---

---

---

---

The Queen of Darkness looks at her reflection in the pond water.
WOMPF... A puff of shadow occurs around her...
... with no effect, she doesn't teleport.
WOMPF... Another puff of shadow, without effect...

-

... ??

She is about a hundred meters from the ruins of the exploded temple.
Shadow killers and guards are scattered, standing sentry.

-

(calls out into the void) Correspondent?!!

In the air, the pale yellow frame takes shape, then...
SFREEZZ!!! Time slows, a strange filter tints reality.
The stream flowing into the pond is almost motionless.
Correspondent's face appears in the frame.

-

Why can't I go back to the real world?

The face comes to life, words form at the bottom of the frame, the deep voice...

-

I don't know, Moon Mi-Ra.

-

... ?!! (annoyed, puff of luminous smoke in the eyes)

-

I am in the same situation as you. I can't reach your tablet anymore.

-

(?!!) What does that mean?! Someone has sabotaged my tablet?!

-

If that were the case, you could still teleport. The real world is simply inaccessible.

-

... Something bad? Destruction?

-

No, the interface is still there. But blocked, or one way.

-

Why is that?! What's going on?!

-

I don't know Moon Mi-Ra. An unknown phenomenon.

-

...... You don't know...

-

I am studying the phenomenon, but my means are limited.

-

... And... Wang Shin?

-

I can detect him, but weakly. The phenomenon diminishes my abilities.

---

Yeon-Joo studies carefully a pencil in a pot. Exact position, details...
She takes it and CRAC! breaks it in two!
She puts the two pieces on the table, then looks at the ceiling...
... She looks at the table, no more pencil!
She sees in the pot, the pencil in the same original position, intact.

-

Whatever I do... It will come back... (appalled) ... When time has stopped!

She looks at the cup and the coffee still in the air, next to the table.

Then she looks at the tablet, which is in sleep mode...

-

(??!) ... but this...?!

Hesitating with anguish... Yeon-Joo clicks on the button to quit the sleep mode.
The tablet displays the image of Wang Shin facing Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong!

-

(overwhelmed, a slight hope) ... Maybe... this is temporary...?!

---

... They dissolve from "image" to "real".
Stunned, Wang Shin looks around, patting his chest. "No wounds?"
In front of him, Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong, amazed and friendly!

-

(excited) It worked!

-

(sees Ren-Bo) ... An angel?

-

Yes!

-

(sees Soo-Bong) ... Are you the Creator?

-

Yes, your creator!!

-

(sees the bright colors) So... Is this the heavens? (sees Mr. Teddy Bear and the dwarves) With magical creatures...

-

No Wang Shin, you are alive!! This is not heaven!

-

Alive?! But who... what... Is this the real world?

-

Almost!!

-

Do you know me?!

-

Of course, I am Park Soo-Bong. I created and drew you for a year, before Yoon-Hee!

Soo-Bong takes out his smartphone and shows him a drawing of Wang Shin.

-

That's me... Like in Yoon-Hee's drawing?!

-

I helped you in the battle of Bulguksa temple. But something terrible happened to bring me here, so...

---

---

-

Here is my manhwa.

-

(to himself) A teleportation process... ... Going further than the masked killer.

-

I'm the heroine, and I can invite people to my home, hi hi!

-

(looks around) But... my battle buddies, Do-Yoon and Kang Chul?!

-

(looks around, worried) ... Ren-Bo, have you thought about them?!

-

Yes, of course!!

-

(anxious) Why didn't they arrive?

-

Maybe their journey was slowed down? Some kind of rigid controller is checking their tickets?

-

And Yoon-Hee?!!

-

Yoon-Hee... You mean Princess Dong?

-

No!!! Yoon-Hee!!!

-

(confused) But... They didn't tell you that... ... Yoon-Hee was dead?!

-

(terrible) NO!!! Yoon-Hee is alive!!! The REAL Yoon-Hee came back in the manhwa!!

-

I don't know who that is, so I definitely didn't summon her.

-

Didn't you have an image of her?!! Like me?!!

-

(terrible) No... It's not that, it's...

-

And when that came back, it was a battle. For a very short time. I was brought here before the end.

-

(rage and despair) So... the Queen of Darkness killed her?!

-

(tragic and devastated) ... I had no way of knowing...

-

AaAaah... RaaAhhAhhh... (cries through clenched teeth) (raises hand, ready to hit Soo-Bong...)

-

(bursts into tears) Yoon-Hee was alive... Boo hoo hoo... Killed now... ... While she had just escaped death in the real world... Boo hoo hoo...

-

ahAahh........ (puts his hand down, cries, unbearable)

-

Boo hoo hoo... boo hoo... (seeing them cry makes her cry)

-

It's so horrible...... Boo hoo hoo... Yoon-hee...

Wang Shin would like to be angry, but is unable to.
He sees that Soo-Bong values Yoon-Hee as much as he does.
Only the horror of the tragedy overwhelms them now.
So they all cry together. Ren-Bo too, even though she doesn't know Yoon-Hee.
You can always rely on her to cry... Even without knowing for whom or what...

