WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 516: Completion Review

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Hello, this is Nariata.

I began serializing this work on September 22, 2023, and somehow, I only got to write the words “The End” on July 21, 2026.

When I first started writing it, I planned to finish around chapter 350. “I’ll wrap this one up before 2025!” That was the goal, but plans are made to go awry.

As those of you who made it this far already know.

Not chapter 350, but chapter 515. Not in 2024, but in the summer of 2026. Here I am, writing this completion review... Haha.

There were a lot of ups and downs while writing this work. The actual serialization period was about two years, but because of various issues and a long hiatus, it ended up running for nearly three years. I was in my early twenties when I wrote chapter 1, and now I’ve passed my mid-twenties and am looking toward my late twenties.

So much happened.

I got cancer and went through chemotherapy. Just when I thought I had finished treatment and could get back to serializing... this time, my parents got cancer, and I came to understand how they must have felt when I was the one who got sick.

It feels like I went through a whole pile of experiences I never wanted to have, all at once.

Thankfully, everything has been resolved now, but I learned the hard way that health is the most important thing. Please get regular checkups too. You really have to get checkups! Seriously!

Aside from that, it was a period in which I learned a great deal.

I learned a lot, both as a writer and as a person.

The serialization period was long, after all.

A lot of hard things happened, but because I managed to bring it to a successful conclusion, I Pulled Out Excalibur is a deeply meaningful work to me. Now that it’s complete, I thought I’d share a few miscellaneous stories about it.

1. How I Ended Up Writing I Pulled Out Excalibur

It was the autumn of 2023.

I was thinking about my next work. After actually using the ideas I had planned while writing my previous work, I found myself thinking, “Hmm, this isn’t it?” So I scrapped all of them and started considering completely new material one day... Though calling it “thinking about material” is a bit generous, because I was playing a game.

Anyway! One day, while I was thinking about material.

At the time, I was playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and I pulled out the Master Sword. The Master Sword is a legendary blade that symbolizes the Zelda series, and I really liked the scene where you pull it out.

I wrote that scene down in my idea notebook.

Then I was watching YouTube, and what do you know, I think it may have been Fate/Grand Order’s tenth anniversary at the time? Something like that. An anniversary video popped up. I don’t play FGO, but I’ve always been a fan of the Fate series... so I gave the video a quick watch.

And I saw a scene where someone held Excalibur.

First the Master Sword, then Excalibur.

Legendary swords are always the sort of thing that makes a man’s heart race. That was when I decided. Ah, I should just write a story about pulling out Excalibur. That was how I Pulled Out Excalibur began.

Those who read the afterword for my previous work may know this already... Some of the ideas I mentioned in that afterword did make their way into I Pulled Out Excalibur... Haha.

2. During the Long Hiatus in the Middle, From March to November 2024

In February 2024, I was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to take a hiatus for chemotherapy. I feel a little bad bringing up such heavy things again, but this is a happy story!

When I was first diagnosed, I thought, “Maybe I can keep serializing while undergoing chemotherapy?” But after receiving it once, I understood right away.

Ah, I absolutely won’t be able to write until this is over.

Those eight months were truly difficult.

My body was struggling, but what hurt even more was being unable to do things I had once taken for granted. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t concentrate, so even writing a sentence was difficult.

Writing was everything to me, and I remember how painful it was to be unable to write.

What if I can’t write anymore? What if I lose my touch even after chemotherapy ends and can’t serialize again? Will there be readers willing to wait eight months? Will they forget me? Will I be able to write well when I return? More than anything, can I even go back to how things used to be?

I had so many thoughts.

At the time, while receiving chemotherapy, I would reread my novel in my hospital room. I read the comments people left, too, and the messages of support under my hiatus announcement. They gave me a great deal of comfort.

Right. I have to recover and return.

I have to live up to those expectations.

With that in mind, even while going through chemotherapy, I think I kept forcing myself to sit in front of my computer and plan ideas. I sent storyboards to Author Otalja, and we worked on character designs together.

I received treatment every two weeks.

When I felt a little better, I planned material.

Then I went back for treatment...

Throughout those unbearably long eight months, I think I endured by imagining showing these episodes to all of you, and imagining the explosive response you would give them.

The episodes I planned at the time were probably the Helmeted Knight, Lapis and Anton, Don Quixote, and the Carnival King arcs...

Even thinking about them now, I’m amazed and wonder, “How did I write this?” I suppose writers really do need suffering.

I’m joking.

At any rate, there were many times when serialization was difficult.

But I still love writing.

Being practically forced to stop serializing made me realize it. I always say writing is hard, but being unable to write is harder than anything else.

3. Afterword

I Pulled Out Excalibur.

In many ways, I Pulled Out Excalibur was a challenging work for me.

My previous work, I Quit the Hero Party, was essentially my first work... I did my best writing it, and though I was satisfied with how I finished it, perhaps because it was my first work, I found myself thinking this while preparing my next one.

“Did I really succeed because I was good at writing?”

Was it just an accidental success born from various factors lining up, such as the early days of Novelpia, genre-specific circumstances, and so on? I think that was why I became even more determined.

No, it wasn’t.

I wanted to tell that to myself, not to anyone else.

That was how I Pulled Out Excalibur came to be.

I remember trying to use methods I hadn’t used in my previous work and make as many different attempts as possible while writing it. I wrote heroines I hadn’t written before, used different kinds of material, and there were developments where I went all in without holding back.

Some worked very well.

Some failed.

Still, to borrow Najin’s words, I think I was right to take on the challenge.

I’m not comparing my previous work and this one by asking which I wrote better or which is better. Both works are so meaningful to me that I can’t rank one above the other.

It’s simply that I achieved results in a different way.

Now that I’ve finished I Pulled Out Excalibur, I think I can say this with confidence.

“Nariata? You’re good at writing. Keep doing it like this.”

I’m joking.

I’ll work even harder. In my next work, I’ll show you how much more I’ve grown.

4. In Closing

Perhaps because there’s so much I wanted to say.

This has gotten rather long.

In any case, a lot happened, but the story of I Pulled Out Excalibur has now reached its end as well. There are still epilogues left, though. To briefly tell you about them...

The epilogues will be about the heroines of the story.

I’m planning individual episodes for Yuel, Dieta, and Merlin. I’m busy preparing to move right now, so I’ll probably be able to show them to you around August... I’ll work hard to prepare them!

And while I’m here.

I offer my endless thanks to Author Otalja, who stayed with me through this work after my previous one. Even during my illness, I drew strength from the illustrations they completed. Thank you so much.

I’d also like to thank the senior writers who helped me when things were hard. They’ve treated me to so many meals that I think it’s about time I bought one. I’ll treat you to a meal!

Thank you to my parents who supported me, and who are probably reading this afterword too. I’ll take care of my health.

Lastly.

Thank you to every reader who read this work.

Thank you for reading such a long piece.

Have a happy day :D

Footnotes:

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