Hey everyone! Michael Sakutani here, I'm the amateur writer responsible for the web novel you just read.

I feel pretty giddy writing an afterword, it's like I'm a professional now!

Well then, introduction aside, let's get to the afterword discussions...thighs.

Just kidding, I'll hold in my degeneracy for now and save it for another day.

Jokes aside, it's been quite a ride.

I started What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield as a joke since a particular friend mentioned to me how shielders (such as the best eggplant girl, Mashu) were useless, so I decided to write a whole story to prove her wrong. I was actually writing a romance at first, but every fiber in my body knew I had to prove her wrong.

That was all over a year ago, and ever since then, I've been writing almost every day.

I think one of the few things I regret was writing volume 1 all while I was still an amateur and not coming back to completely rework and refine everything. Of course, after a year, I definitely feel that my story writing has gotten much, much better.

Regrets aside, I want to thank my friends who encouraged me through these times, especially when my life hasn't been great on a personal front.

I want to thank my two talented artists, cinbuntea and chalkkonni (both on insta, check them out!) for taking up the work of creating my cover and bringing my characters to life.

And finally, I seriously want to thank you for reading the entirety of volume 1. It really means a lot to me that I still get recurring readers and that my story is interesting enough to wait a week for a new chapter.

Now, here's where things get a bit serious.

After multiple positive feedbacks (and highly important critical ones) I'm more than happy to continue writing volume 2 of What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield, however, due to my family and financial situation, I don't think I can at all.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Of course, I can write on the side, but I doubt it would be a short break before the first chapter of Volume 2 got published.

Why? You may ask.

It's because I've taken up some writing roles for some indie developers in hopes of earning some money on the side while writing. Although I was offered a contract on Webnovel, I decided to turn it down as I felt it would be quite odd and unfair for my readers on other platforms if volume 1 came to a sudden stop while it continued on Webnovel. After all, why should I force you to switch sites just for my work, right?

I still really want to write and publish works, and most importantly, I want to grow a community. So I've decided to come up with some solutions.

A. Put What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield? on hold and entirely focus on my writing roles for indie developers (After all, volume one is kind of like a pilot volume).

B. Work solely on volume 2 of What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield? (I would require at least 10 patreons on patreon, which after 6 months, hasn't really gotten anywhere understandably.)

C. Work on both at the same time (Although this would require me to have at least over 5 or 10 patreons)

D. Work on a different story which includes chapters that are in no real chronological order, where chapters are kind of more like "Episodes" (In short, the story is about an assassin who decided to give up the killing life to work full-time as a barista. Now I would still need some patreons to fund my monthly expenses, but working on chapters would take a shorter time as they're not too intensive and chronological, like the chapters of Komi-san, for example.)

It sucks, but unfortunately, money makes the world go round, and I really can't write on an empty stomach and without a roof, so I would need your help.

Ahh, it's getting all sad now, the afterword really shouldn't be like this!

Let us end it on a positive note.

Mentally, I feel much stronger than I have been 6 months ago, emotionally, I am quite lonely after being many miles away from loved ones, but overall, I'm still happy with the things I'm doing, though it would be nice if my Genshin luck was slightly better. My script for a Doki Doki Literature Club Mod is almost complete, and I've been getting inspiration for more stories that I absolutely will work on in the future (It may be tough, but I would consider writing 2 stories at the same time).

And again, seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading and sticking with my story. If I could, I'd personally fly out and give every one of you a handshake and my thanks. I honestly never expected to hit the numbers I hit on the sites I uploaded on this quickly, and although still considered a small amount in the bigger picture, having this many people read my work fills my heart entirely.

Thank you, so much, and no matter what happens in my life, Rin's story will come to a close!

Michael Sakutani out!