Thank you for buying the fifth volume. This is the author, Nagawasabi64.
We had some big plot twists this time around. If you’ve only been reading the novels, what happened to Shoukichi and his party was probably quite a shock. In the web novel, I published the story up to that point and left my online readers on that cliff-hanger without updates for a while… Sorry about that!
I’ve had this plot development planned since I decided on the young Shuutarou being the protagonist of this series. That bombshell was also needed to get Shuutarou actively involved in clearing the game, which I’m going to write about (hopefully) in the next volume.
I feel that Gallarus was a beacon of light in the dark atmosphere we’ve had since the first volume. From the start, I had it in my head that Volume 5 would heavily feature Gallarus, and I think the giant pulled off his prominent role pretty well.
If you’ve read the extra story at the end already, you know that Gallarus’s background is quite different from the other Overlords’. Only he (well, we don’t know anything about Elroad yet!) was born an invincible king, never meeting anyone who’d challenge him throughout his life in his original world. That’s why his line of thinking differs from the others, who didn’t start out as the most powerful beings in their world. He’s got strong ideas about what a king should be doing, which you could see from how he approached Shuutarou when the boy shut himself in his room.
One thing led to another, and Gallarus went off to defend Allistras, which created a nifty opportunity to introduce a new character—MagNe. I wanted to have this sort of interaction: the powerful Gallarus and a weak, dependent player. As for why I made MagNe so peculiar, there were two reasons.
The first one was that it was crucial that she’d be morbidly dependent on others. The unstable emo alt girl used to be completely dependent on the boyfriend she lived with, doing anything he said. When he got a new game, she bought it to in order to play together with him. He was the center of her universe. At one point in the story, she sees a similarity between her and Gallarus, and she’s not wrong—as Shuutarou’s minion, Gallarus is subservient toward the boy just as MagNe was toward her boyfriend. Thanks to this connection, meeting MagNe helps to shape Gallarus’s new way of thinking.
As for the second reason, I wanted to see how Kawaku would draw an emo character. I’ll be honest—this was the main reason! When I saw the first draft, I loved it! I’m also looking forward to seeing MagNe drawn by Hirokawa in the manga adaptation!
But MagNe isn’t just a helpless, dependent woman until the end. The encounter with Gallarus propels her toward change, and she learns to manage on her own. I’m planning to keep following her adventures in the next volumes. Let’s see where they take her!
We had one more new character—Amakusa, who becomes an important figure in the story with his assignment as the new sub-master of Crest. I’m not going to delve deep into his background, since I’m intending to keep him as a mysterious character who’ll raise some red flags and keep you guessing if he’s really a friend or foe.
The next volume’s extra story will be about Elroad, and then you’ll know about the origins of all the Evil Overlords. Who will I write about next? Misaki and Shuutarou will be driving the story from the next volume on, but I’m not planning to write an extra chapter about Shuutarou, since I’m pretty sure his real-world life will be touched on in the main story. I’ve already decided who will be featured at the end of the very last volume. Can you guess?
By the way, some of you may know that the second volume of the manga adaptation was released before this book hit the shelves. The first two volumes of the manga correspond to the first volume of the novel. I was surprised by how detailed the manga was, and it even features additional, original characters! Definitely check it out if you haven’t already!
My other series, Frontier World Online, is also getting a manga adaptation! The first volume should be out this winter. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to read it! Unlike this series, Frontier World Online is a very chill story about the good life in a VRMMORPG. How about that for a change of vibe?
Frontier World Online, Vol. 3 is going on sale at the end of October. That series isn’t selling all that well, but I’m hoping the release of the manga might help with that… Heh! Please give Frontier World Online some love, too!
Bye! Until next time!