Hi again! We don’t want y’all to miss us that easily, so here’s our second surprise: we’ve translated the authors’ afterwords! Spoilers: cringe alert below.
• Translation: Celest
• Translation-Check: Shiro
• Extra Typo Spotter: Loïc
Sigsawa Keiichi
Yup, that’s me, Sigsawa. I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to write an IF story around SAO Alternative (GGO, y’know), but oh well, I kind-of told myself it was okay to do it.
The IF world’s so vast so I guess it’s okay if we go all wild on the stories… Or at least I hope Mr. Kawahara won’t scold me for that. At the very least, I’m already warmed up to run away with all my might if I sense something’s going to get too risky.
Looking forward to seeing my fellow authors going off the rails as well. To everyone reading this book, why not let your imagination run wild and come up with your very own IF scenarios? It’s gotta be a blast, I’m sure of it.
Kousaka Mato
Hi, my name’s Kousata Mato. I’d usually write stories about “The Receptionist working Overtime Going on A Rampage with a Hammer”, but who would’ve thought that I’d get the chance to write for an “SAO” anthology……! I’m so thrilled!
I struggled quite a lot with the descriptions of the motorbike scene, in the beginning of the tutorial. And that’s because…… I actually don’t own a motorbike license!! The only experience I have with two-wheels is just riding a simple bicycle! Where do you even start the engine? And wait…… That’s a MT, right? (sweats) So I desperately researched a lot about motorbikes, and I eventually got advice from writer friends who know stuff about automobiles ; that’s how I managed to pull it off. Big shoutout to them for the huge help.
Now then. When I first came up with my stories, I was expecting to hear comments like “Are you for real? What’s with these bar jokes?”, but in the end I got nothing but full support from the SAO team and Mr. Kawahara! Feeling thankful to ALmic’s cute yet intense illustrations, and to you all readers! From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!
Tsutomu Sato
Hi, I’m Tsutomu Sato, author of this anthology’s crossover with “The Irregular at Magic High School”. Don’t tell me I’m the only one barging in and doing a crossover with something totally unrelated to SAO? Thinking about it, it does indeed feel a bit out of place.
My last collaboration work with SAO was featured in Dengeki Bunko Magazine’s September 2014 issue. I’d been reading SAO even before writing that, so choosing the world of ALO and its Norse mythology wasn’t that hard for me. Though I was pretty much clueless when it came to the spells used in ALO…… I had to bother Mr. Kawahara for that. My bad for that.
As you might’ve noticed, my strongest point is on the magic side, just like with Mahouka. It doesn’t exactly fit the SAO anthology vibe, but I’m grateful enough to have it in paperback format. But since it’s a collaboration, I won’t be able to write about it for Mahouka, that’s a shame.
Even now, I’m still trying to wrap my head around spells, and let’s not talk about high fantasy. I’ll repeat, writing High Fantasy is on another level. I wonder if some AI generation could help writing with that genre? But if we use AI for commercial purposes, I guess we’re likely to face copyright issues.
Anyways, I’m impressed how VR games fit Fantasy themes so well. My guess is because of the Mythical lore(?) has a higher affinity with those games, just like some movies & series. Just like “The Seed”, the topics uniting VR + MMORPG + Fantasy are starting to inspire many novels in the Japanese industry.
I know the universe of SAO will be the catalyst for numerous future stories to emerge. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be able to ride on that big wave.
Well, that’s about it. Thanks a bunch for sticking around till here.
Sudou Ren
To everyone who read the book until the end, thank you so much. I’m Sudou Ren.
I never imagined I’d have the chance to write something about the world of SAO, that’s been keeping me hooked for ages……!
When I received the offer to write for this anthology, I immediately came up with a few plots.
So I told myself “Since it’s an IF project, why don’t I write some of the most daring ideas” and that’s how I ended up with my story. Writing for SAO made me feel that nostalgic feeling of the world of SAO.
Watase Soichiro
Feeling thankful for being invited to write for this exciting anthology!
This time around, the theme of my story is “What if Clevel ended up in a mansion full of mysteries”, But I had a bunch of other ideas like “Getting Stranded on a Remote Island or in a Snowy Mountain,” “Encountering the Deep One Monster at the Beach,” “Ririka Telling Nayuta Unpleasant Things,” or even “Visiting the Detective’s Family House.”
Well, I did hold back out of consideration for the Detective’s stomach, but after seeing everyone’s enthusiasm, I told myself: “Maybe I should have pushed the Detective a little bit harder (as in, doing something out of ordinary)”. Or even better, going the R18 path…… Just kidding, I’m sorry, I don’t have the guts for that.
Takano Koroku
“I wasn’t just creating an ordinary anthology, but an IF one…” As I was trying to figure out what to change to make my story more out-of-the-ordinary, the next thing I knew, Kirito became a shota.
I do love the unique harem pattern that’s in SAO. So I can write something good around that setting, I needed Kirito to be a little bit younger.
I didn’t really think much about Kirito’s outfit while writing the story, but I’m grateful to rin for anticipating and demanded to make him wear shorts.
Makino Keisuke
Nice to meet you all from Dengeki Bunko, I’m Makino Keisuke.
When I thought about writing the opposite of 《Let’s revive the cute Pina》 as an IF story, an one-night adventure with the two girls came to mind.
BTW, there’s actually another story I didn’t submit. The title would be《A Monster’s Rotten Tentacle Becoming my Companion》’ What kind of story do you think that’d make?To all of you readers, please enjoy imagining lots of Taming IFs (I can already hear Silica’s screams).
Y.A
Nice to meet you all, my name is Y.A.
I’ve been known as a “Narō Author” for about ten years now, and never in my life have I thought I’d be able to write something for an official SAO anthology, I guess we really don’t know what life has for us!
I’ll never be thankful enough for receiving this opportunity.
Lastly, I’m also responsible for writing the gourmet-themed spin-off SAO titled “Sword Art Online – Alternative: “Gourmet Seekers”.” I’d be thankful if you could pick that one up at bookstores as well.
Kawahara Reki
When my editor told me they were planning to release a《SAO IF Anthology》, the first thing that came to mind was “I wonder if there are any authors willing to write for thisssss”. Because SAO’s lore’s quite the complex & troublesome piece of work because of its exceedingly complicated game setting without any proper reference materials (and that’s my bad). But when I started reading the final version of the project, I was astonished by the lineup of many great authors & illustrators, from veterans to energetic youngsters. It was such an overwhelming sensation to the point where I felt a shiver down my spine. To our readers who made it to the afterwords page, I’m sure you’ve thoroughly enjoyed all those IF worlds created by our eight amazing authors. Those stories fully immerse us inside the world of SAO, allowing our imagination to soar even wilder. As a reader myself, I can say this was such a ride. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to the authors, illustrators, and everyone who dedicated their time to read this book. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I do also plan to conclude the Crab-verse arc as well!