---

The tablet shows the initial image of Wang Shin facing Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong, unchanged.

-

Why doesn't the story go on anymore? ... The time is also stopped there?!

She sees on the screen the digital clock running. "12:13".

:

(mystery) This takes into account the time I spent outside. Even in sleep mode! It works normally.

She goes to the kitchen.

---

An alarm clock for cooking time on the workbench. Locked on "12:00".
Yeon-Joo takes the alarm clock... The hands start to turn!!
She puts down the alarm clock, it continues to work...
She waits, the sweat drips on her temple...

:

(!!) Yes, it was a temporary phenomenon... (vague relief)

She looks at the clock in the living room, "12:00". Disappointment.
Then the kitchen clock again... "12:00", back to the origin!!
Yeon-joo... more and more desperate...

---

Ren-Bo is concentrated, eyes closed.
Soo-Bong is holding his smartphone, a picture of Yoon-Hee on it.

-

(sad) She doesn't come.

-

(opens her eyes) I'm sorry, I'm doing my best...

-

(sad) It's too late... She's dead. For sure this time.

-

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon... Why didn't they come?

-

Should I have thought of them from their drawings?

-

No! And it was easier with their real faces!

-

(worried) It was a split second there. You saved me just as they were shooting at us all.

-

(!!!) Ren-Bo, who was the first person you thought of?

-

I don't remember.

-

Try my angel, you have to!

-

Sorry.

-

(annoyed) Try harder! This just happened five minutes ago!!!

-

(annoyed) I REALLY don't remember!!! (orange wings)

PLUFF! Light puff! Fairy Spark appears, flying.

-

?! (sees the fairy, surprised)

-

This is not good news... (sad) Ren-Bo, you thought of Wang Shin first.

FLUFF! Fairy Spark disappears in a puff of light!

-

(horrified) So they were not summoned in time? They are dead, like Yoon-Hee?!

-

The Queen of Darkness turned them into mush...

-

RAaaaHaa, Noooo, No, AAaaah.... (moaning, screaming, crying)

-

Boo hoo hoo... (purple wings)

---

:

(devastated) Time is stopped... ... For how long? Definitely?!

She clicks to display a blank image on the tablet. It works!

:

(!!) ... Maybe time works there? It's just the image that's standing still here?

She takes her electronic stylus and turns it on.

-

If the story goes on, maybe something will happen?

Yeon-Joo starts to draw a sheet of paper...

---

Soo-Bong thinks painfully while crying.

-

Ren-Bo! Take us to the real world! I need to see the tablet in Moon Mi-Ra's workshop.

-

(nods) But I can't go there. Will Yeon-Joo's house be okay?

-

Yes. I'll go by car. I don't care if it's dangerous. I need to know what really happened!

-

I will protect you.

Ren-Bo puts one hand on Soo-Bong, the other on Wang Shin.
SHAF! Flash of light... But they stay here.

-

??!

SHAF! Light flash... Nothing happens.

-

(anxious) Are you sure you did like the other times?

-

With a hundred times more conviction!!

-

(tenfold anxiety) Why? Why doesn't it work?!!

FZ! A paper appears in his hand. (?!) He reads it:

~

Time has stopped in the real world, give me a sign. - OYJ.

-

(!!!) What?! WHAT??!!!!

It's really enough to drive you crazy to the last degree...

---

Yeon-Joo is impatient, no change on the tablet.

-

(cracks nervously) No... This is stupid... (hopelessly) If the time worked there, Ren-Bo would come here...

She takes several breaths... struggles to find hope.

:

... Or is it impossible to communicate from there?

Yeon-Joo draws a message on the tablet.

:

I have to at least warn him, in case they move.

---

Soo-Bong drops Yeon-Joo's message, then pulls his hair out.

-

(screams, "this is too crazy") AARAAAH!!! Aaaahhh!!!

-

(sad) Oppa... (approaches him)

Just as Ren-Bo was about to hug Soo-Bong to comfort him--
Wang Shin comforts him manfully, squeezing his shoulder.

-

Come on, be brave, man...

(sulking, jealous, orange wings)

-

(whining) The worst nonsense happens for no reason. We've played with fire too long!

-

Was it wrong to bring a good sound system into your world?

-

Boo hoo hoo, if that's all there was, little angel...

FZ! A paper appears in Soo-Bong's hand. (!) He reads it:

~

I don't know if you can receive my messages. I can't see you. The tablet works but the manhwa is not displayed anymore. Or maybe time has stopped at your place too. - OYJ.

-

I don't know anymore if we are stuck here or if she is stuck there...

-

Why doesn't Yeon-Joo do what I do?

-

(hope) ... What do you mean?

-

She enters a portal to get out of the real world. Then she goes back in to unstuck the time!

-

But... Ren-Bo... There's no portal there...

-

Oh yeah?

-

This is not a manhwa, this is the real world!

-

(disappointed) ... It sucks a little bit, as a world, though.

-

What's all this about portals and time stopping?

-

(sighs, "he's so lame") Phewww... (condescending) You're the hero of a manhwa and don't even know that?!

-

(!!!) Is this the time to get upset about trifles?!

