This was my second time writing an afterword.
Those of you who followed my first book probably know that when it went on sale, I was stuck at home because of the pandemic—and I'd lost my job.
My first book had done so poorly that I'd been planning to give up writing novels.
But then my new editor, Peng Lai, suddenly asked whether I planned to start a new book.
Honestly, I was surprised. My first book had done so badly, yet an editor still remembered me. I was really touched.
So I decided to give myself another chance and write one more book.
Then this book did far better than I'd expected, giving me a foundation to make a living as a writer. I'm truly glad I didn't give up back then.
Back to the point: I'm not satisfied with this book. It has too many flaws and shortcomings.
First, there was the outline. I rushed into starting the book without preparing one, which led to several revisions midway through. Many of you probably felt the plot suddenly sped up during the Tokyo Incident arc. That was because the outline changed, and I cut a lot of scenes.
The changes to the outline hurt the plot's continuity and pacing. That was the main reason the book started falling apart in the latter half and then ended so hastily.
Next, the characters. There were too many female characters.
Originally, I planned to write just two or three major female characters, but I couldn't restrain myself, and the number kept growing.
In a harem novel, more female characters don't necessarily make things better. There wasn't enough room to develop them, and after I revised the outline and cut many unnecessary subplots, I also cut the individual arcs for a lot of