Chapter 33

To all of you out there thinking, “Boy, this author sure does love making people get whipped with chains!” (and also to those of you who aren’t thinking that): Hello, it’s me. Reki Kawahara. Thank for reading Demons’ Crest, Volume 2: Otherworld Manifestation. (Beware, the following paragraphs contain spoilers.) Unlike Volume 1, Reality Erosion, which focused mainly on Yuuma and his friends’ battles inside Althea, in the real world, this volume was mainly set in the VRMMORPG, Actual Magic (hereafter referred to as AM). Since Althea is so dark, cramped, and brutal, I would have preferred to offer up a nice, fun adventure while in the bright and sprawling world of AM…but such was not to be the case (LOL). However, I hope it still gave you a good glimpse into both the world and its game system. The game is mostly based on a skill level system, which is also featured in another one of my works you might be familiar with, SAO. Unlike SAO, however, AM also has character classes. Expect some of the classes that haven’t appeared yet, such as Thief, Hunter, and Merchant, to make bigger contributions in the next volume. This volume also gave better insight into the “demons” mentioned in the series title. The demons possessing Sawa (Valac) and Nagi (Crocell) sure seem awfully reasonable and open to communication. Even I was kind of thrown for a loop by this while I was writing them (LOL). But don’t worry, much scarier demons will be showing up before long! As for Nagi, it really came down to the wire as to whether or not they were going to be able to rescue her before Volume 2 ended, but I’m relieved to say they managed it in the end. But Nagi was originally the Priest in their four-person party. Tomori worked hard to fill in for Nagi while Nagi was gone, but now that she’s back, what will Yuuma do…? It’s a pretty common situation, even in real-world MMOs, but hopefully everything will work out for the best. Additionally, those of you also reading the webtoon (which is being simultaneously published) might be surprised at how many differences there are between the webtoon and this volume. But remember, the webtoon isn’t a comic adaptation of the novel. They are separate stories based on the plot I developed in advance. The novel version strives to be interesting in ways that only the printed word can be, while the webtoon strives to be interesting in ways that are unique to vertically scrolling comics, so I hope readers can enjoy both in their own right. Finally, I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart to the illustrator, Yukiko Horiguchi, to my editors, Miki and Adachi, and to all those who have worked so hard on publishing this novel, whom I know have all been pushed beyond the limits of human endurance. I am truly, deeply sorry, and I promise to…um…try harder next time! Reki Kawahara May 2023