Chapter 133 – Please Believe Me (3)
Mrs. Hong Mi-seon was lying on the floor, panting as if she had seen a real ghost.
Min-hyuk blinked and asked,
“Mom, why are you on the floor like that?”
“Ghost, g-g-ghost!”
When Mrs. Hong Mi-seon pointed at the monitor with her finger, Min-hyuk turned his head and his eyes widened.
A pair of bloodshot eyes the size of a human fist, mold blooming on a pale face, and wildly disheveled hair.
‘It…… is pretty scary.’
It was the key visual of the ghost that would appear in the first episode of the new horror comic he was planning.
Even though he had drawn it himself, Min-hyuk felt a chill run down his spine.
He let out a sigh of relief and said,
“Ah…… This is the key visual I was preparing for the new work on Bluehouse.”
“New work? You drew that ghost?”
“Yes. This time it’s a horror story.”
“Aaah……”
Only then did Mrs. Hong let out a sigh of relief. She patted Min-hyuk on the back and said,
“I really thought a real ghost had appeared!”
Min-hyuk smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
“Still, I’m glad. Seeing you get that scared.”
“Glad?! I thought my heart was going to drop out!”
“Sorry.”
Mrs. Hong let out a long sigh and said,
“Huuuu, never mind. Come out and eat. I brought gukbap.”
“Yes!”
Min-hyuk stood up with the corners of his mouth raised.
***
A little later.
“Huuuuu, I’m so full.”
Min-hyuk staggered back into his room and plopped down at his desk.
As expected, Mrs. Hong Mi-seon’s gukbap on a cold day — or rather, the gukbap from her workplace — tasted great no matter when he ate it.
‘Alright, shall I finish up today’s work?’
He turned on the PC and opened the Late-On window.
It was currently 9 p.m., and no one had sent today’s work to the group chat yet.
Min-hyuk dragged the PNG file from his desktop and sent it to the chat.
[Kang Min-hyuk: Uploading today’s work.]
[Image attached: <Ghost Key Visual.png>]
[Kim Rok-hee: Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!!! ?]
[Kim Rok-hee: Are you crazy? Why would you upload something like this?!]
[Oh Seung-heon: Wow, shit, I got so scared.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: W-What is this?! What is this?!]
Overall, everyone was shocked and freaking out.
‘This is fun.’
As expected, the fun of horror is scaring people.
The only slightly different reaction came from,
[Han Yu-ra: You drew it well. Exactly as intended.]
It seemed Han Yu-ra had no heart, because she remained completely calm even after seeing it.
Min-hyuk typed again.
[Kang Min-hyuk: Yu-ra, you don’t feel anything?]
[Han Yu-ra: Feel anything? The intention to create fear is clearly conveyed. What more do you need?]
[Kang Min-hyuk: ……Never mind.]
[Kang Min-hyuk: This is the key visual for the new work I’m preparing. Seeing how surprised everyone is, it seems like it turned out pretty well.]
[Kim Rok-hee: If you’re going to show it, at least warn us first! I really screamed!]
[Oh Seung-heon: I cursed too.]
While Min-hyuk was smiling, Han Yu-ra asked back.
[Han Yu-ra: But you’re doing the new work as horror? Why?]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Yare yare. I thought Min-hyuk-kun was going to do a fantasy royal road story.]
Once the shock subsided, everyone expressed their doubts.
[Kim Rok-hee: Yeah, why horror all of a sudden?]
[Oh Seung-heon: ……You’re joking, right?]
It was a natural reaction in a way.
The pen name David — Kang Min-hyuk — was already an artist who had received great love for Brave King, a modern fantasy story.
Not only the people in this chat, but also the fans and readers waiting for his next work would naturally have expected something similar in tone.
Even if it was a little different, they probably thought the overall atmosphere wouldn’t stray too far.
But suddenly horror……
It was bound to be quite shocking.
[Kang Min-hyuk: Well, I thought it would be fun to express it as a webtoon. It also seems fun to scare people.]
[Han Yu-ra: Bad taste.]
He gave a suitable excuse.
At this stage, he couldn’t explain everything in detail — about webtoon scroll directing, about Horror Tiger, and so on — to his friends.
[Kang Min-hyuk: How about the rest of you? Is today’s work going well?]
[Han Yu-ra: I still have one page left.]
[Oh Seung-heon: ……Looks like I’ll have to pull an all-nighter. ㅜㅜ Ideas aren’t coming at all.]
It seemed Han Yu-ra and Seung-heon, who were currently serializing, still had work left.
Well, they would handle their own things well.
What Min-hyuk was more interested in were the remaining two.
