Final remarks

Around the morning of September 14th, I typed the last word of the first half of Forged Destiny. I don't remember the exact time, because I cheered and went to drink water and play games.

When I finished my previous work, "Cangdu," I was incredibly excited, considering it a memorable milestone in my life. I later searched my files to find the exact minute, identifying it as the completion date. However, time has passed, and I haven't been able to recapture that same sense of satisfaction this time. Perhaps it's because work has eroded my enthusiasm, or perhaps it's because this isn't my first time writing a story, and the freshness of the experience is gone. I felt only a slight sense of relief, and the rest of the process was just like any other manuscript completion, as if I were just finishing another mundane draft.

As usual, I should first talk about the abandoned drafts, ideas, and character reviews for this volume, and then talk about my personal and future plans. However, as I write now, I increasingly feel that the content related to the story itself is best left in the book.

Abandoned projects and ideas may lead to unexpected interpretations, and completed plots and characters may also be affected. We have seen many "interview revelations" and "post-hoc corrections" in various works. In this case, it seems better to keep your mouth shut as much as possible and leave the story to the pure events in the book, without mixing in the author's ideas.

Therefore, I won't be going into any detailed story planning this time, but will instead casually discuss the story behind this book, my own current situation, and the plans for the next book. I suspect that aside from the content related to the next book, most of this isn't particularly interesting—but since everyone's already had enough free time to read this reflection, just listen to my ramblings; it's free anyway (laughs).

The idea for this book began during the fifth volume of Cangdu. At the time, I was deeply troubled by the complexities of the story and the impending chaos. I also felt that a two-dimensional road movie about traveling and chatting with beautiful women was right up my alley. So, I decided to write a lighthearted story for the next book, one with a protagonist slightly more mature than A Ce and some playful elements: his arms are tentacles, his best friend is an eyeball, and one of his girlfriends is a centaur with no sense of reason.

This eccentric, circus-like group of characters ventures into a bizarre world, their primary goal being to save the world—a deity-like entity dispatches them with various missions, which they resolve in outrageous ways. This world also hosts numerous time travelers, many of whom discover that the deity has long been corrupted by outsiders, transforming into something like the Fallen Demon upon fulfilling their missions. Consequently, everyone alternates between a battle of wits and courage with the deity, and sometimes unites to resist the outsiders. This is a generally lighthearted, authentic adventure story.

It sounds a bit cliché, but it wasn't difficult to write. I was quite confident at the time, thinking it might not be perfect, but at least it would work.

But before this vague idea could be realized, I went to work.

Then everything changed.

As the conception of "Forged Destiny" shifted to design, I began my on-the-job training. Three months of unreasonable, closed-door management, coupled with my unease and fear about the future, left me feeling quite anxious, and the increasing pressure to meet deadlines only exacerbated this anxiety.

I am very afraid of my future life - I can see with my own eyes that I will become an ordinary cog in society, without any special meaning or value and can be replaced at any time. I will not earn much salary and cannot make much contribution. As I have long known but am unwilling to admit, I am an ordinary part of the vast number of people and cannot become anything else.

Looking back, my thoughts back then were laughable. I believe the vast majority of people in the world lead ordinary lives, and excitement often only exists for a few on screens and online. But like every young adult still new to society, I was conceited and delusional, believing that within my sturdy frame must lie hidden abilities far superior to those of ordinary people, and that if I harnessed them correctly, I could soar to the top.

This delusion, translated into daily dreams of becoming a huge star, convinced me that I was simply immature and that given the chance, I could rise to prominence on my own merit, land on the bestseller list, and ultimately achieve financial freedom and the life I'd always dreamed of. This delusion, combined with the pervasive rebellion against a repressive life, solidified my resolve during that time: I would write a mainstream, engaging, rich, and memorable story, determined to change lives.

Therefore, "mainstream" replaced "easy" as the dominant theme in my mind. I wanted to write a mainstream online novel about leveling up and fighting monsters, so I included relics and numerous sephiroth in "Forged Destiny." I've loved infinite flow since childhood, so I set the overall setting as a story traveling across numerous islands. Many readers of my previous book complained that the protagonist was too powerful and the battles lacked anticipation, so this time I painstakingly included six powerful evil forces, each keen to suppress the protagonist's combat power.

