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| ▲ This image, provided by RIDI, shows the cover of 'Under the Oak Tree.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by RIDI, shows the advertisement for "Under the Oak Tree" hung on an electronic display at Times Square in New York, last year. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by RIDI, shows the English version of the web novel 'Under the Oak Tree.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) - "I think 'Under the Oak Tree’ will remain in my memory as a work that I have been struggling with for a very long time. When I uploaded the last episode, I felt relieved as if I had finished my old homework."
Writer Kim Suji, who wrote the popular web novel "Under the Oak tree," has expressed her feelings in a written interview with Yonhap News on Sunday to wrap up the long-term series published for a total of five years, from 2017 to 2022.
“Under the Oak Tree” is a romance fantasy web novel about the love and growth between timid and stuttering Maximillian who is a daughter of duke and and Riftan, a low class knight with mixed-race.
Unlike other romance fantasy web novels, which mainly feature perfect main characters, the main characters of this work are somewhat lacking and inferior.
The writer explained, "I like the story of outsiders," and "I naturally set the main character like this because I like to make stories with people who are alienated or deficient as the main characters."
She said, "I wanted to portray an immature woman who can regain her true self through various adversities and grow into a person who can love someone passionately, not just in being loved."
She stressed that the most important theme she wanted to express through this story is “unchanging and consistent love.”
"With the backdrop of the medieval fantasy worldview, I wanted to write grand epic of a man and woman who love each other constantly," the writer said, adding that the song of the Oak Tree Spirit symbolizes the blind and consistent love between the two.
“Under the Oak Tree” is a remake based on the story the writer wrote in college.
The setting has not changed much compared to the initial work, she said, adding, "The proportion of Ruth and the knights has increased, and the scale has also increased."
She also said, "The biggest modification to this story from six years ago was the second part of the ending," adding, "When I first conceived the story, Riftan followed Maxi, confessed his sincerity, and completely ended the conflict, but when I decided to remake it, I changed the ending to giving the knight's oath. At this time, I even wrote down the scene of offering the oath in advance, she added.
After the remake, the title was changed to "Under the Oak Tree," which was taken from a Bible verse, instead of a closed original title that was like an Internet novel.
She said, "When I made the world view of the novel, I borrowed a lot from the Old Testament, and the title also came from Bible verses. However, the meaning of the title was not even brought from the Bible," she said.
The completed "Under the Oak Tree" has established itself as a representative work of RIDI and has become very popular overseas. The English version of the web novel ranked first in three categories on Amazon in the U.S.
Writer Kim said, "It's only recently that I realized that people like this story more than I thought," adding, "I'll try to remain as a writer who creates interesting stories in the future."
She has also unveiled plans to publish its next work and a series of bonus stories.
First of all, she said she is also preparing a romance fantasy novel called "Forgotten Field" set in the past era in the worldview of "Under the Oak Tree." The volume is expected to be about 90 to 120 episodes.
She also hinted, "I'm preparing a fantasy set in the modern era," adding, "I think it will be the story of the most insane human beings among my works."
As for bonus story, she said, "We are planning a short bonus episode containing the peaceful and small daily life of Anatol, and after that, we intend to make another one containing the behind story of Riftan and Maxi."
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho.)
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