HELLO, Haru Yayari here. This is likely—or rather, unquestionably—the first time we have met.
Now then, I really wonder what I should write. I’m actively putting out light novels and children’s books in Japan, but this is the first time I’m being published abroad. You probably can’t tell from the text alone, but I’m very nervous.
That being said, I’m also excited. After all, this is a rare opportunity for me to write with readers abroad in mind, instead of my usual afterwords written specifically to Japanese readers. This is a valuable experience. While our time together is short, I would like to fully enjoy this precious time talking with you.
Okay, okay, time to wrap up the talk about me and touch on this novel. First of all, I want to tell you about the clichéd series of events that led to this story’s creation. Not that there’s a particularly big reason for it.
In Japan, stories about being transported or reincarnated into another world are all the craze. Some of the initial frenzy has cooled down now, but there are still plenty of authors coming up with various scenarios and giving birth to new stories by the day.
As one of those authors, I struck upon the idea to drop a high school girl into a world crawling with zombies. I thought this scenario wouldn’t overlap with other authors and would make for an entertaining story.
At the time, I let that inspiration direct my pen wherever it wanted to go… Thinking back on it now, that led to the heroine being dumped into a pretty cruel situation. That’s exactly what makes it interesting, but I do want to apologize to her.
As for why zombie tropes are a key element to the story, it’s definitely because I often play zombie games. However, right off the bat, I decided I didn’t want to include extremely gory or grotesque scenes that are common in zombie games, such as blowing heads off.
My eccentric personality played a big part in my desire to create something different, but it also came from the simple desire to make something fun. Zombies still have a very negative image in society. I thought adding in comedy elements would bring out an entertainment factor different from other stories. The result is what you have all already experienced.
On that note, I can say this only after having completed the story, but it’s our little secret that I created one too many crazy characters, which made the story livelier than I had initially planned. Thanks to them, I was able to enjoy myself while writing, so I’m grateful to those characters.
…Whoops! Whenever I talk about my stories, I feel as if I can go on forever, so I would like to take this time to thank the people involved in publishing this story.
Thank you to everyone at Cross Infinite World for granting me this wonderful opportunity. Thanks also to those who assisted in the publication. Most of all, my heartfelt gratitude goes out to those of you who took the time to read this book.
I pray that if you ever find yourself turned into a zombie, you will be purified right away by the priestess’s open-handed slap. Until we meet again.