It's been a while since I sent the last update, and some of you might remember that back then, I was having work related issues and felt too drained to write anything worthwhile.

Unfortunately, it all culminated in me catching a gastritis (stomach inflammation) roughly four months ago and spent almost a month on a sick leave. Well, I got better and decided to pace myself better, but the longer pause gave me enough time to look back and evaluate the state of this novel and well, to be honest I wasn't really satisfied with what I realized.

I'll be honest here, as I've stated early on, this was the very first attempt at writing and I have never expected to either get as far as I have and get so much appreciation and positive feedback from all of you great readers. However, I am more and more aware of issues that are impossible to fix unless I did a massive rewrite, which isn't really something I am willing to do. (I've seen many authors getting lost in editing hell to confidently jump into it myself). For that, I want to both thank you all and apologies for letting it go into hiatus.

Have I been considering of returning to it later? Maybe, but most likely not. As I've said, the issue of pacing and also John's build and power set getting kind of all over the place is not something I can just fix, and the story was becoming more and more problematic as it continued.

I have finally found time and enjoyment to resume writing, but I am mostly messing around with ideas and seeing what works out and sticks :)

Right now, I am mostly thinking among three ideas, and I am curious if you have any opinions about the concepts and which you think would be most enjoyable to read.

1: A reincarnation story where main characters dies and is reborn in a fantasy world and uses his intact memories to grow his skills from early age, growing an advantage over his peers and finding his place as an heir to a noble family. This one is inspired by Soul of the warrior and Gamer Reborn.

Here the MC would form a significant advantage by training in mana skills from very early age, but would later realize that he has a significant disadvantage in lack of any affinities (that would be foreshadowed very early on) and would be forced to work (mostly) with only pure mana skills and would be inspired by his father to thread mana skills into melee combat. (His father would be a powerful metal affinity brawler and there will be a lightning affinity swordsman instructor who would help him turn his disadvantage into a powerful boon instead).

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Also, my idea if I was to write this, the MC would spend only a couple of chapters as a child to establish the world and introduce characters and then a time skip will move him to the end of apprenticeship (roughly 16 years old and onward) to avoid wasting too much time on a child MC

2: An action-survival story about earth being destroyed and humanity forcefully transported to a fantasy world where they have to build their new society. The MC had wasted most of this new opportunity by playing it safe and becoming a great cook for his budding settlement, but after getting involved with a mysterious ritual is somehow transported back in time and has the opportunity to start anew. Here I have thought out that his profession would be an alchemist and his class inspired by a legend he remembered of a powerful fire mage called Pyrosage and would try to replicate it with water instead. (A Hydrosage)

To start with, he would be focused on boosting only a single ability, a Water Manipulation, and playing the long game. The story would have a base-building features, but the MC would not be in a leadership position, but start as a support role, helping the other survivors by taking care of clean water and making potions while growings in proficiency with his signature ability. (Later he would become a powerhouse on its own, but the idea here would be to have a versatile class in the beginning and having to fight smart, that is why he would pair it with an alchemist profession, bolstering his water manipulation with myriad of poisons to contend against more straightforward fighting classes)

3: A timeloop sci-fi story inspired by Helldivers, Starship Troopers, Edge of Tomorrow, and of course the Stubborn Skill Grinder :) (I fell in love with that one and was thinking if I could try doing an action-packed loop with skill-based system similar to Edge of Tomorrow.

Here, in prologue, we would find that the MC was a cadet who protected his friend from well-connected bullies by beating them halfway to death. During that time, the military academy would be visited by a military recruiter who is offering any second-to-last or last-year cadets to graduate early and be enlisted to bolster the frontline against aggressive alien species. The recruiter ignores the academy politics and overrules the angry noble families of the bullies by offering the MC a chance to avoid the expulsion and heavy punishment by being conscripted to defend a key position. Of course, shit hits the fan early and when the fortified position nears the brink of ruin, by a mix of courage, luck, and prowess the MC obtains an artifact gun capable of stealing powers of special aliens, empowering itself and one of its powers would be a time anchor, forcing him to relive the siege again and again every time he dies.

So, that's what I am messing around with and may announce it here later if I get to writing enough to have a sufficient backlog to begin releasing without a risk of running out. If you have any questions about either of the stories, the Cardocalypse, or me, feel free to ask in the comments. I'll be checking the feed out.

Last but not least, I want to once again thank you all for all the positive comments, tips, and reviews. It was a blast, and hopefully I'll be able to write and release something even better soon.