Atogaki ー Afterword

Japanese Edition: みずのごとし (Mizu no Gotoshi)
English Edition: Like Water
Rising Star Fantasy Contest: Unaware Cheat

Thank you very much for reading this work.

I normally don’t read “unaware cheat”–type stories, so I never intended to write one either, but the reason I ended up writing this was that I suddenly realized, “Oh right, among the characters I created, there was one who can drink sake endlessly.”

In the main story, Two in the Abandoned House, Misaki drinks sake endlessly, but since this is written as a short story, most readers would be encountering her for the first time, so I decided to begin with an overview of the character.
I started by having her defeat a despicable human as a way to express her strength, but opening a fantasy story with only humans appearing isn’t exactly ideal for a contest submission.
If this work had been eliminated at the selection stage because of this opening, I wouldn’t really have grounds to complain.

As a matter of setting, Shuten-dōji appears in the story.
The name is borrowed from a character in Japanese oni legends, but beyond the name, there is no particular connection.
The fact that the name is passed down from the previous generation to the current one is also simply because they are calling themselves that on their own.
That said, if anyone bears responsibility, it would be whoever arbitrarily chose to call themselves the second generation; they themselves are not at fault.
I am adding this note for the sake of their reputation.

As another point regarding the setting: a sake known as “Tengu Sake” appears in the story.
It is an original element of this world’s setting—Japanese sake brewed by tengu and imbued with jintsūriki, a kind of supernatural power.
Its name uses “Takao,” a real place name well known in tengu legends.
Perhaps because the tengu of this settlement place deep trust in Takao, they tend to adopt names that sound impressive but do not actually exist, such as “Takao Renpō — Takao Mountain Range” or “Takao Kohan — Lakeside of Lake Takao.”

The title was chosen as Like Water based on the idea of drinking sake like water, as well as a play on the phrase Jōzen mizu no gotoshi—“mizu no gotoshi” meaning “like water.”
At the time, I had no plans for an English translation, so I indulged in wordplay using Jōzen mizu no gotoshi.
Naturally enough, I came to regret this deeply at a later date.
And so, I have firmly resolved that from now on, I will not engage in wordplay within the text.

The cover illustration was generated using ChatGPT, including the title lettering as well.
It didn’t turn out the way I wanted, and I remember struggling with it quite a bit.
That cover was redone for this re-translation.
The reason was that Misaki ended up looking underage.
I think the current version looks more age-appropriate, but I’m still not completely satisfied with it, so I may replace it again at some point.

This work is set at a point in the future beyond the latest Epi.14 of the main story, Two in the Abandoned House.

Once again, thank you very much for reading this work.

January 10, 2026　Tochika