Chapter 46 – Defensive Battle (3)
Swish! Swish!
“…Hmm.”
Choi Jung-an sat quietly, flipping back and forth between Min-hyuk’s manuscript pages and the storyboard sketches in his practice notebook.
Her expression was utterly serious.
A faint tension appeared on Min-hyuk’s face as he sat across from her.
About ten minutes passed like that.
“I’ve read it all, Min-hyuk.”
“How was it?”
Choi Jung-an handed the manuscript and notebook back to him.
“It was fun. The overall directing is solid, the concept of a death game against undead in Gyeongbokgung is interesting, and the characters’ reactions all feel believable. Especially the dynamic between the protagonist and Jeon Gang-pae… that mix of mutual hatred yet unavoidable entanglement is really well done. I’m looking forward to it.”
“…Ah, yes.”
A complicated mix of relief and disappointment flickered across Min-hyuk’s face.
On one hand, hearing it was good brought some reassurance…
‘But is this really okay as it is?’
He had come hoping for pointers on what could be improved, what could be made even better—so this vague sense of thirst remained unquenched.
At that moment.
“But I do have one personal opinion I’d like to share.”
The smile faded from Choi Jung-an’s face, and somehow her voice carried a subtle chill.
Min-hyuk swallowed hard and asked,
“An… opinion?”
“Yeah. I’m not saying you have to change it this way—it’s just my personal thought, my own view. Take it as reference only.”
“Yes, please feel free to say it.”
Choi Jung-an tapped her chin thoughtfully with her finger before speaking.
“Right now… you want to grab the readers’ attention completely right at the timing when Artist Yang Jae-han launches his new series, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then I think you should focus on just one thing.”
“Focus?”
“Yeah. In this episode’s early pages, you explain the Gyeongbokgung mission rules in quite a lot of detail, right? Then afterward, the monsters appear gradually and start building tension.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
It had felt like the natural course.
The Gyeongbokgung episode had quite complex rules and story flow that Min-hyuk himself had set up—so he had deliberately tried to explain them as clearly and kindly as possible so readers wouldn’t miss anything.
“But in my opinion… it might actually be better not to explain the rules so clearly. Instead, focus more on emphasizing the fear and terror of the monsters. And the moment that fear reaches its peak…”
“Would be chapter 15.”
“Yeah. That’s what I think.”
“…….”
The corner of Min-hyuk’s mouth slowly curved upward.
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
He had been so focused on the complexity of this episode that his priority became conveying it clearly and accessibly.
But when a work becomes too easy to follow… inevitably the tension, the mystery, the anticipation and thrill start to fade.
In the first place, what made the early episodes of Brave King work so well was the atmosphere created by unknown entities brutally killing people… and the truth behind the phenomenon remaining shrouded in mystery for a long time.
Yet somewhere along the way—while thinking about the big picture—he had lost a bit of that flavor by the second episode.
In a way… it suddenly became overly kind and explanatory.
“Th-thank you so much, Teacher!”
Min-hyuk bowed his head deeply.
“Was it a little helpful?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m glad. I was a bit worried it might not be.”
“It’s going to help a lot. Really, really a lot.”
“Then… shall we head back to work?”
“I’ll go right now.”
Min-hyuk bowed once more, stood up immediately, and walked quickly toward the studio.
‘I can do this.’
I can make Brave King… far more entertaining than it is right now.
With that conviction, Min-hyuk’s eyes shone brightly.
***
The next morning.
“See you in two days!”
“Yeah, see you!”
The noise outside woke Min-hyuk up in the dormitory.
“Mmm… mmm…”
His eyes were puffy and swollen from exhaustion.
He slowly dragged himself up and peeked out into the hallway—kids loaded with bags were streaming out of the dorm.
‘They’re all going home.’
Weekend had arrived.
It seemed everyone was heading home to enjoy the weekend.
According to school rules, going home or staying was entirely up to the individual…
But since it was only the first week, those whose homes were nearby were mostly choosing to leave.
Of course, Kang Min-hyuk…
“Let’s just work.”
He had to finish the storyboard he would send to Go Gwang-jin by Sunday, so luxuries like going home weren’t an option.
After roughly brushing his teeth, washing his face, changing clothes, and grabbing his bookbag, he headed to the work studio.
The current time was 9:30 a.m.
On weekends, the studio was open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., so if he used every possible minute, he could squeeze in up to 13 hours of work time.
‘Let’s finish the storyboard today.’
Yesterday, Teacher Choi Jung-an had given him a very important hint.
Reduce the excessive kindness in this episode and instead focus on the eerie atmosphere and fear created by the current situation.
Indeed, this approach felt like the perfect way to maximize reader anticipation and tension.
Of course, doing so would make the later stage—where readers finally grasp the full situation—exponentially more difficult…
‘I’ll just have to find a way to handle that part too.’
For now, he judged that concentrating on the immediate goal was the right move.
Once the vague direction became clear, his mind felt refreshed and his body itched with energy.
He felt like he could grip the pen and work for hours without stopping.
“Huuu…”
Screeeech!
Min-hyuk took a deep breath, grabbed the handle of the drawing studio door, and stepped inside.
‘It’s empty.’
Perhaps because it was the first weekend and still too early.
The studio was completely deserted.
But as Min-hyuk walked calmly forward—
“Hm?”
One spot in the studio had its light on.
‘Han… Yu-ra?’
There she was—Han Yu-ra, wearing a bread-shaped hat and casual clothes, head buried in her sketchbook, completely focused on drawing.
“Good morning.”
Min-hyuk gave a light wave and casual greeting.
Han Yu-ra glanced over, narrowed her eyes slightly, and lightly ignored him.
‘Her personality is still as prickly as ever.’
Well, if a comic artist wanted to immerse herself in her work, what could he do?
