56 - Decision to Publish as a Book and Something Like an Afterword
Come to think of it, I forgot to insert an afterword on the Narou side. Since this isn't part of the main story, those who aren't interested are free to skip it.
Ah, this section doesn't seem to have much to do with the main story (which way is it?), so those who aren't interested are free to close it. As written in the subtitle, this is an afterword and a notice about the book publication.
Since I've released the final episode and the character introductions at the same time today, for those of you who opened this first, I'm sorry for the trouble, but please jump over from the tab on the right.
Alright, I've put in the warning, so here I go.
Yes, and so it is, "The Three Idiots Go!" has finally reached a stopping point.
To be honest, if it weren't for the results of Kakuyomu Con 9, I would have finished here and gone back to Re-id. I have to write the other one since it's close to the climax, but it's not progressing at all... Well, considering the period from around the end of the year to the start of the new fiscal year where my real life was hectic and I couldn't write at all, it's been about half a year. I'm a slow writer, truly slow. I knew that, though.
Now, as I've written in the title, synopsis, and recent activity notes, for some reason, I won a special award in the fantasy category of Kakuyomu Con 9. Yes, with this work overflowing with parody jokes and reckless enthusiasm.
---I don't think I'm the one in the wrong for thinking, "Are the judges sane?" (straight face).
Those of you who have read this far probably felt the same concern. Like, "Is this thing really okay?" Please rest assured. The author thinks so the most. But they said it's fine. They said they want something colorful, bizarre, or eccentric on the company's shelves. Well then, I guess it's okay.
Yes, this work is being published as a book. Those who know about the prize for the special award probably suspected it.
Since this is important, I'll say it once more.
T h i s T h r e e I d i o t s w i l l b e " p u b l i s h e d a s a b o o k ".
By the great KADOKAWA-sama (the label is still a secret, though!).
I'm serious (;^ω^).
After receiving emails from the management and the label, I locked myself in the bathroom for about 20 minutes suspecting it was a scam, and I don't think I'm the one in the wrong for that (earnest).
However, no matter how long I waited, there was no request for money, and the conversation kept moving forward one way or another, so I recently finally realized, "Wait, maybe this isn't a scam...?"
Around the start of August, I began the actual book publication process. Or rather, I'm already in it. This is the first time in my life. What am I going to do.
Now, and so it is, when I told my editor, Mr. O, "I planned to end it with the War Arc," he told me, "If you could continue a little further..." so I've ended up having to think of a continuation.
But look---
To be blunt, because it was supposed to end here, I haven't thought about anything else at all!!
I'm sure all the readers are thinking that there's too little flirting with the heroines (or rather, almost none), but that's natural! I couldn't spend the page count on that kind of thing while trying to end it with the War Arc!!
The original plot was 150,000 words, which is barely within the length of a long-form novel, but I gave up halfway and it's already over 200,000 words!!
Even if it's published as a book, something like this would have to be split up!!
And if that happens, the newly written parts will get longer, what should I do!!
Excuse me, I lost my composure for a moment.
Uh, the reason I've been writing in the recent activity notes that I'm busy, busy, is partly because of work, but also because there were too many things to think about regarding the Three Idiots from here on. To be honest, I hadn't considered this happening at all, so I'm running around in circles.
If you saw a middle-aged man in a truck speeding down the highway, muttering character lines to himself on the in-car camera, it would probably be a genuine horror movie. The company and the operation manager don't say anything, though.
Realizing that I couldn't handle this alone, I called out my otaku friend "Oyakata," who represents the general reader base, to Gust, and we went back and forth on this and that. For eight hours, from 11 AM to 7 PM.
Spending eight hours at a family restaurant makes us incredibly nuisance customers. Well, we did order, so please forgive us...! We did order a la carte items! Although the choices were like a student's, with fried chicken, fries, pizza, and such!!
Thank you for sticking with me for so long and sorry, Oyakata! Let's go eat some good meat once things settle down!!
So, since we've managed to organize things to some extent, the story up to the War Arc will be Part One, and what starts now will be Part Two. Since I got hit with a barrage of demonic critiques from Oyakata, I'll also put the spotlight on the three girls. I knew it, but it's not good for the heroines to be any thinner than this.
That said, since I'll be pressured by revisions for the book, work, and various other things, I plan to insert some short stories (about three at the moment) for a while. In the meantime, I'll refine the long-form plot and think about doing one centered on Marianne. This time it was centered on the Geoglyphs, after all.
In other words, "The Three Idiots Go!" seems to be doing the legendary "it'll just continue a little bit more."
And so, from the next chapter, "The Three Idiots' Detour Travelogue" will begin as a series of short stories.
As for the content, for now, it's the story of the Three Idiots returning to the Imperial Capital from the Triad (the part where Lilitia mentioned in the final episode that they poked their noses into too many things).
I'll use that to buy some time before moving to the long-form story. Along with the book publication, I plan to revise some of the detailed settings of the parts already posted, so if you reread previously read chapters, they might be slightly different.
Well then, to everyone who has accompanied me this far, please continue to support The Three Idiots Go!
Sincerely
August 28, Reiwa 6, Type 86 Middle-Aged Man