Chapter 94

Afterword “Games are games in every era, see? You ought to enjoy your games, enjoy them to the fullest!” Thank you for reading Gods’ Games We Play, Volume 5! Humans and gods have at least one thing in common—they all love games! Volume 5 involves more characters than any other volume to date, if you include those who are simply mentioned. It’s not just the gods with their many and varied personalities; we also meet someone who was involved in Fay’s old team for the first time. The Gods’ Games world is getting bigger and wilder—I hope you’ll look forward to seeing where it goes! All right, let me talk a bit about the story! Volumes 3 and 4 were completely dedicated to the tale of the Labyrinth of Lucemia, making for quite a chunk of story. For this volume, we get a one-book-two-games structure for the first time in a while. God-Tree-Fruit Basketball is a game with some sports elements, so Nel naturally got a chance to shine, but I think Leshea was also finally blessed with an opportunity to really strut her stuff. Captain Ashlan and Anita both got in on the action, too, so it was a pretty lively game. Incidentally, I, your author, am particularly fond of “C’mon, lemmings!” The second half of the book is devoted to the battle with Li’l ’Don (Poseidon). She appears on the cover of Volume 5, and I’m also pretty fond of her and Li’l Mino (Minotaur), including their friendship. The gods so savor their individuality that they don’t form groups. I sort of feel like someone in this volume said something like that, so I guess that makes these two an exception to the rule—or maybe the rule itself is one of those whims the gods have, and these two just decided to flip it on its head. The team played Poseidon’s game in this volume, but I wouldn’t mind being able to introduce Minotaur’s game sometime, too… Okay, it’s announcement time! We’ve already had the joyous word that Gods’ Games We Play has an anime in the works, and at the MF Bunko J Summer School Festival, on the twenty-fourth of last month, additional details were announced. The show will be created by LIDENFILMS and directed by Tatsuya Shiraishi. I have an official announcement! I, your author, have been invited to participate in all the script meetings, and the scripts are coming together with all the excitement of a developing gods’ game. I feel confident in sending these episodes out to you! I hope you’ll await further information with eager anticipation! Now, on to the special thanks. To Toiro Tomose: This volume’s Poseidon is another character of god-tier beauty. Thank you! To Kapiko Toriumi, who’s doing the manga adaptation: Thank you so much for producing such an enjoyable serial every month. I find myself looking forward to every new installment! And to my editor, N: This work and its anime are indebted to you, not just every month but every day. I look forward to continuing to work with you to make it even more exciting. Finally, a brief publication schedule. First of all, my other series, Our Last Crusade, has been green-lit for another season of anime! The third short story volume for that series just came out on August 20; in the main series, Volume 14 is planned for this winter. I would love to see you over in that series, too! Meanwhile, I’ll be working on Volume 6 of Gods’ Games We Play as hard as I can! Just wait until we get into the Arcane Court arc and the encounter with the world’s strongest team! Kei Sazane Summer of 2022