Tomorrow, this book will go premium. There are some things that I, Old Wolf, have to get off my chest.
I actually got into web novels very early. The first time I ever wrote one was back in 2007.
Back then, I was using the same pen name, Wolf Ink, and writing a book called Blood Wolf Demon Path on Qidian. I was a college freshman at the time and didn't have a computer. Every day, I'd run to an internet cafe and race against the clock to write two chapters totaling eight thousand characters. (Chapters were longer back then; some were over five thousand characters, unlike now where they're three thousand at most, and usually just two thousand.) Afterward, I'd drag myself back to school for class, dead tired.
Sometimes, I had too many classes and no free time during the day, so I'd have to skip evening study hall to go write. To save time and money on the internet cafe fees, I would write out the entire chapter by hand before I even went. That period of my life was exhausting, but it was also incredibly fulfilling.
But unfortunately, the book never got a contract with Qidian.
I kept writing until I had nearly four hundred thousand characters, and then something happened.
The internet cafe computers didn't have Microsoft Word, so I had to write directly in Qidian's draft box. One accidental press of the F5 key, and the four thousand characters I had spent nearly a whole afternoon writing completely vanished.
At that moment, I felt so devastated I couldn't even cry. I just wanted to smash the monitor to pieces.
But in the end.
I could only stand up and leave in silence.
Because my time was up, and I didn't have any more money in my pocket to keep writing.
It was then that my sister found out I was writing a book. She lent me four thousand yuan to buy a custom-built desktop computer. You have to understand, at the time, my sister's monthly income was only eight hundred yuan. Four thousand was five months of her salary. So from that moment, I started thinking, 'I have to make this work. I can't let my sister's sacrifice be in vain, and I can't let all my own hard work go to waste.'
But the result, as you can probably guess... a book that couldn't even get a contract with Qidian, how could it possibly be successful?
I was going crazy back then, trying everything I could think of to get a contract. Eventually, an online editor found me and brought me to a newly-established website. It was there that I received my first-ever novel contract, and it was also there I first experienced the brutal reality of going premium.
Three thousand favorites, one hundred subscribers. Some of you might not know what that means, so let me put it in the most straightforward terms I can.
At the time, I was writing twelve thousand characters a day, nearly four hundred thousand characters a month. But in the end, all I earned was a measly one hundred yuan.
One hundred yuan.
I was spending six or seven hours a day writing, and it wasn't even enough to cover my internet and electricity bills.
So, I gave up.
I went back to focusing on my studies, hoping to learn something useful and find a good job after graduation. But deep down, I always had this urge.
The urge to return to this industry, to write a successful book.
But it never went anywhere. I'd pick up the pen, only to put it back down. I'd start a story, only to abandon it. This went on until the end of last year, 2015. After working a string of different jobs and even starting my own business—a Taobao store that was finally starting to do well—the idea of writing a book began to sprout once more.
Because I felt that after all these years, I still hadn't let go of my dream of writing novels.
I love this industry.
But a person has to face reality.
That first brutal experience of going premium had shattered my confidence.
Besides, I wasn't young anymore. But when my wife found out what I was thinking, she encouraged me to give it another try.
Ultimately, I made a decision.
Six months.
A period of six months.
I set a goal for myself.
If, after six months, my book still wasn't successful, I would give up. I would give up this dream for good and focus on working hard—for myself, for my family, and for my daughter who had just turned three.
I remember that day clearly. It was December 28th.
Twelve days after my daughter's birthday.
From that day on, I put everything else on hold and began preparing in earnest. I wasn't the same person I was nine years ago. I started learning how to create outlines, develop character profiles, and write a proper opening.
I wrote more than ten different openings, each thirty thousand characters long, before finally settling on the one you're reading now.
And by that time...
It was already the end of March.
So, the publication date, as you can all see, was March 28th.
Exactly three months after I set my goal.
From March 28th to today, July 2nd, another three months have passed. My six months are up. In fact, I've already gone over my self-imposed deadline.
So, I can't wait any longer.
Tomorrow is the moment of truth.
If the results after going premium are good, then my perseverance and all my hard work will not have been in vain. It will have meant something, and I will keep writing.
But if it's like 2007 all over again, and I can't even make a living, then I'll have no choice but to make the painful decision to walk away and never touch this profession again. Because it would mean that I'm just not cut out for it.
It would mean that no one is willing to pay for the stories I write. And in this industry, a book that doesn't make money is a book without value. There's no point in continuing. No one would feel sorry to see it go, and no one would think it deserves to exist, because, simply put, they don't like it.
Or rather, they don't like it enough. It's something they can take or leave. If it's there, they'll read a bit. If it's gone, they won't care.
And as for me, I would have no choice but to go back to my Taobao store to support my family. Even though I don't enjoy running the store, it pays the bills. It can give my daughter a relatively comfortable future. That would have to be my only choice.
Not web novels, the thing I've always loved.
Well, I didn't realize I had said so much. Recalling all these past events, I can't stop the tears from falling. Because those times were truly a mix of happiness and pain.
Finally, what I, Old Wolf, want to say is this: if you like my book, if you think it's worthwhile, then tomorrow, please lend Old Wolf a helping hand. If you don't like it, or if you can take it or leave it, then please just move on. That way, you'll be helping Old Wolf face reality and stop this web novel daydreaming.
Thank you, everyone.
I truly hope that every reader who has read this far will support Old Wolf, support the official release, and allow Old Wolf to keep walking this path. To keep going, and going, and going.