Like a Santa Claus on the verge of madness, I crammed everything I could think of into this framework. I believed this kind of story would definitely generate excitement. It felt very "mainstream," with a strong protagonist, a variety of rewards, and a vast upgrade system. I felt it perfectly suited the needs of online literature. However, the fun and interesting things I had originally envisioned were left behind like Easter eggs in the margins of the story.

However, trapped by anxiety, I didn't realize one thing: could I handle such a story? Or in plain words, do I have the ability to write a mainstream masterpiece?

Facts have proven this unlikely. After all, the battles in the latter stages of the previous game had already exhausted me, leaving me groaning and insisting on opting for a relaxing and beautiful travel story. It's clear that a person's abilities can't be completely transformed in just three months.

Unfortunately, my anxiety and desire to prove myself made me lose myself for the first time in a long time. I was very proud of myself when setting up the car, and I was very excited when I was writing the draft. But when I officially published the book, I was hit hard: many feedbacks expressed that they were not used to this style of story. From the protagonist to the narrative rhythm and even the world view, they were questioned from all aspects. It was only then that I finally opened my eyes and realized that I had chosen a story that was difficult to control.

By this time, the first volume of Forged Destiny was nearly finished, and I realized that this was not going to work, so I hastily changed my thinking, which led to the second volume, which kept changing. After finishing the Wilderness arc, I finally calmed down and decided to split the series into two parts.

This proved to be the best decision I made during the writing process of this book, because if I had forced myself to write all the way to the end, I would have lost my mind and the story would have fallen apart. But after setting the break point, I was able to calm down and start writing the outline and characters of the city-state volume steadily.

Now that the City-State volume is complete, I can say that this story never truly escaped my control, and its ending is consistent with my original grand plan. Perhaps it's not as interesting, perhaps it seems too long, but it didn't go off the rails, and for me, that's a very good conclusion.

Many friends have told me that this book is exhausting to read. The protagonist is exhausted from living, the villain is exhausted from fighting, the readers are exhausted from reading, and the author is exhausted from writing. The frequent battles, the heavy background, and the characters with deep hatred and deep grudges make "Forged Fate" feel like a living world, tormenting everyone equally with a variety of methods.

I have to say this review is quite honest. If there were a keyword for Forged Destiny, fatigue would definitely be one of them. I can say with a clear conscience that I have always written the story with my heart, taking the characters and plot seriously. But I think readers who have read along can also sense a subtle sense of fatigue permeating many chapters.

It seems like so many things could be better, but they're not. It's as if the design was flawed from the beginning, and there's no going back. I can only smile wryly at this. I can't go back two years and change the manic, anxious me I was, just as I can't change who I was before.

Serious, weighty dramas inherently demand more than lighthearted comedies. Every plot point and every plot twist seems to be met with criticism, but rarely with universal praise. A sense of fatigue permeated both inside and outside the book, and I could clearly sense a shift in myself, from adaptable to inflexible, to irritable. This was certainly strongly connected to my tedious job, my repeated failed blind dates, and my persistent weight (as an aside, last week's blind date failed again; all my time and effort wasted, but all in vain). But it was also closely related to the daunting task of writing a book.

The practical implementation of this change means that I will be complaining like a greasy middle-aged man in my closing remarks, saying things that no one likes to read and are not interesting.

But my original intention in writing stories is to create something that can make people happy. If I feel distressed when creating them, how can the stories become interesting and lively?

So it's time to pause and regroup. Adjust your state, find the right direction for the story, and don't place too much responsibility and expectations on the story. Even if you write some simple and enjoyable short stories to kill time, it's better than forcing yourself to write a long and unbearable epic.

Now that I've gotten enough of my grievances, it's time to talk about the book. Since everything I've said already meets the word count for self-criticism, I won't dwell on the weaker parts. Instead, I'll just brag about what I think are the good parts and the future direction.

Villains

I was generally satisfied with the villains in this book: Dumuyan and Kanin in the first volume, Immortal Machine and Wu He in the second, Waklo and Vansalar in the third, and Parriman and Wang Quan in the fourth. I invested a lot of energy in these guys who were destined to die, making their actions at least consistent with their own logic.

