Getting the Sanjiang recommendation a second time — I'm just as happy as before. After choosing this story and this narrative style at the end of my previous book, I've been nervous the whole time, afraid that readers wouldn't accept it. So I put an enormous amount of effort into the outline design and the overall story architecture. In my mind, I already had a complete story with clear foreshadowing and a well-structured power system. That's why, after the first dozen chapters were met with doubt and criticism, I rarely argued back — the only way to put those doubts to rest is to keep telling the story.
Now, I think it's fair to say that this style has been accepted by most readers, and the story is beginning to deepen. The ups and downs of the plot, characters of all kinds, the satisfying moments, the climaxes — they'll all be unveiled one by one.
Arcane's performance at this stage, compared to Fate-Ending, is so much better thanks to everyone's support. The current bookmark count alone already exceeds what Fate-Ending had at launch. It's been hovering around second and third place on the new book charts, so I really have to thank you all. With you behind me, I've been able to stick to my vision and tell this story to completion. Thank you — thank you to the chief patrons who supported me when the book launched, thank you to the Tieba readers who banded together to send rewards, thank you to Happy Days and Lan Shang Yun, and thank you to every old friend and every new one.
I also want to thank my editor Haixing — she gave me a lot of useful suggestions that helped me refine the outline, and ever since the contract was signed, the weekly recommendations have never missed a single week.
And my thanks to the Sanjiang editors. Personally, when I'm looking for new books to read, Sanjiang is my favorite list to browse. Having passed the review and earned this recommendation makes me very happy.
Now that the thank-yous are out of the way, it's time to ask for votes. Ultimately, whether a book succeeds comes down to subscriptions after it goes behind the paywall — and subscriptions are built on bookmarks. So even though the numbers are better than Fate-Ending's right now, I can't afford to relax or get complacent. If anything, I'm even more nervous, because this genre has an inherent disadvantage. If we can place in the top three on the Sanjiang rankings, the bookmark count will surely far surpass those below us.
So — the Squid is here, humbly asking for everyone's Sanjiang votes! Everyone can cast one. Thank you all in advance!