---

---

:

(cheerful) I often come here to buy stuff.

:

Heh heh, I figured...

:

(points to various stores) Here, clothes. There, they make good ice cream. Here, toys.

:

(points to a hi-fi store) And there, they have killer gear that slaps!

:

...?

:

I thought you'd be more interested in that. (points to a florist store)

:

...!!! (annoyed, wings turning red)

:

Abominable! Only sadistic scum would run such a museum of horrors.

:

...?!

Behind the store window, a young and pretty salesgirl sees them passing by.
Ribbon in her hair, dress with hearts drawn on it, sweet and innocent smile.

:

(shouts at the salesgirl) Assassins!!!!!

:

...!!!

Ren-Bo quickens her pace, and leaves Soo-Bong on the spot.
He looks at the salesgirl, puzzled.
The salesgirl takes a flower, holds it by her hair, and crosses her eyes.
A way to say "Hey, this girl is totally crazy"!
Soo-Bong hurries to catch up with Ren-Bo.

---

Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo cross the street when...
VROOM! VROAAR! VROAM! Motorcyclists come from all the streets around.
Motorcycles also block the shopping alley. Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo are surrounded!

:

...!!! (frightened, wings turning blue)

-

What an idiot!

-

It makes sense for the characters to go to an already drawn place.

(looks at Soo-Bong, desperate, in tears)

-

I should have chosen the unknown street.

-

I screwed up.

:

Soo-Bong! (clutches Soo-Bong's jacket)

-

(unexpected adrenaline rush) Being scared shitless won't fix anything.

-

No matter how many of them...

-

... they won't touch a single hair on Ren-Bo's head!

(weeping)

:

I'm ready to kill the first one who approaches!

:

Don't worry, Ren-Bo.

:

... (cries, tries to hope)

:

So he wants to play knight, the runt?

:

Bring the gear, we're gonna patch up his girlfriend!

The bitches pull out permanent markers and spray-paint cans, and...
Razors, hammer, nails and cutters!

:

(to Ren-Bo) Dirty little fly, you thought you were beautiful?

(takes it)

:

(to Soo-Bong) And you, woodlouse, we're gonna crush you for good.

(anxious but resolute)

Further on, a high-school girl looks at Ren-Bo with contempt, holding a paint can.

(his gaze is drawn to the lamppost)

-

This lamppost...

-

A lamppost that is much too thick.

-

No, thick, exactly as I drew it.

-

For a specific reason...

:

What's wrong with him?

:

He doesn't dare move, he's pissing his pants so bad.

(has lost faith)

-

A line of force. The tree! The foreground!

-

It's too crazy to succeed...

-

Maybe not. This frame already exists.

:

Ren-Bo!

(gets a grip)

:

Hold my hand firmly, and get ready to run.

:

... (attentive, takes his hand)

:

Now!

They run towards the lamppost.
It's the only gap the high-schoolers aren't blocking.

:

Yah!

:

They just plant themselves right in the middle!

---

Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo reach the foot of the lamppost.
Here a supernatural phenomenon occurs, reality is torn apart.

Only Soo-Bong can see the dimensional rift.

-

I can't believe it.

:

Jump with me!

---

:

(stands up) Where am I?

Yeon-Joo and Kang Chul come to Soo-Bin's bedside.

:

Seonsaingnim, do you feel better?

Soo-Bin is suddenly frightened by a memory.

:

The tablet! The tablet draws by itself!

Kang Chul puts a hand on Soo-Bin's shoulder, to reassure her.

:

Soo-Bin, you scared yourself for nothing.

:

But I assure you, the tablet--

:

A wallpaper. You have seen an animated wallpaper.

:

Soo-Bong uses a screensaver, programmed with images of the manhwa.

:

Oh, I'm such a nitwit!

:

I feel so stupid. I caused you some trouble for that.

:

It's all right, Seonsaingnim.

:

For a moment, I imagined that--

:

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

She faints again, and falls into the sofa.
Kang Chul and Yeon-Joo turn around.

:

(stares into space, realizes he's back)

:

(looks down, remembers)

:

Why did I do that?

:

Why?

