Written on the last day of 2024
At some special points in time, people tend to have more emotions.
In addition, the book is already halfway through, so I decided to use this rather special evening to chat with you more and make an overall summary of the past three years since the book was launched.
In fact, for Zuolun, there is a word that is very suitable - as if it were a lifetime ago.
From the night when I posted the first chapter with trepidation, it was far impossible to foresee this moment.
But I have to say that the serialization of this book provided Zuolun with an unprecedented way of examining time, and he also felt the meaning of companionship more personally.
Thank you all for your company, I am honored to accompany you all.
More than one book friend has asked whether Zuo Lun is a literary practitioner.
Actually no, Zuo Lun is engaged in a very ordinary industry, doing a subsistence job.
I rarely help others, and I don’t feel that I have created much value.
I majored in science and engineering at school, so I was also scratching my head when it came to writing for the college entrance examination, but it was more complicated to read from a small book.
Then one day many years later, when I was thinking about life, I suddenly thought that I could write a story.
It is a cool thing to think about giving a group of virtual characters a cognitive level of existence, and you even feel inexplicably confident that you can do it well.
Then this special period began until now.
Let’s get back to the book itself. The first thing I want to talk about is the question——
1. What is this book about? Is it a "cool article"?
This should be a question discussed by book friends, so here the revolver is just changing the angle to provide a reference on "what is being written".
Yes, this is an enjoyable article - because the original intention of writing this book is to write the most enjoyable article.
Tragedy is not a necessity of depth.
Although Zuolun has seen too many tragic stories, he is even more certain of this.
Profoundness and rationality are not reasons. "It makes people uncomfortable" has no direct relationship with whether the story is good or not.
Including the popular level.
Writing in a miserable and obscure way is actually lazy in many cases. A truly cool and interesting story must also be profound at the same time.
Otherwise it's not really cool and interesting, but a poor illusion.
Readers who spend energy to follow the plot, straighten out the logic, and feel the characters should first get fun, and it is an absolutely indispensable component.
Zuo Lun has read too many and is fed up with the preaching, pretentiousness, and moral kidnapping... and wants to make the story purer.
That is to say, you don’t need others to tell you how profound this story is, what kind of humanistic care it has, what kind of artistic achievements it has...
What Revolver wants to do is that it is still interesting even if all of the above are present.
Online writing is a service industry, and readers are not part of the game.
If you can't do it, then do it harder, no matter how many more brain cells it takes.
Storytellers should not use tears to shirk responsibility, either their own or that of their readers.
The best thing Zuo Lun hopes to achieve is that many years later, readers of this book will occasionally think of themselves when they opened this book when they were young, and they will not feel that their emotions are being used, but that their emotions are being served.
At the same time, I can also say "As expected of me" and be proud of my own vision.
But on this basis, we encountered a problem, what kind of story is the coolest and most enjoyable?
Zuo Lun is a serious person. After setting this goal, he spent a lot of time thinking about it and hoped that he could have unique insights.
And really got a possible answer, which is "making the impossible possible" in the introduction.
The copy [Unholy Ecstasy] mentioned what true depravity is, that is, you must realize that you are degenerating, and so is "Shuang".
People can't deceive themselves. One thing must be really difficult to be really happy after completing it.
It’s far more “cool” than recognition from others.
This is also the answer to the following question——
2. Why is it a Ke system?
Because we need a world that is reasonably "difficult".
First of all, in Zuolun's one-sided understanding, the Ke family is not as simple as a few obscure names of superiors or a deformed non-human race.
It’s not even simply “indescribable”.
A core concept of Luo Lao's works, according to Zuo Lun, is that the universe is not your mother.
Human beings stand alone under the stars.
God doesn't love you, and the devil doesn't hate you.
The whole world is patchwork and glitzy.
People with different levels of knowledge all have corresponding perceptions of the world, layer by layer, but they never know the true reality.
Order is just a glimpse, and equivalent exchange is already a rare virtue.
The dilemma would therefore make perfect sense.
Then the next question arises——
3. Why is this the protagonist?
Because it seems that in a world of grammatical elements, there can be no cool writing.
Why?
Because it is too chaotic and cruel, despair should be the main theme. If it is divorced from this tone, it will make people feel unreal and unreasonable - then try to make it reasonable.
But what should I do if it still doesn’t work?
Then keep working hard.
