On Second Thought, a Formal Leave Request Would Be More Appropriate

Please allow me to take a leave of absence.

Tomorrow is the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival. According to the customs of my hometown, one must visit the grave on the first Ghost Festival after a relative's passing, and then spend a night at the old family home.

As I mentioned before, my grandfather passed away last year, right during the period when I was conceiving this book—the long string of artsy, protagonist-torturing chapters in Volume Two came from that.

Tomorrow, I have to leave early for my hometown, so there will only be one update today. Then I will be taking leave tomorrow. I hope everyone can forgive me.