In this book's first month after going premium, Xiao Chen fought like mad to burst ahead, finally ending in tenth place in the category rankings. And now, in this book's final month competing for the monthly vote rankings, we've once again reached the fork at tenth place. Forward, and we're only a few dozen votes away; backward, and the ones behind us are only a few dozen votes away too!
The most agonizing thing about fantasy is that there are so many big-name and smaller gods. Every time we fight for the monthly vote rankings, we have to tread on eggshells. Any big-name or smaller god can casually post a single note and effortlessly wipe out the advantage Xiao Chen spent days, even a whole week, building. Every time that happens, it feels like a knife twisting in my heart. All I can tell myself is: foundation. That is their foundation. This book has only just begun to pick up; you can't compare with them when they have so many die-hard loyal readers!
But everyone has a competitive streak. No one wants to stay behind others forever. If you say my writing isn't as good as theirs, fine—I'll make up for it with updates. Since I started writing, I don't dare claim that I write exceptionally well, but I'd say my attitude toward updating has been fairly proper, right?
I've also been a regular on the update rankings!
But even so, I still can't measure up to them. Some people say, what's there to fight over? Isn't tenth the same as eleventh? Can I tell them it isn't? Because this represents dignity. I only want it once—just once—not to be overtaken in the final few days. The effort I put in during the early stretch deserves its rightful reward too,