Summary and Q&A
Finally… freaking… finished!
I just want to say: Volume One is finally freaking finished!
Do you know how I freaking spent the last month?!
It's actually quite funny. When I started writing this book, I didn't think too much about it. I had a vague, thousand-word outline, and I just started writing.
Even the beginning was very casual.
Like I mentioned in the side story, through Hua, the Second Eruption arc was only six chapters long, at most.
At the time, I just wanted to get to the Third Eruption quickly, because there are so many characters introduced then: Mei, Kevin, Su, and Hua all experienced the Third Eruption – so even though Hua looks young, she's actually quite a veteran…
Uh… I digress. Let's talk about the specific content.
First, as I just mentioned, there was a lot I could have written about the Second Eruption, but I really wanted to introduce Kevin, Hua, and the others quickly, so I compressed it into just six chapters, half of which focused on Fire Moth. I consider this a major failing.
Second, about Vill-V, in the actual story, she was apprehended after the Second Eruption, so the timing is roughly correct. And according to the in-game story, she was running a scam in Huang Huai Street [probably meant to be "Twilight Street"] when she heard the news and escaped, so that checks out.
That arc served as a buffer. I realized I had rushed the Second Eruption, so I tried to slow down the pacing. The Vill-V arc was meant to do that, and it ended up being eight chapters long, even longer than the Second Eruption arc… I can't even…
And in that arc, I tried a new style… being generous, let's call it "humorous," being less generous, it was "batshit insane"… It didn't seem to have much effect, but I thought it might lighten the heavy atmosphere a bit.
I don't want to make the story too depressing, but with this Previous Era content, I really don't know how to avoid it. If I wrote a mindless power fantasy, I feel like it would be insulting to the Flame-Chasers.
And if the Previous Era had achieved complete victory, I believe many readers wouldn't accept it either. After all, how can a Honkai Impact 3rd fanfic not have big tiddies, a certain cook, and the Bronya?
Of course, attentive readers should have noticed the foreshadowing in the Vill-V arc. Introducing Vill-V and Pardo, keeping them separate from Fire Moth, was to pave the way for Michael's eventual departure from Fire Moth.
This was unavoidable. It's not like Ultraman, where they can hide their faces after transforming. I can't hide Michael's identity forever…
So, if problems arise, Michael will inevitably need to leave Fire Moth for a while.
That's why Pardo is important. Cough, you know what I mean.
Sakura was an accident, a pure accident. I didn't research thoroughly. She actually appears much later, just a bit before the Twilight Street trio, because she assassinated Dr. MEI before the 7th Eruption, and was then subdued by Kevin. When Mei talked to her, she had no idea what Honkai was and even asked if there would be a second one. And the in-game description portrays her as a young girl.
Her mature voice actress deceived me…
But there was no going back. I had already written it, so I had to make it work. I lowered her age, and since she had already appeared, I just brought her into the main group.
Of course, if you think carefully (and I did hint at it), her mission is too obvious, suspiciously so. Sakura is just a smokescreen created by Vashak (am I spoiling too much?).
The Ruruye arc… everyone knows why the buildings on Ruruye Island are made of green crystal and there's a tall tower in the center, right? (doge)
That arc made me want to vomit.
In my outline, it was supposed to be twelve chapters at most, but it ended up being twenty-three…
The motivation for that arc, especially the three blocks segment, came from a conversation with a friend majoring in Chinese language. We were talking about immersion in historical fiction. We talked for a long time and concluded that strong immersion comes from character and setting development.
I suck at character development. I can't even copy descriptions properly. So, I wanted to try setting development, which also seems to have failed. Because I rushed the beginning, I didn't create a proper post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Trying to fix it now isn't working very well. My writing skills are just not good enough…
And, as some readers pointed out, that arc felt too forced. Michael, a Herrscher, struggling so much against an Emperor-class Yaksha felt contrived…
There are ways to explain it, but there's no point. Forced is forced. No amount of explanation can change the fact that I'm bad at plotting.
