This is painful to write.

When I first started this story I was working on a whim, I was bored and wanted to MAKE something rather than just consume others content.

The first few chapters of this were really bad, quoting from one of the most constructive comments I received from TACHYON : "To be frank, this first chapter is a very bad way to start a story." (he then went on to explain his thought process and was EXTREMELY helpful in pointing out places where I could improve in both this story and in general)

However, the first few chapters were also a blast to write, I was having a ton of fun creating jake and the world around him.

at the same time though, my inexperience was also creating chains that would bind the rest of the story. I was basing geography off real-world locations (i literally had to print out a map of Washington state), stats essentially served no purpose, magic (while offering some fun creative development) was a silver bullet type action with no real way to expand it without breaking immersion.

On the other hand I have been mulling over a completely separate idea for years now, I have basic notes for it, the world is based off a trope (VRMMO) so I have a world structure already set. Something much easier for a beginner to develop. and to top it all off it's based around my favorite sub-genre (crafting).

so it really came down to the question, why am I writing this. and my answer was I don't know.

so, for now, I'm gonna let this rest. it will go on hiatus, and with luck in the future ill rewrite it into something more expandable.

and ill start a new story that I've had planned for years.

I'm sorry if anyone was really enjoying the story. I want to say sorry specifically to people who rated and commented, TACHYON in particular, as well as my one discord server member scottf89, tbh I probably would have done this earlier if I hadn't been talking to him over there.

thanks for reading :)

TLDR: I'm dropping this story for now and starting another one that I actually planned out a little. I might restart this at some point.