Way back in 2002 I was playing a game called "Battle Realms".

I liked that game so much that I would skip school for half a day just to play.  It was that fun for me. 

I also liked the eastern Japan feudal period it was in. It looks so beautiful. The architecture, the forests, the way the characters looked.

Me and my friends were also making manga at that time. We were amateurs and it was just a bunch of nerds that thought making our own manga would be pretty cool.

And I needed a story. So I wrote one taking inspiration from Battle Realms.

Thankfully, it was somewhat original and not just a blatant rip-off. Which is common if you're young and a fan of something.

I also played "Throne of Darkness" and "Divine Divinity" during that period. So I guess I got some elements from those games as well.

I like the story of Throne of Darkness even if it was a very simple one. And I like the seven samurais too. And of course the demons that you fought were awesome. Again, it was set in feudal Japan.

For Divine Divinity I only took inspiration from the PDF file that came with the game. I think it was the prequel story or background story. But it wasn’t the game itself. It was still a good game though.

We were actually able to make one chapter of this story. The first and last one.

I called it “Terra Firma.” Which is a terrible name in hindsight. 

It’s 2021 now and I’m dusting the story off to bring it back. It’s basically an 18-year old story. Which is crazy.

I also thought it would be a good idea to post this on Reddit to see how webtoon readers would feel about it. This takes a lot of guts because you never know what people will say. Not recommended for people with thin skin.

It didn’t get much attention to be honest, only one person commented saying it sounds so cliche but would still read it. That’s actually a good sign because it means this story has potential. It sounds cliche for now but still interesting enough if done right.

I also set up a poll for users who don’t want to comment but still want to help. You know, those silent lurkers. And it got three votes.

Three not four because I voted on my own poll. That was the only way you can see the results early in Reddit. I know it sounds weird and I think Reddit should fix that.

Two users found this story interesting and one user chose to pass on this one. So 66% of webtoon readers might be interested in a story like this. And that was good enough for me to give it a go.

I’ve always wanted to finish this story.

I never got the chance 18 years ago but I have the chance now. I feel like I owe it to the younger me to get it done.

There you have it. That’s where I got my webtoon idea, from video games. From 18 years ago. Games are not a bad idea to get weapons ideas from.

Let me know in the comments below, where do you get your ideas from?