Y13 [EN]: Chapter 296

Y13-296. Postscript (296/296)

00296 Postscript ====================================================

@Finally, Youngjae’s second season has come to an end. Today is January 20, 2016, and it’s been exactly 10 months since I started serializing on March 21, 2015. Writing this has been a truly enjoyable experience. I’ve loved reading and writing novels since I was young, but even though it took me a while, I never imagined my first work would be seen by so many people.

While browsing sports novels on Joara [a Korean web novel platform], I felt a strong urge to write one myself. At the time, my favorite sport was basketball. There were only a couple of basketball novels available, and I wasn’t satisfied with them. As someone who watched hundreds of games live and read professional articles daily, I was constantly disappointed.

So, as the saying goes, ‘If you don’t like it, why don’t you write it yourself?’ That’s how I decided to ‘self-produce’ during the winter vacation of 2015. I discussed the idea of writing a basketball novel with my younger brother, who is now my co-writer. We clicked immediately, and that’s how we started writing Y13 together.

Initially, I thought it would just be a small, hobbyist novel since it was my first attempt and basketball is a relatively niche sport. I envisioned it as a novel for personal satisfaction or to gain some experience. However, as more and more people showed their support, I began dedicating more time to the project. I delved deeper into the strategic and tactical aspects of basketball, reading professional magazines and articles, watching more games to understand the flow, and paying close attention to the commentators’ insights.

As NBA fans know, this novel strives for realism. The players’ stats are close to real-world figures, and the teams and era are also similar. I focused on depicting the impact of the protagonist’s involvement, such as his team’s performance, the performance of his teammates, and the changes resulting from player movements influenced by the protagonist. Of course, I avoided introducing players who couldn’t realistically be acquired, and the protagonist’s performance isn’t overly fantastical. The plays executed in the games are based on actual occurrences in real-life basketball.

The most difficult aspect for me to accept in other sports novels was when a mediocre player suddenly transforms into a star with just a few words from the protagonist, or when the entire season unfolds exactly as the protagonist desires. Therefore, I tried to minimize those elements and guide the team’s direction in a way that maximized plausibility. Naturally, I needed to incorporate reincarnation and enhanced physical and athletic abilities. That aspect is probably the most fantastical element of this novel.

I’m disappointed that I had to take a break due to unavoidable circumstances. Basketball is my passion, and writing energizes me. I promise to resume serialization upon my return. I apologize to the readers for the extended hiatus.

The expected return date is July 3-4. I’m scheduled to arrive back in the country on July 2, so I’ll need some time to get back to writing.

In the meantime, my brother plans to work on his own project while I’m away. Since my absence will be almost five and a half months, it wouldn’t be productive to remain idle. Often, authors of long-term hiatus works don’t return, but if my brother is actively writing, I believe readers will have more confidence that this work won’t be abandoned. He’s planning to serialize it on Noblesse [another web novel platform], so please check out his work if you’re interested. For the record, I guarantee that his work will not delay the continuation of this one after I return.

Below is a postscript from my brother, who has been writing alongside me. I feel bad that he couldn’t finish his first novel because of me and had to start another one. I apologize again to the readers for the several-month hiatus.

I ended the second season here to give a sense of closure to the first part. During the break, please consider that you’ve finished reading the first part, and I would appreciate it if you could revisit it when I return.

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Hello. I’m the younger brother of Team Signature, who was in charge of the volume. My pen name is ‘Med 덕후’ [Med Deokhu, roughly translated as “Med Otaku” or “Med Fanatic”], and I’m preparing to stand on my own for 5-6 months. When we first started writing this novel, I remember saying something. My brother and I went to the same school, so we started with a casual comment, ‘Let’s write a book together.’ At that time, I said this:

‘Basketball is a minor subject compared to soccer and baseball, so let’s write with a relaxed attitude.’

‘I just hope 1,000 people will favorite it.’

And today, I see that the number of favorites is a staggering 8,900. I was incredibly touched that eight times more readers than our original goal read Team Signature’s Y13.

The most challenging aspect of writing this was that ‘basketball’ is considered a niche subject. If I were aiming for popularity or other motives, I could have written about soccer or baseball, but I also had a personal desire to write about basketball. I’ve been drawn to fantasy, especially game fantasy, for about 10 years since my school days, reading, deleting, and wondering if I should serialize it, but I always stopped myself, citing the lack of suitable conditions. What does writing truly mean to me?

Am I writing because I genuinely want to write? Or am I compromising with reality because writing is the skill I’m best at among the things I can do? After much contemplation, I wanted to challenge a new genre and discover my true feelings about writing.

That’s how my first serialized work began, and before I knew it, Season 1 was complete. Looking back on the journey of exactly one year, including two months of planning, I think I have a vague understanding of what writing means to me. However, I don’t believe I’ve found a definitive answer yet, and I still have much to learn.

While writing this, I realized that I don’t dislike writing; in fact, I’m quite devoted to it. Although there were some disagreements due to my limited knowledge and differing opinions, I believe my brother and I resolved them effectively in our own ways. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to my brother. Sorry, bro. LOL.

I will now be working under the pen name ‘Med 덕후,’ stepping away from the shadow of Team Signature for a while. I’m going to try to stand on my own with fantasy, a genre I’ve only contemplated and written alone. I’m not one to chase trends, so I can’t guarantee that my writing will be easily understood, resonated with, or communicated effectively with the readers of Joara… But I’m going to work hard to ensure that it doesn’t tarnish what we’ve achieved at Team Signature.

[Pen name: Med 덕후]

[Work title: The One Who Embraces the Dungeon]

[Currently serialized up to 8 episodes]

The work is titled ‘The One Who Embraces the Dungeon,’ and it’s not a modern raid story. I plan to write about the process of actually building a dungeon. I think it would be better to discuss the details in the first article written by Med 덕후, not here. Yes, it might seem like a sales pitch, but I’m mentioning it with the hope of connecting with you again and sharing a lot of empathy through writing. I won’t object if you find this part distasteful or consider it a promotion.

For now, the goal is to write during my brother’s hiatus, but even if I don’t finish the story I want to tell, I can assure you that it won’t affect Y13. So, if you have some time while waiting for Y13, I would appreciate it if you could check out the writing of the novice writer Med 덕후.

Yun Youngjae is still running. There’s still a long way to go, and I have no intention of stopping here. It may seem like a long time, or a short time, but with my brother’s return, Yun Youngjae will once again become the crazy colt of the Dallas Mavericks and run wild.

Youngjae is the character who allowed me to connect with readers for the first time, and he’s the one I tried to portray with the most realistic appearance, despite my limited writing skills. I believe it’s my duty to finish his story and leave him in your memory even after that. So, Team Signature will take a breather for a while.

Thank you.