Chapter 51 – Preparation (2)
Oh Dong-gyo, sitting in front, burst into laughter and shouted,
“Uhahaha! David versus Goliath! Doesn’t your heart just swell with grandeur?!”
“…….”
Kang Min-hyuk blinked wide-eyed and turned the page.
Swish! Swish!
The following advertising pages were entirely dedicated to Yang Jae-han’s new work and his own.
[A new arc begins at Gyeongbokgung Palace! What terrifying foes await them this time?!]
[Will the secrets of KKG finally be revealed in this episode?]
Several scenes outlining the current story flow, along with commentary and foreshadowing bait for what’s to come…
[The man who opened the chapter of game-fantasy comics, Yang Jae-han, returns—this time with zombies!]
[Live or die! A survival struggle in a zombie-infested high school—School of Deadline!]
On the pages dedicated to Yang Jae-han’s work, a single high school stood against a black background. From the rooftop, a boy looked down below.
In the schoolyard beneath him, students and teachers who appeared to be zombies stood blankly.
Just three silent cuts, yet somehow it felt loaded with meaning… and anticipation surged wildly.
A truly impactful image.
Looking at it, Min-hyuk couldn’t help but think,
‘As expected from Yang Jae-han.’
Thump! Thump!
His heart began to race, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.
The thought that this was going to be fun filled his mind completely.
Advertising pages were one of the most important tools for New Chance to reduce losses right now.
The fact that they sacrificed all of them to promote just these two works showed how seriously they were treating this matchup…
And how blatantly they were building a rival narrative to drive sales.
‘They’re really laying the stage perfectly.’
At that moment, Dong-gyo asked excitedly,
“So? Isn’t it insane? Aren’t you hyped, Min-hyuk-kun! A fresh wind is about to blow through the dying Korean comic industry because of this epic clash. Who will win?! As a fellow comic lover, how can you not be excited?!”
“Who do you think will win?”
When Min-hyuk asked with a light smirk, Dong-gyo crossed his arms and seriously pondered.
“Who will win… Hmmmmm… It feels like it could go either way, but…”
Dong-gyo squeezed his eyes shut and groaned dramatically.
Seeing him genuinely agonize, Min-hyuk waved his hand.
“No, you don’t have to think that seriously about—”
Flash!
Dong-gyo suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted,
“In this showdown! Yang Jae-han wins!”
“…Yang Jae-han wins?”
When Min-hyuk stroked his chin and asked, Dong-gyo nodded vigorously and continued.
“Yes! That work, <School of Deadline>—Yang Jae-han must have sharpened his blade after seeing Brave King’s success! It’s the card he pulls out after seeing his opponent’s hand, so it’s bound to be incredibly strong. Plus, look at the art on that ad page. Anyone can see it’s insane!”
“Well… yeah.”
“He’s an artist who’s already reached the peak before. So I’m betting on him!”
Looks like I really need to step up.
Min-hyuk gave a small smile and nodded—when suddenly,
“Nonsense.”
“Hm?”
A cold voice came from the side.
But it was a voice both of them already knew well.
When they turned their heads, a familiar face came into view.
Wearing a bread-shaped hat, arms crossed, looking down at them with an expressionless face…
A cat-like girl.
Han Yu-ra.
Dong-gyo adjusted his glasses and replied,
“Hey hey, Yura-chan.”
“Please don’t call me Yura-chan. I don’t like that nickname.”
“Ahem! Han Yu-ra, what do you mean nonsense?!”
When Dong-gyo pointed accusingly, Han Yu-ra closed her eyes tightly, opened them again, and spoke in a decisive tone.
“In this matchup, David wins.”
“David wins? On what basis?”
“Just look at the 11th chapter that came out this week.”
“What about it?”
“This artist… is building everything up for an explosion in chapter 15. He’s timed the buildup perfectly to match Yang Jae-han’s new series launch.”
“What?”
Dong-gyo furrowed his brows, clearly not convinced.
And Min-hyuk…
‘What?’
His eyes widened in genuine surprise.
He scratched his forehead and asked,
“What do you mean by explosion in chapter 15?”