If there is anything memorable about this book, I think it must come from the brilliant performances of these villains. Together they form the background of this chaotic and crazy world, adding bricks and tiles to the hell of Shendongjie (appreciation)

But as the original spirits often say, there's always a good side to everything. Another consequence of the in-depth portrayal of the villains is that the protagonists seem somewhat "weak," and without the same bitter and vengeful background, it seems difficult to surpass their weight.

I find this influence incredibly difficult to balance, unless you're truly writing a story where the good guys suffer even more. There's no limit to how miserable a character can be. The logic of a more miserable protagonist being more convincing will weaken the wills of the other villains, and the solution becomes introducing even more miserable villains. A story spiraling downward into the abyss of misery isn't particularly appealing. Therefore, after careful consideration, I've arrived at a solution: fewer of these incredibly miserable characters.

One or two characters like Vansalar and Dark Kingship in one book is enough. In the next story, it would be better to have more simple and honest villains like Lan Meng, Gulu, and Crocodile.

Girls

To be honest, writing a love story for adults in working life is ten thousand times harder than writing a love story for male college students. Everyone is mature and rational, which leads to interactions that feel like workplace life, and interactions that feel like casual office chats. Given this premise, the interactions in this game are quite difficult to write. If we use Vander, the buddy character who can interact with us anytime, anywhere, as a benchmark, the interactions between the female characters are roughly as easy to write as:

Boss>Xiaoye≥Fande>Huaisu≥Qingxia

This order only reflects the difficulty of writing for me, and does not reflect my love for the girls, because I like all the heroines equally. I think the interesting difference comes from their similarities with Akong...

The Boss and Akong are the most unlike characters, aren't they?

When I first designed Akong, I intended to portray him as a ruthless, cold-blooded gangster boss, a symbol of the underworld, akin to Vicious from Cowboy Bebop, trusting no one but Akong as his sole trump card. Halfway through, I decided this was too generous, so the boss softened up a bit and became a beautiful woman. I gradually enriched her character and added to her story with Akong, and by the end, the story was so rich and full that it was even more interesting than the Shendongjie game, which I hadn't even started yet.

When regular readers see me, they know I've fallen into my old habit of writing reminiscences again, but since it's not the first time, it doesn't really matter...

Back to the point, the boss is the polar opposite of Kong in every way. She's weak, weak in combat, rich, and a brainiac, burdened with responsibilities, secrets, and a deep-seated feud. But this opposition creates a fascinating dynamic. The conflicting and tangled dynamic between her and Kong was the most enjoyable part of writing, so much so that I felt it would be rather tedious to just puncture the relationship at the end...

After all, it would be too awkward if the boss suddenly became a wife or a good girlfriend after the second volume started, so I'll leave some room for the story later. Anyway, these two people will never let each other go. (laughs)

Xiaoye shares some similarities with Kong. She also practices kendo, fights fiercely, and possesses overly ambitious ideals. However, she is far from mature. She progresses step by step through the story, with Kong as her mentor and companion.

This immaturity allows her to be a bit silly and playful, while also allowing her to interact with Kong in a different way. The teacher-mentor relationship is always interesting, and her personality brings a touch of levity to most plot points. Xiaoye often seems like a crowd favorite, loved by both friends and foes. I think stories always need girls like this; otherwise, the narrative becomes too heavy.

Xiaoye's secrets and past have largely been revealed, and there won't be any further flashbacks. The first story in the second half will be the Shura Island arc, where she'll naturally take center stage. She'll mature a bit, but her nature remains unchanged, and she'll team up with a killer to disrupt her hometown.

With Huaisu, the interaction started to become a headache for me. Huaisu and Akong share a commonality: they both appear as nearly complete characters upon their first appearance. Huaisu is occasionally confused, but generally resolute, having experienced painful times, and thus unafraid of duty and mission. Like Akong, she is resilient and doesn't particularly need support from others on a spiritual level. More importantly, Huaisu is the team's sole remaining conscience.

In this chaotic group, she's perhaps the only one who maintains a consistent "righteous path," possessing a conscience and a sense of justice, ready to speak the truth. Consequently, Huaisu often has to be the slightly annoying character, forced to speak the truth, because no one else in the group truly cares. However, I didn't include a scene where she struggles with this, because that's just her personality; she won't be lost for what's right.

