Chapter 693: Let Me Address the Issue of the Female Lead in This Book Again

Let me address the issue of the female lead in this novel again

To be honest, waking up in the morning to find everyone discussing this is a bit hard to maintain composure...

Actually, this problem stems from my lack of planning and indecisiveness while writing this book—and it’s a major one.

Since I mentioned this earlier in a standalone chapter, I’ll elaborate on it in detail again.

This book originally had no female lead; many long-time readers know this.

I’ve always believed that plot quality and reader enjoyment are the priorities, so you’ve seen Su Lin interacting frequently with female characters, but substantive progress has been very slow.

The reason I added a female lead is quite clichéd: because subscriptions suddenly surged past ten thousand, and I personally didn’t object.

Why choose Eirena first? Because she was the first to join the group, and there’s also the added weight of the movie-plot storyline.

As for romantic-related chapters, I believe their proportion has always been minimal, kept as concise as possible without affecting the plot.

Now, to the main point.

When writing the Dragon Clan arc, I recall a reader asked in the comments whether this book had a female lead; I replied, “No female lead or a single female lead,” and keeping that promise is one reason.

Honestly, by chapter six hundred, I considered letting the protagonist have a harem—but then I thought of Su Lin’s personality and design, and the personalities of the other female characters, and realized it wouldn’t fit. (That line about the Wise Dao was rooted in the ancient worldview of the Dao Deception world.)

Moreover, there are readers whose taste naturally leans toward no female lead or a single female lead. (Though there also seem to be quite a few who prefer multiple female leads...)

Calling this volume a “cut” isn’t quite accurate; even if we settle on a single female lead, it’s impossible for the other characters to become “completely estranged” or “total strangers”—that would feel odd. So I need to clarify the current messy, unclear, and ambiguous romantic threads and provide as reasonable an explanation as possible.

Some readers asked why I don’t post a standalone chapter with a survey to see which reader group is larger and write according to preference...

Indeed, I didn’t consider this enough.

But in the end, the story must still prioritize plot and the narratives of the group members—it’s not a romance novel.

To be frank, before this book ends, my own selfish hope is that the female lead will be Eirena, while Hikari and Starbao will continue their previous high-intensity interactions as before, but characters like Shuangdian, Cousin, and Fala (who enter *ST) will...

Feel free to voice your opinions...

In the end, let’s still look at the reader preference survey.

1. No female lead

2. Single female lead

3. Three female leads