Chapter 117 – The End of Rest
4 p.m., in front of the Animation Center.
Choi Jung-an clenched her fist tightly and shouted,
“Alright, everyone from the Comic Creation Department first-years, are you all gathered?”
“Yeees!”
“If anyone hasn’t come, raise your hand! Hah!”
“That’s not funny, teacher…”
“Boo…”
“S-Sorry.”
Jung-an’s shoulders drooped at the jeers pouring out at her own joke.
“Then… follow me, everyone. Let’s go watch the screening.”
“Yeees.”
After that, the students gathered in small groups and followed behind Jung-an.
They were heading to the screening room on the second floor of the Animation Center.
In the meantime,
“Hey, did you guys get all your stamps?”
“Of course. Hehe, I got a lot of signatures too.”
“Wow, seriously? You even got Shin Yo-seop’s?”
“It’d be a loss if I didn’t.”
“Want to see the goods I bought?”
“You bought so many.”
The students chatting in small groups were all excitedly talking with bright expressions.
Since the SECAF event itself was perfectly optimized for the Comic Creation Department kids from the start, everyone looked very satisfied.
On the other hand…
“Min-hyuk-kun, is it really okay to just leave it like this?”
“Ugh… It feels so uneasy. So uneasy.”
Perhaps because of the fact that Shin Yo-seop had seen through Min-hyuk’s identity just moments ago, both Rok-hee and Dong-gyo’s faces were clouded with unease.
“Don’t worry about it and just enjoy today, both of you. We came all the way for the picnic.”
“No… but still.”
Of course, the person in question, Kang Min-hyuk, looked completely at ease, as if he was actually enjoying the current situation.
“Alright, right after the screening there will be the director’s talk session, so don’t go anywhere and watch carefully.”
“Yeees.”
After that, the animation they watched on the second floor was titled ‘The Three Wrinkles of the Old Man’.
It was an animation adapted from a comic that had won a Spanish comic award.
The story was a kind of road movie about three old men trapped in a nursing home who form a friendship with each other……
And escape the nursing home to fulfill their dreams.
“Hmm… This is fresh. It’s fun.”
As he watched, Min-hyuk’s mouth corners refused to come down.
Since he rarely came across Spanish comics, everything felt completely new.
It was the pure feeling of being an audience member that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
The headache he had been suffering from while preparing for the Bucheon Comic Awards felt like it was being refreshingly cleared away.
After the screening……
“Please welcome the director and the original author with a round of applause!”
The director of the animation and the original author came out together to hold the talk session.
“What do you think is the most important quality for someone who wants to become a comic artist?”
“I’m curious about the moment when you thought, ‘I’m glad I chose to become a director.’”
Students from both the Comic Creation Department and Animation Department, along with other attendees, asked questions quite actively.
Min-hyuk didn’t have any questions come to mind right away, so he just listened quietly……
‘So you can think of it that way.’
‘That kind of process…’
Because they were all people involved in ‘creation,’ most of the content was relatable or had witty moments in between, making it quite enjoyable to listen to.
After about 50 minutes of the talk session had passed,
The moderator raised his hand high and asked,
“Alright, we’ll take just one more question at the end. Anyone who wants to ask?”
It seemed everyone who wanted to ask had already done so — no one raised their hand.
But for some reason,
When he came to his senses, it was Kang Min-hyuk who had his hand raised.
“Yes, the male student over there, please go ahead.”
“Ah, yes. I’m a student majoring in comics.”
Min-hyuk stood up after receiving the microphone.
And then……
He stared directly at the original author who had received the comic award in Spain.
He hadn’t prepared any particular question in advance.
Yet a single sentence suddenly burst out from inside him.
“What does receiving a comic award mean to you as an artist?”
“Could the questioner please make the point of the question a little more specific?”
“It’s exactly as I said. As someone who draws comics, I was purely curious what kind of experience receiving a comic award was for you. And I wanted to ask how that experience affected the rest of your life as an artist.”
“Hmm, yes.”
With a serious look in his eyes, Min-hyuk asked the gray-haired original author.
The moderator translated the question into Spanish, and the author gave his reply.
His answer was long and delivered in a rather serious tone.
The moderator relayed his words.
“The author says that receiving a comic award felt like receiving a medal of honor. Drawing comics is an extremely painful and lonely process… No matter how much positive response you get from readers or how much commercial success you achieve, there comes a moment when the artist becomes numb to it. But the moment he received the award, the feeling was slightly different. He felt that he had been running toward this, and it gave him a greater sense of happiness than anything else.”
“What could be the reason for that?”
They exchanged words once again.
“He says it’s because the people congratulating him are fellow comic artists and, more broadly, fellow creators. It’s not simply praise based on the achievements or outward success of the work… but congratulations from people who have gone through similar experiences. He says that when you reach a similar age or accumulate similar experience, you will understand what he means.”
Min-hyuk smiled faintly and replied,
“Thank you. That was really… more than enough of an answer.”
***
A little later, in front of the parking lot of the Animation Center.
The sun had already set, and the whole world was dyed in darkness.
“Alright, everyone check if your friends are all here! Check if you’ve left anything behind!”
While the students were lining up for the final headcount,
“……”
Kang Min-hyuk stood blankly, staring at the opposite side.
It was as if his soul had left his body.
Oh Dong-gyo tilted his head and asked,
“Min-hyuk-kun, what’s wrong?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“No, you’ve seemed out of it since earlier… like your mind is somewhere else. Is something wrong?”
