Words Upon Release

Years from now, when I look back, I will still remember that day—January 29, 2020.

Because of the pandemic, I stood on the rooftop, feeling the cold wind brush against my face.

Out of sheer boredom, I opened my writer’s assistant and reread the words I had once written.

As I read, a smile escaped me. I thought, this actually looks quite good—so why did it flop so badly?

Then I turned and went downstairs to write the opening four thousand words of this book, uploading them in the dead of night.

I knew that no matter how long I stayed away from the online literature circle, I would always come back.

That proud young man within me had never truly died.

From the moment this book was published, its performance exceeded all my expectations: a bare minimum of 300 subscriptions, then the first trial on PC’s featured list brought 700 subscriptions; advancing to the strong recommendation segment with 2,800 subscriptions; moving up six frequencies with 2,400 subscriptions; then the channel segment with 3,000 subscriptions.

Finally, the Sanjiang segment brought in 12,000 subscriptions, leading smoothly to this week’s new book strong recommendation debut. Now, the backend shows 28,867 subscriptions.

Forgive me for remembering every number so clearly, but this truly is my best achievement. For the first time, I felt that writing novels could bring such joy and pride.

So I sincerely thank every reader who has made it this far. It is your support that has brought me to where I am today.

I also thank my editors, Qiu Ju and Zhen Ju, who arranged everything from the trial phase to the strong recommendation stage, especially for Sanjiang—I never imagined that when I reached 8,000 subscriptions, I would secure a position there.

Ah, returning to reality, let’s talk about subscriptions.

There’s really nothing much to say—it’s just like what Old Eagle said: legitimate readers are like those who fund the building of the road. Once the road is built, everyone else can freely walk on it.

I’ve also walked for free before; I have no right to look down on others.

I only hope everyone cherishes those who pave this road—it is they who ensure this novel can keep moving forward after publication. After all, the road is not yet complete.

Moreover, subscribing readers are the clients, the “bosses.” I read and remember every comment carefully.

At some key points, such as questions about the heroine, since this book belongs to the readers, and I am merely the one typing it out without a deep understanding of novels, the decisions will be made by vote at the end of the chapter.

Regarding updates, I initially planned to update ten chapters at a time, but since everyone complained that each chapter was too short, I changed it to guarantee 20,000 words on the first day, then 10,000 words at midnight tonight, and another 10,000 tomorrow.

For the rest of the month, I’ll guarantee 7,000 to 9,000 words daily, leaving some room for extra updates. Tips also lead to extra chapters, but for Apple users, there’s no need to tip—I only get 30% of it, so it’s not worth it. It would be better for readers to spend their money on skins and look cool while climbing ranks.

Time is limited, so after the praise, I’ll quickly move to the part where I share my hardships.

On March 20th at 2 p.m., the moment I received the Sanjiang recommendation for the segment, I knew my book would launch on April 1st.

For the past half month, I have read numerous launch reflections from authors, trying to gather some reference material.

But looking back, I still had that greasy chicken wing for lunch, and I wasn’t left hungry.

The down comforter I slept under at night kept me warm—I never froze.

Compared to many, I really wasn’t suffering much.

The only thing that left a deep impression during those two months of writing was one particular incident.

That day, my girlfriend’s tonsils were inflamed. After taking anti-inflammatory medicine for a while with no improvement, she finally timidly told me she wanted to go for an IV drip that night.

As everyone knows, the pandemic was still raging, and for tonsil-related IV drips, only designated hospitals treating fever patients were accepting them.

Since everyone was avoiding going out, let alone visiting specialized hospitals, I knew she must have been in unbearable pain to ask.

Without much thought, I closed my laptop and picked up her medical record, preparing to go out with her.

Because of some discarded drafts due to plot changes, I was basically writing and publishing daily. I thought the second chapter would have to wait until tomorrow.

To my surprise, she held onto my sleeve and asked me to bring my laptop as well—she said today’s 4,000 words still hadn’t been updated.

So that night, the two of us sat in the hospital’s infusion area past ten p.m. She was hooked up to an amoxicillin IV drip, leaning against my shoulder until after two a.m.

The entire infusion area was empty, with few patients; only the sound of my keyboard echoed continuously.

Now, I can no longer recall which chapter I was writing then.

But I know this—if I don’t write this book well, I will truly be letting everyone down.

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Now, the book recommendation segment:

I haven’t done much self-promotion since I started writing, perhaps because I’m also rather hopeless socially.

But now that the book is published, I have to make a sacrifice for it.

Today’s recommendation is a book called "Unmatched Begins with Suppressing Mountain Bandits," a Three Kingdoms-themed game novel.

The editor for that book even sent me a snippet: “Why did Cao Cao wake up in the middle of the night? Why are Zhang Jiao’s talismans frequently stolen? What kind of relationship do Dong Zhuo and Li Ru actually share...?”

Ah, forget it, I’ll handle the introduction myself.

This bandit-themed book missed the trial phase but managed to appear on the homepage’s recommendation and now is available for free reading.

I guarantee one thing—this book is definitely assured to be completed.

And here, I’ll set a flag: from now on, whenever I recommend a book, I will add extra updates as well.