-

(disdainful, orange wings) You, in a way, remind me of someone.

---

-

Oh! And also, the most important...

Yeon-Joo draws a message.

---

-

Maybe Kang Chul went to the real world, instead of here?

(hope)

FZ! A paper appears in Soo-Bong's hand. He reads it:

~

Since Wang Shin is with you, I hope Kang Chul and Do-Yoon too. - OYJ.

-

(devastated) Mouahahah Nooo... Boo hoo hoo.

Ren-Bo embraces Soo-Bong quickly. Then she gives Wang Shin a petty glance.

---

Yeon-Joo gets into her car. Anxious, hesitating...
She engages the starter and VRRR..., the car starts.

:

(!!) ... (thinks) ... to my contact, everything works. But it goes back to the origin when I don't pay attention anymore.

Vroom... She drives off.

:

A real time stop wouldn't be so absurd. Nothing would work, nothing would return to the origin.

-

An anomaly... That the manhwa can't solve normally... ... Coming from... "Queen of Darkness" ? "Butterfly Girl" ? Or even "W" ?

---

Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo cry, while Wang Shin recovers.

-

(annoyed) Crying won't help the situation!

-

(annoyed) It fixes the situation of the heart, though!!

-

These portals, they allow to travel between worlds?

-

Yes... yes.

-

Did Kang Chul and Do-Yoon expect this in the inn?

-

Yes, when a main character learns the truth, he opens a portal.

-

Fine, I'll open this famous portal!

-

Really? (green wings)

-

It seems simple.... (declares strongly) I live in a manhwa!!!

-

... ("maybe?", looks around)

-

(waits, serious) .... What should happen next?

-

Time stops.

Wang Shin gets up and picks up a flower pot from further away.
He throws it onto a hard floor area. CRASH! The pot bursts on the ground.

-

(red wings, angry) YAH!!! Are you crazy to vandalize my garden?! (goes to rescue the flower that was in the pot)

-

("ouch, let's try to calm the situation") Wang Shin, please... (points to the lake) You can see there are still waves there.

-

It didn't work any better than the first time.

-

(vindictive) Not everyone can be as skilled as me!

-

It's not a question of skill. It seems logically impossible to me.

-

... ? (puts the flower in a new pot)

-

Already, Wang Shin is not in his manhwa. And that only happens when you learn the truth, for the first time.

-

(?) In that case, why did it fail in the inn?

-

I don't know... (thinks)

-

(mockingly) Looks like you are not the great hero you claim to be!

-

!! (sudden thought)

-

(exasperated, teeth clenched) Miss... (big eyes) Why are you relentlessly unpleasant to me?!!

-

Wait Wang Shin... I think I've got it.

-

??

---

Yeon-Joo's car is driving on a lightly congested suburban road.
The other cars are stationary, like their drivers. She slaloms easily.

:

Maybe someone else is able to move... (apprehension) Maybe Kang Chul and Do-Yoon came back here?

---

The Queen of Darkness stands in the ruins of the exploded temple.

-

Correspondent!!

The yellow frame draws itself, with the correspondent's face... SFREEZZ!!! Time slows down.
She looks at the pit where Wang Shin, Kang Chul and Do-Yoon were... EMPTY!!!

-

Are Kang Chul and Do-Yoon with Wang Shin in "Butterfly Girl"?

-

No, Moon Mi-Ra.

-

Where are they then? In the real world?? In "W"?!

-

Kang Chul cannot go to "W" from your world. And only you could send them to the real world.

-

..... So you don't know where they are?!

-

I don't know. It's as incomprehensible as the rest.

---

Pure and total darkness.
Such silence that you can hear your own heart beating.
The only things that are lit here...
Kang Chul on his knees... unable to discern the ground from the rest of the darkness...

... and Do-Yoon lit up as well, without any source of light.
Incredulous, Kang Chul looks at Do-Yoon, then at the surroundings.
Not a simple obscurity to which the eyes can acclimatize, an absolute obscurity.
Everything blends into the darkness, the ground, the sky, the distances, nothing is perceptible.

Paralyzed by disbelief and fright, Do-Yoon looks at Kang Chul.

-

(frightened but calm) Are you okay, Hyung?

-

Are we... are we dead? ... Is this death?

-

(looks around, sees nothingness) What do you remember?

-

They shot at us, then nothing. (more and more terrified) ... We are dead!!!

-

It's not the idea I had of death. But no one comes back to tell, by definition.

-

No... You... You died in the river.

-

Not really. Time was frozen. I wasn't technically dead.

Kang Chul stands up. He reaches out a hand to help Do-Yoon stand up.
Do-Yoon almost falls down, his legs wobbling.
His eyes are so full of terror that he inspires pity.
Kang Chul is disturbed, but his reason saves him from panic.

-

(sweating, livid, trembling) President Kang, you know I would follow you to hell...

(thinking of a logical explanation)

-

(falls to his knees, squeezes Kang Chul's hand) Kang Chul, here we are!!! It's not just a picture.

-

(!!) ... (becomes worried)

-

This is the real hell... (looks around, devastated) ... and I never imagined this would be that.