This high starting point and completion often makes her and Kong feel like good friends, rather than high school romance. This is also related to the plot arrangement, as the Knight Country arc, which is most closely related to Huaisu, is not officially described until the second half of the book, so she has always lacked a main stage.

I have to say that every time my No. 1 heroine is difficult to write, maybe this is a curse that haunts me.

Finally, let's look at our little Qingxia. Qingxia and Akong have the most in common, as they're both powerful outliers. However, the unnamed dark royal lady who occupied the plot space in this outlier resonance early on made it difficult for me to further develop this direction. Therefore, Qingxia, like Huaisu, often feels more like a warrior than a girl.

Fortunately, after the wilderness chapter ended, I found a breakthrough point, allowing her to run wild on the path of the black sheep. This way, the interaction finally became interesting and substantial, because she can act as a lubricant between the girls - putting Boss Huaisu and Qingye together would easily make the atmosphere dull, I'm serious.

Like Huaisu, Qingxia's next major role will have to wait until the wilderness chapter in the second half of the volume. The terrible place of Heavenly Prison always holds the hopes of many people.

As a side note, apart from the heroines, the interaction between Wang Quan and Akong is also very easy to write, but she is not included in this ranking because she is the main villain.

Although she almost became the heroine in the second half of the City-State volume (laughs), her positioning is really the villain, because I can't bear to kill the heroine.

I was very pleased with Wang Quan's performance in the interaction. From her appearance in the flashback to the final reveal of her true feelings, she showed different changes, and finally returned to the girl she first met. If she had more space, the feeling of peeling the onion would be stronger, but from the perspective of the plot arrangement, this does not meet the actual needs.

The sheer volume of Wang Quan in the City-State's second half makes the other girls, including the boss, seem a bit overshadowed, but this is absolutely necessary. A story must have a main plot and a secondary plot. If the main plot is constantly divided among the other characters, the viewing experience will become dragged out and discontinuous.

Boss and Wang Quan each hold the primary spotlight, both above and below the city-state. I recognize this but haven't changed it, because they're both crucial parts of Akong's life. Without either of them, it would be difficult to clearly portray Chu Hengkong's past. Akong is the most important "main character." After all, the girls may have different home scenes, but he will always be the protagonist.

Will Wang Quan have a role in the future? Please allow me to leave this blank and give you some room for imagination.

Off topic 2: As a buddy, it is not easy for Vander to shoulder important responsibilities such as easing the atmosphere, providing intelligence, and dropping cheats. This story would have ended long ago without you.

And Vander's home stadium is... very, very far away... so I can't say much at the moment. So at least in the foreseeable future, it will still be the reliable mascot, so please rest assured.

·Protagonist

Akong is very difficult to write, extremely difficult to write, very, very difficult to write. His difficulty does not lie in his logic and thinking. As mentioned above, he is very complete when he appears, unlike Gongsun Ce who needs to continue to grow.

His difficulty lies in the fact that he is a psychopath even worse than Gongsun Ce. Or to put it another way, an outlier.

Ah Kong is a hollow individual searching for meaning. His strength and experiences have shaped his own perspective on the world, one that inevitably differs significantly from that of most readers (myself included). To highlight his anomaly, I meticulously depict his choices in the flashbacks. I believe Chu Hengkong succeeds well as an anomaly and a strange figure. However, as the protagonist, he inevitably carries the reader's perspective and empathy.

I think many people find it difficult to understand a freak, or even if they do, they struggle to empathize with him. This is a dilemma inherent in his creation. He's not a very friendly character, either to the author or the reader. He's more suited to being a mysterious master in the background, occasionally saving the world while the good-tempered and talkative protagonist explores his secrets.

But I still chose him as the protagonist because I really like this guy. He embodies the desire of every young person: to be free and do whatever they want, to live their life according to their own will.

His growth was slow, but it did exist. It was not until the end of the City-State Volume that he inherited the desire and life of kingship, and the emptiness in his heart was completely filled.

No matter what others think, he will continue to live recklessly in this hellish world and become a hero who saves the world.

——————

So finally, let’s talk about books and the future.

