Chapter 89 – Let’s Think About It Slowly
Early morning.
Cho-ip Maeul Apartment, 1304.
On the sofa.
“Mmm, smells good.”
Min-hyuk sipped the mixed coffee from his mug, letting the sunlight pouring in from the veranda bathe his entire body.
On the TV, a rerun of an old variety show was playing, and outside, birds were chirping.
After Hong Mi-seon left for work, Kang Min-hyuk—left alone at home—was enjoying a small moment of leisure in his own way.
“Huuuuh, this is the life.”
A long-overdue moment of relaxation.
The save file for Brave King’s manuscript was safely backed up, and his pacing on the manuscript wasn’t affected at all.
For some reason, Min-hyuk felt like a tycoon at heart.
Of course, after doing this for about thirty minutes—
“Now… what to do…”
Along with the sage time came a subtle emptiness.
“Maybe I should work…”
Was it a habit formed from never resting since returning to the past?
Or was it just his nature?
The moment he tried to stay still, an itch started crawling under his skin.
But lighting a fire under himself to work on the very first day of vacation felt a bit…
“Hmmmmm…”
Maybe go see that guy’s face after so long.
But right when Min-hyuk let out a sigh and fiddled with his phone—
Vrrrrrrrm!
The phone vibrated roughly.
Then.
[Oh Seung-heon]
A familiar name appeared in the center of the screen.
“Speak of the tiger and he appears.”
Min-hyuk gave a small chuckle and pressed the call button.
“What’s up so early in the morning?”
<<You’re home, right?>>
“Yeah, got back yesterday.”
<<Then you should’ve contacted hyung-nim first, you punk. And if you moved, aren’t you supposed to invite me over yourself, huh?!>>
“I was just about to do that.”
<<Then can I come right now?>>
“Come over. I’ll treat you to a meal as a vacation celebration.”
<<Okay!>>
Thud thud! Crash!
Some loud noises came through the phone.
<<Huh? Where are you going all of a sudden?>>
<<I’m going to Min-hyuk’s house!>>
Voices could be heard in the background.
He must have put the phone in his pocket without ending the call.
Classic Oh Seung-heon.
“Well then… guess I should prepare something.”
Min-hyuk got up, brushed himself off, and headed toward the kitchen.
***
“Ah, delicious. This… you really made this yourself?”
“Yeah.”
At the dining table, Oh Seung-heon patted his full belly as he spoke.
In front of him lay a pile of chicken bones—what had moments ago been a perfectly intact dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken).
It was the result of Min-hyuk unleashing his cooking skills, honed from long years of living alone, without holding back.
Sure, he could have just ordered delivery.
But with plenty of time on his hands and a desire to show off his skills after so long, it seemed to have gone over very well.
As they finished eating.
“Then just lounge on the sofa and watch TV. I’ll do the dishes.”
“Okay!”
At Min-hyuk’s suggestion, Seung-heon immediately hopped onto the sofa and naturally started pressing buttons on the TV remote.
Splashhhh! Clink clank!
Water poured into the sink as Min-hyuk began washing the dishes.
While he scrubbed each plate with familiar movements and stacked them in the rack—
Seung-heon looked around and said,
“Huuuuh, anyway… your house really turned out nice.”
“Well, the old place was trash.”
“Woooow… As expected of our Kang Min-hyuk artist. You really made it big. Buying a house with comics.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is a bank house. My money barely made a dent.”
“Eh, still—contributing to your parents’ place at your age is something.”
While the two chatted, the dishes quickly disappeared.
Min-hyuk dried his hands and walked toward the sofa. Suddenly, Oh Seung-heon thrust a paper bag forward.
“Here, take it.”
“What’s this?”
“Housewarming gift.”
“Out of nowhere?”
Min-hyuk tilted his head in confusion, reached into the paper bag, and pulled out a single book.
“This is…”
The Reverse Heaven’s Monarch, drawn in watercolor and oil pastel, looked down from above while frightened high school students cowered below.
It was the third volume of Brave King’s collected edition.
Min-hyuk gave a small chuckle and asked.
“You didn’t have to give it to me—I’d get it from the publisher eventually anyway.”
“Eh… Still, there’s a difference between buying it at the bookstore and getting it for free. They really nailed the cover this time too, so keep one.”
“Well, anyway, I’ll read it well.”
“…….”
