Beyond the Hero’s Death – 54 | Sousaku – 創作

Episode 54: Final Chapter Notes and a Short Survey [Addendum]

Thank you for reading “Beyond the Hero's Death” up to this point.
This announcement coincides with KakuYomu Con 9. Thank you for sticking with us throughout this long journey spanning about two months.

The story has largely concluded as originally planned, and with this, the main narrative is complete. I was able to complete this journey thanks entirely to all of you. Thank you.

This is a niche, dark story that goes against the popular trends, so while writing it, I kept wondering if it was okay. But seeing so many people read it now makes me feel truly blessed as an author—I have nothing but gratitude.

I struggled to write the final chapter, aiming for a fast-paced read that could be devoured in one sitting, while keeping it roughly half the length of chapters 1 through 4. I managed to pull it together somehow……

Thank you so much for all the support, bookmarks, comments, and stars up to this point. I haven't been able to reply to comments much lately, but I'm reading them all. Thank you for reporting typos and mistakes!
I'll continue making revisions and edits discreetly from here on out. Thank you.
This work has undoubtedly been sustained by the appreciation of those who have read this far……! !

And while writing this, I suffered a sudden back strain.
As we get older, bending over at the waist like we did in our youth becomes increasingly dangerous, you know. Everyone, please be careful (seriously). And then I went and did something as foolish as posting the final chapter of the main story at such a time. If you'd be so kind as to give it a star rating, I'd be incredibly grateful. I sincerely appreciate your consideration……°

・Goddess
I wrote it as a being without good or evil. To a god, human definitions don't apply, and they probably view humanity through a literal lens as a superior being.
The goddess harbored no ill will in her actions; she truly loved people, yet felt no attachment. Should they defy her will, she would not hesitate to cast them aside.
To put it bluntly, it depicted a fundamental self-centeredness: people cherish pets while they're cute, but once they grow up and become less appealing, they simply abandon them. ……Pets are family—let's take responsibility for them and care for them for their entire lives.

・Archbishop
A character whose role was predetermined from their first appearance until their final act of self-destruction and death. If the word limit allowed, I would have liked to delve a bit deeper.
I think this is probably the dark horse of this work. The Archbishop, who had been fighting with all his desires unleashed, was captured. After witnessing various things, he began to think deeply in his own way. Gradually, he became like a recluse, wishing to take revenge on the goddess. I can't help but wonder if the archbishop's change of heart was really because of Setsu-chan's final moments.

And this work…… it's going to continue just a little bit longer.

To those who have read this far, I wanted to express my gratitude by preparing a little bonus episode as an extra to the main story.

① Happy End Timeline Arc
A story set in a world where the reincarnated characters from the final episode live happily in a modern fantasy romance timeline. Raoul, Al, Falty, and Luqur are now around high school age. Irene must have taken Setsu-chan in and is now working as a perverted teacher, right?

② Al's Perspective Arc
The episode featuring Al before the main story begins takes a dark turn. This story primarily covers the period after the Demon King's defeat up until just before Al's death, so it's pretty grim. It serves as supplementary material to the main story, so don't expect any particular redemption or happy endings. It shouldn't end up being that dark in the end……! !

Both plots are already written, so they'll be very short bonus stories—just a few episodes each. I'd like to take a poll to see which one you'd prefer to prioritize, so I'd appreciate it if you could leave a comment with your preference. After this post, I'll tally the number of comments over about three days and start writing about the topic with the most comments first. If there are not many, I'll try to write them later…… that sort of thing……!

If you could kindly take a moment to complete the bonus survey, I would be most grateful. Thank you in advance.

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our bonus survey!
This time, I have counted based on the number of votes and will write the extra story using Point ①. Thank you for your support.

Regarding point ②, after completing point ①, I'm still a bit undecided whether to make it several standalone short stories or an alternate story ②. However, I plan to post it in some form, so I hope you'll stick with me. Thank you for your continued support.