-

Hyung, get a grip!! (not reassured either)

-

(sees behind Kang Chul) AAAAAAAAAAH !!!! (screaming in terror)

Kang Chul turns around, !!!!, a frightening vision, which can only exist in hell!!!
A huge, flaming, satanic fox with nine tails is further away.

Burning demons gradually emerge from the void behind.
The hellish cohort is heading towards Kang Chul and Do-Yoon. Terrorized!!!

---

-

Wang Shin, Ren-Bo is probably right ... ... No disrespect to you.

-

Right... about what?

-

Are you saying I'm not a hero?!

-

You started the process, because my screen went blank. But something got stuck and the dimensional portal didn't appear.

-

My screen stayed white, then gray, until it got unstuck.

-

(hands open, shrugs, "this is so absurd") I don't even know what a screen is, so a white screen!

-

You have become a central hero of the manhwa. The manhwa first considered the process legitimate.

-

Then the manhwa "changed its mind", needing a final check.

-

Once confronted, the manhwa ruled that you were not the main character.

-

(!!) Without being pretentious... ... I am the only one who dares to fight the Queen of Darkness.

-

He's right! He's the hero, and she's the villain!

-

It's not about heroes or villains. I think only the main character can open a portal.

-

... ??! (feels diminished)

-

The real main character has always been the Queen of Darkness. There was an anomaly, like when Ren-Bo and I were stuck on a fake ending.

-

(outdated) If even the manhwas get lost in it...

-

The phenomena were stable in "W". But here, it's as if the manhwa meets unexpected situations.

-

So the Queen of Darkness will open a portal there?

-

No, because for some reason she already knows the truth. And she knows how to travel between worlds.

-

And for some reason also unknown... ... Mi-Ra merged with her, without becoming a faceless zombie.

-

What you are saying is incomprehensible... (sighs, disappointed) Pfff... I just understand that I'm a cheap hero!

-

(smiles, warmly) Yah!! It's not so bad. I prefer modest people.

---

Yeon-Joo's car slaloms between many stationary cars.
She turns at a crossroads, the avenue is too congested.

:

It's like strolling in a photo...

No noise, the passers-by all like statues.

:

The sun too, and surely the stars, the whole universe!!! Impossible... unimaginable... All this for a manhwa story?!!

(!!) Sudden idea, Yeon-Joo brakes and stops the car to think.

-

No! I'm taking the problem in reverse... (convinced) Time has not stopped!

---

-

(screams in terror) AAAAAaaaAAAH !!!! (backs away shaking)

-

(petrified with horror) ... !!! (irrational panic)

An army of the underworld commanded by the devil fox heads towards them. Threatening!!!

-

... ??? (desperate uncertainty)

Kang Chul turns to Do-Yoon... eyes wide with rage.
PUCH!!! He punches Do-Yoon in the jaw!!

-

??!! (full of fright, looks at Kang Chul without understanding)

(like crazy, possessed)

BAF!!! Kang Chul violently punches Do-Yoon in the face!!

-

!!! (sore) ... President Kang!!! (frightened seeing his madness)

BOM!!! Kang Chul kicks him in the stomach!!!

-

Ouch!! (very painful, back up) .... oofff... Kang Chul, (screams) ARE YOU CRAZY?!

Kang Chul hits Do-Yoon but BAF!!, Do-Yoon blocks the blow.
Kang Chul strikes again!! BAM!!, Do-Yoon deflects the blow brutally.

-

(incredulous, angry, yells) Is it time to fight?!!!

(vicious, arrogant, maniacal)

Shosh! shosh! Kang Chul throws two punches that Do-Yoon dodges.
PUNCH!!! Do-Yoon punches Kang Chul hard in the face.

-

(pain) You hit like a girl.

-

What?!! (angry)

They fight. Several blows. Kang Chul is often hit. Do-Yoon is better.

-

Stop it!!!

-

(vindictive) Try to stop me instead.

Voshhh... Kang Chul throws a dangerous taekwondo kick.
Do-Yoon leaps forward and grabs Kang Chul's leg!!
He makes him fall backwards. Spaf! Kang Chul falls on his back.
Do-Yoon straddles him, and PAF! POF! PAM! he punches him.

-

You'll come to your senses, willy-nilly!!! (continues punching)

PAF! POF! PAM! Kang Chul takes everything in the face without resisting.

-

(laughs) AH AH AH! Ah ah ah!

-

(stops punching) You think it's funny, freak?!!

(smiles, points his finger at the infernal army)

-

(remembers with fright) ... (turns his head) ... !!!

There are no more demons, no more satanic fox, just nothingness...

-

... ??! (lost, looking at the void, Kang Chul, the void)

-

Move aside, you are not light. ... You are the one who materialized this, by your fear.

-

(stands up) So, you hit me, for--?

-

(stands up) To set your mind right, and make these demons go away.

-

(anxious) Hell... is a place that crystallizes our worst fears?!

-

(confident) We are not in hell.

-

(?!) So, this is an illusion? These demons did not exist?

-

Not sure, maybe they were real.

Do-Yoon looks at Kang Chul, with this impression...
... in such a situation, the only man in the world to trust.
Luckily for him... his best friend.

