Chapter 100: Launch Day Remarks

Light Novel Aloud: This chapter does not belong the body content for the novel. I include this as a chapter out of respect for the Author. I would suggest to read through the author's sharing, or skip and proceed to the next chapter.

It’s time to write another launch-day note.

The last time I wrote one was at the end of March last year. The time before that was at the end of January last year.

Come to think of it, nearly two years have passed. Time really does slip away. Before I knew it, I’d somehow gotten this close to turning thirty.

Demons Advent is a genre and style I’ve never attempted before. The stories I wrote in the past were basically all grounded in the real world, whereas Demons Advent takes place in a completely fictional setting.

A new attempt naturally means new risks.

Truthfully, I know perfectly well what I could write to please my longtime readers, and what I could write to more or less guarantee a book’s performance and popularity. But there’s no helping it. Haven’t you noticed that our “Supernatural” category has already been renamed “Suspense”?

Still, there weren’t many external reasons behind my decision to write Demons Advent. It was simply because I personally love this kind of story and the way it unfolds.

I like writing characters. I like fleshing out one character after another, one supporting character after another, until they feel like people of flesh and blood. I think telling a story that way is fascinating.

I want every one of them to have their own distinguishing traits, so that if you pulled any one of them out on their own, they could carry a story that belonged entirely to them.

Actually, that’s also the direction I’ve been exploring and learning toward all along. Longtime readers who have followed my novels from book to book should be able to feel that.

The genre and style of the novel may have changed, but at its core, it still has the same old flavor.

Every day when I sit down to write Demons Advent, I find myself looking forward to it. It makes me happy. It’s that feeling of making myself a cup of Nescafé instant coffee, sitting down in front of the computer with a smile, and putting my fingers on the keyboard.

That image of the Blind Man and A’Ming sitting in a mule cart on a rainy day, heading toward the Hyena Gang’s residence; That image of Shatuo Queshi knocking at the gates of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate, and that old man walking against the tide with spear in hand.

Personally, though, my favorite is still the feeling of the Blind Man and A’Ming sitting in the cart and chatting. One line from him, one line from the other, with the rain falling around them—the atmosphere just feels ridiculously comfortable.

As for the section where the old man took up his spear, I honestly don’t think I wrote it as brilliantly as I could have. That’s one of the limitations imposed by the update schedule of web novels. There simply isn’t enough time to let an idea settle and polish it slowly.

Anyway, I love this feeling. I get high on my own writing, and somehow you guys enjoy it too.

Of course, maybe it’s also because my pretentious literary streak has been getting worse and worse. I’ve become increasingly indulgent when I write—throwing in scenery, slowly carving out minor characters, wandering this way and that—and now I’ve run into a rather awkward problem:

I’ve realized that if a chapter is only 3,000 Chinese characters, by the time I lay the groundwork and build the atmosphere, the chapter is already over.

And the plot has barely moved at all…

That’s why, for most of this month, I’ve been posting chapters of around 5,000 characters each. During the new-book period I’ve been updating roughly 10,000 characters a day. If I were one of those authors who split everything into 2,000-character chapters, I could slap “Mass Release 1, 2, 3, 4, 5” onto the chapter titles every single day.

Yesterday I woke up feeling a little under the weather, so I wrote a 3,000-character chapter just to get something turned in. Then I looked down at the comments and saw every last one of you saying: Too short!

Good grief. I’ve spoiled your appetites rotten, hahaha.

Mm. Just as I said before, once the book goes premium, I’ll do my best to keep every chapter above 5,000 characters.

As for a stockpile of chapters? There really isn’t one. Not a single character.

Just look back at how much I’ve been updating these past few days. Nearly 10,000 characters a day during the new-book period. There’s simply no way to build a stockpile.

The moment I finish writing something, I want to post it for everyone to read. Then I go look at the live comments and have a laugh. There are seriously so many talented comedians in there.

Once I finish this launch-day note, I need to sleep. The two chapters posted this morning were written during an all-nighter. No helping it—my sleep schedule is upside down again.

I’ll set an alarm and probably get up around evening to start writing. Go ahead and laugh, but I still haven’t written tonight’s first VIP chapter.

The book goes premium at midnight tonight. There may be a little delay on the backend, so the first VIP chapter will probably go live at around 12:15 a.m.

On the first day after launch: four chapters, 20,000 characters total.

After that, I’ll do my best to write as much as I can.

Mm.

This is probably the most “peaceful” launch-day note I’ve ever written. It doesn’t have the ridiculously edgy extremism of the launch note for From Hell, nor the angry hunger to prove myself that I had in the launch note for Bookstore.

Time really can carry away a great many things.

Actually, I check the daily tips on the fan rankings every day. There are new readers, of course, but a lot of you are longtime readers. I can still see records of subscriptions to Bookstore and even my older books.

We’ve been together for years now. We’ve raised hell together, and we’ve gone through our edgy phases together.

Feels like it’s about time we all sat down and started steeping goji berries in our thermos flasks.

These days, anyone willing to pay to read books on Qidian obviously knows that a few taps in a browser can find them a pirated copy. All I can say is that everyone is simply willing to pay for a story they genuinely enjoy.

I used to think that writing novels was a lot like being a storyteller in ancient times.

Now I think it’s more like running a restaurant.

Old customers are sentimental. Every so often, they come back for another look. Even after being away from home for years, they remember that old restaurant and make a special trip back to visit.

New customers are always arriving. Some come once and leave without ever looking back. Others return again and again, until slowly, they become old customers too.

Mm.

So, uh…

Old restaurant, new dishes. Officially on sale tonight at 12:15 a.m.

Gentlemen young and old, ladies and madams—

Please come support the place!

(End of Chapter)