A summary.

The first arc of Mist Era is now complete. When I wrote the final lines, I was suddenly overcome with a flood of feeling.

I began serializing Supernatural Twins in April of 2014, and Mist Era in January of 2019.

Supernatural Twins still isn’t finished. The story has reached the late middle stage, and there are still plenty of excellent chapters ahead. My head is so crammed with plot that it nearly aches, but for various reasons—many, many reasons—I simply can’t write them out yet.

Still, Twins is only on hold, not over. I can’t promise when each chapter will come, because my work hours are erratic and the pressure is heavy; most importantly, my superiors’ thought processes remain baffling, and at any moment they may suddenly invent a brand-new, incomprehensible excuse for overtime.

Not long ago, I thought my job had become easier and my free time more abundant. I never expected things to take such a sudden turn and grow so stormy again. To keep Mist moving at two chapters a day is already the utmost effort I can manage.

Of course, no matter what, Supernatural is where my dream began. I will still return and finish it.

Supernatural represents my dream; Mist represents my reality.

From the very beginning, this book drew plenty of teasing from readers who said it was too formulaic, too hackneyed, nothing but the same old rags-to-riches climb and tragedy-at-home routine. What you did not know was how much willpower it took for me to restrain myself from going completely off the rails right from the start.

I solemnly promised my wife that this time, there would be no more surprises from nowhere, no more writing for love alone. I would honestly and dutifully write to the formula, honestly and dutifully earn my fees, and honestly and dutifully help shoulder the family’s financial burden. So this arc has, for the most part, followed the formula as well.

—B-u-t—

As expected, I still can’t keep myself bottled up, heheh.

Readers who know me well understand that I’m the kind of person who likes to plant clues in the most inconspicuous places and dig enormous traps long in advance. This book may have opened in a conventional way, but I have no intention of merely writing a conventional novel. I can’t reveal the specifics, so just keep reading. Many of the ideas in reserve here are even more radical and daring than those in Supernatural.

Also, let me briefly explain the social background of the first arc’s setting. Quite a few readers felt that some of the more street-gang-like scenes were too fake, and impossible in modern society.

And yes, those things are rarely seen in modern society now. But that does not mean they never happened.

In the Eastland nation of this timeline, technological development is roughly comparable to our own country in the early years of the new millennium, while social development and urban construction are more akin to the level of the mid-1990s, around ninety-five to ninety-seven.

Younger readers may have no impression of that era; many were not even born until after the new century began. But in the mid-1990s, the sort of people described in the text—swaggering around with tattooed dragons and tigers, brawling, loitering the streets, and picking fights—did indeed exist. Open extortion, blatant threats and inducements, and the brutal tactic of cornering people in narrow alleys were all real as well. This is not invention, but memory of an age.

Later on, I will write about many different timelines, each with its own larger backdrop and the stories born beneath it. Though I can’t account for every detail, I will do my best to refine the basic logic and keep everything consistent.

Finally, the first arc comes to an end, and the protagonist, Old Tie, will return to his original timeline.

So what is that original timeline like, this world of the Mist Era?

Please look forward to it: the second arc of Mist Era, Breaking the Cocoon at Woodwork Fort!