Chapter 39: Author

Uh, I’ve written this many times before; let’s chat as usual.

This time, it’s fantasy—fantasy I haven’t touched in a long time.

It’s always been my strongest genre, but honestly, it’s always been a niche, obscure category with high input and low output for a very long time.

Do people not like fantasy? Sometimes I ask myself that.

But honestly, I really love this genre, and I still really want to write it, so I’ll be selfish one more time—and here’s this book.

Actually, the concept for this book came very early; I had a rough outline back in early last year, but I couldn’t start writing for a long time.

Some readers have noticed that this world’s setting resembles a side world from the later part of my last book. It’s not that this book copied the previous one; when I wrote the last book last year, I thought, “Since this design won’t be used anytime soon, I’ll just save it for this book.”

You don’t need to read the previous book—those parts were written very shallowly.

Of course, you can’t directly compare the settings; the original design has been rewritten many times and is now unrecognizable. The only remaining reference might be a few race names.

Don’t worry the story will collapse later. Those familiar with me know I always finish the entire world design and main plot before starting to write. I usually have several openings for the same world and pick just one to begin. This fantasy’s layered world is truly enough to sustain writing for a very, very long time.

Li Ensu’s story has already been going on for a long time—it could stretch very far (laugh).

Many of these settings have piled up over time, and the desire to share them has kept accumulating.

Eventually, I started writing. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I hope for a good one.

I’ve drifted too far—let’s just talk about this book.

Someone mentioned this book’s cheat system resembles “Secrecy,” but once you read it, you’ll realize the essence is completely different. Mine is more like a study group that pulls people together, or a chat group for teaming up to fight bosses.

Designing this cheat system came from some of my own thoughts—when I heard a certain author say, “The best cheat system is one that drives human relationships,” it sparked an idea. Maybe this was the very thing that kept me stuck from writing.

This was meant to solve my biggest problem with Western fantasy in the past—the extremely slow pacing.

Setup, leveling up, meeting people, building connections, uncovering conspiracies, hunting bosses, final battles—sometimes only two climaxes in hundreds of thousands of words, while other genres have already slapped faces N times and changed scenes several times.

I read fantasy books the same way. Even when they’re well-written, I find myself putting them down without realizing it, and when I pick them up again, I’ve forgotten so much.

My attempt this time is to use this hall to accelerate character connections, get them into the story quickly, establish bonds, and push the plot forward, trying to shorten the intervals between climaxes. To put it bluntly, without this design, the plot might already have reached this point after 400,000 words.

But in practice, new problems emerged: too-fast scene transitions, too many side characters and their plots, overly rapid immersion with insufficient character setup, and confused perspectives.

Heh, after all, there’s no perfect book—choosing one means losing another.

I don’t know if this is a gain or a loss, but at least it’s a theoretically testable attempt.

When I wrote “The Mad Lich,” I added lighthearted elements and used first-person narration to help readers understand the protagonist’s thoughts and actions, trying to lower the reading barrier—but apparently, it raised the barrier instead, limited the story’s scope, and made it very picky about readers.

An author’s choices, especially those against the market, often bring mixed results; only the outcome can judge right or wrong.

As a writer, I can only try my best to give readers a better experience. I dare not say this book is definitely right.

But at least, it’s my full effort, every last bit of brainpower expended.

Sincerity is probably the only thing an author can truly offer.

At least, it’s different from most books on the market, right?

I haven’t written so seriously in a long time—I hope you like it, hope you enjoy this Western fantasy continent and its many races.

I’ll work hard to write better books, exhausting every thought, giving everything I’ve got.

I’ve rambled a lot, but finally, thank you all for your continued support. Please support the subscription and new book monthly votes—I really don’t want this to be my last fantasy.

It goes live at 12 today—three chapters first, more during the day, with a 15,000-word minimum for launch day.

You can wait until daytime to read—it’s fine. Don’t stay up late.

Uh, one last time—please support the new book monthly votes and subscription. I really need more exposure.

Thank you all for your unwavering support.

Shi Zi Jing & Song Shu

2025.3.31

(End of chapter)