Ch.BONUSAfterword

Um… this is an afterword, but I’m starting without much organization.

Actually, now that I’m here, my mind is blank about what to write.

So I’ll just start writing whatever comes to mind!

383 chapters including side stories. The serialization period was from April 4, 2022, to June 25, 2023.

After writing for a year and two more months, “Avoid Your Former Colleagues” has finally concluded!

…Of course, due to COVID, unexpected hiatuses, and health deterioration, I probably wrote for less than a year in reality.

I’m not sure if any readers who’ve been here since the beginning are still around, but originally this novel aimed for 5 updates per week. There wasn’t a fixed schedule, but I jumped in with the mindset of “Let’s try to write 5 chapters a week!”

As a result, except for the very early chapters (around the first 15), I couldn’t maintain a consistent schedule. I didn’t realize back then that this could actually inconvenience readers more. It was only much later that I started daily updates, which probably contributed to the longer gaps.

Well, this is a secret, but this was actually a piece I initially submitted to a contest and then fled to Plus when I realized it wouldn’t work… I doubt anyone knows about that? Ahem; I had to do it because I needed to know my limits…

Ah, I also changed the title once midway through. Between comments saying the title didn’t match the content and my own realization that it wouldn’t fit the latter half of my story, I changed it.

That became the current title.

“Avoid Your Former Colleagues.”

Then around chapter 50, I went through an extremely difficult period.

Now I have about 4,600 pre-orders from readers, but back then, I didn’t have enough pre-orders to qualify for exclusive publication.

The truth was that this work wasn’t interesting and was an ambiguous piece that didn’t even satisfy genre expectations. You might call it “my-writing-sucks disease,” but even compared to writers who weren’t popular but had fewer pre-orders and recommendations than me, I had to acknowledge and accept that I wasn’t writing well.

But I didn’t want to give up. I was determined to see it through to completion.

Then around chapter 70, the view count suddenly started rising rapidly. Along with that, pre-orders filled up, and I was finally able to apply for exclusive publication!

From then on, my income steadily increased, but I still couldn’t figure out what I should do.

Is this story good enough? Will readers appreciate these plot threads if I continue with them?

I was lost in countless worries. Then suddenly, the cover caught my eye. I said out loud:

“I should probably create a cover first?”

Novel-chan and the deer…

Unlike now, I just had white text on a black background. That must have been quite unappealing, right?

But… I had never commissioned artwork before.

I hurriedly built up a backlog of chapters and realized I needed to commission art since I couldn’t draw it myself.

Then I found a promotional post on a certain community offering cover illustrations at an affordable price. That became the early cover, the illustration of Renias in a school uniform.

When I saw the line art of the cover, I was amazed that they could create something from my terrible descriptions. When the base colors came, I was doubly impressed. When it was completed, I applauded and expressed my gratitude.

Now that I had a cover, you’d think I’d be excited to write more!

…I wish, but my headaches doubled. What should the next story be? What about those plot threads… I can’t let this character’s traits get ruined… Wait, I wrote this wrong! And so on.

My insufficient knowledge about novels resulted in chapters being squeezed out with difficulty. Looking back now, readers who followed through to the end must have felt quite frustrated.

As I continued writing, I reached around chapter 100.

I was amazed that it had reached 200,000 views.

More than anything, I felt grateful. So many people were reading it!

But right then, I caught COVID.

…Yes. From that point, the readership that had been about 500 per chapter suddenly dropped to 100.

I couldn’t take care of my health at all. My throat infection was so severe that I couldn’t eat, and I’d wake up just from coughing. Only after getting medication twice more and buying a spray-type medicine for my mouth did the COVID symptoms finally subside.

So I couldn’t write at all. For almost two weeks? I couldn’t update during that long period.

The problem was that I started thinking it might not just be because of COVID. When I reread my novel, I couldn’t find any parts that seemed interesting. That’s when I realized, ah, I’ve been writing poorly.

So I went through another difficult period, forcing myself to write.

I thought about creating a new cover and commissioned an illustration of Renias in an off-shoulder dress.

Even though it was my second time, commissioning art is still… still…!! difficult……. Thinking about composition, clothes, background, explaining it all was really, really, really hard. Why is my brain so stupid… mmph.

Anyway, that became the current cover: Renias in an off-shoulder dress, holding Junon’s hand.

I took a break after chapter 143, calling it the “end of part 1″… but it wasn’t really part 1. From that point, I resolved to write more diligently! I came back with the goal of daily updates. Of course, I still took hiatuses and was late countless times… ㅠㅠ…

Anyway, I kept writing until the end. I was determined to see this through to completion.

Then, luck came my way. Or was it luck? It was happiness brought by the readers.

I saw Renias’s face prominently displayed on Novelpia’s main page under “Works Readers Are Binge-Reading”!!!!

With the sudden influx of new readers, I couldn’t help but smile.

So I pushed myself. Thinking I should work harder, I started tying up loose plot threads, connecting Renias’s storylines faster. There were even a few days when I wrote two chapters in one day (only 2 or 3 days, but still).

The aftermath: deteriorating health again… depleted backlog… messed up plot threads… ARGGHHH ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

From then on, forcing myself to write became my daily routine.

This situation continued until the completion of both the main story and the side stories.

Of course, I was able to finish thanks to the approximately 150 dedicated readers who wanted Junon and Renias to end up together!!!

Yes… this has turned into an afterword full of TMI. Damn.

Anyway, this novel was completed through the process described above. I’m considering whether to write an epilogue, but there’s a high possibility I won’t after this afterword. No matter how much I rack my brain, I don’t have anything more to add…

Oh dear; I should wrap this up before I add more TMI.

What I want to say is the same now as it was then.

This novel lacked entertainment value and had many shortcomings, but thank you for reading it anyway.

This work could be completed because of you, the readers.

Thank you!!!

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them in the comments!