Afterword

Thank you so much for reading this story to the very end. How did you find it?

There are countless works out there where a protagonist reincarnates as the "villainess of an otome game" and uses their knowledge of the world to avoid ruin. However, I couldn't recall a single story where a complete non-entity—someone who wasn’t even a character in the game—rose from the absolute bottom of society just to save that Villainess. That thought was the spark that started this whole project.

In the beginning, I was very conscious of following established tropes to the letter. Because of that, I suspect many of the early elements felt familiar, like something you’d seen somewhere else before. Within the scope of my own knowledge, the only truly "uncommon" elements I introduced were probably the Glider and the Selfless Great Sage.

When I first started, I estimated the story would run for about sixty to seventy chapters. Somehow, it just kept growing until I realized I’d written more than double my original projection. As you might have guessed from the title drop in Chapter 69, my original plan was to have Anastasia wake up, deliver a swift dose of poetic justice to Amy, and call it a day. Things didn't quite go as planned, did they?

Though I managed to see it through to the end, Amy gave me no end of trouble. Her erratic, impulsive behavior actually frustrated me so much at one point that I threw down my pen and walked away from the story for a while. Because I was constantly worried the series might end up on an indefinite hiatus, I actually finished writing the entire thing in private before I began posting it online.

To be honest, I started this project because I wanted to improve my writing skills by trying my hand at a romance novel. I hope I succeeded in expressing the characters' emotions effectively. That being said, for a "romance," there were precious few date scenes, a distinct lack of proper love rivals, and a staggering number of people dying. It turned into something quite different from a standard romance before I even realized it (sweat).

Thanks to all of you, this story reached the top of various rankings on Shousetsuka ni Narou. It remains a deeply memorable work for me, as your support helped me realize exactly where my skills were still lacking.

As luck would have it, this work was selected for an Honorable Mention at the 2nd Earth Star Novel Award. This means Allen and Anastasia's story will have a new life on the printed page. For the book version, I plan to add and revise several sections that were originally cut to keep the pacing fast. This includes more about Allen’s mother and the veteran adventurers, his interactions at the academy, his relationship with Ana’s father, and a deeper look at the protagonist's changing state of mind.

If you’re interested in seeing more of their journey—or if you felt the web version left you wanting more, or if you had specific grievances you'd like to see addressed—I would be honored if you picked up a copy of the light novel.

Volume 1 of the Earth Star Novel edition is scheduled for release on March 15, 2021. You should be able to find it at your local bookstore, through online retailers, or on digital platforms.

Regarding our protagonist, Allen: I established him as being quite brilliant. In a world governed by a strict class system, it would have been fundamentally impossible for him to win the heart of a girl from a Ducal House like Anastasia without that level of talent and an unwavering, singular devotion to his goal.

I’ve seen some comments suggesting his character changed or that he "became an idiot" halfway through. In reality, he was always making mistakes; it’s just that his errors were less visible when he was working toward a clear goal without much social interaction. From the start, he was never a perfectly calm, collected genius. He crashed his Glider because he didn’t think about a landing zone, he lost his temper and snapped at Jerome for being "useless," and he ended up in the Elven Village entirely by accident. Part of this stems from his mental age regressing slightly due to the reincarnation process, but it’s also just his natural personality.

I also realize I might have left some readers behind regarding his evolving perspective—specifically his pragmatic view on killing and the massive shift in worldview required for a commoner to marry into a Ducal House. The fact that I couldn't convey those transitions more smoothly is a reflection of my own lack of skill. I intend to rectify these points in the book version, so I hope you look forward to that.

Then there is Amy. Despite her blessed position as the Heroine, she relied entirely on the "cheats" of her past-life knowledge and neglected any real effort. That was her path to ruin. She sprinted down the road of "a prodigy at ten, a genius at fifteen, and just another face in the crowd by twenty." Incapable of self-reflection, her obsessions eventually clouded her judgment entirely.

As for Amy’s ultimate fate, even though I stayed within the R15 rating limits, I struggled with whether or not the content was appropriate for a general audience. Ultimately, I decided to leave it out of the main story. I’ve written her end from her own perspective as a separate after-story.

If you’re interested in that, please keep this story bookmarked or follow me on Twitter for updates. You can find the link to my Twitter at the bottom of the page or on my user profile. I plan to post these after-stories sporadically. If you have specific requests for scenes you'd like to see, please let me know in the comments; if I can visualize it clearly, I’ll do my best to write it.

Looking ahead, Allen and Anastasia are destined to be appointed as lords of a certain territory, dedicating themselves to its prosperity as a married couple. And, thanks to the Bracelet of Fertility, I expect they’ll be blessed with many children—but that is a story for another time.

Thank you once again for accompanying me on this journey. I look forward to meeting you again in my next work.

Isshiki Koutarou