-

We are not in hell... There is no hell after life?

-

We're not dead either.

-

(??!) ... In that case why--

-

Stop panicking. This place is dangerous. It reacts to our fears, we must calm down first.

Do-Yoon practices a series of relaxing abdominal breaths.
Kang Chul too, a classic technique from Yoga, Tai Chi or sophrology.

-

How do you know we are not dead?

-

First, even a quick death, I would have felt pain. Do you remember any sensation?

-

No... I just saw death coming, with a knot in my stomach. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, so much it was intense.

-

We disappeared before the fatal moment.

-

Secondly, death should be a personal experience. So why should we both be here?

-

...

-

And if it is a collective experience... ... why aren't Wang Shin and Yoon-Hee with us?

-

(worried) And them, are they really dead?

-

(moved, worried) Maybe... I'm afraid so.

(sad)

-

But we don't have to worry about them right now. To leave here, we must understand our situation.

-

... How?

-

By conducting an investigation.

-

An investigation?! In this unknown space where there is nothing... ??

-

(kneels down, touches the ground) Impossible to determine this substance. It looks like a carpet, but without textile, without roughness.

-

(POF! taps his foot) A fighting mat, but less soft.

-

(looking at the horizon) No demarcation between the ground and the sky because of the darkness. Since there is nothing, time might not exist either.

-

You see? We can't get anything from our observations. (anguish) ... What will become of us?

-

Don't lose your temper again. (looks at Do-Yoon strangely, sceptical)

-

(?) What's wrong with me?

-

The same thing I have... We are illuminated!

-

... ?!

-

By what would we be lit here?

-

... ??? (looking around)

-

It takes a light source to illuminate someone. It is the reflection of photons on a surface that illuminates it.

-

There is no sun or lamps here... ... That's... that's absurd. It's impossible!

-

Maybe, but that explains everything!

-

Huh??!

---

Yeon-Joo is in her car at a standstill.
While she is thinking, she waves her finger, randomly looking...

:

The real world is not stopped. It's just my subjective experience. (scared) I'm stuck in zero narrative time!

:

(anxious) For how long? Is it permanent? What's the difference between that and a real time-stop then?

-

And why am I the only one who can move? (grimace, pleading) I'm going crazy thinking like this...

-

(!!!) ... (understands something) ... !!

Vroom!!! Yeon-Joo starts the car abruptly!

---

-

Why would being lit explain anything?

-

Not just lit. This place should be like outer space. Where there is no air, no ground, no sound, no light.

-

That's why this place doesn't make sense...?!

-

Even the air would be impassable. But the time stop was a manhwa phenomenon.

-

So this place is a manhwa?

-

No, but it is similar in nature. The best example is when I almost hit the truck.

-

The time stop?!

-

More than that...

---

---

-

But it doesn't matter if it was before or after. ... Because there has never been a time phenomenon!

-

(!!) What then?

-

A change of scenario! It is not a question of physical laws, but of narrative laws.

-

(?!) ... Narrative laws...

-

A narrative law subverts physical laws. They are laws that follow a different logic.

-

So this place is not entirely absurd?

-

It is coherent according to non-rational principles. Since we are here, this place makes the conditions of life possible. It doesn't matter if it creates physical absurdities.

-

That explains why this place works this way. But not where we are, and why...

-

I have no idea why... (smiles proudly) ... But I think I know where we are.

-

(!!!) ... (stunned) ... President Kang... How can... (admiration while hiding it) Really, you spend your life defying the impossible!

---

Yeon-Joo parks her car in front of her mother's building.
She gets out of the car, slams the door, and takes two steps to go around the car.

-

AAAH!!! (remembers abruptly)

PAF!!! Yeon-Joo turns and slams her hands on the hood of the car!

-

(bewildered, looks at the car while gasping) Oooff... Oooff... Just in time!

She gets into the car.

---

---

Yeon-Joo turns on the onboard phone and dials her smartphone number.
Tululu-Tululu... Her smartphone rings, she picks up and puts it on speaker.

:

This doesn't make sense. As if the network could work...

Without cutting the call, she slips her smartphone into her pocket.
She turns on the car radio. Frsshhhh... Blowing noise.

:

At least it makes sense for that. No one to talk on the radio.

She turns up the sound, and listens to her smartphone, a faint hissing noise.
She pulls a record out of the glove compartment and clicks it into the car radio.
Pop music is playing. She raises the volume to full and puts the playback on "repeat".
She listens to her smartphone. The music is loud.
She gets out of the car.

---

-

(flabbergasted) You really know where we are?! Not a vague explanation, with variables?!

-

(calm, confident) Tsss... Hyung. Answer this. Where does what the artists create come from?

-

(?) It's things they know and reformulate differently?

-

For the most part, but still... ... Something has to be created first?

-

(realizes) ... Otherwise ... It would be like the chicken and egg dilemma.

-

So there are times when artists really create.

-

(?) ... What does that have to do with this place?

-

Don't you find it strange? Artists who have ideas out of nothing?

-

Not from nothing... It's just spontaneous... Randomness?

