Chapter 15

AFTERWORD Nice to meet you. My name is Daigo Murasaki. My work Demon Lord 2099 was awarded the thirty-third annual Fantasia Grand Prize, and the story you just read is a revised version of that manuscript. The final product saw a hefty increase in page count from the manuscript I entered for the award. This revision process is perfectly normal, but I ended up wanting to add and modify all sorts of things, hence the end result you have in hand. I personally get excited when I can really feel the heft of a book, so no complaints on my end. Now, some words of gratitude. There are a lot of people to thank for this first volume especially. I hope you don’t mind. To the illustrator, Kureta: I can’t thank you enough for bringing my mess of a world to life with your beautiful illustrations. When my editor first showed me the artwork, I was unspeakably thrilled. That’s when it finally hit me that we were really making something here. Thank you again. To all the judges of the Fantasia Grand Prize: Thank you so much for awarding me such a massive honor. I’ll continue working hard on this story to prove you all made the right choice. To my editor: Thank you for everything. I’m still very new to this, and I appreciate all your help. Again, thank you. To everyone involved in the publication of this novel: The book was only possible because of all your efforts. Thank you. And lastly, my thanks to you, the reader, for reading my book. Entertainment gets easier to come by with each passing day, and media consumption is only accelerating. It’s nothing short of a miracle that you chose my work from so many others. Nothing would please me more than if this story brought you even the slightest bit of entertainment. Thank you, truly. That’s all for now. I hope to see you again soon. Daigo Murasaki