Chapter 119 – Last Breath (2)
From early morning, the story of Brave King began.
It started with 16 kids.
But as they went through each mission, two or three died at a time, and now only six remained.
However, every single one of the remaining kids had their hearts broken.
A slaughter mission where high school students had to kill each other.
Even though they had survived, this was not living.
What they had thought of as just a game where you defeat monsters……
Had become deeply engraved in their minds as the act of murdering living people.
[I killed… I killed a person. Damn it……]
[But I had no choice!]
As if representing the hearts of these kids,
Rain began to fall from the sky, and everyone retreated into their own caves.
First, Baek Seol-hee, who held the queen position and was the heroine of the story.
[What are you doing locked in your room! You have to go to the academy!]
Her obsessive, perfectionist parents, who suffocated her.
Even when their daughter showed a serious expression, they paid no attention and only spat out harsh scolding.
[…I’m not going. So get lost.]
Baek Seol-hee locked the door and logged into the online game she usually played, hunting monsters with an expressionless face.
In the game, she searched for a user she had been close to, but for some reason that user wasn’t online.
Baek Seol-hee’s face darkened rapidly.
Next……
[Haa… Haa…… I’m going to die? I’m going to die?]
Jeon Gang-pae, who had been the leader of Class 1 in the third year but had fallen to the weakest position and become the king, was frantically drinking alcohol in fear.
The other kids were no different.
[I hate this. Why… Why do we have to do something like this.]
[Just endure one more mission. Just one more.]
Facing the final mission, some were terrified, some had given up……
Showing extremely anxious minds.
There was already no dream or hope left here.
If possible, they only had the desperate wish to turn their lives back to before they had participated in this slaughter game.
The rain grew even heavier, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
On the other hand,
[Good, good. Ohoho. You must accept your fate.]
The host character, Coup-ler, who was sitting in his room watching the scene through the monitor, had a full smile on his face.
Because he was the one who had to devour their dreams and hopes.
Because he was also the one who had to achieve his own dream through this game.
Their downfall would become a great opportunity for Coup-ler.
While everyone was sinking together into the swamp,
Only one person was trying to turn this situation around.
[…It’s not the time to stay still.]
Kim Bin-woo, the bullied boy who had been treated like less than a person by Jeon Gang-pae all year.
The boy had also witnessed countless deaths and despair while going through this game.
Choi Kang-cheol, the judo youth national representative who had been like a mentor to him, had died protecting him.
He had tried to protect the friends who had slowly begun to open their hearts to him, but he couldn’t save a single one.
But the boy did not give up.
No, he could not give up.
There was a wish that could be granted if he cleared the game to the end.
He believed that if he could just seize that wish, there would still be a chance.
Because those were the words left behind by Choi Kang-cheol, who had taught him how to fight.
Bin-woo picked up his phone and called the other kids.
But no one answered.
He grabbed an umbrella and ran out into the rain.
The strong wind flipped the umbrella, and his whole body became soaked.
At some point, the boy thought the umbrella was getting in the way and threw it away, moving forward.
And then……
He left the slum where his house was and stepped into the wealthy neighborhood that had always felt burdensome even to set foot in.
He headed toward the place where Baek Seol-hee, his cyber friend from the same online game and the girl he had a crush on, was.
Swallowing hard and clenching his fist tightly, he pressed the doorbell with one hand.
[“Who are you?”]
[“I’m Kim Bin-woo, from the same class as Baek Seol-hee. I have something urgent to tell her.”]
[“What is it? Tell me, young man.”]
[“I have to tell her directly. It’s really important.”]
However, Baek Seol-hee’s conservative and stubborn parents refused to let Kim Bin-woo into the house.
Their eyes and voices were as if they were looking at a cockroach.
But Kim Bin-woo did not back down.
He climbed over the wall and scaled the side of the building.
[Krrgh!]
He slipped on the rain and fell, his skin scraped and bleeding, but he didn’t give up and climbed again.
At the same time, Baek Seol-hee was typing a message to the online friend she had been waiting for.
She wrote that she was going to quit the game and go on a trip far away, so don’t look for her.
Just as she hesitated over whether to press the send button,
Knock knock knock!
Someone knocked on Baek Seol-hee’s window.
When she turned her head, she saw a familiar face on the veranda.
[“What? You? How did you get here……”]
When she let him inside, Kim Bin-woo appeared in a completely messed-up state.
His clothes were soaked by the rain, caked in mud, and blood was seeping from various places on his body.
But unlike usual, Kim Bin-woo was neither servile nor depressed.
With a strong and courageous face, he simply reached out his hand to Baek Seol-hee and said,
[Let’s go out. This isn’t the time to be staying here like this.]
At that moment, Baek Seol-hee’s eyes widened.
It felt as if a halo was shining behind Kim Bin-woo.
[Okay.]
Baek Seol-hee took his hand and jumped out the window with Kim Bin-woo.
At that instant,
[Hey? You, what are you doing! Baek Seol-hee! Baek Seol-hee!]
Her parents, who happened to be looking out the window, shouted upon seeing her.
But Baek Seol-hee simply turned her head sharply and looked at Kim Bin-woo’s back.
Then she dashed forward.
Splash! Splash!
The two ran fiercely, splashing water droplets with their feet.
As if they could overcome any rainstorm or gale.
And then, they went to find the other surviving kids.
