Welcome and thank you for reading, dear readers. EternalSunset here, and I'm back for another Afterword. A lot has happened since I last published a volume, hasn't it? I did not do the math, but if I'm not mistaken, a grand total of at least seven months went by before I finished this volume.

Why is that so? Well, for one, I had been going through some problems personally. Couple that with mental/writer's block and the fact that some of the minute yet ultimately very relevant sequences of events in this volume had to be rewritten multiple times, and you have yourselves a release that took the longest to finish so far. I plan to quicken up the pace for the next volume, but at best case, it should still take around four months at least.

Since I mentioned some of it briefly, I can go over my general writing process. Before conceptualizing a volume, I go over some basic themes or the general plot points to be tackled in my checklists of outlines. Then, I start filling in the details, finding ways to connect from point A to point B, all while keeping track of what the characters should do and how their character arcs will resolve or continue. 

While I can easily visualize the climaxes and some key scenes like an anime (complete with voice acting!), it's the in-betweens of those scenes that create bottlenecks in the writing process. Either that or how I should make people act to get from point A to point B and proceed with their character arcs. That's not even getting to the dialogue, which I also find difficulty with at times due to the feeling that they're not "showing character" but just there to move the plot along.

Lots of things to work on, but I'll do my best. Ultimately, writing each volume's a process that requires a lot of time than some might expect at first glance. And having a few people read and engage with me makes the process all worth it. Thanks to starting on this series, I have met a couple of friends to talk with, and it's really something that made me happy I took up writing.

Hopefully, the writing process gets streamlined next time, and it largely boils down to how "solidly" I can outline the plot. I already have the basic ideas for the things that will happen next volume as well as the climax and the cliffhanger.

While we're on the topic of the next volume, I opened up a bit about the history of Mu and the Nullities in this volume. It's not the main focus of the volume, as that would go to giving supporting characters their time to shine and form relationships and possible plot threads for the future. That, as well as touching a bit on Kazuki's past and how he came to be the way he was at the start. 

However, the backstory segments about Mu and the Nullities will be expounded even more on the next installment, so please wait for it. After all, we are already at the "JRPG halfway point" as I'd like to call it. You know, the time when the pattern of "SoL shenanigans -> some plot involving the party member of the arc -> dungeon-crawl into a boss fight" gives way to the more serious and overarching plot that has been teased at the start. Yeah, that point.

By the way, we already have our cover character. A slightly-younger Miyuko Sadohara nabs the cover spot as she takes center stage for the first part of the next volume, while the second part will seek to move towards pushing forward a plot thread that I dangled to you guys long ago. As for what the dangled plot thread is, I'll just have you guess.

Tentative cover here.

Stay strong, stay awesome, and I will see you in the next volume.

EternalSunset0