[Oh Dong-gyo: I finished the planning document!]
[Kang Min-hyuk: Oh, show me.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: File attached ‘Our Relationship Is Always Precarious Today.hwp’]
Min-hyuk opened the planning document Dong-gyo had sent first.
Title: Today, Our Relationship Is Always Precarious
Genre: Romantic Comedy / School Life
Keywords: Soccer club, childhood friend, manager, love triangle, first love
Protagonist: Lee Do-yoon, the ace of the soccer club.
Core plot: A love triangle where Do-yoon wavers between his childhood friend (Jung Ha-eun) and the soccer club manager (Yoon Se-na) with precarious emotions.
Atmosphere: A youthful romance mixed with fresh first love, misunderstandings, and jealousy.
[Main Characters]
- Lee Do-yoon (Protagonist)
Ace of the soccer club. Cool in everything, but clumsy when it comes to romance.
He often misses his feelings for Ha-eun because he’s too focused on soccer.
- Jung Ha-eun (Childhood Friend)
She has been close to Do-yoon since childhood, but is gradually getting tired of his indifference.
She likes Do-yoon but can’t show it.
……(Omitted)
As Min-hyuk read through the document, the corners of his mouth slowly rose.
‘He brought something very Dong-gyo-like again.’
Of course, that was meant in a good way.
If he had to describe it as another work……
‘It’s like an Adachi Mitsuru soccer version.’
It was a comic that combined Adachi Mitsuru — the master of romantic comedy that Dong-gyo loved — with Dong-gyo’s own favorite sport, soccer.
The protagonist and the main female characters were drawn in Dong-gyo’s signature beautiful style and attached to the document.
There were some holes in the content and a few rough parts, but……
‘I can clearly see what he wants to do.’
At the very least, it wasn’t a bad proposal.
The desire to show “what he wants to express” through this work was clear, and the overall structure was easy to visualize in his head.
He had only read the planning document so far, but……
‘He really has improved a lot.’
Compared to the unidentified long-form proposal Dong-gyo had made before he started assisting on Brave King, both the direction and the structure itself had become much clearer and better organized.
A proud smile naturally formed on his lips.
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ahem, what do you all think?]
Dong-gyo asked cautiously.
[Oh Seung-heon: Hey, but this looks fun? Jung Ha-eun is super pretty lol]
[Kim Rok-hee: I think it’s decently good!]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ohh, really?]
[Han Yu-ra: Not my taste.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Hiiing…… Why isn’t it your taste?]
[Han Yu-ra: I don’t know anything about soccer.]
Dong-gyo looked slightly deflated at Han Yu-ra’s firm answer.
But that was fine.
There was no work that could satisfy everyone from the start.
[Kang Min-hyuk: I’ll think about it for a bit and give you my opinion.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ohh! Of course!]
‘How should I give feedback so it leads in a good direction?’
Min-hyuk stroked his chin and fell into thought.
This wasn’t practice or homework.
This was the project with which Dong-gyo had to debut as a pro comic artist on Bluehouse.
Depending on how the first button was fastened, both the evaluation of the artist and his future could change……
And above all, Min-hyuk had promised to help with this project with all his strength.
He couldn’t give careless or sloppy feedback.
Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap!
Min-hyuk quickly wrote down the points that came to mind in a memo and refined them.
‘This part doesn’t need to be mentioned at this timing. This one should be kept.’
He considered many different factors.
Ways to raise the quality in other areas without killing Dong-gyo’s own desires and unique color as an artist.
He also had to be especially careful with his wording so there would be no misunderstandings during delivery.
Once he finished organizing everything,
Min-hyuk sent a message in the chat.
[Kang Min-hyuk: Dong-gyo, I’ll tell you now. This is just my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ohh! I’ve been waiting!]
Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap tap!
Min-hyuk typed quickly.
He pointed out that the organic connection between characters felt weak.
That while the relationships and pasts between the placed characters were written, they weren’t properly concretized into actual events.
He also mentioned overlapping charm points in the character designs, among other things.
He wrote down the best answers he could give without any unnecessary fluff.
[Kang Min-hyuk: That’s pretty much what I thought.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ohh, as expected from Min-hyuk-kun. The feedback is super detailed!]
[Oh Seung-heon: Kuuu…… As expected from Comic artist Kang. Sharp as always.]
[Han Yu-ra: I mostly agree.]
Fortunately, the overall atmosphere was that most of them accepted the feedback, and Dong-gyo himself seemed to like it.
For most teenagers at this age, such direct feedback could easily hurt their pride……
‘As expected, Dong-gyo is still on another level.’
