EPISODE 51
SUBTITLE : 5 hours earlier.
WHOP-WHOP-WHOP! A medical helicopter takes off from the roof.
Nurses push the stretchers of Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong to the elevator access.
They are escorted by Professors Lee and Park Min-Soo.
Min-Soo and his assistants wear their surgical gowns.
They scrub their hands with antiseptic liquid at the sinks.
| - | Aaah. An operation like this, I would have needed Oh Yeon-Joo... (stops scrubbing, rinses his hands) |
| - | ... (jealous) |
|
| - | (to Yun-Suk) When certain people leave on vacation, guess what? You don't feel any difference... But certain others, YOU DO! (leaves cheerfully) |
|
| - | ... ! (vexed, continues washing his hands) |
Once Min-Soo is out of sight, FREEZ... Time slows down.
The jet of antiseptic flows ultra-slowly over Yun-Suk’s hands.
| ~ | He appeared elsewhere... (Ep50) |
The Narrator materializes, near Yun-Suk frozen in time.
| - | You're going to do something for me, Won Yun-Suk... |
Pop! Yun-Suk’s pocket swells, an object has appeared inside.
Sticking out of his pocket: a bit of electrical cable.
Soo-Bong is lying on the operating table:
Intubated, under anesthesia, IVs.
Chest shaved wide open by a thoracic retractor, organs exposed.
The anesthesiologist checks the vital signs on the monitors.
The interns watch the operation.
Yun-Suk adjusts the articulated arm of the Finochietto thoracic retractor, fixed to the table.
An assistant stands ready to supply the tools to Professor Min-Soo.
| - | I am performing an anterolateral thoracotomy to extract the rib fragments threatening the heart. Then we will reinforce the rib cage with titanium plates and fibrin glue. I feel in good shape, so let's finish this in one hour. |
| - | ("incredible") One hour?! |
|
| - | Scalpel. |
|
| (gives him the scalpel) |
Sitting on a bench, Su-Ran takes out her smartphone.
She selects "Kang Chul" and calls.
Immediately, an automatic response:
"The number you have dialed is not assigned".
(?!) Su-Ran, confused, hangs up and remembers...
| - | (comes back running, half translucent) Quick! We have to help them and get the hell out of here!! (heads toward the road) |
| : | (anxious) He didn't vanish like Do-Yoon?! |
She selects "Oh Yeon-Joo" on her smartphone and calls:
Tuuu... tuuu... tuuu... Rings, but no one answers.
Su-Ran is exhausted by doubt and nervous tension.
Her tears flow...
Soo-Bong’s chest is held open by the Finochietto retractor.
Min-Soo adjusts its width of separation above the torso.
Glued to the table, Yun-Suk holds the articulated arm of the retractor and...
... with the other hand, he takes out of his pocket: a male electrical plug.
He slips it discreetly under the operating table.
|
| - | (notices the retractor is badly angled) Lower the angle by one degree. |
Yun-Suk, !!!, his panicked hand blindly searches for the electrical outlet under the table.
|
| - | Hurry! |
Tshuk! Yun-Suk plugs in the outlet and immediately pulls his hand out.
He can now adjust the knob of the retractor arm.
|
| - | Stop! |
| (stops adjusting, puts his hand in his pocket) |
|
| - | Right Kocher clamp. |
|
| (gives him the clamp) |
Min-Soo operates and clamps the vessels, focused.
Yun-Suk discreetly takes out of his pocket:
A portable Lutronic CO2 surgical laser, with the wire plugged into the table!
|
| - | Curved hemostatic clamp. |
|
| (gives him the clamp) |
Yun-Suk points the laser at the retractor’s attachment at the base of the table.
Clic! He turns it on. Zzz... A red beam melts the attachment, threatening to...
... detach the retractor, yank it abruptly from the chest and cause a fatal trauma!
Zzz... Professor Lee’s laser finishes cauterizing Ren-Bo’s skull.
| - | You saved her, Professor Lee. |
| - | Saving her wasn't the problem. (stops the laser) Take care of the rest. |
|
| (applies a compress to the head) |
|
| - | (to the nurse) Show me the scan again. |
| (gives him a medical image, we do not see it) |
|
| (looks at the image, confused) |
He looks at Ren-Bo, then at the image again:
A contradiction between Ren-Bo’s good condition, and the scan image.
|
| - | This makes no sens. (worried) |
Min-Soo extracts the broken ribs with his clamp.
He places them in a container.
Zzz... Yun-Suk cuts the retractor’s attachment with the laser:
Heated white-hot, melted, about to give way!
Min-Soo extracts a piece of bone, blood splashes and--
The retractor’s attachment breaks free!! But immediately--
TIME STOPS!!
(?!!) Min-Soo, confused, sees the blood drops stopped in mid-air.
|
| - | Do you see that?! (no answer, raises his head toward the assistant) |
(?!!) Min-Soo sees the assistant frozen, and also notices... the glowing attachment!
Min-Soo rushes, goes around the table... and sees the laser in Yun-Suk’s hand!
He throws his clamp, shoves Yun-Suk and seizes the articulated arm!!
