline involving a power struggle for the throne, which could relate to Selly’s fiancé, the fifth prince.
Another example is the God Creation faction of the Twilight of the Gods, which would involve a huge conspiracy where they plot to sacrifice countless poor lives from the lower city to summon an Evil God, and then kill the Evil God to obtain divine status—the climax of the story would have Shaya arriving just in time amidst everyone’s despair to block a deadly blow to the whole city.
And then there is Aileen, the little girl from the Church of Abundance. In my original plan, she was supposed to die because the Mysterious Man in Black Robe who conspired with Count Violet is none other than Archbishop Dana of the Church of Abundance.
There are so many plotlines I could write.
But I really don’t want to continue writing.
It’s not a sudden decision; it’s been premeditated.
Friends who have been following the story should have noticed that after the chapters involving Naya’s diary, my plot has been accelerating.
I’ll give a few straightforward examples.
The climax of the story between Novella and me was supposed to happen around three hundred thousand words, but I wrote it out at two hundred thousand.
Originally, a minor position of low-ranking constable was meant to expand plot depth and accompany Selly in handling a few events while fleshing out her character, but I didn’t write that either.
On the other hand, it’s only three hundred thousand words, but the male lead has already encountered four or five deities.
Of course, the most obvious and serious issue is that the romantic arc with Witch Miss has been pushed too quickly.
In my initial vision, the witch’s storyline was meant to resemble the Tarot association from the “Master of Secrets,” convening regularly as a form of a plot device.
It was supposed to run through the entire text slowly, but once the pace is too fast, the rhythm of the whole book gets disrupted.
For instance, even if only four or five Tarot meetings have been held, Klein suddenly comprehends how to master the source fortress and instantly turns into a celestial sage, awakening his blind powers.
This is clearly unreasonable.
So, when the Witch’s storyline advanced too quickly, such an ending became inevitable.
As for why I accelerated, there are many reasons.
Apart from the initial ranking surge, where the negative reviews in the comment section and discussions made me doubt myself, leading me to reconsider and remove the sister storyline, the most important point is that I made a mistake.
From the ongoing reader observations, it’s clear that readers prefer the plot involving the Witch, which shows that I crafted the Witch Miss character well, while it also indicates the weak characterization in the real-world roles.
In the chapters before publication, it was clearly an excellent opportunity to build characters, but I got carried away and wrote that lengthy duel scene, which many found quite awkward, and ended up writing thirty thousand words on it.
This resulted in readers not wanting to continue with the real-world plot after reaching the paid chapters.
However, to write longer, the real-world plot is essential, which put me in a dilemma.
Then, I decided to remove Naya’s storyline. This should be noticeable, as I dare not even mention many clues I set up previously.
This created a chain reaction.
Because Naya’s storyline is closely related to the Twilight of the Gods line, without it, many plot points simply cannot unfold.
Sigh, no matter how much I explain, it’s ultimately the author’s issue.
Lack of skill led to the current state of the book.
Although it may still be somewhat readable for you, as the author, I feel very dissatisfied—there’s no passion, it feels like a failure.
Thus, concluding this book is perhaps the best choice.
If I were to continue writing for money, there would likely be a higher chance of it being abandoned.
At least I’ve stayed up all night to write this ending, and personally, I feel there are some redeeming qualities.
For example, the protagonist’s line “You save the world, I save you,” was something I felt quite excited about while listening to music as I wrote it.
In the end, I let Shaya have a dramatic moment.
I haven’t dared to check the backend these past couple of days, as the book has been under fire since it hit the charts. If you want to see subsequent side stories, please leave a comment saying “gkd” in this layer of discussions. If enough people are interested, I will definitely write it.
This summarizes the overall situation of this book.
As for the new book, I already have ideas—it’s still in a Western fantasy setting and should come out around April. I will still use this account for release and won’t change accounts, so everyone can rest assured; after making mistakes, I’ll face the consequences.
Humbly, I bow to all the readers who have read to the conclusion.
That’s all.
