Chapter 108

Author’s Afterword Two Fantasies Hello, everyone. I’m currently writing the afterword at 2,346 meters above sea level on the Manaitagura Summit of Mount Hiuchi, the tallest mountain in the Tohoku region. I recently got hooked on mountain climbing and am focusing on tackling the mountains of Tohoku. I’m guessing that most people don’t know how difficult it is to do research for fantasy light novels. This might be shocking to you, but I’ve heard that over 90 percent of the authors in the genre have not actually been to a fantasy world. Honestly, I have never been to one, either. This is a fact I’m not proud of, given that I write for MF Books, who just celebrated their tenth anniversary with the tagline “I will continue to live in a different world.” That said, it is possible to go on an adventure without going to another world. If you live on the outskirts of Tokyo, you can ride the Keio Takao line to the last station and climb Mount Takao. It’s considered a sacred mountain because of its long history as a holy site for the Shugendo religion, and the most famous sacred mountain in Japan, Mount Fuji, is visible from it. I feel like pushing my body and reaching mountain peaks drenched in sweat has helped me understand the feelings of those who live in magical fantasy worlds. I hope you all will experience the fun of mountain climbing as I have. In fact, it doesn’t have to be mountain climbing. There are many forms of adventures one can embark on, including starting a new hobby, quitting a job you hate and changing careers, or picking a light novel off the shelf in a bookstore without any prior information and getting lost in its world. Courage is required to venture into an unfamiliar world, but if you take that first step, you will be rewarded with a wonderful new landscape. That is my idea of a fantasy. I’m now wondering if that’s why I wanted Nick and his friends to venture into many labyrinths, meet a variety of people, and take on a range of mysteries in my fantasy light novel series, Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World. While writing, however, I had a different kind of fantasy in mind. The four main characters all have a hobby that could be considered unsavory. One is an idol stan, one is a philanderer, one is a gambler, and one is a gourmet. With the exception of gourmet dining, all of these would certainly raise eyebrows. One of the reasons I gave them these hobbies is because I thought that no one would be able to go through a major upset in life without being corrupted in some way. A person might start drinking too much, or spend enough money on gacha games to affect their livelihood, or become addicted to something so destructive, I feel hesitant to joke about it. Even if you haven’t been through something like this, you might be able to think of someone who has. Those kinds of people will eventually stand up, face their addiction, and get their life back on track. I wrote this series with the idea that it’s okay to have such hopes. That is the second fantasy I imbued this story with. I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Can you really call that a fantasy?” Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m sure I wrote my four main characters to be agreeable and heroic so that you would cheer them on. That said, I think we’ve all seen strangers who we don’t have any attachment to struggle in a similar fashion and thought to ourselves, “That person’s life is over,” just like the people who saw the protagonists before they formed the Survivors. I’m not blaming anyone for that. Everyone knows to some degree how difficult it is for a person to get their life together after suffering a setback and developing an addiction. I’m not guaranteeing that such people will recover and telling you to trust them, either. This is a story about people who lost faith in humanity, after all. However, the next time you hear a person who’s lost all hope write someone off while gossiping or sharing drinks, if you think back to this story of people recovering from rock bottom and it gives you a little hope, then writing these books will have been worth it. I think I wrote this story because I wanted to depict the fantasy of mustering up courage and adventuring into new worlds, and the fantasy of rebuilding one’s life. I feel like I might include similar themes in my future works. Now, I am sure that Nick and his friends will go on more adventures in brand-new settings, but this is the end of Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World. Leaving them behind is difficult, but I am very proud as the author to be able to say good-bye to them here. Thank you very much. October 8, 2023 Shinta Fuji