Editing Kakegurui Trip Fulltext (section)

==Afterword by the author==

Hello.
<br><br>
I'm Hikaru Muno and I'm Homura Kawamoto's younger brother. I have written several published books, including some on job hunting.<br>
I've had a background influence on Kakegurui. I've helped my brother brainstorm ideas for it, even before the manga had begun.
<br><br>
You could say I had clear instructions on how to handle the characters from the manga that appear in this novel. My brother gave me a detailed explanation on how they should react to things and what makes them tick.<br>
Now that I have written Kakegurui Trip, I've come to realize the truth of my brother's words when he said that the characters come to life on their own. Once you submerge yourself in their life and way of thinking, they start to write themselves. 
<br><br>
Nevertheless, I thought a lot about the characters to make sure they stayed true to themselves.<br>
Kirari had to be bone chillingly frightening. Ryota had to be good and honest to a fault. The interactions between Mary and Yumeko had to be heartwarming in the right way. The characters that only have a background role like Midari and Sayaka needed to be completely recognizable as well.
<br><br>
I have to admit, I struggled with bringing the original characters of this novel to life with the same passion and realism. I revised them more than once. Ace went from just a cheesy womanizer to someone with a backstory and a serious attitude towards poker. Kifune went from just the antagonist to someone with a history of sacrifice who lives in a state of denial about some things. Hana went from just an unfortunate soul to someone who finds the future she wants to cling to. 
<br><br>
I understood all characters need a vision of what they think they should be working towards. A reason for existence, a life's passion, a raison d'être. It's in the catchphrase of Kakegurui and I felt I needed to explore it more for my original characters. A novel allows for more psychological depth, after all. 
<br><br>
Everything that has been happening in the manga has been on school grounds until now. I hope you found the departure from the traditional setting in Kakegurui Trip refreshing. It allowed me to do something a bit more wild; a poker tournament that not only impacts everyone involved but also determines the future of a whole island.<br>
I hope you enjoyed how I brought the characters to life outside of their familiar surroundings. 
<br><br>
I want to thank everyone at Square Enix who gave me the opportunity to write this novel. In particular, lead editor Kubota (窪田編集長) and Sasaki-sama (佐々木様), Yumoto-sama (湯本様), and Miyamoto-sama (宮本様) from the editorial department who gave me many insightful opinions and encouragement.<br>
A big thanks to Tōru Naomura-sama who found the time to draw the wonderful illustrations for this novel, despite his busy schedule.<br>
Also, a shout-out to everyone who has been reading and supporting Kakegurui. My brother always says he can do 99% of what he does because of the people supporting him, so thank you all very much. I'm pretty sure he is going to make the manga even more interesting in the future, so please keep up the support.
<br><br>
And of course, I want to thank my brother for making all of this possible.
<br><br>
Hikaru Muno
<br><br>