That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 4 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

HI, IT’S YOMU MISHIMA—the author whose friends and family assume he’s unemployed because he spends all his time at home writing. We’re finally on the fourth volume of Trapped in a Dating Sim: Otome Games Are Tough For Us, Too! I have all of you to thank for your continued support.

For this afterword, I’d like to discuss the process of writing this volume with you all. First of all, the volume’s cover is much different from past ones, which I think makes it stand out more. It may actually be my favorite yet. Getting to see Angelica (or rather, Angie) and Clarice back when they were still on good terms was kind of healing for me. Envisioning it was pretty fun.

Next, I suppose we could discuss the plot itself, right? I told my editor, “I think I’d like to do this for this volume…” and gave them a general outline of my plan. My editor worriedly responded, “That’ll be almost entirely brand-new content, won’t it? Are you sure about this?”

This series was originally based on an extra story I wrote that people could access by filling out a reader survey. When it was picked up for publishing, we decided from the beginning that I’d add to the original story. The story, especially in this volume, has increased significantly in scope compared to the original, so I had to add a bunch of new material for this volume. I couldn’t just copy and paste anything. That’s why I was stuck writing something brand-new. Since it was being published in its own right, I really wanted to add more than I was able to when this was only an extra story, so I personally didn’t mind the additional work. For instance, I wanted to include a depiction of Clarice and Jilk’s relationship that I wasn’t able to put in the main series.

There’s also the character of Deirdre. I actually added her in the main series (she wasn’t present in the web novel), and I had a lot of fun with her and her unique personality. That’s part of why she showed up so often in the main series.

I’ve often added new characters to my series when they were being published, but Deirdre might be my most successful addition ever.

Anyway, see you in the next volume!