Seeing the monthly ticket leaderboard, I couldn't help but laugh. I've always been an ugly duckling, struggling to reach the heights, only to flap a few times and finally land back where I started, back to my original form, quack, quack...

To be perfectly honest, I genuinely admire the top contenders; I concede gracefully. Their writing is simply superior to mine. The senior patrons have already offered tremendous support, but alas, my readership is too thin, my foundation too weak—there’s nothing more I can do.

The deepest shame I feel is letting down the support of those patrons with sluggish updates. Even pushing myself to the absolute limit only yields five chapters. For one, I’m getting on in years, and second, the previous book taught me a hard lesson; I no longer dare just blast the material out like I used to. Now I have to check and revise everything after finishing, lest I sacrifice subscriptions for speed. Unfortunately, the subscriptions continue to plummet. If they drop any further, I’ll be down to blowing on my empty bowl to stay warm.

Regardless of the outcome, I am profoundly thankful for the backing from all you esteemed patrons; I am truly touched. I never imagined I would receive such a generous wave of monthly ticket support.

Hope for monthly tickets is gone now, as everyone has already used theirs, but today I will still strive to write as much as possible to show my gratitude. V