I'm grateful to every reader who has supported me all this time.
It was time to say goodbye.
When I started writing this book... I was filled with ambition. During the process, I wanted to give up several times. Thankfully, I gritted my teeth and kept going, giving it a proper beginning and ending—at least that much was an answer.
If I wanted to, there was actually still a lot more I could write about in the story ahead...
For example, the protagonist's descendants; after the protagonist's hundred-year lifespan, he could find a way to slip away, enter a sleep pod, wake up in the future, and personally witness the world of several centuries later, when Cloud Sea Group had ventured into the universe.
I could even start an entirely new story—a futuristic high-martial-arts one.
But there was no need.
After thinking it over, I realized I was better suited to writing down-to-earth stories. Creating a sense of realism, then drawing satisfying moments out of that realism—that was what suited me.
Things beyond my understanding, things detached from reality—I just couldn't write them well.
So as I kept writing this book, I was really just falling back into the same old path as my previous one.
My last book came from a sudden burst of inspiration, and everything felt fresh. But with this one, it became repetition. How could repeated things still stir passion or feeling?
So... for my next book... I'll definitely focus on everyday life, digging as deeply as possible into the satisfying moments that are close to real life.
Throwing around billions at every turn, mansions and the like—it all feels rather hollow and fake.
As for when the next book will come... that's undecided.
I'll probably need to take a break for a while.