Min-hyuk lifted the corner of his mouth in a small smile and returned to his own seat.
Then…
Rustle.
He chewed on a triangle kimbap he had bought from the school store earlier while reviewing the notes he had jotted down yesterday.
- Maximize fear and mystery → Use unfriendliness to advantage
- Emphasize terror toward monsters, force/impact
He mentally assembled how he would revise the manuscript, what the highlight scenes should look like.
And how the flow of chapter 15—where he would have to directly clash with Yang Jae-han—should connect and build from there.
Gulp.
By the time he had finished swallowing the entire triangle kimbap—
‘Alright, let’s begin.’
He gripped his pencil and dove into storyboarding.
Scratch scratch!
Scratch scratch!
He recalled dialogue, recalled directing intentions.
To stay on track, he occasionally glanced at his notes.
‘The impact of the first monster encounter needs to hit at an unexpected timing. A moment to shock the reader… Hmm, how about using the Haetae statue on the bridge before reaching Gyeongbokgung? That could work well.’
With a clear direction, ideas solidified quickly, and one after another flowed naturally into the storyboard.
He considered which character would shine brightest in each scene, what directing choices would maximize the intended emotion.
Layout, speech bubble placement, dialogue, ink density ratios, cut sizes and arrangement—everything.
Countless elements were being realized under Min-hyuk’s hand with clear purpose and direction.
It felt like riding a surfboard, surrendering to the flow.
‘Good, good.’
The satisfying drag of the pencil tip against paper.
At this point, instinct told him clearly:
This revised storyboard would have far more hook and entertainment value than the previous version.
After pouring himself into it for nearly an hour—
“Huuu…”
He stood up, rolled his shoulders, stretched his wrists here and there, taking a short break.
How should he put it… a habit born from crippling his wrist in his previous life.
One of the obsessive routines Min-hyuk repeated whenever he had a spare moment.
While loosening up his body like that—
‘Hm?’
Thud!
Han Yu-ra abruptly stood up, grabbed an empty cup, left the studio, filled it to the brim with water, came back, sat down, and gulped it down in big, noisy swallows.
‘She really… drinks a lot of water.’
The same pattern repeated.
Fifty minutes of intense work, ten minutes of break.
Lunch was just a cream puff and milk, then right back to drawing.
During those breaks…
“Huuu…”
Every time she rested, Min-hyuk noticed Han Yu-ra chugging water and letting out heavy sighs.
After seeing it happen several times, a question naturally formed in his mind.
‘Does she… not eat at all?’
Ever since he arrived, it seemed like she’d only been drinking water.
‘…Well, maybe she just eats very little.’
He had no room to worry about other people’s habits right now.
Min-hyuk lightly brushed aside the faint curiosity and returned to his storyboard work.
By the time the clock pointed to around 4 p.m.—
Screeeech!
The studio door slid open.
“Oh, Min-hyuk-kun! You’re working?”
“Hm? What are you doing here?”
Oh Dong-gyo appeared and gave his signature otaku-style hand-chop greeting.
Min-hyuk, who had been taking a short break, stretched and asked. Dong-gyo adjusted his glasses and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Well, assignments are piling up, so I came to knock some out. Hehe… I may not look it, but I’m actually pretty diligent.”
“Ah, right… we do have a ton of homework.”
“Hm? Weren’t you working on assignments too, Min-hyuk-kun?”
“Something like that.”
“Something like that? Why does that sound so suspicious…”
“Never mind, I’m busy. Good luck.”
Before the conversation could drag on, Min-hyuk cut it short and dove back into work.
While he was focused—
“Annyeooong!”
“Oh, Kim Rok-hee! You came to do homework too?”
“Yup, gotta do ittt~”
Kim Rok-hee bounced in like a rabbit, feet tapping excitedly.
With her arrival, the four members from the previous competition were now all gathered in the studio once again.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Everyone sat at their own desks, immersed in work. Time flowed on.
As the sunset began to dye the windows orange—
“Ugh… done…”
Min-hyuk let out a long sigh and slumped back in his chair.
He had completed the revised storyboard for Brave King chapters 11 through 15—five full chapters.
He couldn’t rework the entire saved manuscript from scratch, so he had reused quite a few existing scenes, but still—finishing this much in a single day was an overwhelmingly good result.
Probably…
‘Without Teacher Choi Jung-an’s help, I wouldn’t have made it.’
Kuhhh… Animation High really is something else.
Coming here was the right choice.
Min-hyuk felt a fresh swell of pride in his own decision.
‘I’ll head back, send this storyboard to Editor Gwang-jin… Once he gives the okay, I can start inking tomorrow.’
But while he was basking in that 50000% fulfilled feeling and packing up his things—
Tap!
“Min-hyuk-kuuuun…”
“Shit, you scared me!”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“W-what? Why?”
Dong-gyo raised his hand-chop apologetically and continued.
“You don’t wanna grab dinner together?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. I’m getting hungry… no cafeteria food today, so my energy’s dropping. Plus, I know a really good Chinese place nearby.”
“Chinese food, huh…”
As Min-hyuk stroked his chin, considering the offer—
“Me too! Me me me!”
Out of nowhere, Rok-hee jumped in, shouting.
Her feet stomped excitedly—very much in character.
Min-hyuk gave a small smile.
“Sure, I’ll come too. I need to eat dinner anyway.”
“Yay! Party formed!”
Just then, Min-hyuk glanced over at Han Yu-ra.
‘She’s… probably not coming, right?’
Well, whatever—let’s just go.
As the three of them started heading toward the door—
Grrrrrrrrrr!
“Hm?”
In the quiet studio, a thunderous, stomach-growling roar echoed.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the source.
“…U-Ughhh…”
There stood Han Yu-ra—face beet-red, body trembling slightly.