Afterword
Afterword
I ALWAYS FIND MYSELF thinking about the true meaning of destiny. And during that process, sometimes I make amazing discoveries! But no matter how hard I try, I’m incapable of fully verbalizing what I’ve figured out. Perhaps it’s a hard limit that mere mortals can’t surpass.
Despite how frustrating this is, after some time passes, I’ll inevitably find myself thinking about destiny all over again. I’m obsessed with the way in which interpersonal relationships begin and end. Perhaps this is my destiny… (They told me I’m free to write whatever nonsense I like in this section, so there you go.)
That reminds me—I hear I’m going to receive an award. Maybe they’ll give me a “wrote a bunch of books for Dengeki Bunko” prize. At this point, I don’t know the exact number of books I’ve published, but I owe my success to all you readers out there. And I owe it to myself too, of course. I only pray that we all continue to live happy, healthy lives.
Again, I’m at least partly responsible for my own success. If I didn’t write these books, no one else would have, I can tell you that much.
I worked hard yesterday and all the days before that, and I’ll be working just as hard from here on out. If I don’t put in the effort today, then I’ll only struggle harder tomorrow. Not that I’m opposed to struggling, as long as it doesn’t put too much extra on my plate… Is such a thing even possible? I haven’t found it to be the case yet. Maybe it’s a myth. I look forward to finding out.
At the time of this writing, I suspect that this will be my last published release of 2016. I know it’s a little early still, but I want to thank you all for spending the year with me. If possible, I hope to see you again next year too. By all means, keep reading Adachi and Shimamura, or maybe try one of my other works.
Alternatively, I wrote a glowing review of Eiji Mikage’s debut novel, Bokura wa Dokonimo Hirakanai (“Closed Off”), so feel free to read that too. Or tell his fans to check me out. Win-win for everybody!
For the record, 2017 marks my tenth anniversary as a novelist, and I’d like to publish something to commemorate it if I’m able to. Oh, and I think Volume 8 is going to be the school trip arc, but I haven’t decided where they’re going yet. Where do high schools send their students these days? Will I need to fit a “day at the hot springs” story in there somewhere? I don’t know. I’m utterly clueless, to be honest.
—Hitoma Iruma