445: This is a separate chapter, not a commentary by a castrated eunuch.

This chapter is intended as a heart-to-heart to share some of my thoughts.

First, I would like to apologize to both those who have dropped this book and those who are still following it.

Due to my lack of ability, the later parts of this book have fallen apart—my apologies once again to all the readers.

In my simple view of things, the author is a seller and the readers are the buyers. Since the content has declined in quality, it no longer matches the original price.

Regrettably, I do not have the authority to lower the price.

I should mention that the anti-piracy chapters I posted multiple times weren't actually meant to improve my stats—I've already given up all expectations for its performance, and my goal has shifted to honing my writing skills.

My intention was to make readers dissatisfied so they would drop the book—to put it bluntly, my writing is terrible, so don't waste your money.

So, why do I still insist on updating despite such poor performance?

For no other reason than to challenge myself.

By the time this book reached 600,000 words, my understanding of how to tell a good story had advanced by several levels.

However, progress in writing is not achieved overnight. Realization only clears the mist from the path; to improve one's skills, one must keep moving forward.

Fortunately, through more than half a year of study and practice, my writing skills have seen tangible growth.

As for my prose—I feel it has improved after reaching a million words. I don't know how you all feel about it, but that's secondary; I'm just mentioning it as part of this heart-to-heart.

Storytelling—I have truly gained an epiphany on how to tell a good story.

The latter is the most precious thing I've gained through writing this book.

With that, let's move the discussion to the main story.

I'm sure you noticed that the recent real-world plotline ended rather abruptly. The root cause is that I feel I've mostly addressed the weaknesses I identified in myself—though I'll surely find more in the future, that's a conversation for another time.

My current writing ability has reached a plateau here, and I need to explore higher levels, identify new problems, and solve them to improve further.

Therefore, I plan to accelerate the pace of this book. While the story might be lacking, I aim to see it through to the end and finish it in the near future.

The Elf Clan storyline was something I planned right at the start, intending to begin it at the 600,000-word mark.

However, because my goals shifted, the start of that storyline was delayed indefinitely until recently.

As mentioned before, I have addressed the shortcomings I discovered while writing this book, and it is time to climb toward higher peaks.

I still care about the Elf Clan storyline, so I've decided to complete it before rapidly advancing the overall plot to a smooth conclusion.

The new book likely won't be published under this author account, though the opposite is also possible.

And with that, I have shared all the thoughts on my mind.

Finally, I'd like to send you all some belated New Year wishes—I thought about posting a greeting during the Spring Festival, but the writing was so poor I felt too ashamed to do so.

Lastly, I want to thank the readers who have stuck with me until now—I've become familiar with a few of you who come to cast your Recommendation Votes every day, and I am deeply grateful.