Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online - Volume 8 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD 

Gun Gale Diary: Part 8 

Hello, everyone. I’m the author of this book, Keiichi Sigsawa. 

It’s been two months since the release of Volume 7. Has anything changed in your life? 

Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online (hereafter, “the series”) has reached its eighth volume! I’m so happy. 

And that means this “Afterword Gun Gale Diary,” where the author can write whatever he feels like, has also reached its eighth installment. 

For the afterwords of the previous seven volumes, I discussed how this series came about, my favorite guns, the length of my second toes (which I spoke about quite a bit), my recipe for pork sukiyaki, the tools one needs to change a tire, a very simple three-minute method for creating world peace, and that this series is becoming an anime. It’s been a wide-ranging segment beloved by all. And this time, the topic of choice is “the very first middle volume of my life.” 

Why am I talking about middle volumes? I think you’ve all figured it out by now, haven’t you? 

Yes, it’s because putting this book out in August meant I didn’t have enough time to write it all into a two-part story! Mostly because I was so incredibly busy with anime stuff. 

In the afterword of the previous volume, I wrote, “What will happen in the second half?” as though this would definitely be the conclusion of Squad Jam. Well, it turns out that was a lie. Sorry. 

While we’re at it, the first installment of the “Afterword Gun Gale Diary” was actually in the previous volume. I’m glad no one realized this. (Editor’s note: You’re the only one who thinks that.) 

Anyway, that was a very long intro to saying, this is the middle volume. The fourth Squad Jam will continue for one more book. 

I’ve done two-part story arcs many times before in my career, but this will be my first three-parter. It’s been a brand-new experience for me. It’s very novel. 

Why is it so novel, you might ask? 

It’s because by the time the reactions from the first volume come in, the last volume is still being written, so I can take those opinions into account and make alterations to the content if I want. 

In my case, whenever I had a two-book story, by the release date of the first novel, I had pretty much written the entire second one already. Naturally, it would be impossible to make any major changes at that point—even if there were a few minor things in the proofreading stages. 

Now, when people started issuing their reactions to the first volume… 

Oops, hang on. Let me be clear here: If you haven’t read the first part yet, please do not read any further. It would be a major spoiler. 

Of course, there will be no spoilers about this middle volume. 

Shall I proceed? 

On to the reactions to the first volume… 

Many, many people guessed, “I bet that at the end, Fire will be revealed to be a good guy, deep down!” 

But Sigsawa is the exact kind of twisted person who wants to mess with your expectations. 

So I’ve decided that in the final part of this story, I’ll reveal that Fire was actually a “good girl” all along. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s a Sigsawa staple to have characters you thought were male turn out to be female. You know, like that one. And the other one. You know who I’m talking about. 

“I’m sure that the team of Shirley and Clarence are going to do big things,” some people hoped. So I’m going to say they were actually a figment of Llenn’s exhausted mind and get rid of them by the third page of the next volume. They were never really there. Isn’t that neat? 

“What if it was Pitohui who told Fire that Llenn plays GGO all the time?” 

“What if it was Miyu?” 

“What if it was the gymnastics team?” 

There were lots of guesses about that one. So I’m going to say it was Llenn’s niece who did it—the daughter of Karen’s older sister, who lives in the same building as her. That’s right, the four-year-old was the mastermind all along! No one’s going to see that one coming. Not even me. 

She gave Karen a clay brooch as a present. But hidden inside was a high-tech spying bug… 

That’s the horrifying truth contained within the third and final volume. GGO is about to change classes into a horror series. 

Of course, I’ve already submitted the basic plot outline to the editorial department for the third volume—but there’s still plenty of time to rewrite it so that it contains all of the above ideas. I mean, it’s not at all rare for the finished story to be different from the plot outline. 

In other words, whatever you think and hope will happen in the third volume won’t happen. You’ll be totally blindsided. Look forward to that…and steel yourself. 

If the final product doesn’t turn out this way, know that there was a terrible battle between Sigsawa and the editorial department, and that your beloved author lost. 

And if your hopes turned out to be correct, don’t get uppity and think, “Sigsawa ripped off our ideas! Give us a little bit of that royalty money! Or a lot of it! Here’s my bank account number! You have to pay the transaction fees, too!” 

I need all the money from my royalties so that I can pay all my necessary bills for taxes and rent and power, and other essential everyday items like food, clothes, and model air guns. 

But if any of you do correctly guess what will happen exactly, I’ll be amazed. 

I’ll write up my own special certificate and award it to you for being a truly understanding and insightful reader of mine. What’s that? You don’t want such a thing? 

Anyway, if you set up your expectations for the final part based on this volume, just assume that I’ve already finished writing it by now. 

I started writing this Gun Gale Online series with Reki Kawahara’s permission, and now I’ve reached Volume 8. I feel very fortunate and emotional about this. 

Your high praise and the honor of having a TV anime has left me overjoyed. 

The next book to finish this Squad Jam will be Volume 9, but if there is to be more after that, putting us into double digits, I do not yet know at this point. 

But while I don’t know what my plan will be, I can assure you that I will write the next volume to the utmost of my ability, and I hope you look forward to it. 

That’s all for this time. Let’s meet again in the concluding volume of SJ4! 

By the way, I intend to fill this segment by writing passionately about “how to prevent painful stubbing accidents on the corner of your shelf by starting the fashionable trend of always being in a handstand” next time. Look forward to that. 

Keiichi Sigsawa