Chapter)
[T/N: This isn’t a regular chapter but rather a reflection from the author. You can skip it if you’d like, but I’ve included it to maintain the chapter numbering and because it offers an interesting glimpse into the author’s perspective on the story. Also don’t worry I’ll release another chapter to make up for this one.]
Unknowingly, this book has reached over 250,000 words. First and foremost, I’d like to thank all the readers for their unwavering support.
This is the author’s first published book. The idea of writing a novel came to me late last year. Initially, I wanted my first book to explore the Zerg (insect swarm) genre. However, when I began drafting, I quickly realized how much knowledge was required. Out of laziness, I temporarily shelved the idea and decided to practice by writing a different story first.
Thus, my first book was set in an apocalyptic world. I spent a long time crafting a logically consistent setting and began writing in October. After over a month of intense effort, I amassed 200,000 words and started uploading chapters. It was only after publishing that I discovered numerous issues, realizing just how much there is to pay attention to when writing a novel.
The apocalyptic genre proved difficult, as it involved many sensitive topics that required revisions to avoid issues. Rewriting parts of the story before uploading felt like wasting half the initial effort. As a novice, I struggled to adapt the narrative to meet guidelines effectively. Unsurprisingly, the book’s performance wasn’t great, with the “golden finger” (special ability) taking a long time to appear.
After a few days of uploads, a writing contest was announced on December 1st. Using this as an excuse, I abandoned that book—fortunately, no one was reading it anyway.
This book was born under such circumstances. Once I started, I realized just how exhausting it is to write, especially in the sci-fi genre. Sometimes, I’d spend hours researching only to produce a few sentences. However, writing this book has significantly expanded my knowledge of biology, which I consider a reward in itself.
As a newcomer, tackling this story was a real challenge. In the early chapters, the protagonist had no interaction with any intelligent beings, creating a large, isolated environment.
The protagonist was an ordinary person in their past life, with no special training or survival experience. To accurately depict this, I referenced various social experiments, like spending 30 days in a cabin or survival challenges on deserted islands. However, those scenarios weren’t truly hopeless—the participants knew they were part of an experiment, could quit at any time, and still existed within human society.