Once again, Min-hyuk keenly felt that the talent and tenacity of the kids he was with far surpassed what was normal for high school students.
[Oh Dong-gyo: Hehe, I’ll revise it and jump straight into storyboarding!]
[Kang Min-hyuk: Ah, before drawing the storyboard, let’s go over the planning document one more time slowly and revise it. I think it’ll be better to solidify the foundation first so the storyboard comes out cleaner.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ahem, in that case…… I’ll revise it by tomorrow!]
It seemed he had immediately caught the sense after receiving the feedback.
Min-hyuk had to hold back Dong-gyo, who was charging forward like an excited bull.
‘Dong-gyo has a tendency to be overly hasty.’
In the case of male-oriented romantic comedy, the early part needs to clearly establish the characters’ histories and relationships.
Only then will the later dialogues, scenes, and metaphors gain much more depth and detail.
Therefore, rather than rushing into storyboarding right away, it would be much better to spend some time increasing the density of the planning.
[Kang Min-hyuk: If there’s anything you want to discuss or are curious about while planning, feel free to ask anytime.]
[Oh Dong-gyo: Yoshi! I’ll be counting on you!]
And this time……
[Kang Min-hyuk: What about Rok-hee?]
[Kim Rok-hee: I sent mine too!]
[File attached: Strongest! Superpower High School.hwp]
He opened the file again.
Then…… Min-hyuk’s lips naturally curled up.
‘Rok-hee also caught the vibe right away.’
This one was even easier to understand than Dong-gyo’s.
It was a gag comic with the setting that a girl who loves cute things enrolls in a high school just because the mascot is cute…… only to find it overflowing with all kinds of mysterious creatures — aliens, superpowered beings, monsters, etc.
In addition to the basic setting, there were several four-panel storyboard samples below.
[Episode 1. You said it wasn’t that Mars?]
- [Principal: Everyone, let’s welcome our new transfer student!] / [Protagonist: Hi, I’m Kang Ji-young!]
- [Student: Oooh, where are you from, transfer student?] / [Protagonist: I lived on Mars!]
- [Student: Oh, a Martian after a long time?] / [Student 2: I’m from Mars too!]
- [Protagonist: Eh, ehh…… Why is there an octopus alien……]
As you could see, the basic tone was surreal gag……
In other words, it was closer to a nonsensical, absurd comedy.
In some parts, it even resembled Seung-heon’s style.
However, what set Rok-hee’s comic apart from his was,
‘She’s actively trying to appeal to and preserve the charm of the characters.’
Even from the beginning, it was clear.
Unlike Seung-heon’s works, where characters were used consumably and ended as one-off gags……
Even if the content and concept were ridiculous, Rok-hee’s comic boldly declared that she would build the characters properly.
What made that clear was……
[Martian GP99]
- An alien who came to Earth for exploration but was stranded and couldn’t return.
- Treated as an underachiever on Mars, he was almost ostracized by friends and colleagues who didn’t acknowledge him.
- There was one big incident that shocked him deeply……
‘If it was just going to continue with absurd gags, there would be no need for this kind of backstory.’
It was packed with details about the character’s past, reasons for personality formation, habits, and speech patterns.
Furthermore, it clearly described what kind of relationships the characters would build with each other……
And crucially,
‘The designs are blatantly cute and charming.’
Even though it was overall an absurd gag comic, the characters were drawn with excessively beautiful and cute appearances.
If that had been all, he might have been a little worried.
Fortunately, next to them were attached the exaggerated, distorted expressions the characters would make when delivering gags or going wild.
It seemed she planned to show their usual cute, beautiful looks normally, then completely shatter that image at key moments to create a gap for big laughs.
Min-hyuk’s lips rose.
[Oh Dong-gyo: Ohh, this looks fun?]
[Oh Seung-heon: I agree! Seems totally my taste!]
[Han Yu-ra: Fun.]
[Kim Rok-hee: R-Really?]
Perhaps they had similar thoughts.
Positive reactions poured in immediately.
Of course, Min-hyuk felt the same.
[Kang Min-hyuk: I think it’s fun too. It seems to fit the webtoon trend well, and the character charm is good. However, there are still some parts that aren’t clear enough.]
[Kim Rok-hee: Oh, really? Then like Dong-gyo, I’ll revise the planning after getting feedback!]
Min-hyuk stroked his chin for a moment, then typed again.
[Kang Min-hyuk: No, rather than revising the planning again…… let’s start with the storyboard right away.]
[Kim Rok-hee: Eh?]
The moment those words were sent,
A look of puzzlement appeared on the faces of all the kids staring at their monitors.
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