But really no one can do it, except crazy people.
Then come a madman.
Crazy people are hard to like.
Then try to be liked.
- This is the responsibility of the storyteller.
The above question and answer can be regarded as the embodiment of revolver's self-torture, but in fact, strictly speaking, even if the protagonist is a madman, it is far from enough to make "shuangwen" reasonable.
In the true world of restraint, madness is nothing but self-indulgence, and self-compassion is the act of a coward.
We need a "pure man" who is so strong-willed that he doesn't even bother to go crazy, and is so conceited that he uses knowledge and logic to understand the "indescribable" and never gives up.
Until the reader is convinced that he can really do it in such despair.
And this is just the most basic, the whole process of making it is interesting and cool, so cool that it is a "cool article", all profoundly hidden under the ultimate principle of "making people happy to read it".
This is the most ideal state that Zuo Lun thought of, although it is not easy to achieve.
But self-torture and arms race are what the author should do, instead of forcing people to accept that the world is like this and the story should be like this.
And then go one step further——
4. Why is it a unit drama format?
Because it's a perfect match.
The complex background, conspiracy, and foreshadowing will make the story exciting and very suitable for the G-type world.
But if you follow a normal linear narrative, the above will lead to an inevitable drawback, that is, each plot will be unclear and incomplete.
The form of unit drama just completes this point, using stories that are inherently complete to complete the description of the entire world. The background of the genre is naturally suitable for fragmented narratives, and the unlimited flow of online unit dramas is a two-way street in Zuolun's view, a match made in heaven.
So when he realized this, Zuolun was a little confused. It seemed that few people had done this.
Of course, this doubt was quickly answered—it was far from easy to do.
The above content is Zuolun’s explanation of “why it is written like this”.
The reason why I talk about this is actually very simple - I don't want to emphasize the hard work, but I hope everyone can believe that Revolver made reasonable efforts before the story was revealed.
Then you can enjoy the fun of "shuangwen" without any psychological burden and without any moral pressure.
Because the revolver has already helped me deeply.
In addition, here are some frequently asked questions.
5. Why such a name?
More than one book friend complained that the title of this book was really bad. In fact, this is already a revised version.
When I first published the book, I wanted to call it "Looking Directly at the Evil God for a Whole Year", and I had no intention of deliberately trying to gain popularity.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
As a result, after waiting for a while, I was rejected by the review and failed.
Later, I provided an outline as required, and then it was rejected again and again.
Later it was changed to this name, but it still didn't pass.
Later, the problem was solved with the help of editor Zi Liang.
Of course, the twists and turns of the process are not much different in essence. The main purpose is to illustrate that in the title of the book, Revolver really hopes to be simple and straightforward.
The same goes for the story. It doesn’t deliberately pull emotions, doesn’t pretend to be profound, and explains the way to complete the task in the most straightforward way, so that everyone can see it clearly, although this means that it needs to undergo more intense scrutiny.
6. Is there an outline? How many words?
Yes, but not much. The outline plus basic setting is about 60,000 words, and it relies more on improvisation.
However, Zuolun has an essay word file for this book with a name similar to "Ten Whys Every Day". When I think of interesting ideas or interesting questions, I write them in it and ask and answer them.
And now it's split into four.
The reason is that after the system of my old laptop was upgraded last year, the lag was very serious when opening and typing files with hundreds of thousands of words. I had to open a new file. Later I found that the upper limit of lag was about 70,000 words, and then I opened it again.
After looking at it so far, the number of words in each document is 442,000, 75,000, 70,000, and 6,000, totaling less than 600,000.
I hope this number can help to support the above sentence, "Revolver has helped to deepen the story."
7. Why is there a percentage when loading tasks? Is it because of the word count?
In fact, careful book lovers may find that the loading progress figures of several tasks in the middle are a bit strange.
Because the initial loading progress was indeed to form a standard system. Later, Zuolun felt it was a bit monotonous, so he wanted to do a different sequence problem for each task to help the attentive book friends miss the math class:-D
But later on, I really didn’t have enough energy, so I just kept the standard format.
8. How are the results? Have you done any promotion?
I am very ashamed that this book has not done any free or paid promotion so far, including but not limited to book lists, book promotion numbers, monthly passes, etc.
The development up to now has been relying on the tap water of book friends.
