397 – Post-Completion Thoughts

Hello my friends. Do you perhaps recall my declaration from the very early days of this serialisation?

If perchance you don’t remember, allow me to refresh your memory. Worry not.

It was this, this right here.

I said I would write an acceptance speech worthy of an Academy Award, and I wasn’t joking.

I have been so taciturn, so sparing with my words, all this time. It’s just, I worried that the author revealing himself might, just maybe, disrupt your reading experience, my friends. So I thought it best to simply button my lip. And so, I’ve been quiet-ly and carefully curtailing my words.

But today shall be the day I unleash the gossipmonger within that I’ve been holding back. So, you, turn back now. Perhaps the intellectual and profound image you held of me, 1_394, might crumble to dust! Ah, how I’ve kept it hidden… I cautiously confess to you now: I have a bit of a chatterbox streak.

So, then, everyone. I don’t quite know where to begin or how to say this, but before I start babbling based on what comes to mind…!

You see, with TRPGs, it’s common to have a wrap-up session after a campaign is finished. We talk about things like: “Was it always like this?”, “How did this happen?”, “Are there hidden settings?”, “That scene was awesome,” and so on, hashing things out.

I didn’t write this story alone, I wrote it with all of you. No, seriously, it’s not just lip service. Listen to me. Whether it was borrowing something that looked interesting from the comments, or taking lines for dialogue, or even if it wasn’t that… every single comment you left became fuel for me, you know? I was at the wheel, and you guys were filling up the tank, so it’s right to say we did this together. My precious friends and players.

So, shouldn’t we have a wrap-up session together too? Come, come. If you have some time to spare, sit with me by the bonfire, and let’s chat a little.

Of course, well… it’s not *that* grand. I just have a few things I want to say.

First, a word of thanks, in order of acts. Please, my friends, be seated and receive it with as much haughtiness as you can muster.

—

▲ A toast to your eyes. Since alcohol is out of the question, let me offer my gratitude with plain water.

Thank you to everyone who has accompanied me to this point. I send you my truly boundless gratitude.

I am thankful for the friends who read to the end, but I’d like to give a *little* more gratitude to those who left comments.

I didn’t know this before I started writing. The number of visitors is recorded in the views, but I didn’t know *why* comments were such a source of strength. I just thought, if there are people watching, I can just write. That’s what I thought, but after experiencing it firsthand, I realised. Your texts became a direct source of motivation. Thanks to that, I had a lot of fun playing around.

Among them, those who always catch my typos (thanks to you, I can now correctly use ‘deonga’ and ‘deonga’ with 95% accuracy), those who provide interesting analyses of the story, those who leave cheerful words of encouragement… I won’t mention specific nicknames, because, you know, sometimes gratitude can be burdensome.

Like the feeling when you walk into a clothing store and the clerk follows you around saying, “Can I help you find something?”

If an author makes a fuss like this and gives targeted gratitude, it can feel burdensome, like you have to follow their next work too… I’m worried you might feel that way, so I’ll just write it in a general way. So, please, just accept my gratitude. Isn’t a relationship where we meet without obligation a healthy and fun relationship?

So, if you think it might be you, just casually accept the gratitude. It’s probably right.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sponsored me. Originally, I was supposed to update and write everything in the thank-you notice over there, but, well, my past self was too greedy. I used to write about 4 lines, but now, if I just went to one line, it wouldn’t feel like enough so I had to include everyone and… the amount had piled up too much!

So, if I spent time writing a thank-you note for the sponsors, I could have written ten more chapters. If I tried to do all of that, my wrist would explode first, so I focused on serialisation. I’m sorry…!

Thanks to you, I’ve completed something for the first time in my life. Originally, my cycle was just scribbling about two chapters on a computer word document and then dropping it. It was my lifelong wish to complete something, anything, and thanks to you, I’ve achieved that wish. It’s a precious thing to receive this much attention for my first novel, but more than anything, it’s this… I think gaining a sense of how to serialise is an invaluable asset. Now I feel like I can run to the end with anything I write.

I am── invincible!

Within my files, there are perhaps three rather intriguing ideas awaiting serialization. Of course, that is merely a personal assessment, so please, do not set your expectations too high…

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▲ The Gatekeeper Against Spoilers, A Hyperrealistic Oil Painting Digital Copy of the Terrifying Mimadeus

Just in case, in the off chance a spoiler might erupt, I’ve placed a gatekeeper. That’s also why I deliberately made this the post-finale entry. There are often those who seek out only the author’s notes (such as 1_394), so to those who have not yet finished the story, those who have not yet abandoned it, I caution you not to proceed beyond this point.

Truthfully, there’s nothing much to say. Are you prepared?

Then.

Irid, I love you!

This fellow carried it all. Who knew that a character simply sketched out would become such a founding father? A gracious chap who laid the solid groundwork for the work. I still recall when I penned his episodes, as if possessed, I typed away in a daze, *shashashak*. And ever since, whenever there was an impasse, he’d break through it. A dutiful son, a dutiful son indeed.

I felt I had to give him a happy ending, even if the heavens crumbled. And so it was done. Now, my debt to this friend is settled…

Conversely, where there is a pretty finger, there is also a sore one. Yes. I won’t speak it, but, yes?

Hmm.

Humans occasionally break down. I felt that deeply. If I hadn’t had people helping me from the side, I would have exploded dozens of times over. Just, just, when something went awry somewhere, I’d wrack my brain trying to fix it. Discovering belatedly bombs that my past self had planted, I’d become engrossed in disarming them. And then at times, I’d feel, I want to redo this. But I didn’t amend it. I knew there was a trap there.

The swamp of endless revisions, that is. Unable to move forward, continually caught in the vortex of revisions and redrafts, eventually leading to the suspension of the project, a truly insidious trap. So, feeling ashamed, I just kept writing.

I know that such text isn’t really suitable content for a post-finale note. Because there will surely be those who found enjoyment in the part I considered lacking, and to them, it would feel like the chef overturning the table while they’re enjoying their meal, exclaiming, “This isn’t it!” But, why did I go out of my way to write such words?

I believe there are those who are experiencing similar difficulties and concerns as I am. The footprints of the past, seeming so painfully vivid. To such individuals, I wanted to say: Don’t be afraid. Just push forward with momentum. Because, we are assuredly granted a “Next”.

I believe this is not just a story about novels. Any wavering, failure, frustration, a touch of melancholy. These are just momentary emotions, and what we must see is beyond them. So, I dare to say it’s okay. My dear friends.

I deeply pray that your hearts are always held high, and that your gazes are forever directed towards that shining sun.

—

In closing.

The total word count is currently exceeding two thousand nine hundred words. If it surpasses three thousand, I’ll become an unconscionable scoundrel receiving settlement money for a finale epilogue, so I shall cease here.

Thank you, my friends. For allowing me to write.

I will take your hearts and fill mine to the brim. I won’t return them even if you ask.

And on some fine day, I will greet you again with a new story.

Then, twinkling like the stars.

From 1_394.