It’s finished. There’s a sense of relief that comes with it, a wonderful feeling, which is why writing this afterword feels so easy, unlike the exhausting, mind-racking grind of writing the main story.

From April 5th, 2011, when Shoujo was first uploaded to Qidian, to today, April 4th, 2013, when Shoujo concludes—it’s been exactly two years, nearly 4.7 million characters. Despite the intermittent breaks, overall, I think I worked quite hard, right?

Two full years—the timing is quite coincidental, and even more so that today is the Qingming Festival. Someone in the author group joked that "every time Qingming comes, I think of the Queen." That feels quite nice... I suppose there's nothing wrong with that?

During these two years of writing this book, I’ve been through quite a bit. The biggest change is that I’ve transformed from a slim, pale fellow weighing 110 jin two years ago into the big, rough-handed man I am today... I always had this dream of being kept by a rich woman as her kept boy, but now I fear that dream is gone. Sigh.

Let’s talk more about this book. Since it’s done, I can now say some things I couldn't comfortably mention before. To be honest, I wrote this book in a hurry, or perhaps quite casually. There were no outlines, no established world-building. At the time, my understanding of Gensokyo was limited only to Touhou Hisoutensoku, and my knowledge of anime was superficial. When I first started writing, I didn't even know about Type-Moon; I only knew Fate/stay night... Basically, I was an utter novice regarding anime back then.

So, what was the original inspiration for writing this book?

I can’t recall the details precisely. Perhaps I was influenced by others, or perhaps I just genuinely liked these characters.

When I first started, I didn't have grand ambitions. But since I was writing, I naturally hoped to achieve some success. After all, while writing is my hobby, being able to make a living from it would be a blissful thing.

Only when I actually started writing did I truly understand the difficulty, and the pain, of writing.

I think I mentioned before that around Chapter 19, I considered dropping the story (becoming a taijian), and only continued because I received a contract notification in my account backend.

That is true.

But what I might not have mentioned is that the thought of dropping the story crossed my mind no less than fifty times while writing this book.

Yes, you read that right.

As mentioned above, my knowledge of anime was that of a total novice, but I couldn't rely on such limited, one-sided comprehension if I wanted to write this book well. So, as I wrote, I constantly researched: rewatching old anime, once, twice; reading light novels I hadn't touched before; and digging through various materials, like all the analyses written by veteran otaku experts. I spent an enormous amount of time poring over them.

Here, I must thank these veteran otaku experts whom I don't know personally. Regardless of whether their analyses and insights were correct or not, they provided me with immense help.

However, researching so much material is incredibly tiring. And I didn't just read; I had to analyze everything myself: a character’s personality, how they would react to certain events... In short, it was overwhelmingly exhausting.

Then, due to the incomplete world-building and lack of an overarching structure, I frequently got stuck in writer's block.

Actually, initially, I only intended to write a relatively short novel of about a million words, but as I continued, the scope grew larger, the plot holes multiplied, and I couldn't stop myself. Especially in Volume Four, even I struggled to keep a firm grip on it.

From Volume One to Volume Three, the comments were generally on an upward trend. For example, I remember reading one comment saying that Volume One felt like the unique touch of a newcomer, Volume Two showed a maturing style, and Volume Three reached its peak, followed by a perceived decline in quality in Volume Four.

While everyone has their own perspective, and other readers might not see it that way, it’s undeniable that I did run into some issues with the plot and settings during Volume Four.

There were many other painful parts later on that I won't list one by one. Many times I wanted to quit, but seeing the subscriptions in the backend—though not high, they were support—and all the encouragement in the review section, I ultimately kept writing this book.

To add an aside, I’ve seen many people say that the book was popular early on but its popularity waned later, which is actually incorrect. The book’s performance was very poor initially; the average subscription was only slightly over a thousand, and it stayed that way for several months. It wasn't until the double-points period in late September when I started competing for the monthly ticket rankings that the book’s visibility increased, and its performance gradually improved. It was around the end of the year when many patrons appeared, which was probably its peak popularity period.

But even then, the subscription count only reached just over 1300.

Now, the collection count is 30,000, the highest subscription count is over 4,000, and the average subscription is nearly 1,700… While these numbers can’t compare to mainstream hits, in the niche market of otaku-focused works, especially for the hardest-to-sell genre relying on anime elements, this result is quite good, I think.

Of course, one shouldn't judge a book's success solely on subscriptions, but I am a professional writer, and subscriptions sustain my life. The only way I can judge whether this book was successful or not is by looking at the subscription data.

Well, I’ve said so much, I’m not even sure what I’m talking about anymore. I’m just writing whatever comes to mind, so feel free to read it casually.

In any case, this book’s successful completion is inseparable from everyone’s support. Every click, every recommendation ticket, every subscription, every monthly ticket, and every donation—it is precisely because of your support that I was able to write this book to a satisfying conclusion.

This book may have many flaws, but at least I approached its completion with a serious attitude.

I’ve been criticized, praised, cursed at, and complimented. Some readers threw their screens in frustration, while others hailed this book as a masterpiece... Regardless, over these two years, I have experienced a great deal, and you all have experienced a great deal with me. Thank you for accompanying me through these two years, allowing me to do what I wanted while also providing me with a certain level of financial benefit.

I initially thought about specifically naming and thanking some individuals, but on second thought, I'll skip it. No need to be overly sentimental.

Regarding the ending of this book, there isn’t much to say. It’s a grand happy ending. Perhaps I forgot to tie up a few loose ends, but they should be relatively minor things. Even if they aren't tied up, don't feel regretful, because even if I don't resolve them, the protagonist will handle them himself, and certainly better than I would have.

So, this book is finished.

After writing for two years, my health has deteriorated, and I can’t easily find other work. Naturally, if I want to survive, I must continue writing.

Originally, for a newcomer like me, hovering on the brink of failure, if I immediately started a new book without a gap, I might have been able to maintain my small following for the new work. If too much time passes, I’ll probably have to start all over again.

But as I mentioned earlier, I had no plans when writing this book, which led to constant revisions in the beginning, and I couldn't even make a push for the crucial New Book Monthly Ticket Rankings—that remains a regret for me.

So, I need to prepare thoroughly for the new book.

The theme for the new book will be Xuanhuan (Fantasy/Cultivation), maintaining the humorous and passionate style of this book, but with a touch of Moe elements... Although I really want to write a typical formulaic Xuanhuan novel to hit the web serial charts, honestly, I’m not suited for that kind of writing. So, even though it wears the skin of Xuanhuan, it might still lean towards a niche style.

For the new book, I plan to make a slight career adjustment: I won't be an all-embracing party anymore; I’ll become a sister-complex enthusiast and a loli-con. Also, I won't open up a huge harem again; it's too tiring. I’ll try to keep the number of main female leads to under five.

And the theme of the new book... well, it will probably be the victory of the sister-complex enthusiast.

Alright, that's enough for the afterword. If nothing unexpected happens, the new book should launch around mid-May, still on Qidian. So, let’s have a temporary farewell. If you hold any anticipation for my new book, let’s meet again in May. RQ