[Let’s go together. This is the last one. We have to come up with a plan together.]
[What’s the point of making a plan? We’re going to die anyway!]
Everyone showed negative reactions and seemed to firmly reject Kim Bin-woo’s hand……
[We won’t die. No, I won’t let us die. Don’t worry and just follow me.]
Kim Bin-woo extended a hand of salvation to them.
With intense eyes, a firmly held hand, and a voice full of determination.
He didn’t say many words, but every meaning was clearly felt within them.
That he was speaking from the heart.
That he was ready to stake his own life to keep that promise.
[Let’s go to school… We’ll discuss it in the classroom.]
[School? But today is Saturday……]
[Hurry. I’ll take care of everything.]
One by one, the kids joined Kim Bin-woo’s group.
Because they too had been lonely.
Because enduring all this pressure and weight alone right before death was too much to bear……
[I-I’ll go!]
As if they had received salvation, as if they had witnessed a messiah, the kids followed Kim Bin-woo as if possessed.
Scenes of Kim Bin-woo and the kids holding hands continued to repeat.
And the more it repeated……
The fierce rain and wind transformed from symbols of anxiety into a device that added background sound, making it feel as if they were excited.
The very last person Kim Bin-woo went to find was……
[Jeon Gang-pae, let’s go together. We have to survive.]
Jeon Gang-pae, the bully who had tormented him all year and left unforgivable scars.
Toward the person who had only filled him with anger, hatred, and the desire to kill……
Kim Bin-woo reached out his hand with a refreshed expression, without the slightest emotion.
On the contrary, it was Jeon Gang-pae who was hesitating and conflicted.
[Why the hell are you doing this to me? You said you wanted to kill me. So why are you suddenly acting like this now?]
[Don’t you want to live too?]
[Huh?]
[If you die, we all die. That’s all there is to it. Stop talking nonsense and take my hand. That’s enough.]
There wasn’t a single word about forgiveness — just dry, emotionless dialogue.
Yet somehow, the atmosphere around them.
Kim Bin-woo’s expression.
It was powerfully conveying a message to the readers.
That he had forgiven Jeon Gang-pae.
The Kim Bin-woo who lacked confidence, suffered from violence, and only hated himself in his shrunken life was no longer there……
And that he had finally been reborn as a hero.
[Damn it……]
Jeon Gang-pae took his hand.
The kids began running toward the school once again.
Then, the raindrops gradually became finer, and the cloudy sky slowly started to clear……
By the time they arrived at the school,
[We’re here.]
[Yeah.]
In a two-page spread, the full view of the school standing before the kids unfolded.
Under a clear sky with not a single cloud, bathed in the beautiful orange glow of the sunset on a color page……
The school stood tall in pure white.
And with that, this chapter of Brave King came to an end.
***
The moment they saw the final page of Brave King, the assistants in Yang Jae-han’s studio had their mouths wide open.
“Wow, this is actually insane.”
“They used the color pages like this?”
“…Is he really a high school student? I think I should just quit comics.”
Crazy aftertaste.
Crazy emotional line.
They drove the six characters’ emotions straight to the bottom, equated it with the rainy weather, and then……
Showed Kim Bin-woo breaking through and changing it all.
That gray sky used in the early front color pages was sharply contrasted with the final two-page spread of the school under the orange sunset.
Powerful directing kept striking step by step, and at the end, it exploded with even more force by combining it with color.
It was just a cut with no dialogue and only the kids’ expressions……
Yet readers could feel it clearly.
What kind of emotions those six kids standing beyond the panel, right before the final battle, were feeling.
And this shock wasn’t limited to the people in the studio.
“Hmm, as expected of Min-hyuk. Don’t you think so, department head?”
“Hahaha! I’ve said it many times! Our Min-hyuk is a talent who will lead the Korean comic industry!”
Choi Jung-an and department head Ma Dong-hyun, who were talking in the staff room, looked at this chapter and raised the corners of their mouths in pride.
“Whew… Min-hyuk-ah. Take it easy, take it easy. We’re in the same magazine, it’s too much of a comparison.”
Comic artist Shin Pil-ho, who was reading New Chance in his studio, showed a bitter smile.
“Waaaa, as expected, comic artist David is a genius! How did he even structure this? It’s just a daily life part. Right, Kim Mi-na?”
“Yeah, senior… He really is amazing.”
“Senior? What senior?”
“Ah, I’m also dreaming of becoming a comic artist. So I meant senior in the same industry.”
“Senior my ass. It’s teacher. Teacher!”
Even Kim Mi-na, who was preparing hard for the entrance exam to enter Animation High, and the buzz-cut Ha Byeong-man, a passionate follower of David, couldn’t hide their shock.
[Korean Comic Board]
[Anyone read the latest Brave King and Crow King?]
- Damn, both Brave King and Crow King went all-in this chapter, right? What do you guys think?
└ These crazy people. They’re doing a strength show with comics.
└ ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ So fun. Ever since comic artist David appeared, it keeps getting more interesting.
└ I can hear the sound of aspiring comic artists breaking their pens from here.
As expected, the comic-related communities were in an uproar.
And……
“Whew… Really… This time, someone even crazier than comic artist Yang Jae-han has appeared.”
As he looked at New Chance, comic artist Shin Yo-seop’s face bloomed with a full, joyful smile.
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