TIME RESUMES.
(?!) The assistants are surprised to see Min-Soo elsewhere, as if teleported...
... and preventing the retractor from dislocating!
|
| - | HELP ME!!! |
The arm is about to escape Min-Soo’s grip.
Molten metal falls on his thigh. Fshhh! Seared flesh.
|
| - | AAARGH!!! (holds on!) |
The retractor swings in Soo-Bong’s chest. PANIC, SCREAMS!
The assistants rush over, help Min-Soo and grab the arm!!
|
| - | (angry) WON YUN-SUK!! |
|
| - | (backs away, confused) Did I do that? ... No... I didn't... OH!!! (sees the laser in his hand and drops it) |
|
| - | (to an assistant) CALL SECURITY!!! |
|
| - | (pants) ... ?! |
Coming out of the Narrator’s control, Yun-Suk does not understand what just happened.
(Later, after the surgery.)
A bandage dresses Min-Soo’s bare leg.
He talks with Su-Ran, worried.
|
| - | (disconcerted) Really, I don't understand. Everything seemed stopped. Like an adrenaline rush, but stronger, extremely lucid. |
|
| - | (suspects a supernatural phenomenon) Please Professor, stay near Park Soo-Bong. I fear for his safety. Your assistant may have been hired by an enemy organization. |
Nurses push Soo-Bong’s rolling bed toward a freight elevator.
|
| - | (nods) I'll set up in an office on the 9th. |
|
| - | And make sure he wakes up quickly. |
Min-Soo and Su-Ran board the freight elevator, near Soo-Bong’s bed.
Elevator button lit: "9".
Clock above the elevator: "14:30 pm".
The clock shows "18:00 pm", in this room on the 9th floor:
Comfortable, 3 beds, equipped for resuscitation.
Ren-Bo sleeps on a bed, a bandage around her head. Gray wings.
On the bed next to her, Soo-Bong is comatose:
Torso entirely bandaged, breathing mask, IV.
In Soo-Bong’s subjective view:
Everything is black, a moan, a thread of light then...
... his eyes open little by little. Everything is blurry.
He distinguishes a feminine silhouette leaning over him.
Finally, the blur dissipates and he sees Su-Ran, who is worried.
|
| - | Soo-Bong, I would have liked to give you time to rest, but... The situation is serious. The Narrator has returned, HERE, in the real world! |
| - | ... !!! |
|
| - | Do-Yoon was annihilated and Captain Ryu was killed. I have no news of Yeon-Joo and Kang Chul. He had started to disappear too. And someone manipulated by the Narrator tried to assassinate you in the operating room. |
|
| - | ... !!! |
Poor Soo-Bong, hearing that right upon waking!
He wears an oxygen mask and cannot answer.
Su-Ran takes out her smartphone.
|
| - | (holds out her smartphone) And also, there's this. It happened an-- (freezes like a photo) |
A time stop! Soo-Bong, !!!
He looks around, frightened, sees no yellow frame.
His eyes fall on Ren-Bo, peacefully asleep in the bed next to him.
Soo-Bong is reassured: she seems fine, her ECG is stable.
|
| : | The Narrator?! Elsewhere? |
He then notices, on Su-Ran’s smartphone:
"3rd World War. Nuclear strikes on military targets."
|
| - | ..... !!!! |
Time restarts--
|
| - | ... hour ago. I fear the Narrator is behind this. |
| - | (coughs) Kof... Kof... (wakes up, eyes not sparkling) |
|
| - | (relieved) .... ! |
|
| - | (looks at her bed, the monitors) The hospital? Why am I here? |
|
| - | (removes his oxygen mask) Ren-Bo... Ren-Bo... |
|
| - | (turns toward him) Mh? You know my name? |
|
| - | !!! |
|
| (embarrassed, would like to speak, but feels it's too late) |
|
| - | Ren-Bo, it's me, Soo-Bong!! |
|
| - | Weird name. (stops looking at him) |
|
| - | The shock messed you up? Remember, Hagal-Dong village. We've been living there, together for a year! |
|
| - | ?!! (mutters, to herself) Why did they lock me up with a madman?! (examines the room) Is this a psychiatric hospital? |
|
| - | (to Soo-Bong) It's... ("how to say it?") |
|
| - | ... ?! |
KZTT! A photo appears in Ren-Bo’s hand.
She looks at it with a tender smile... (We do not see the photo.)
|
| - | ... ?! |
|
| - | ... ?! |
SHAF! Ren-Bo disappears. Light flash!
|
| - | NO!! Why?! What-- |
|
| - | Professor Lee told me... (tells) |
| - | I don't think she'll stay in a coma, however... |
He takes out a scan image, and shows it to Su-Ran. An image of the brain.
|
| - | (looks at the wound area) Are there complications? |
|
| - | I would have preferred that! (shows the hippocampus: black dots) You see these holes? She's missing pieces of brain!! This wasn't caused by the accident and I don't know how. There's no trace of a prior operation. It seems congenital. |
|
| - | (!!) What consequences will this have? |
|
| - | If she wasn't already amnesiac, she will become so permanently! |
|
| - | (broken, cries) No... Noooo..... |
WooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo... Seoul’s siren howls.
|
| - | (!!!) No! (stares at her smartphone, terrified) OMO..... A global strategic nuclear escalation, mutually assured destruction!!! |
|
| - | (moans, in pain) Aghh.... Aaah... Agh.... |
Yes, hard awakening for Soo-Bong...
