Phew, Part Six is finally done. It turned out to be longer than I expected — Part Six covers from Chapter 481 to Chapter 642, a total of 162 chapters. It's also the longest part so far.
Let me review the key events of Part Six. First, the Symphony Academy and the Orchestra Exchange competition; then the Royal Capital Conference and the establishment of the International Federation; next came the Grand Concert and the World Tournament arc; and finally, the Godfall Continent invasion and the resolution of the Abyssal Crisis. That's roughly the outline of the entire part.
To be honest, this part pushed me harder than any before. The scope kept expanding — from a single academy to an entire world stage, and then beyond that to the Abyssal Realm itself. Every time I thought I had a firm grip on the direction, something new would demand attention. The politics of the International Federation alone took far more planning than I originally anticipated, and the Abyssal invasion arc required me to juggle dozens of character threads simultaneously.
I want to give special thanks to everyone who stuck with me through this part. The readership has been incredibly supportive, and your comments and suggestions have helped me catch inconsistencies and refine plot points along the way. This novel is now well past two million words, and I couldn't have reached this point without all of you.
Now, here's the announcement: I'm taking one day off. Just one. After 162 consecutive chapters of Part Six, I need a single day to clear my head, review my notes for Part Seven, and make sure I have a solid roadmap going forward. Part Seven is going to shift the story in some significant ways, and I want to make sure I get the foundation right.
I won't leave you empty-handed, though — the chapter for today has already been updated. Consider it my way of softening the blow of a missing update tomorrow.
Part Seven will begin the day after tomorrow. Without giving too much away, I'll say this: the story is about to enter its most ambitious phase yet. The stage will expand once again, new allies and enemies will emerge, and some of the mysteries that have been building since the very first chapter will finally start to unravel. I've been planning this arc for a long time, and I'm genuinely excited to start writing it.
One small note — as I mentioned in earlier author's notes, I had a few inconsistencies in Part Six due to the pace of writing. I've gone back and fixed what I could find, and I'll continue to review and clean up as we move forward. If you spot any lingering issues, please don't hesitate to point them out.
Thank you all, truly. See you in Part Seven. rs
— Cuttlefish, signing off~