---

---

-

(cheerful) I often come here to buy things.

-

Hey hey, I thought so...

-

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

-

(points to a hi-fi store) And there, they have great stuff that kicks butt.

-

... ?

-

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

-

... !!! (upset, wings turns 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 drawning, sweet and innocent smile.

-

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

-

... !!!

Ren-Bo quickens her pace, and leaves Soo-Bong.
He looks at the salesgirl, puzzled.
The salesgirl takes a flower, puts it next to her hair, and squints.
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, tear)

:

I should have chosen the unknow street.

:

I screwed up.

-

Soo-Bong! (holds onto Soo-Bong's jacket)

:

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

:

No matter how many of them...

:

... They won't touch a single Ren-Bo' hair!

(weeping)

-

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

-

Don't worry, Ren-Bo.

-

... (cries, tries to hope)

-

So, he wants to be a knight, the runt?

-

Bring the equipment, we'll patch her up, his girlfriend...

The bitches pull out indelible markers and paint cans, and...
Razors, hammer, nails and cutters!

-

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

(undergoes)

-

(to Soo-Bong) And you, woodlouse, we will crush you definitively.

(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 lamp post)

:

This lamp post...

:

A lamp post that is much too thick.

:

No, thick, exactly as I drew it.

:

For a specific reason...

-

What's wrong with him?

-

He does not dare to move, so much he pees in his pants.

(doesn't hope anymore)

:

A line of force. The three! The foreground!

:

It's too crazy to succeed...

:

Maybe not. This frame already exists.

-

Ren-Bo!

(pulls herself)

-

Hold my hand firmly, and get ready to run.

-

... (attentive, takes his hand)

-

Now!

They run towards the lamp post.
It's the only way the students don't block.

-

Yah!

-

They'll just get in the center!

---

Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo arrive near the lamp post.
Here lies a supernatural phenomenon, reality is torn apart.

Only Soo-Bong can see the dimensional slot.

:

I can't believe it.

-

Jump with me!

---

-

(stands up) Where am I?

Yeon-Joo and Kang Chul go next to Soo-Bin.

-

Seonsaingnim, do you feel better?

Soo-Bin is suddenly frightened by a memory.

-

The tablet! The tablet draws by itself!

Kang Chul grasps 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, what a jug!

-

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 in the void, realizes he's back)

-

(look down, remembers)

-

Why did I do that?

-

Why?

-

(lowers his head sadly, lost in thought)

-

Soo-Bong, what is it?

-

Soo-Bong, get over 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, it's not complicated to move otherwise!

-

Hey hey hey. (nervous and tragic giggling)

-

... ?!

-

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)

-

Bah... Soo-Bong, what's the matter 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...

-

It'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, since one year!

-

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

-

Why are you harassing me?

-

You two didn't embarrass yourselves to do it...

-

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 be so worried, 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 instead, because that's most likely.

-

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 make your head work, not your heart work!

-

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

-

Pfuuuu!

-

(looks at Soo-Bong's wet hair) A quick blow of the dryer would refresh your thoughts.

-

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

-

Ok, Hyung.

-

Look like she's gone to make her 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 is a paranormal phenomenon. It doesn't make much difference with 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 the point ?")

-

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!

-

It promises...

-

My intuition is to need an extraordinary context.

-

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

-

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

-

Cities without proper names, a changing sky of any color!

-

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)

-

Hey hey... I declaim this kind of philosophy, when I'm drunk.

-

That, and the scientific order of power, between 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) 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 cartoonist.

-

What difference does it make?

-

Ah! People think that a comic strip is a series of frames.

-

But truly, it's a composition.

-

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

-

Yes, but extended to the entire page.

-

... ?! (intrigued)

-

In a comic strip page, no frame 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.

-

Comic book designers are very good at this.

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

-

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

He chooses a page at random.

-

See? That character who goes up the stairs?

-

... (attentive)

-

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

-

The arch serves as a movement curve when he is crushed by surprise. The rifle in the diagonal blocks him, reinforcing the threat feeling.

-

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 lamp post's line of force.

-

To guide the reader's gaze one box to the other.

-

That's the only reason I designed these two set elements.

Yeon-Joo displays the two boxes on the tablet.

-

That's right, look.

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

-

(points to the top box) There, the lamp post!

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 lamp post, same density of ink.

-

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

-

Unbelievable.

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

-

Next, the scene where they confess their love.

-

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

-

I copied and pasted this scene to draw the epilog.

-

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

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

-

Manhwa began to rewrite itself from there.

---

-

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 boxes with Mr. Ladybug.
Soo-Bong is absent from the scene. The previous box shows him lying 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 preserve its context naturally.

-

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 knelts down.

-

... !!

-

Hyung, I know I'm a nobody.

-

A coward, a wipe, a quitter who runs away before thinking.

-

A poor guy you should be ashamed of.

-

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

-

I never demand more of ordinary people than they can afford.

-

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

-

For you, anyone must surpass themselves.

-

And I have never made an effort.

-

... (admits with a smile)

-

Why do you depreciate yourself 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 feature of 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 are involved full time, it will take 3 months to learn some 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, depressate.

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

-

I know!

-

Huh?

-

Spending 3 months to train is not interesting, right?

-

I wouldn't say that...

-

It took you only 2 pages in "W"!

-

You can't imagine--

-

Hyung! You could train me in "W"!

-

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

-

Ah ah ah ! It's like the time room, where San Goku trains in DragonballZ!

-

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

-

As soon as I came back here after the end of "W", the two 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.

-

Maybe there is 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...

---