The only other time I wrote a detailed outline for a small arc was the thirty-thousand-word duel at the end of the first volume of my Genshin Impact fanfic (which I haven't finished posting here). But that was… three hundred thousand words of buildup for thirty thousand words of payoff. As a result, almost no one read that part, and the book naturally went to the dogs…
Initially, the Honkai beast in that arc was supposed to be Padmasambhava. The reason was simple: to allow Elysia to augment (Elysia's crystal powers don't come from Padmasambhava, the in-game story confirms this, and Mobius even questioned whether Elysia had undergone augmentation surgery, because she didn't show any of the side effects). I had started to realize that, besides the romance, Elysia had become a background character…
But I ultimately chose the Yaksha. Firstly, I couldn't imagine how powerful a Judgment-class Honkai beast would be, since Vishnu, another Judgment-class, had such broken mechanics.
And there's no information on Padmasambhava… Elysia's fighting style couldn't be used as a reference, so I would have had to come up with everything myself…
As for the Yaksha, well, its abilities were actually based on Sakura's, even though I don't think that's actually its ability, because no one knew Sakura had that power before she used it on Kevin.
But I had to write something. If the Yaksha only had freezing powers, it wouldn't be any different from the ice boar. At least, that's what I thought…
Of course, I also think the Yaksha's portrayal was a failure. I wanted to show its assassin-like qualities, but it didn't work out.
In short:
My writing skills suck!
My writing skills suck!
My writing skills suck!
Now, about character development. I saw a comment saying that there wasn't enough interaction with Elysia, less than with… well, you know who…
True.
The reason is simple – my writing skills suck!
I'm afraid of writing too much about Elysia, in case I mess up and make her OOC.
But Dr. MEI is also difficult to write, so I'm really scared of writing about characters!
The only exceptions are Pardo and Hua. Pardo is a simple character.
And Hua is… uh… Are our personalities similar?
Hua, before experiencing the Honkai, was like me, living an ordinary, unremarkable life, but with very little to truly call her own.
Always lost and confused, with a sense of justice and conscience, but only protesting questionable orders verbally, always obedient in the end.
So, understanding Hua's psychology is slightly easier for me.
The biggest failure is definitely the protagonist!
Authors usually project their own personalities onto their protagonists, so you'll notice that the protagonist is – too awkward…
Wait… that's similar to Hua…
But sometimes the protagonist is more… erratic. His moral compass fluctuates wildly depending on the situation. So, he could propose the augmentation plan without hesitation, yet shortly after, advise Mobius against harming innocent people.
He just lacks presence.
I've talked enough about the problems in Volume One. I'll briefly mention Volume Two.
Don't assume the interlude chapter and the title of Volume Two, "Volume of Anti-Entropy," mean a time skip to the current era. There isn't one. The interlude is because the beginning of Volume Two will focus more on Hua, while still maintaining Elysia's importance. And Anti-Entropy… First Herrscher… You know what I mean…
Okay, no more spoilers.
Are you getting impatient?
Finally, finally, the main event.
The romance, which everyone is so concerned about (I can't believe I'm actually talking about this!).
Some might think I'm stupid. The book is still new, and with the poll results, I might lose half my readers after this. Dead in the water.
But I believe in honesty and love. Making a decision and not telling anyone, hinting vaguely while writing… it might work for a while, but it's wasting the readers' time, even their subscriptions and donations. Isn't that a scam?
So, here's the conclusion. As of writing this, there are 75 votes, not counting my own.
34 votes for a single heroine, almost half.
31 votes for multiple heroines. The remaining 10 are indifferent, but some of those lean towards single, some towards multiple.
Crap! Now the pressure is on me.
Almost all the initial readers voted for a single heroine, or indifferent but leaning towards single.
So, I sat here for days, agonizing over this, ever since I started the poll on the 17th, even before there was a clear trend.
This is my personality flaw. I'm very indecisive.
Until I saw a comment: You've already written it…
I suddenly understood!
One must take responsibility for their actions, right? I've already written it, I've already laid the groundwork. Suddenly declaring this a single heroine story would be unfair to everyone, regardless of their preference.