First, let's move on to the second half of Forged Destiny. By now, it's pretty clear what's next. The consolidation of Shura Island, the breakthrough of the Bloodless Origin, the exploration of the secrets of the Knight Kingdom, and the unraveling of Earth's mysteries and the reason for the time travel. Ultimately, the grand plans of the heretics are unravelled one by one, and the world is saved.

However, the style of the second half will change. Firstly, by the end of the first half, Sora's power has become immense, so strong that he can be portrayed as invincible most of the time. Secondly, since the villains who will save the world have almost all appeared, most of the villains in the second half will be simple, down-to-earth villains. Thirdly, Earth's past has come to an end with the departure of Wang Quan, and the boss has returned to his side. Our protagonist is finally no longer a widower and can stride forward.

So, while the second half is full of contradictions, it will probably be a bit lighter than most of the plot in the first part. He who destroys the enemy's plans and drives them away when they dare to come is unmatched.

The second half won't be released right away, though, because, as I mentioned earlier, I really need some time to recover and write something that can at least make me happy. So, I'm going to start with a short story about a magical school harem romance filled with cheesy, clichéd, and uninhibited beautiful girls, full of 2D stereotypes. The primary goal of this short story is to at least make me laugh out loud, and the second is to make some money.

I will incorporate some elements of my favorite works into this story, such as Baka and Test Summoning the Beasts, Grand Blue Sea, Persona, and the classic bmg and cool magic of Luna.

The protagonist of this story isn't some morbidly ill psychopath, but rather a diligent student striving to improve in an unfamiliar environment. The plot revolves around the happy lives of naive college students, featuring the usual club activities, student union sports, part-time jobs, competitions, and academic rankings. Add in the usual fantasy elements of a beautiful girl who's friendly to the average male protagonist, oolong tea, and a dark pot. There's no overarching plotline, but the goal is to create a joyful narrative of everyday life.

This good student will do quite well in school, and I'll add a little bit of semi-compulsive motivation as a means of advancement, but it won't be anything like "there's a bomb in your head that's going to explode if you don't succeed." Since it's a magical school romance, of course there's magic involved, so I've designed a magic system that's neither too complex nor too overpowered. Considering the next book is just a short school story, I'm reasonably confident it won't turn into a terrifying, maniacal machine.

After all, there is not much point in digging holes.

I've already made some preparations for this, and I'm quite confident that writing this story won't be too much of a torment for me. I think if you enjoy my little daily jokes and interludes, then this story should be worth looking forward to. And if you enjoy world-building techniques and all sorts of quirky characters, I think the few powerful figures in this magical world will also satisfy that need. While their abilities may not be as exceptional, the flavor should still be there.

I'll take a break, travel, enjoy a vacation, and practice driving (I've had my license for over a year and haven't even touched a steering wheel many times), and then come back with this delightful story. I think it'll be the first quarter of 2026, or maybe a little later if I need more time to rest. If you've read this far, I hope you'll also look forward to Prince 2326's next work.

Finally, I want to thank all the readers who have supported this story and me. Thank you for reading this book until now.

I'd like to thank all the contributors to this book: Earthbound Spirit, Tenze Ritsu, Teleportation Filth, yzcaption, Antsaber (a man cultivated by the Qin family on Namek), the Honest Ghost Team, Yamashiro Takamine, Prairie Wolf 2221, Kamikyo Kamikyo, Retsu Kaioh Challenges the Strong in Gensokyo, Damaskeen, Ozone Layer, Cat Box and the Witch of Dreams, and the Fierce Warrior Speaker Cricket. I'm especially grateful to Silver Alliance Leaders Tenze Ritsu and Teleportation Filth, and Earthbound Spirit, who single-handedly defeated the Gold Alliance. Your support has provided me with ample funding for my foraging and source material since I started this book, and has fueled my creative process. I'm deeply grateful.

I would like to thank the otter spirit who discussed various setting details with me before the book was published and arranged for many illustrations. He has contributed to the richness of this world.

Thanks to Umu, who created many cool fan art, many characters that were only roughly described have been given detailed images under his pen.

Thanks to the director and tho who always listen to my complaints. I feel embarrassed for still having a fragile heart at the age of 27.

Thanks to the group members who created various fan fictions in the group, and thanks to the administrators who responsibly maintained the discussion atmosphere.

I'll happily take a break and come back next year with new seal jokes.

(End of this chapter)