In the brief silence that followed, Min-hyuk examined the volume while Seung-heon stared blankly at the TV.
How much time passed?
Oh Seung-heon kept stealing glances before finally speaking first.
“Hey, Kang Min-hyuk.”
“What.”
“Long time no see… Wanna play Gun Amplified?”
Min-hyuk furrowed his brow as he answered.
“What Gun Amplified? We’re not kids anymore.”
And then, a little while later…
“Ahahaha! Die! Dieee!”
“Hey, you bastard! Put down the baseball bat!”
Tap tap! Tap tap tap!
In Min-hyuk’s room, in front of the computer.
The two of them, eyes bloodshot, were yelling and smashing the keyboard with full force.
For someone who had just said “We’re not kids anymore” moments ago…
“Ahahaha! Ahahaha!”
Kang Min-hyuk looked incredibly excited.
He was gleefully pummeling Seung-heon’s character.
Turning into a gorilla to beat him down, dropping him from the stomach with a baseball bat, setting his body ablaze with flames.
If anyone from the association saw this scene, they’d probably rush over to file a report for excessive violence.
But thanks to that, a smile finally overflowed on Min-hyuk’s face after so long.
The slightly strange thing was—
“Ughhhhh…”
Unlike usual, an anxious expression kept floating across Seung-heon’s face.
For some reason, his Gun Amplified playstyle felt extremely passive and unfocused compared to normal.
If you thought about his usual self, it almost felt like Kang Min-hyuk and Oh Seung-heon’s souls had swapped.
About an hour passed in that strange atmosphere.
“Haaaaah, let’s stop. This isn’t fun anymore.”
“Not fun? It was just getting good.”
For some reason, Oh Seung-heon was the first to let go of the keyboard.
Then, with a deep sigh, he melted back into the chair like he was collapsing.
‘Why is he the one quitting first today?’
Min-hyuk tilted his head.
Normally, when Min-hyuk wanted to stop, Seung-heon would lie down and beg for just one more round.
No matter who looked at it, today’s Seung-heon was way too far from his usual self.
Min-hyuk scratched his chin and asked again.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to you today?”
“Something… yeah, there is.”
“What is it?”
“…….”
“Spit it out.”
Seung-heon stared at the ceiling and muttered.
“Actually… today’s the announcement day.”
“Announcement for what?”
“Jump Comics New Artist Contest.”
“Ah…….”
The moment he heard it, the memory clicked into place.
The contest that Han Yu-ra and Oh Seung-heon had submitted to.
They select a total of five works, and the first-place one goes straight to serialization in the magazine…
The very contest with those explosive conditions.
“When’s the announcement time?”
“9 a.m. this morning.”
It was now 12:30 p.m.
The results had been out for quite a while already.
“And you still haven’t checked?”
“…Yeah.”
“Scared?”
“Terrified. Absolutely fucking terrified. Like I’d ever win… with my level of skill daring to dream.”
Oh Seung-heon started clawing at his hair in self-reproach.
Looking at him like that, Min-hyuk roughly understood the situation.
‘So that’s why he contacted me first thing in the morning.’
He must have been nervously waiting for the contest results all morning… and finally couldn’t bear to check alone, so he came all the way here.
Min-hyuk let out a deep sigh and said,
“Stop whining and just check it already.”
“What if… I didn’t make it, Kang Min-hyuk?”
“Then you didn’t make it. What else? Isn’t it greedy to expect to succeed on your very first try?”
“But you succeeded on your first try.”
“That’s different. I’ve been drawing comics for a long time, remember?”
To be precise, since his previous life—but still.
At that moment, Seung-heon scratched his face roughly and said,
“Haaaaah… I can’t do it. You check for me. I’m so nervous I might die.”
“Fine.”
Min-hyuk immediately accessed the Jump Comics website.
Right at the top of the notices section was this post:
[Jump Comics New Artist Contest Results – July 24, 2006.]
“Hey, the announcement is up.”
“Crazy, crazy, craaaazy.”
Oh Seung-heon covered his eyes with both hands and flopped backward onto the bed.
Min-hyuk sighed deeply and clicked on the post.
In that instant, his eyes widened greatly.
About ten seconds of silence passed before Oh Seung-heon cautiously peeked toward the monitor and asked,
“Did I… get first place, Kang Min-hyuk?”
Min-hyuk turned his head and replied,
“First place? Do you even have a conscience?”
“Th-then… I didn’t make it?”