-

It's too coherent to be random. Do you know where their ideas come from?

-

(??) ... But... (stammers) what does this have to do with--

-

From beyond. (points to the void with his hand)

-

(!!!) ... (looks at the void, disbelieving)

-

Pure creation is an effect without cause, similar to free will. Something meaningful creates itself out of nothingness.

-

(frightened) Like... Like the demons from earlier?

-

Yes. We are where it all begins. In a word......

(amazed, hanging on Kang Chul's words)

-

Imagination!!!

-

(lost, too incredible) ..... The imagination of... of whom?... .... M... Mine? Yours?

-

No, Imagination in the broadest sense. No one's and everyone's.

-

(can't accept) But that's impossible!!! This is not a place!!!

-

Fictional characters becoming real or disappearing... Travels in parallel worlds modified by manhwas...

-

(amused) Honestly, we are not that close anymore!

-

I was still able to accept it... But this!!!

-

How else can you explain that your idea of hell started to exist?

-

An illusion... it certainly is an illusion.

-

And what is around us is also an illusion? (points to the void)

-

(frightened) So the demons I created were real?

-

That's why this place is dangerous. It reacts to our psyche, our irrationality.

-

(understands) ... It is fabulous for artists living elsewhere. But it's dangerous for those who are trapped in it.

-

It's not the kind of thing that should happen often. We are certainly the first to come here.

-

... But ... Why...?

-

I don't know. A privilege granted to fictional characters?

-

(worried) We can control our thoughts, but not our unconscious. Does the Imagination react to it too?!

-

(!!) We have to get out of here as soon as possible!

---

Yeon-Joo enters, her smartphone playing pop music.
Her mother is frozen in the kitchen, washing dishes at the sink.
Her hands are under the water faucet, also frozen.

~

Gna... Gnaaa... (baby giggles)

Yeon-Joo rushes to the baby carriage.
She takes her son Chul-Moo in her arms, tears in her eyes.

-

Mommy. (waves his arms and smiles)

-

(crying) Mommy is so sorry. I should have come to you earlier.

Yeon-Joo cuddles her child. She is moved... not only to find her son...
... but also to be with the only person who still moves in this world.
The baby is not unhappy. On the contrary, he is heckling and laughing.

-

You must be starving!

Yeon-Joo puts Chul-Moo in the baby chair at the table.
She talks to the baby, although he probably doesn't understand.
(Note: Chul-Moo is less than a year old and is gifted, speak and move better than others babies.)

-

Your mommy and daddy are half fiction. And by birth, you're just like us.

She prepares a baby bottle in the kitchen. Vzooo... Heats it up in the microwave.

-

And that's why we move in this zero time...

She returns to the table and puts the bottle in Chul-Moo's mouth.

(turns his head away, doesn't want it)

-

What's wrong with you baby, all this has upset you?

-

Not hungwy.

-

!!! ... (realizes) ...

Yeon-Joo opens the refrigerator and takes out a cold chicken leg.

-

(sniffs the chicken leg, not attracted) ...?? Yet, I haven't eaten anything since this morning?

Yeon-Joo puts the chicken leg on the table.
She checks Chul-Moo's diapers... No trace of pee or poo!

-

You should have peed by now? (!!) ... (realizes) ... And me too??!

-

~~Poo... ~~Poom... ~~Poo... (sings to the tune of the smartphone pop song)

-

(terrifying) Can we live like this... indefinitely?!! ... (??!) ... (an idea comes to her)

She closes her mouth, stops breathing, !!!, her eyes widen.
She puts a hand in front of her mouth and pinches her nose with her fingers.

---

-

How do we get out of here?

-

(thoughtful) ... This place is a crossroads... ... The imagination of all artists...

-

So why is it dark? It should be cluttered with artists' creations?

-

No idea, we don't know if this is the usual look of this place.

-

Or maybe... the creations don't stay here? They go back to the artists after being born here?

-

(!!!) Yes!!! All the manhwas are born here. But then, the realization takes place elsewhere.

-

That would explain why this place remains untouched. Every drawing has to start with a blank page.

-

If the manhwas created here go to other worlds... ... there must be a passageway to do so!

-

And since the Imagination can materialize our thoughts, then--

-

President... President Kang... There... look. (points to...)

... A tiny, glittering white rectangle appearing in the void.

-

?!

-

It looks like a miniature portal?!

-

No, it's just far away, we lose the notion of distance here.

Do-Yoon and Kang Chul walk towards the dimensional portal...

---

Yeon-Joo takes her hand away from her mouth, breathing normally, not breathless.

:

(flabbergasted) I don't even have to breathe! It's like we're ghosts...

She takes the chicken leg and GNAP! eats a piece of it.

-

(Chomp-Chomp... chews) It's still good.

She throws the chicken leg across the room, looks away.
She opens the refrigerator and pulls out... the same chicken leg, untouched!!!

-

That's not gonna cost much in groceries....

---

Do-Yoon and Kang Chul are in front of a big, white and bright portal.
Its substance is made of very fluid quantum fluctuations.
Kang Chul puts his hand into the dimensional portal, then withdraws it, untouched.