(bows his head sadly, lost in thought)

:

Soo-Bong, what is it?

:

Soo-Bong, snap out of it!

Kang Chul shakes him, in vain.

:

(fed up) I'll read the manhwa, it'll be easier.

The image switches to frontal view and...

---

---

---

---

---

:

Soo-Bong, what is this plagiarism?

:

Can't you find your own twists and turns?

:

A girl like Ren-Bo isn't hard to move some other way!

:

Heh heh heh. (nervous, tragic snicker)

:

...?!

:

There's really no way to make that kind of kiss without a slap.

:

Whether before, or after...

:

(his face distorts, like a victim of intestinal colic)

:

Come on, Soo-Bong, what's going on with you?

Soo-Bong clings to Yeon-Joo's dress, like a beggar.

:

Noona, I have to face the facts... (Noona = Older girl: sister, friend or lover)

:

I'm a coward! Meuh-euh-euh.

:

It's the first time I see him worried about that...

:

...!

:

What did I look like, in front of her?...

:

Ren-Bo? Is it that much of a problem?

:

I've never seen a girl as beautiful as her!

:

As alive, as sensitive, as funny.

:

And I ruined it! Boo-hoo-hoo...

:

That's what makes you so upset?

:

You're not gonna fall in love with her that quickly?!

:

I will do everything to see her again!

:

You've done everything to get away, and you already want to go back?

:

Aaah... I know how pathetic I am... Snif.

:

You barely know each other.

:

I've known her by heart for a year!

:

With butterfly wings, she is condemned to stay in a manhwa...

:

Why are you harassing me?

:

Changing worlds just to be together... You two had no shame!

:

Bouah ah ah aaaaah.

:

It must be love at first sight...

:

The kind of whimsical exaltation leading to a disturbed mind, but no more real feelings.

:

You exaggerate, everything is blurred in these cases... He is sincere.

:

Soo-Bong, there is no need to ruminate. Anyway, it doesn't depend on you.

:

Only she can invoke you there. If she forgets you, you won't go anymore.

:

I just told her to forget about me! Raaah ah ah.

:

Soo-Bong, don't sweat it like that, come on.

:

Would she forget you, after what you've been through?

:

Of course, her thoughts are like butterflies.

:

An endless chain of irrationalities...

Kang Chul kneels down and puts his hands on Soo-Bong's shoulders.

He speaks firmly and quickly, so that Soo-Bong cannot reply.

:

You should be worried about going back there instead, because that's the most likely outcome.

:

Your destiny is at stake. You have neither the age nor the time to react like a teenager experiencing his first heartache.

:

...

:

The impossible has happened again. We must understand the reason, the nature and the consequences.

:

So listen to your Hyung! Right now, you need to use your brain, not your heart!

:

It's... it's okay, Hyung... snif.

:

Pheeeew!

:

(looks at Soo-Bong's wet hair) A quick blast of the hairdryer would freshen your mind.

:

Soo-Bong, first, help me put Soo-Bin in the guest room.

:

Ok, Hyung.

:

Looks like she's down for the night.

:

That's good!

Soo-Bong and Kang Chul carry Soo-Bin, taking care not to wake her up.

---

:

Let's rank our questions in order of importance.

:

The most important is how a new manhwa came to life.

:

We never knew how "W" could already come to life. It's just absurd.

:

Probably a combination of many variables. An isolated case, not reproducible.

:

Like an alchemical reaction, a coincidence, or the Big Bang.

:

An alchemical reaction...

:

I think I said the magic formula that triggered all this.

:

Ultimately, it's a paranormal phenomenon. It's barely any different from magic

:

No, there is no formula or magic. An unexplainable phenomenon is not necessarily magical.

:

The human soul is a universal mystery... without magic.

:

...?! ("what's he getting at?")

:

Exceptionally, the mind could influence reality.

:

It's vague, I couldn't make a pink rabbit appear in front of me.

:

... ("what to answer to such a biased logic")

:

We could make a list of all the variables we know.

:

But... with an infinity of parallel worlds... There is inevitably one that adapts to each manhwa!

:

So... all manhwas can become alive?

:

Maybe, but hundreds of manhwas would already be alive.