“The moment you read this week’s Brave King chapter, you’ll see it. This artist changed the flow and structure a little compared to the first episode. I can’t say 100% for sure, but… he’s building up for something big in chapter 15, timed perfectly for Yang Jae-han’s launch.”
“You’re not even the author—how would you know that?!”
“It’s obvious just by looking. Do I really have to explain it?”
Han Yu-ra let out a derisive snort, as if the very question was ridiculous.
Dong-gyo’s face filled with injustice—he clearly couldn’t accept it.
Meanwhile…
‘…She noticed that?’
Min-hyuk’s eyes widened as he stared at Han Yu-ra.
If he, as a third-party reader, looked at chapter 11 of Brave King, would he have realized the buildup was for an explosion in chapter 15?
‘No… probably not. High chance I wouldn’t have.’
From a pure reader’s perspective, the available information is extremely limited.
Most people would’ve just thought, “This episode looks fun,” and left it at that.
But Han Yu-ra… had glimpsed—at least partially—what the author was thinking and drawing toward.
Purely on instinct.
How should he put it…
‘Is this what they call a genius’s intuition?’
She really is a monster.
Just one casual remark, yet it felt like she had seen straight through his hidden intentions—Min-hyuk couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
At that moment—
“Min-hyuk-kun! What do you think?!”
“Hm? About what.”
“David vs. Yang Jae-han. Who do you think will win?”
“Ah…”
Having to answer this with his own mouth was inevitably embarrassing.
‘After all… I’m doing this precisely because I intend to beat Yang Jae-han…’
Min-hyuk scratched his forehead and paused for a second.
In the meantime, even Han Yu-ra stared at him with a murderous gaze.
She didn’t say it outright, but the pressure screaming “Answer already” was unmistakable.
Min-hyuk gave a soft eye-smile, scratched his head again, and replied,
“Hmm… well, probably the one who’s better will win, right?”
“Ehhh, give a real answer!”
“I mean… it feels weird to speculate about a work that hasn’t even come out yet. I’ll pass.”
“Hmph.”
Han Yu-ra turned away as if she’d lost interest, then swiftly left the classroom.
‘Han Yu-ra… she’s actually giving me quite a high evaluation.’
Making people feel unnecessarily burdened like this.
Min-hyuk let out a short huff through his nose.
“Hey hey! My prediction will come true, you’ll see!”
Dong-gyo shouted after her retreating back, then turned back to Min-hyuk with an aggrieved expression.
“Hey hey, Min-hyuk-kun! You have to say something here! No matter how monstrous the rookie is, that’s Yang Jae-han! Yang Jae-han—the immovable giant of the Korean comic world… You know that better than anyone!”
“Uh… yeah, sure.”
“Huuu… so frustrating, so frustrating.”
Calling someone a “monstrous rookie” with such grandiose flair—please don’t just slap titles like that on people…
And anyway.
Sure, it’s flattering that people are paying attention to his matchup with Yang Jae-han… but right now, there’s something far more important.
“Well, putting that aside.”
“Putting it aside?! This is a critical turning point that could decide the direction of Korean comics—!”
Dong-gyo looked ready to launch into another passionate rant.
Min-hyuk casually placed a hand on his shoulder and said,
“Dong-gyo, what are you doing this weekend?”
“This weekend? No real plans… Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“If you’re free, wanna come with me to Namdaemun Market on Saturday?”
“Namdaemun Market? Why there?”
“I need to go to the art supply street to buy screen tones and some other drawing tools. There’s someone I know there who’ll give me a discount. If you’re interested, come along.”
“Hoo… really? That actually sounds tempting…”
Just as Dong-gyo stroked his chin thoughtfully—
“Namdaemun Market!”
“Shi—!”
Something suddenly popped in between them, making both of them jump.
“You guys just said Namdaemun Market, right?”
“Uh… yeah.”
The identity of the sudden intruder with freakishly sharp ears was none other than Cutie Maniac, Kim Rok-hee.
“Then I’m coming too.”
Rok-hee flashed an eye-smile. Min-hyuk asked,
“You need to buy supplies too?”
“That, and also… I need to stop by the fabric market while I’m there.”
“Fabric market?”
Swish!
Rok-hee suddenly pulled something out from behind her back and thrust it forward.
A small ball-jointed doll.