Why do I say I feel ashamed? Because for a long time, this was considered a proactive choice, stemming from some principles that newcomers took for granted.
For example, the story should be pure, the author should be as invisible as possible, and the pleasure of reading should not be spoiled by any off-site factors, let alone talk too much about family matters.
For example, the results should also be pure and can be said with confidence under any circumstances, without relying on the power of promotion.
I don’t even want to be too stressed and make the update even more difficult...
However, from a while ago, there was a problem with the left-wheel consciousness - it was too taken for granted and selfish.
Now is an era of sharing. The joy of reading is not limited to the story itself, but also finding resonance.
It is a very good feeling to be recognized for something you like and then find others who like it. As a gamer, Zuo Lun knows this very well.
In fact, this is also a spiritual appeal that humans have always had, and the information age has made it even more magnified. For example, even if you have already watched a movie, you will occasionally think of it and watch it again with the barrage.
In essence, Revolver's contempt for promotion and some unnecessary principles have actually hurt the fans of this book and greatly reduced everyone's enjoyment of this aspect.
The carefully written analysis can only be seen by a few people, and the emotions that arouse when reading can only be resonated by a few.
In particular, reading this book actually consumes more mental energy. The final result is that more effort is spent, and the investment and return are not proportional.
Even forced to self-doubt and even self-denial.
Some book friends have sent me screenshots, and I have seen it myself. A rhetorical question that often appears in the comment area is - if there are no problems with this book, why can't it be seen on the monthly ticket list?
It is indeed difficult to refute, the heart-killing power is quite powerful.
Reading itself is a very subjective matter, and it is fair to a certain extent to use quantifiable data to compare.
So when faced with such a question, many book friends may not be able to help but think - is there really a problem?
No story can bear such questioning.
Being forced to deny something you like, or even doubting yourself about your past likes, is a very painful feeling, and Zuo Lun also knows this very well.
Perhaps the author has narcissistic self-confidence, but he cannot ask book lovers to do the same.
Not to mention that in addition to promotion issues, some of the negative effects of this book are too numerous to mention.
Including but not limited to newcomers, new books, few updates, frequent requests for leave, and discontinued recommendations...
The comment area was not managed for a long time, so much so that some book friends became angry and said they would never post any comments again...
The story mode determines that the proportion of reading books is extremely high, and the recommendation of the starting point is almost entirely determined by reading...
The lazy chapter names, although the original intention is to be lazy, it is also to make it easier for everyone to lock in the copy, but the reading of the data is inevitably more compromised, or even inferior to pure numbers...
I am not looking for excuses to say the above, but I can sum it up in one sentence - it is not that everyone has a problem with taste, the responsibility lies with the revolver. There is a huge stack of debuffs, which greatly affects the results.
All in all, during the creation process of this book, the author thought too simply and pleased himself.
And now Revolver has decided to take on more.
Read carefully and spend energy to analyze. Book lovers who smile knowingly because of interesting places should not suffer any extra grievances.
As the person in charge of this story and this fun, Zuolun will later use part of the income from this book to do some promotional activities.
And the first step has been made clear, which is to complete the lv4 out-of-circle achievement at the starting point.
The book has entered the second half, so this may not have good results, but after completion, at least 20 more fan titles will be gained every month, and the money spent can be given back to book friends to the maximum extent possible.
In addition, one of the requirements for the "Out of the Circle" achievement is interaction between readers.
So what Zuolun would like to ask everyone here is to give wonderful comments and thumbs up for your careful interpretation while reading.
If you can, please leave your own opinions. There is no limit to speech in the comment area of this book.
If you have anything you want to tell Zuolun, you are welcome to leave a message at any time. Zuolun will answer everything as soon as possible.
Sharing is a very happy thing. Zuolun deeply realized this during the process of writing this book. He hopes that book lovers will not miss this kind of fun while reading.
Every support you give will help the development of this story enter a virtuous cycle.
Revolver thanks again.
It’s a very long thing to write in one go. I would like to thank all the book friends who can read this. Finally, I would like to promote our book friends group again.
The New Year is celebrated in January this year, and it is already the twelfth lunar month. If you are interested, don’t forget to lurk in advance to grab the New Year red envelopes.
The size of the red envelope will be proportional to the number of people, so there is no need to worry about diluting everyone's luck.
Happy New Year, I wish everyone good health and good luck in 2025^▽^
The night of December 31, 2024