AFTERWORD

Hello, this is Reki Kawahara. Thank you for reading Sword Art Online 10: Alicization Running.

The subtitle “Running” is meant to be a reference to something in action or proceeding. A computer program “runs,” as you know. On the other hand, this book didn’t seem like it was really speeding along to me…In fact, pretty much the entire first half was dedicated to setup and explanation (which often happens with me), so I don’t blame any readers for wondering, “When are the swords gonna do their art?!” Allow me to take this opportunity to say something I repeat out of sheer custom: I’m sorry about all the exposition!

On that topic, please allow me to make another apology. In this story arc, the mysterious Mr. Kikuoka’s true position is finally revealed, but allow me to be clear that he is not a mouthpiece for the author’s worldview. His actions arose as a necessity from his position, and there are many characters in the story who oppose his views—we saw Asuna do this herself. The distance between the character and the author is normally made very clear through the text itself, so that the reader doesn’t require a disclaimer like this one, but it seems I have a problem with reaching that level of clarity…I’ll try to be better about this sort of thing in the future, but I felt strongly enough about it to bring it up here. Please keep that in mind!

One more apology. The original publication of this book in Japan is on July 10th, 2012, meaning that I’ve finally broken the streak of every even-numbered month that had lasted since my debut. Part of this was intentional, so we could time it for the premiere of the SAO anime series, but it’s also true that I wouldn’t have finished it in time anyway. So I’m sorry to all of you who expected to see another two-month publication! My idea (my ideal?) is to have Accel World 12 out in August, where it would have been normally, thus returning me to my every-other-month schedule for the foreseeable future. I’m sure there will come a time where that pace crumbles for good, and I’ll be here to apologize for it profusely. In fact…I’m really sorry if that time ends up being before the end of this year…

As I just mentioned, this book should originally be coming out right around the time that the TV anime series begins. The fact that this story I began writing on a website ten years ago is a published series, a manga, a drama CD, and now an anime, is not just a source of joy to me but also a tribute to the mysterious nature of life. It may not be as complex as a video game story, but there have nonetheless been a myriad of different branching options to get to this point. If I didn’t have Mr. Miki as my editor, if I didn’t have abec as an illustrator, if I hadn’t applied for the Fifteenth Dengeki Novel Award, if I hadn’t kept writing my web novel, or if I hadn’t decided to write a story about a VRMMO game of death ten years ago, I wouldn’t be here now. I tend to think that things happen the way they’re meant to happen—and don’t go the way they’re not meant to go. But I can’t help but feel as though this SAO thing was brought forth to this point by some tremendous power. Naturally, that power includes the strength provided by all your support for my endeavors. The story has a long way to go, so I’d love it if you could follow Kirito’s adventures in the years to come.

I’m noticing that this afterword is rapidly expanding in length, so I figured that this would be a good time to provide a personal update, but…there’s nothing to write about! Even my one great hobby of biking is still an active one for me, but my riding route is so fixed and predictable that I might as well be riding on bike rollers indoors at this point. When the input drops, naturally the output does as well, so I want to try other stuff all over the place, but I find that my areas of interest are naturally limiting, to say nothing of the lack of time. Honestly, the only thing I want to do with all my heart is write! (laughs) If only that made the actual writing speed pick up.

Still, now that it’s been over three years since my published debut, I truly think it’s a blessing to be able to write the story that I want to write. It sounds like a simple thing, but there are a ton of hurdles to overcome. And there are surprisingly few of those hurdles that you can jump over solely through your own effort…So I want to stay healthy and keep riding my bike. The goal is ninety miles a week!

Well, I’ve still got a couple of lines of space on this page, but the deadline to submit is in ten minutes, so I should probably wrap it up. Normally, I’d spend about five lines doing my usual thanks and apologies, but I’ve kind of covered them all, so I’ll go over what’s next instead…

Volume 11, the third book in the Alicization saga, will feature Kirito and Eugeo’s arrival at the center of the Underworld. How the world is shaped and who is controlling it will (probably) be revealed at last…so I hope to see you there.

Please check out the anime adaptation, too, as well as the SAO video game currently in development. My guess is that this is one game of death that won’t be inescapable!

Reki Kawahara—May 2012