I feel quite frankly ashamed I have to add a sort of author's disclaimer ere this chapter is published to Wattpad/Webnovel. This chapter (Gaea) is the last sort of "introduction" chapter to this volume. Aside from the epilogue (obviously intended to be read last) this is the only other chapter you really need to read in order. Going forward, each story will effectively be self-contained, but this one and the last story (the previous 2 chapters) finish setting up the premise of the lead character.
I feel this one in particular sort of exemplified everything I hate about myself as an author. When I started writing, what would eventually be, the sequel to this book I realized my writing was far too prolix. It wasn't quite John Steinbeck bad, but I spent way too much word-space on arbitrary world building. The whole reason I decided to scrap that original book and write this one was to rectify that problem. I was EXCEPTIONALLY conscious of "trimming down" my "wordiness" while writing this volume…and I feel this chapter in particular was a big step back in everything I tried to refine about myself.
In any case, this story, more or less, came across like a bullet-point list of character/ world development, which was something I tried desperately to avoid. It has more fucking exposition than a shounen anime soliloquy, and I absolutely loath that in books. I'm sure many of you feel the same.
It's still a necessary evil, though, as I conveyed the key points in this tale which sets up the quandaries and conflicts of the protagonist going forward. Believe it or not, this is actually my second re-write of this chapter in particular…and it disgusts me that after so much contemplation, THIS is the best I can come up with.
Regardless, I ask anyone who may be reading this to keep that in mind going forward. The rest of the book won't be like this. I implore your cooperation going forward. I wrote this book years ago, and I don't have the time or energy these days to devote to this series any more, but if ever I should come back to it I can guarantee that at the very least THIS chapter will be subject to a complete re-write.
Thanks for your understanding, and power through!
Side note, on the subject of anime and such…I wrote this book a few years prior to the explosion of the terribly overdone "Isekai" subgenre of anime. I know it sounds like a total hipster thing to say, and I'm sorry…but I spent fuckin' years working on the final product of this story, and by today's standard the basic premise isn't all that new or exciting. Still, I feel the focus on the philosophy and violent nature of humanity and the world sets it apart just enough not to be redundant. Kind of a bummer I didn't put this out before, though. Maybe I would have been the first Re:Zero, hah.
Oh, and yeah, I know "dw wae." Again, I was fucking years ahead of that bullshit, back in college. But I know anyone who reads this and spends any time on the internet is gonna spam me with "do you kno de wae?" Just chill out, guys.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Now, on to the story!