Writing up to this point, my emotions are incredibly complicated.
To be honest, this book encountered many unexpected interruptions during its creation.
I got COVID twice, caught the flu once, and at one point, due to personal reasons, I went on a long hiatus.
Not long after resuming updates, I experienced my first unforgettable ordeal—a herniated disc.
That's right. Last time I updated, I mentioned the unbearable pain, and after getting checked, it was confirmed: lumbar disc herniation.
This was the first time I truly understood what real back pain feels like.
Not the mild discomfort from a simple strain, but the kind where even turning over in bed sends sharp agony shooting through your spine.
The kind where, every morning when you try to stand, your legs tremble, and you can barely take a step without wincing.
For several days, because I couldn't use my back muscles, my legs had to bear most of the weight—until they, too, started aching unbearably.
I've been bedridden for nearly half a month, and only now am I starting to recover.
Though mornings are still painful, and I can only bend slightly, even sitting in a chair brings a dull, constant ache.
But overall, it's much better than before.
I originally planned to rest longer, wait until I was fully healed, and then resume updates.
But after some thought, I felt too guilty toward all of you.
By my original outline, this book still had over 200,000 words left. I even spent this time organizing the plot.
There was supposed to be a major Thanos arc, followed by Kang the Conqueror's storyline, including my own take on how it would all end.
My imagined finale would unite the heroes of Earth-616 and the protagonist's universe to defeat Kang and his variants.
Finally, the protagonist would retire honorably, passing the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Wong.
But yesterday, after just 30 minutes of sitting and writing less than 1,000 words, my back gave out.
All the scenes I'd planned were replaced by thoughts like:
"Just lie down."
"I can't take this anymore."
In the end, I couldn't write anything.
So, I've decided to end the book here.
It's a rushed conclusion, but at least it's a conclusion.
You might not believe this, but right now, it's 11 PM on 7/11/23.
Between the final chapter and this note, these 2,000+ words took me almost an entire day to write.
Every 30 minutes of writing forced me back to bed for hours, waiting for the pain to fade before I could sit down again.
By the time you read the finale and this message, it'll already be July 12th.
I had so much more to say, but at this point, I don't want to dwell on sentimentality.
Thank you all for accompanying me on this journey.
This was my first book—its performance wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't terrible either.
Still, the ending is far from what I originally envisioned.
If there's a next book, and if we meet again, I only hope the process won't be so full of hardships.
Alright, that's it. Ronan's journey comes to a pause here.
May we meet again in another story's world.
Until next time!