“…No, I’m just happy.”
“Happy?”
“Yeah.”
Min-hyuk smiled softly as he savored the scenery reflected in his eyes.
Because they were halfway up Namsan, the entire Myeongdong area spread out before them.
It was a beautiful sight, as if the Milky Way had unfolded.
On top of that, the night breeze of Namsan carried the scent of grass, tickling his nose.
Standing like this, everything that had happened today came flooding back to him.
Walking around the SECAF booths with his teammates, seeing things he liked, and eating delicious food.
Meeting comic artist Shin Yo-seop, having a conversation, and gaining motivation for the Bucheon Comic Awards.
And even learning from the Spanish author what receiving a comic award truly meant.
A whole day surrounded by comics, as if he had been baptized by them.
After taking such a long break for the first time in a while, strength returned to his body, along with courage and motivation.
He felt confident that he could pour every ounce of his full ability into the Bucheon Comic Awards.
And……
‘I know what I have to do now.’
A clue had surfaced.
The breather episode right before the final episode of Brave King.
The thoughts on how to resolve the part that had felt so stuck and blocked were……
Becoming clearly organized.
Han Yu-ra’s words — that if he rested properly and cleared his mind, something would come to him — had hit the mark.
“Thank you, Han Yu-ra.”
“For what?”
“Just because.”
When Han Yu-ra tilted her head in confusion, Min-hyuk turned his head to the side and spoke again.
“Rok-hee. Dong-gyo.”
“Huh?”
“Wae?”
“Please take care of me. Until the comic is completed.”
The two stared at Min-hyuk for a moment, then
“Yare yare, of course.”
“Just leave it to us!”
They smiled brightly.
***
Late at night, inside comic artist Shin Yo-seop’s office.
“Artist, he probably won’t come today, right?”
“Yeah, he’s probably having a drink with the editors from that side.”
“He’s so busy. Events, work… Being a popular comic artist really isn’t something just anyone can do.”
The assistants who had finished their work stretched and slowly began tidying up and getting ready to leave.
Everyone’s faces were filled with exhaustion.
They were receiving proper pay with overtime allowances and special bonuses, but……
The workload and quality standards for Crow King, which was aiming for completion in December, were truly murderous.
That was why, once work was finished, they had to go home and rest immediately.
Otherwise, there was no way they could work properly the next day.
However……
The person in question, comic artist Shin Yo-seop, was still accommodating every request from the publisher — events, magazine bonus pages, and so on.
All while digesting 100% — no, 120% — of his own workload.
It was a monstrous amount of work that made one wonder if he was even human.
From the assistants’ perspective, they couldn’t help but feel exhausted.
“Alrighty, let’s head out slowly too.”
“Yes.”
Under the head assistant’s lead, everyone was tidying up their spots and about to leave when—
Clunk!
The door to the studio opened.
“Oh, artist, you’re back?”
Comic artist Shin Yo-seop was stepping inside.
A faint smell of meat and alcohol lingered on him, suggesting he had just returned from the after-party.
Shin Yo-seop smiled faintly and asked,
“Are you all heading home?”
“Yes, we just barely finished everything. Would you like to check?”
“No, I’m sure you all did a good job. Go home and we’ll see each other tomorrow.”
“Whew… Yes. We’ll head out then.”
But just as everyone was about to leave,
Shin Yo-seop lifted the plastic bag in his hand and said,
“Ah, take one each. I brought donuts on my way back.”
“Thank you!”
“Ooooh! These are my favorites!”
The assistants bowed with happy smiles.
“Then take care on your way.”
“Get some rest, artist!”
As they were leaving the studio one by one,
The head assistant paused for a moment and asked,
“Um, artist.”
“Yes.”
“Just in case… you’re not planning to work more, right?”
“…You caught me.”
The head assistant narrowed his eyes and said,
“Just rest. If you push yourself and collapse, our whole team… will be finished.”
“It was a joke, a joke. I just came here because I didn’t feel like going home, so I’m going to sleep here.”
When Shin Yo-seop raised his hands in surrender, the head assistant let out a heavy sigh.
“Rest. For real. If we’re going to run until December, you really need to manage your stamina properly.”
“Yes, yes. Stop nagging and go home already.”
“I mean it!”
Bang!
The head assistant left while still nagging until the very end.
“Seriously, he worries too much.”
Shin Yo-seop walked straight to his desk.
There, the completed Crow King manuscript was laid out.
He picked it up and slowly read through it.
‘Not bad. Everyone worked hard.’
Even by his own standards, it was quite a decent manuscript.
He could feel the aura of how much effort the assistants had put in.
But……
“Whew…”
Shin Yo-seop opened the latest issue of New Chance that was stacked on his desk.
[This is humanity… This is a fight between humans.]
[Dreams, wishes — throw them all away! Why the hell do we have to do this? I want to go back, to before all of this happened. Even without power, even without money, that time was so much better.]
It depicted the protagonist’s group, who had survived by killing the other players in the game.
Their changing state of mind, how they had grown, and how their thoughts about the game were shifting — all expressed through his signature sensual directing and dialogue.
And this manuscript……
‘Far surpassed the “good” level.’
That a high school student was producing work of this caliber.
“Whew… This is really unfair.”
He pressed firmly on his temples with his fingers.
“Well, if I’m going to get nagged anyway… maybe I’ll do just a little… more.”
Comic artist Shin Yo-seop picked up his pen once again.
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