Hey, everyone.

Hasn't been quite as long as it usually has since the last update, but I do want to keep those who are 'following' the game (I use air-quotes because there's really not much to follow at this point in development) in the loop with recent developments.

So, back in November I completely outlined Chapter Five, plotted out the murder, and so forth in quite a bit of detail. I daresay I went into more detail than I usually do. The chapter's looking pretty good. I'm not going to pretend it'll live up to Danganronpa 2 or V3's fifth case, but I think it's a fitting fifth case nonetheless. And in several respects, the fifth case I've come up with does some things I don't think most official (and fanganronpa games for that matter) would seriously consider attempting. It's really a unique case. Even if only for the context surrounding the murder. That's not to say I'll execute it as well as it could be executed, but I'm really looking forward to writing it and it should be a lot of fun.

That being said, over the past few weeks I've been blindsided by a number of things that have unfortunately impeded development and may continue to do so a bit longer.

For one thing, my shift is changing at work. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I originally worked overnight and now I'll be working more or less in the daytime. For a number of months, I've been working straight through each day and taking all of my breaks at once at the end of the day, which has been great for Danganronpa Team's development as I can sit down for an extended period of time, get into the zone, and stay in the zone—rather than only having a handful of minutes before having to go back to work. I don't think I'll be able to do that on a daytime shift, considering my boss's boss's (who are a lot stricter/less understanding) will be around. But we'll see!

Along with that, work has just been much more stressful in general lately for a variety of reasons that I won't bother getting into here. It's retail, so I'm sure those of you who have any experience in the sector can chance a few guesses as to the kind of stupid stuff I've been dealing with on the regular, especially around the holiday season.

Aside from work, health has been a big issue this month, for both myself and my family. My grandpa, the head of my family, has been suffering from several different types of cancer for the past few months, and things are winding down to a close here. He doesn't have long at all to live. So that's been really tearing me and the rest of my family up lately.

But along with that, I myself got a fever or the flu (something of the sort) in early December. And that led into a pretty bad bout with bronchitis that I'm still suffering the aftereffects of. That in particular has put me out of commission for several weeks. Even a night this past week, I sat down to get some good writing in for Danganronpa Team and couldn't because I was hit with such a fierce and long-lasting coughing fit that I couldn't even get a single sentence down.

So, all this stuff sucks. It sucks a lot. I've been pretty down in the dumps lately not just because of what's been going on, but because I haven't been able to relax and get any writing for Danganronpa Team done. BUT I think at least as far as my health is concerned, things are getting better. I've still got a cough, but it's not affecting me nearly as much as it did previously. I've been dabbling in getting back to writing over the past week and I think I should be good to get back into it full force over this upcoming week. To say the least, it should provide a good distraction from the things I've been struggling with that I can't do anything about.

That all being said, this forcible break I've had to take hasn't been all bad. It's strengthened my drive and passion for this project and made me very eager to jump back into writing. As such, I'm going to attempt to ramp up production a bit compared to Chapter Four. I believe for Chapter Four I wrote throughout the week prior to going to work and then would write during my breaks at work. Back when I was writing Chapter Three I think I did all that as well as getting some writing in during my days off. I'd like to go back to doing that.

I think I've mentioned in the last update that Chapter Four ended up being very long. Admittedly, for as much as I like Chapter Four, its pacing leaves something to be desired. I'm still aiming to improve on that with Chapter Five, BUT after having outlined the chapter, I get the feeling it might end up being just as long. There's a lot of ground to cover in these last two chapters. We'll see how it goes, but know that a big part of the beta testing I do for each chapter is to help with identifying these faults and actively trying to improve upon them moving forward. So, I'm hoping that Chapter Five ends up being one of the best chapters in the game. Fingers crossed!

However, taking the assumed length of Chapter Five into account along with everything I've been dealing with lately, my projection currently places Chapter Five as being completed by the end of March. I'm not entirely happy with that, as it's a month later than I originally hoped to complete it, but under the circumstances that's unfortunately just the way that it looks like things are going. But who knows. Like I said, I feel my drive is stronger than ever after being sick for so long, so maybe the delay will only serve to improve the quality of the final product. We can hope, right?

That's all I wanted to share. Bit of an uncharacteristically long update considering how little I talked about Danganronpa Team itself in it, but I just didn't want to leave this go until Chapter Five is done and have people wondering "Oh, is it finally dead?" No, Danganronpa Team isn't dead. It won't be dead. I will have to be dead in order for Danganronpa Team to be dead. I am fully committed to finishing this game, whatever the cost. No matter how long it takes.

With that, I'll see you all in a few months. By then, Chapter Five should be finished and we'll be entering endgame territory. Exciting! And also kind of scary. While I've had Chapter Six planned out in my head for literal years, it's one of those chapters where I have to get certain things right, so I'll likely be under considerable pressure writing it. Wish me luck, I guess!... With everything!