-

A portal similar to the ones I know. Just very white and more fluid.

-

We finally have a chance to get out of here. (breathing, relieved) I feel better already.

-

Let's go see, before we get relieved for nothing.

They're walking through the portal...

---

Yeon-Joo puts her son in the baby seat in the back of the car.
She gets into the car, turns off the music, and drives off.

---

-

It can't stay like this forever. An event in the manhwa will conclude and unblock this.

-

.. beuh... areuh...

-

(trying to convince herself) That's why the tablet works. Once done, everything will go back to normal here.

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon come out of a big, shiny, fluid dimensional portal.
Further away, typical houses of historical Korea. Silence.

-

The world of "Queen of Darkness"?

-

(examines) I do not know, I have a strange feeling.

Kang Chul turns around and sees that the portal is still here.

-

We didn't teleport near a tablet. And this portal remains a permanent door.

-

President Kang! (points to a crow above a house)

The crow just took off from a roof, except it's not flying, it's standing still.

-

(looks around) Not a sound, not a breath of wind.

-

(looks around) Not a tree branch moves, not even a leaf.

-

Time has stopped here!!

-

Let's move on, I'd like to examine the place more.

-

Could it be because of Wang Shin's portal, which finally appeared?

-

I don't think it's necessary.

-

... ?!

-

The architecture does not match the Joseon era. Let's go into a house to check.

-

Alright.

They walk towards a house...

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon see a peasant asleep on a straw mattress. In truth, frozen in time.
Do-Yoon examines some items. He finds a coin and shows it to Kang Chul.

-

Made of copper. This is the Haedong t'ongbo. Koryŏ era, around 1120.

-

So we are not in "Queen of Darkness"...

-

That's for sure. But where are we?

-

Never mind, the real question is... Why is time stopped here?

-

... ("more crazy mysteries...")

-

Let's go back to the portal, and get out of here.

---

The Queen of Darkness is in the ruins of the exploded temple.

-

I must return to the real world to be healed effectively. Otherwise I can't become Moon Mi-Ra or Cha Yu-Sun again.

-

(shouts into the void) Correspondent!!!

The yellow frame draws itself, with the face of the correspondent... SFREEZZ!!! Time slows down.

-

How long will this last?!

-

The phenomenon is stable and could last indefinitely.

-

(angry) WHAT?!!! (eyes smoking more)

-

I'm sorry Moon Mi-Ra. It's hindering me too.

-

I foolishly took you for a genius, having the answer to everything. In the end, we are lost, in the same way.

-

Fascinating.

-

(?) ... What?!

-

Your sense of uncertainty is interesting.

-

(!!) ... Are you amused?

-

No. For now we can only wait.

-

Aish...

---

With Chul-Moo sitting on her lap, Yeon-Joo looks at the tablet:
Wang Shin facing Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong. Same picture as before.

-

(crying in despair) I've got it all wrong, just ideas to make me feel better. There is nothing to conclude in the manhwa. It doesn't work that way.

-

Real world time is invariant. It's up to the manhwa to adapt. If too many events take place in the manhwa, they are compressed.

-

(broken) We have played the sorcerer's apprentice too often... (huge crying fit) Boo hoo hoo... Ooh ooh ooh...

-

(worried) Mommy... Mommy...

:

(looks at Chul-Moo) ... I have to be lucid for my son... What will happen to him in this frozen world?

She looks at the tablet... An idea comes to her.

-

Maybe... The one Soo-Bong used at Moon Mi-Ra's?! Does it work too?

-

I could at least see the last scene. To know what happened to my husband.

-

Agaah... Dad?

:

(looks at her son) Is it safe to take him there?

She picks up the baby and gets up.

-

I won't leave you alone, my darling son.

-

Gnaa... Kiss... Mommy.

-

Yes, you're just as smart as your mom and dad. (Smack!, gives Chul-Moo a kiss)

Yeon-Joo walks out, holding her son in her arms.

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon come out of the dimensional portal.
Soon after, Sssshhh... The portal vanishes.

-

Disappeared, as if the Imagination was the destination.

-

So we're back where we started.

-

It's better than being lost. But we would need a portal to the real world.

ZzzLIiinnng... With a flickering sound, a large white portal emerges.

-

Let's go.

They enter the portal...

---

Soo-Bong is talking with Wang Shin. Ren-Bo next door.

-

... and we don't know why these manhwas are alive.

-

That's a lot to remember, and especially to understand...

-

You'll just have to read the manhwas, once you're in the real world!

-

Park Soo-Bong, since you created me, I must thank you. I am proud to be who I am, strong, fearless and unapologetic.

-

(teasing) And modest with it! PfwHi hi!

-

A manhwa led by my worst enemy... ... who murdered the one who continued to draw me.

-

(sad) Yoon-Hee... (his tears flow silently)

-

(sad, puts her hand on Wang Shin's shoulder) If you wish, I can ask Mr. Teddy Bear to give you a hug.

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon come out of the gate...
... They see the contemporary Seoul, the buildings.

-

Unbelievable! It succeeded! It has-- (!!!)

-

(?!!)