I learned this the hard way when I wrote my Super Gene fanfic. I only hinted vaguely at the romance with Sakura, a friendship that never quite blossomed, and both Himeko and Sakura fans were furious. Single heroine supporters and multiple heroine supporters were all angry.
It's impossible to please everyone, but I have to take responsibility for what I've written. Michael has to take responsibility for his actions.
So, the answer is clear. I can only guarantee two things: first, Elysia's position is absolute. She's a constant throughout the entire story. Second, I'll put all my effort, as a single dog, into writing every romance arc. There will be no mindless love or forced relationships.
I've noticed that in most single heroine stories, the heroine is just a tool, disappearing in the later parts. Multiple heroine stories aren't much better either.
So, I sincerely wish to become a legendary chad like Jix × and Jingong (doge).
If any single heroine supporters drop the book, or even curse me in the comments, I'll accept it. And to those who have been reading from the beginning, even donating generously, I'm truly sorry.
Writing multiple heroines will feel a bit… off, and it's unfair to Elysia. But this story isn't lighthearted. It's heavy. In any other genre, it would probably be considered "grimdark."
More romance might lighten the mood a bit – for both the readers and the author.
Now, about the heroines.
Let's talk about the original plan. As you can see from the names, Elysia's meaning is self-explanatory. Michael means "gift from God," "guardian of paradise."
So, the original plan was 50% single heroine Elysia. Why 50%? Because I know myself too well. I might go off the rails at any moment.
This is the consequence of an incomplete outline. A proper outline should include the romance, preventing sudden changes midway.
So, the original plan could be expressed as:
[Elysia, Elysia + Hua]
Hua should be easy to understand. I said before, Hua's personality is similar to mine, and the Herrscher of Sentience… who can resist?
But when I wrote the Twilight Street arc, Pardo's recollections broke me. But I'm still hesitant about Pardo… To quote a certain author I admire: Taking xxx as a heroine? That's something only third-rate authors do.
Because Pardo's character… It's complicated… Just treating her as a little sister is also good, and she plays an important role in a certain part of the next volume.
Then there's Mobius. Her character design is so well-done that many people overlook the blood on her hands. All those human experiments, the Stigmata project, now the blame for the augmentation surgery has shifted from MEI to her, and countless experiments on Hua and Kalpas.
She even dared to conduct experiments with a zero percent success rate on Hua!
One crazy scientist proposing it, and another crazy warrior accepting it!
So, Mobius… is uncertain. It's unclear what this foolish author will do with her. If her dark side doesn't change much, probably not.
Sakura… Speaking of Sakura, I have to say: I fell in love with your body, and another woman's voice.
Ignoring the voice actress, I really love that voice! It's so captivating! (This guy is obsessed, there's no saving him)
But she's unplanned! Let me be frank, an author can't control every action of their characters, not even the protagonist.
If you want them to show more humanity beyond the cold words on the page, you have to give them some freedom. (Basically, let your hands guide your mind while writing)
So, Sakura was essentially an accident. But I thought it worked well, complementing the protagonist's character development and his changing personality, so I kept it.
And thus, Sakura's tragedy was born.
But I don't regret it. Maybe I'll talk more about authors and romance later.
Summary:
[Elysia (are you looking at me?) + Hua (fifty thousand years! Do you know how I spent those fifty thousand years?!) + Sakura (I lose it every time I see that donkey ear picture), Elysia + Hua + Sakura + Mobius (you didn't have a choice before, but now you can be a good snake) + Pardo (Mei… I… I don't want to die…)]
That's it.
(Kalpas: ? Kevin: ? Su: ?)
Sorry, single heroine supporters! I'm so sorry!
Bows deeply
Kneels
Kowtows three times
Uh, how should I end this…?
Let me think…
I'll use the epigraph for Volume Two:
Because entropy is the inescapable fate of the universe, humanity defies it.
//
Translator Note: The True Heroine is just Elysia, other woman just try their chance.
This information is a major spoiler for far later volumes. Decode at your own risk!
Encoded Spoiler: xjepxfs
Decoding Instructions: To reveal the spoiler, shift each letter back one position in the alphabet (e.g., 'x' becomes 'w', 'j' becomes 'i'). (clear your webnovel cache)