Chapter 1014: Ton Of Bad News

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Arkinslize

I quickly respond to those who were disappointed by the time trap's resulting time skip and expected something different or better. Although I know from my writing experience that pleasing everyone is impossible, I didn't pull this plot twist out of thin air. From their location to the passive attitude of the Dungeon Digestor, even the distorted and drawn-out voice of Cekt in his message, there were enough clues to see it coming. The most insightful would've realized it from the start, while most did when it became increasingly explicit in the later chapters.

The time trap isn't merely a handy Deus ex machina to inject a sense of urgency and pressure on Jake. Sure, it reshuffles the deck and alters the stakes, but consider it beyond that. Jake also gained from this perilous adventure. Beyond this, this arc introduced a host of elements, like the Voidshifters, the Digestor Virus...We learned more about the Brain-Eaters, Jake's powers, and the Corruption.

Had I taken a more linear approach (why not), Jake would logically have continued his training, developed his Floating Island, visited his family, advanced his relationship with Lucia, grappled with Enya and Esya's father wanting to force him into marriage to solidify their alliance, interacted with New Earth, and the eventual arrival of Kali (the female Silver Zhorion), etc. At some point, you would've encountered a time skip, but one without consequence or stakes. The thing is, even though that might be interesting in itself, it's highly predictable. If you already know what's going to happen (perhaps not in which order, but still), it makes it even more challenging for me to wow you.

Conversely, had we conducted a poll 100 chapters earlier about what would happen after the end of his Fourth Ordeal, I'm certain that no one would have imagined it.