Passers-by are frozen in unbalanced positions.
The water jets of the King Sejong statue's pool are static.
No sound, no cars moving. Time stands still!

-

How would time be stopped in the real world?

-

We are not in the real world. (points to a building)

A skyscraper with the sign "Stark International".

-

An American company?

-

This tower doesn't exist in the real Seoul.

-

Then what is this place?

-

A manhwa, or some comic book from the real world.

-

Are all manhwas like "W"?!

-

No. This manhwa is not alive. However, this world is influenced by an author anyway.

-

So... It's not a really independent world?

-

Not as long as the manhwa is published. Imagination can only lead to this kind of world.

-

So we have no chance to find the real world?

-

We could join "Butterfly Girl"?

-

We will have to try all the worlds, until we find the right one?!

-

Boring but possible. Are you hungry? Are you tired?

-

!! (realizes) ... No... I'm not... Why?

-

Our morphology is that of a fictional character right now.

-

Subject to narrative laws, not physical laws. (can't believe he's saying this)

-

(thoughtful) ... The real world is also connected to Imagination. I think it's possible to find it.

---

Yeon-Joo's car is driving on a road between warehouses and factories.
Most of them are abandoned, and the ones still in activity are frozen in time.
Smoke comes out of a factory chimney... a static smoke.

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon are next to the portal that Sssshhh... is vanishing.

-

It is a global phenomenon. All the manhwa worlds are stopped in time.

-

Why? It must be noticeable from the real world?

-

Or is it us who evolve in a zero time? Is it subjective?

-

... Does time even exist, in the Imagination.

-

Maybe not. But once you're out? In a manhwa? (intuition on) Something is wrong...

ZzzLIiinnng... Sound of flickering, a large white portal shapes itself.

-

(sighs) I wonder how many comics are published.

-

5000 new comics in the world every year. Mmmh... Some last for decades.

-

(ironically) Oh... Okay. So only 100,000 worlds to visit.

-

(amused) Maybe Imagination also gives you access to movies, books, ga--

-

(annoyed) Really. President Kang, you think this is funny?!

They enter the portal...

---

Yeon-Joo looks at her GPS, the way to Mi-Ra's warehouse, in a few kilometers.

-

Absurd... No satellite should be transmitting, and yet...

Chul-Moo is sitting in the baby seat in the back.

-

(reaches for the window) Gnaa... Move.

-

... ?!! (looks at Chul-Moo in the rearview mirror)

Yeon-Joo stops the car and turns around.

-

What did you say Chul-Moo?

-

(points to the window) Move... There.

-

!!! (looks at the window in the direction)

She sees a long vacant lot in the middle of two sheds. Deserted, nobody.
She drives the car back a few meters, to see the whole field.

-

(sees no one) Did you see anything moving there?

-

Yes.

-

... ?!

Yeon-Joo gets out of the car, opens the back door and takes her son in her arms.
She looks at the end of the vacant lot, a street and more warehouses beyond.

-

!!! (forgot!)

Yeon-Joo turns around... The car is gone!!!

-

Aish!! .... I guess there is no choice anymore.

Yeon-Joo is walking in the vacant lot, her son in her arms...

---

Kang Chul and Do-Yoon come out of the portal...
... Silence, nothing moves. Time stopped.

-

It looks like the area of Moon Mi-Ra's paint workshop.

-

Except that here too, time is stopped.

-

(checks behind, the portal has not disappeared) And the portal is still here.

-

All industrial areas look the same. This can't be the real world.

-

(thinking) ... It's possible for this to be the real world.

-

(too crazy) President Kang! It doesn't make sense! How could time stand still in the real world?!

-

That would explain why manhwas time is stopped. A cascade reaction, since they are created in the real world.

-

(?!) No, that's impossible... Really impossible.

-

However, this place is very similar.

-

(unacceptable) I don't recognize any details that prove it's here!

-

We can move, and Yeon-Joo should be able to too. Maybe she came to the painter's workshop?

-

(nods no) Really, if such a thing is possible... (nods yes) ... I... I... I'm dressing up as Santa Claus...

-

(shouts) Yeon-Joo! (walks, moves away from the portal)

-

Ok, Ok... Let's try to find that warehouse... (fed up) (walks with Kang Chul) Really, so absurd...

-

(shouts) Yeon-Joo! ... Yeon-joo!

In the distance, his voice echoes "Yeon-Joo! ... Yeon-Joo!"...

---

Yeon-Joo, with her son in her arms, reaches the end of the vacant lot, between the sheds.
A road, with other warehouses around, factories, other roads.
She sees nothing moving.

-

Are you sure, baby?

-

Yes.

-

What was that? Someone?

"Yeon-Joo!" An indiscernible voice exclaims in the distance, a vague echo.

-

!!! (breathless)

"Yeon-Joo! ... Yeon-Joo!" An unknown voice in the distance...
Yeon-Joo walks quickly towards the road, smiling helplessly.

-

(shouts) Here!!! I'm here!!!

"Yeon-Joo!" ...

---

She looks further down the road. We don't see but...

-

(smiles) Gnah-ah...

-

(stunned, eyes widened with joy) Omo!! You... you're here??!

---