Rabbit ears on its head, eyes as big as saucers—it was striking.
“I need to make clothes for Vincent, but I ran out of fabric. I was already thinking of going anyway… but since you guys are heading there, can I tag along?”
“Sure… why not.”
“Yayyy! Happy high-five!”
Perhaps overly excited, Rok-hee jumped up and down in place, holding out her palm.
Smack! Smack!
Reluctantly, the two of them gave her high-fives.
***
Rattling along—inside the subway heading toward Hoehyeon Station, where Namdaemun Market is located.
Min-hyuk, Dong-gyo, and Rok-hee sat side by side.
‘Lucky timing.’
Saturday morning.
Leaving early paid off—the subway was surprisingly empty for a weekend.
Meanwhile, Min-hyuk had his notebook open, scribbling notes.
‘Never used tone 7 before… I should check its texture in person. The one people mention online a lot is 19, right?’
Today’s main goal—regardless of what anyone said—was selecting screen tones for Reverse Heaven’s Monarch’s armor.
Based on information he’d looked up online beforehand, Min-hyuk was organizing his thoughts to minimize indecision and get the best possible result.
Right beside him…
“DMN? I think that one’s way too vulgar—I hate it.”
“What? Vulgar? Omae, you really don’t understand comics.”
“No, not knowing that doesn’t mean I don’t understand comics.”
“There’s no gag comic more faithful to proper gag grammar! If you don’t get that, how can you claim to understand comics?”
The two were having a very lively (?) otaku conversation.
Occasionally, someone would sneak a glance in their direction…
But every time—
Min-hyuk subtly shifted a little farther from Dong-gyo, pretending to be just another civilian.
Anyway, after some time passed like that—
‘Alright, this is enough for now. I’ll decide the rest when I get there.’
Min-hyuk closed his notebook and let out a long breath.
Then, for some reason, a strange feeling welled up inside him.
‘Worrying about which screen tone to use… this really feels like a luxury.’
It was 2006 right now.
Already, in the back alleys of the internet, creators were beginning to serialize works that would become the precursors to webtoons on various platforms’ blogs.
Internet newspapers were also serializing quite a few print comics to attract traffic.
And by the end of this year…
‘Bluehouse and Lemon Tree will jump into the webtoon business.’
The two major portal platforms that would dominate the Korean webtoon industry: Bluehouse and Lemon Tree.
Lemon Tree would establish webtoons first, then Bluehouse would rapidly grow its own platform with sheer power and catch up.
And when smartphones exploded in popularity around 2010… that would mark the true beginning of Korea’s webtoon boom.
The future of Korean webtoons was right around the corner—yet here he was, still using ink pens for line work and screen tones for texture.
Somehow, the situation felt deeply ironic.
But precisely because of that—it felt good.
‘On the flip side… this is the last window to leave a mark in Korean print comics.’
The twilight era of Korean comics—of Korean print comics.
If not now, when else would he ever experience this?
Having resolved to become the greatest comic artist, being able to live through this era firsthand was a stroke of luck in itself.
And if he could decorate the final page of that era alongside Yang Jae-han—the man once called the last hope of Korean comics—that would carry even greater meaning.
While Min-hyuk sat with his eyes closed, lost in thought—
<<This stop is Hoehyeon Station, Hoehyeon Station.>>
Finally, the announcement came that they had arrived.
“Let’s go, Min-hyuk-kun!”
When he slowly opened his eyes, Dong-gyo—who had already stood up—was waving him over.
Min-hyuk nodded and took a light step forward.
‘Alright… let’s go.’
To buy the ammunition he’d need for the war ahead.
**************
TL Note:
You can read 10 additional chapters of this novel right now on Patreon via the Premium Tier
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Comic Artist”
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls?utm_source=search
If you join Premium, you’ll get:
🔓 10+ advance chapters instantly
🚀 Up to 9 chapters per week
📖 Access to the advance chapters of my 5 other novels as well
After joining, please message me and tell me which novel you’re most excited for.
That helps me decide which series to prioritize and update faster.
If you’re reading all 6 novels, let me know too — it really helps with planning future releases.
⚠️ Note: If you specifically want this novel, please join the Premium Tier. The Plus tier does not include it.
**************