“You did. Check it yourself.”
“Ughhhhhh… Damn it.”
Seung-heon crept forward nervously and brought his face right up to the monitor.
Then…
[Grand Prize – Han Yu-ra (17) / ‘Melton Demon Chronicles’]
Editorial Department Comment: The overall concept and the protagonist’s motivation were extremely clear and well-defined.
Solid fundamentals throughout, excellent directing ability, and the most outstanding potential as an artist. It’s hard to believe this is the work of a high school first-year.
If you’re a regular reader of Jump Comics, you have every reason to look forward to the serialization of Melton Demon Chronicles.
The moment he read the judging comment, Seung-heon blinked and asked,
“Wh-what…? Han Yu-ra? Isn’t that the girl from your school?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Han Yu-ra, who had won the grand prize at the Animation High competition.
Of course Seung-heon had seen her work before, and Min-hyuk had mentioned her name in passing during calls, so his reaction made sense.
Seung-heon’s shoulders slumped as he clawed at his hair and muttered,
“Haaaaah… Why does a monster like that even enter a contest?”
His face was full of disappointment.
At that moment, Min-hyuk elbowed him in the side and said,
“If you’re gonna look, look all the way to the end.”
“What’s gonna change if I go all the way… huh?”
As Seung-heon scrolled down, his eyes widened again.
Because…
Among the five selected works, right at the very bottom, the name “Sacred Trace” was boldly listed.
[Honorable Mention – Oh Seung-heon (17) / ‘Earth-Destroying Level Gag Impact’]
Editorial Department Comment: The hardest comic to judge. It’s a mess, yet funny; funny, yet still a mess. Fundamentals are terrible, but the entire editorial department agreed it’s unique and entertaining.
We believe this artist has plenty of potential as a comic artist ‘if he truly puts in a lot’ of effort. Readers, please remember this name.
A string of ambiguous comments—hard to tell if they were praise or harsh criticism.
But…
Oh Seung-heon blinked, pointed at the screen with his finger, and said,
“My comic is unique? And funny?”
“I told you it was funny.”
“They said I have potential too. This isn’t a lie, right?”
“Why would they lie about something like this?”
When Min-hyuk chuckled and said that—
“Yesssssss! Wooohoooooo!”
Seung-heon let out a scream-like cheer and leaped onto the bed, jumping up and down wildly.
Seeing the guy who had looked half-dead just moments ago suddenly explode like this…
‘Classic Oh Seung-heon. Very Oh Seung-heon.’
It was like he was doing in real life what he couldn’t do in Gun Amplified.
Min-hyuk lifted the corner of his mouth slightly and said,
“Hey, quiet down. If you yell like that the downstairs neighbors are gonna come up.”
“Kang Min-hyuk, aren’t you happy? Your friend got an honorable mention on his first try! Got praised like that!”
“Of course I’m happy. I’m just telling you to calm down a little.”
“Hmph! I need to savor this victory thrill! Uh-heh! Uh-hehehe!”
Seung-heon flopped onto the bed, hugged a pillow, and rolled around on top of it.
It was a sight Min-hyuk could barely watch with both eyes open.
He shook his head, then grabbed his phone.
One person suddenly came to mind whom he wanted to congratulate.
[Recipient: Han Yu-ra]
- Congrats on winning the grand prize, Artist Han Yu-ra. The editorial department gave you extremely high praise. : )
He typed a short message and sent it.
She didn’t seem to be looking at her phone—no reply came back.
‘Well, this should be enough.’
As Min-hyuk was putting his phone back in his pocket—
“Hey, this won’t do! Hyung’s treating! Let’s head out right now!”
“We just ate, though?”
“Then patbingsu! Patbingsu! I’ll treat you to something ice-cold!”
“Huuuuh, fine. Let’s go.”
In the end, Min-hyuk had no choice but to follow the rampaging Seung-heon out of the house to calm him down.
As the two of them walked down the street.
Vrrrrrrrm!
The phone vibrated again.
He flipped it open.
[Sender: Han Yu-ra]
- Thanks.
A short, straightforward reply.
‘Very Han Yu-ra.’
Min-hyuk let out a breath and closed the phone.
At that moment, Seung-heon asked,
“What was the text just now?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, don’t make me curious.”
“Whatever. Hurry up. It’s hot as hell out here.”
For some reason, Min-hyuk felt his steps grow lighter.
**************
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