First of all, I want to thank everyone for their tips and subscriptions since the book went paid. I was planning to post a thank-you note at the end of June, but I thought since Volume 1 was just about to end, I could write it all together, so I waited until today.
When a person reaches their thirties, their energy, especially their brain's energy, really declines a lot. Back during *Arcane Emperor*, at my peak I was writing five chapters a day, fifteen thousand words, it was like I had a shot of adrenaline. But starting from the later part of *A Will Eternal*, I was writing at most three chapters a day, and that was while thinking about the story and writing non-stop except for sleeping and eating. In the end, I started experiencing abnormal mental states like anxiety and depression. Luckily, I adjusted in time. During *Martial Arts Master*, my body kept having problems, and I even spent half a month in the hospital.
So I can only compromise with my physical and mental health. I write one chapter in the morning, one in the afternoon, and rest in the evening to stay healthy. I keep two chapters in the backlog to ensure timely updates and avoid anxiety. I only consider writing three chapters when I'm in a really good state and the flow of ideas is smooth.
Regarding the bonus chapters in June, I can honestly tell you, I owe my life to my backlog… In the entire month, I didn't write three chapters on more than four days. The rest of the time, I relied on the backlog. In the end, the backlog fell to the bedrock of two chapters.
Mmm, I can only say, without much conviction, that I'll win by quality over quantity…
Anyway, speaking of updates, now for the summary of Volume 1. Basically, everything I wanted to express has been expressed. The volume name "Clown" runs through the whole thing. Hehe, you can go back and read my debut note. I said that the various structures of this book were my most carefully considered. The foreshadowing and echoes will come, so wait and see. Mmm, I think it passes the bar.
In Volume 1, I adopted a writing style I hadn't tried before, treating a single volume as a medium-length novella. The foreshadowing, layout, and construction were all designed with this whole in mind. Of course, I definitely kept some overarching foreshadowing for the full book. Overall, judging from the current effect, the experiment was quite successful. Cause for celebration.
As for character development, haha, I won't say much, to avoid getting hate mail…
Of course, there are definitely parts that weren't good or satisfying. First, when the "gatherings", "events", "practice", and "daily life" started to show a fixed, cyclical trend, my feeling for the writing declined. I believe the reading experience did too. So, I tried jumping the timeline. The initial transition after the jump was a bit rough, but it slowly got better. Second, after Old Neil died, the overall tone suddenly exposed its original darkness. When I tried to cut back to daily life, it felt a bit wrong. So I deleted some planned plot points and accelerated the pacing.
I plan for *Lord of the Mysteries* to have six to eight volumes. The volume name of each will be the name of a Sequence potion. It doesn't have to be from Klein's "Seer" pathway. It mainly must fit the theme or metaphor of that volume.
Finally, the end of Volume 1. Following tradition, I must take a break to rest and sort through the outline. Find the entry point for Volume 2 and deliberate on the general plot. Mmm, I'll rest for a day and a half. Updates will resume the day after tomorrow at noon. Also, I will update some materials on "0-08" on my WeChat Official Account later. I'm not putting it in the "related works" section because I'm afraid new readers will see it, which would ruin half the fun of Volume 1. I will soon create a Sealed Artifacts thread in the review section. If you have any ideas about Sealed Artifacts, feel free to post them there. I might use them. Mmm, try not to directly copy from the SCP Foundation.
Oh, right, Volume 2, "Faceless." Please look forward to it.
Also! After my self-praise and self-criticism, shouldn't you all encourage me with your monthly tickets?
(End of chapter)