:

And... what if this were happening today?

:

Omo!

:

We're in for it...

:

My intuition tells me an extraordinary context is necessary.

:

If it were that simple, it would have happened already.

:

And why "Butterfly Girl"? It's crazy that such a fanciful world exists!

:

Nameless cities, a sky changing to any color whatsoever!

:

Yes, I would have preferred more logic.

:

Thus, the phenomenon would only be possible between identical worlds.

:

Maybe the classification of parallel worlds is messy?

:

Or rather, classified according to a logic different from common sense.

:

Although this is still speculation, I will note this variable.

:

Affection! Soo-Bong has always been attached to Ren-Bo.

:

My father was also attached to you. Or at least, he was obsessed with you.

:

He projected his desires onto me. There is indeed a variable related to the emotional bond.

:

All authors do that!

:

With the same intensity? I don't think so.

:

A feedback loop!

:

What is it?

:

A new variable that comes to mind.

:

... (jaded)

:

Oh Sung-Moo's manhwa had an unprecedented success.

:

The readers' collective consciousness could have helped it become real.

:

(ironic) With these 3 new variables, "W" is no longer a mystery!

:

But that doesn't explain the mystery of "Butterfly Girl".

:

Ah, it all looks like drunken theories!

:

...!! (slightly offended)

:

Heh heh... I declaim this kind of philosophy, when I'm drunk.

:

That, and the scientific power ranking among superheroes...

:

My head is going to explode.

:

It's not a coincidence this happens to a manhwa drawn by you two. We are connected to the phenomenon in an unknown way.

:

(to himself) Oh Sung-Moo's house is haunted.

(uncomfortable, "worst calamities will fall on us")

:

At this point, we won't know more.

:

Let's focus on more concrete puzzles.

:

Come and see, Soo-Bong.

Kang Chul goes to the graphic tablet.

---

Kang Chul scrolls through some drawings on the tablet.

:

Soo-Bong, how did you do that?

:

I stopped thinking normally, and thought like a comics artist.

:

What difference does it make?

:

Ah! People think a comic is a series of panels.

:

But truly, it's a composition.

:

Like a classic painting? Rembrandt or Goya, for example?

:

Yes, but extended to the entire page.

:

...?! (intrigued)

:

On a page, no panel is independent.

:

I've read a guide on this, but it's hard to apply.

:

Soo-Bong has years of experience. How does it work?

:

The structure uses lines of force.

:

Elements of different boxes connected by the same darkness or lightness.

:

This reinforces the tension, and facilitates the transitions.

:

Comics artists are very good at this.

Soo-Bong grabs an American comic book on the shelf.

:

It's a collector's item, drawn by Gene Colan.

He chooses a page at random.

:

See there? The character climbing the stairs?

:

... (attentive)

:

His movement is amplified, in the same diagonal as the next box.

:

The arch acts as a motion curve when he's crushed by shock. The rifle on the diagonal pins him, reinforcing the sense of threat.

:

This suggests stronger effects than the content of the isolated boxes.

:

Thanks to the general composition.

:

So... You moved on to the next box? Directly?

:

Yes, this box has a tree in the foreground, in the lamppost's line of force.

:

To guide the reader's eye from one panel to the next.

:

I had drawn those two background elements only for that.

Yeon-Joo displays the two boxes on the tablet.

:

That's right, look.

The top frame shows the lamppost, and Park's car driving away, with Ren-Bo in the back seat.

:

(points to the top box) There, the lamppost!

The bottom frame shows the Han River bank. Sin-Moo and Ren-Bo get out of the car.
In the foreground, a tree in the extension of the lamppost, same density of ink.

:

(points to the bottom box) And there, the tree! As if the lamppost was the continuation of the trunk.

:

Unbelievable.

Kang Chul scrolls the next image on the tablet.
At the riverside, a moved Sin-Moo and Ren-Bo holding hands, flowers and hearts around them.

:

Next, the scene where they confess their love.

:

Yes, it was the end of the last chapter of volume 2.

:

That's the setting I copy-pasted to draw the epilogue.

:

So you arrived in the manhwa at the beginning of this chapter.

