Harem Scarem: 040

　　A week had passed since I`d successfully convinced Rachel to exit my orbit and changed up my lunch routine, and my life had quickly been trending back towards normality. While I still ran across the harem members with a fair bit of regularity, and likely would until the end of the semester, it was very obvious that their focus had universally shifted away from me to other pursuits. I hadn`t really realized how much attention they had been paying me until I was being treated like any other acquaintance or semi-friend. The weird coincidences with Debbie had completely ceased, as well, and both Mom and Dad agreed that I`d likely bucked the genre.

　　I was incredibly happy, but also a bit lonely. Seamus was back to noticing I existed, but none of my other friends had the same lunch, so I was feeling isolated. Not that I regretted escaping the harem! But even so&

　　In any case, I was drifting in that state that`s midway between waking and sleeping late one Friday night about a week later when I dreamt I heard a soft voice.

　　Yahello, E.O. Tenkey here!

　　Pffft, what a stupid name. Whoever chose that pseudonym was clearly creativity-deficient.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

　　I know it`s the standard in afterwards to thank a long list of personal acquaintances, but honestly almost no one who actually knows me in person has read Not A Manga, so the person I most want to thank is you! Thank you for spending the time to read this story! I started writing Not A Manga because it was something I wanted to read, but I only finished it thanks to readers like yourself.

　　Wait, afterward? Hell yeah, vindication! Suck on that, Genre!

　　I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Xavier and his friends and family, and if you liked the story (or even if you didn`t) please consider leaving a review, a simple star rating, or recommending it to mostly-strangers online. I`d really love to be able to support myself with my writing, and word of mouth is the strongest tool available to me for working towards that goal.

　　I hope you drown in single stars, you hack.

　　In any case, to my personal surprise the story ended up heading in some unexpected directions, particularly towards the end. Both slice-of-life stories and rom-coms are admittedly outside my typical comfort zone genre-wise, so perhaps it`s understandable that the characters moved in directions I didn`t expect.

　　Or perhaps it`s because we`re real people, not characters.

　　Regardless, while the story may have ended a little short by typical standards for fiction, fear not! What genre is in store next for our beleaguered protagonist? Join me for volume 2, and you`ll find out!

　　Until the next volume!—E.O. Tenkey

　　I shot upright, my heart pounding as I tore straight from a doze into all-out panic.

　　Volume 2?! VOLUME 2?! YOU MOTHER-FU—