Chapter 21

Afterword Of Course It’s an Afterword I like stories that make us notice things. I like stories where, upon reading it over from the beginning, I end up smacking my cheek and exclaiming, “So that’s what that was!” Cost-effective books that can be read over and over are great, too. So I really hope the story I’m writing can be enjoyed in the same way. Long time no see—this is Kareno. …And as you can see, we’ve continued! We’ve made it this far! I think we’ve come to a really bad stopping point, but in a way, that’s how it always is (how awful)! With this and that, I now present to you Book Three of WorldEnd, even though I said I didn’t know if I could in the afterword of the last volume! Seriously, just between you and me, if I may be so blunt, this series was actually not supposed to keep going at one point. I was sort of vaguely thinking to myself, Hmm, maybe I should switch gears and write an absurdly cheerful story. I managed to get all this way only because of all the readers who decided to stick with me through the first two volumes. Again, thank you so much! By the way, I actually didn’t used to like butter cake very much. I think it’s because long ago, when I was a kid, I ate a very terrible one at a homestay once. It felt like cheap butter was slathered all over my tongue, and there was too much for me to stomach, and my host was just sitting there smiling as she watched me eat, so my eyes watered as I ate it. I finished the whole thing. I really could not stand butter cake after that. But since I was starting to write this story, I thought, Why not? and bought one at a nearby store. It was so fluffy, and I ate it as I worked on the early developments in the story. It was seriously delicious. My eyes were glittering as I wrote. Man, butter cake really is the best. I think I’ll go out and get another one when I finish writing this afterword. Next time, the past, present, and future will all meet, and his story, her story, and the girls’ story will all start heading toward the same conclusion—at least, I hope we can reach that point. Summer 2015 AKIRA KARENO