Yeon-Joo clicks on the tablet's menu and selects an image.
Ren-Bo walking on the village street, with the title "Chapter 20".

:

The manhwa started rewriting itself from that point on.

---

:

The published version!

:

If it's identical to the live one, it should be fine.

Kang Chul takes out his smartphone to scroll through the pages.

(snide smile)

(embarrassed)

(painful to see this again)

:

Mr. Ladybug! Time was slowed down when he appeared.

:

A new phenomenon?

Kang Chul scrolls the pages and shows the panels with Mr. Ladybug.
Soo-Bong is absent from the scene. The previous panel shows him sprawled in the grass.

:

(confused) Yet I was looking at him and moving while he was there.

:

The other characters never see him, he is out of the story.

:

The manhwa naturally preserves its context.

:

Nonsense data is deleted if possible.

:

Nonsense data? ("awful! that's what I am")

:

Your thoughts don't appear, it limits the damage.

:

I am still too secondary...

:

If you become a main character, your nose will really explode! Plus, you've replaced the hero on the main stage.

:

Hyung Kang, I can't let this happen again.

:

What do you mean?

Soo-Bong kneels down.

:

...!!

:

Hyung, I know I'm a good-for-nothing.

:

A scaredy-cat, a wuss, a quitter who runs before he thinks.

:

A poor guy you should be ashamed of.

:

Come on, Soo-Bong, I've never misjudged you.

:

I never ask more of ordinary people than they're capable of.

:

No, you don't say it, but I know what you're thinking!

:

For you, anyone must surpass themselves.

:

And I never lifted a finger.

:

... (admits with a smile)

:

Why are you putting yourself down like that?

:

Soo-Bong, I don't recognize you anymore.

:

Neither do I.

:

Hyung, you said I would go back there?

:

There is a high probability, yes.

:

I don't want to be as useless as I was earlier.

:

I don't want to look weak in Ren-Bo's eyes.

:

Hyung, I have a favor to ask you... Teach me how to fight!

:

...! (pleasantly surprised)

:

But you weren't useless, you saved Ren-Bo!

:

You even found a new property of the manhwa!

:

Yeon-Joo, that's true, but it's about something else.

:

Do you understand me, Hyung?

:

Of course, Soo-Bong. And I'm ready to help you.

:

When... when do we start? How long will it take?

:

Learning to defend yourself effectively takes years.

:

If you commit full time, it'll take 3 months to pick up a few basics.

:

3 months? But I could be back there in less than 3 days!

:

Or even in less than one hour!

:

There is no miracle.

:

Martial arts are a matter of time and practice.

:

Whether you go back or not, you will have to be persistent.

Soo-Bong looks down, depressed.

Suddenly, Soo-Bong gets up. He looks up to the sky and sucks in a breath of air.

:

I know!

:

Huh?

:

Spending 3 months training isn't exactly exciting, right?

:

I wouldn't say that...

:

It took you only 2 pages in "W"!

:

You're not actually thinking--

:

Hyung! You could train me in "W"!

:

The 3 months there would pass in less than half an hour here.

:

Ah ah ah ! It's like the time chamber where Goku trains in Dragon Ball Z !

:

Soo-Bong, "W" is finished. Now, time there flows at the same speed as here.

:

As soon as I came into the real world, after the end of 'W', both worlds synchronized permanently.

:

Then, every time I traveled in "W", I spent the same time there as here.

:

Oh, damn it...

Soo-Bong collapses on a seat, and loses the desire to talk, depressed.

:

Honey, come and see for two minutes.

Yeon-Joo goes to the kitchen, followed by Kang Chul.

---

(The kitchen is in the same open space as the living room.)
They speak in low voices.

:

There might be a way...

:

... (recalls)

:

Do you think it's too risky?

:

Everything will be risky from now on.

:

I don't think he's motivated just to show off.

:

Soo-Bong really needs to know how to fight.

:

He wasn't even able to defend himself against students.

:

"Butterfly Girl" is less scary than "W", but there is also danger.

:

And impossible to know when and how this manhwa will end.

:

Our last attempt was without consequences.

:

Except we didn't fully understand how it worked.

:

Even one year later...

---