The Narrator’s frame floats in the hall, filled with people frozen and distorted.
|
| - | A post-apocalyptic manhwa, it's perfect! Listen to the pitch: "In the middle of nuclear winter, the brave Doctor Oh Yeon-Joo saves the victims of radioactivity and survives in a world returned to barbarism". A barbarian chief could rape her at the beginning, to traumatize her and give depth to her character. Does that seem coherent to you, dramatically speaking? |
Yeon-Joo is lying down, awake but unconscious, alienated.
She writhes like an earless and brainless earthworm.
Absent gaze, dilated retinas, apathetic face, gaping and dislocated mouth.
|
| ~ | Speaking of coherence, of course, you will have to survive. So, this outlying hospital will be spared by the nuclear missile arriving on Seoul. However, a good point to forge your character, YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR SON WILL BE ATOMIZED! |
Zang! As if a laser were piercing through Yeon-Joo’s skull--
Her retinas shrink. Clac! her mouth snaps shut in a click of teeth. (remembers...)
| - | Mom!! (trots toward her, joyful) |
VROSHH!! A fiery blast rips all flesh from the baby. Immediately--
SPROSH!! His skeleton is pulverized into carbonized particles.
Yeon-Joo stops trembling.
Fixed frightening eyes, but with a clear spark of consciousness!
A crazed determination imprints on her face!!
No matter in what disturbed state, she has come back to herself!!!
Su-Ran and Soo-Bong are freaking out, dying of anguish.
|
| - | AaAahh... We can't do anything... |
|
| - | (takes out her smartphone) I'm going to try again to-- |
FREEZ... Time stops.
(!!!) Soo-Bong sees with terror...
... the yellow frame forming... then the Narrator’s face!!!
|
| - | A character struck with amnesia was missing from this story. |
|
| - | (!!) You're the one who-- |
|
| - | (looks at Su-Ran) And her, a one-sided love that turns to suicide. Worse, Kang Chul, the man she loved, has been annihilated! |
|
| - | (!!) W-W-What? Kang Chul, annihilated?!! (devastated) |
A bright yellow frame draws itself:
|
| - | *Bae Su-Ran jumps out the window.* |
The Narrator disappears. ZEERF... Time restarts.
Su-Ran walks toward the window, like a puppet...
|
| - | SU-RAN! WAKE UP!!! |
|
| - | (watches herself walk with horror, cries) I'm awake... but my feet are walking on their own... |
|
| - | (tries to get up in vain, pain) ArGh!! Su-Ran... SU-RAN!!! |
|
| - | (cries) Boo hoo hoo... I knew I'd end up like this, but not while being conscious. Tell Kang Chul that I lied and that I loved him. Boo hoo hoo... |
Conscious of her gestures but without controlling them...
... She opens the window and steps over it!
|
| - | ... !! |
|
| - | I hope you will win. Farewell, Park Soo-Bong... |
|
| - | SU-RAAAAAAAN!!! |
Su-Ran JUMPS!
Only the empty window remains, the curtains stirred by the wind...
|
| - | (overwhelming sadness) AaAaGhh... Boo hoo hoo hoo... |
FREEZ... The curtains freeze in time.
The Narrator’s yellow frame forms again.
|
| - | (senses his death coming) How... did you come here?! |
|
| - | I don't have the patience to answer you. Your mediocre character already bored me in "W" and must be eliminated from the story. You don't deserve for me to deal with you again. Someone else will take care of it, with pleasure and irony. |
ZEERF... The Narrator disappears.
|
| - | ........ (cries, dreads his approaching death) |
Yeon-Joo turns on her smartphone and lights up the closet.
(!!) A memory comes to her mind. She changes her mind.
She turns her smartphone over, screen face, to check her messages.
A notepad icon displays "1 message". She remembers...
She notices Kang Chul typing text on her smartphone.
She reads the message...
|
| ~ | I'm noting this here, for fear that the Narrator might hear us. The real reason why you must go to the hospital... (tells) |
BRRZ... Smartphone ringtone.
Kang Chul, hidden behind a tree, holds Yeon-Joo’s smartphone.
Call coming from "Jang Soo-Bin". He answers!
| - | (panicked) Hello, Yeon-Joo?! |
|
| - | It's Kang Chul. |
|
| - | (!) Kang Chul... ? (as if she didn't know him) |
|
| - | ?? (strange, plays along) A long-time friend of Yeon-Joo. |
|
| - | I absolutely must talk to her, it's urgent!! |
|
| - | She's in the middle of a surgical operation. Tell me why you're calling. |
|
| - | Oooh... You're going to find this so-- |
|
| - | Doesn't matter, speak!!! |
|
| - | It's... in the sequel of my manhwa, "Butterfly Girl"... The heroine is about to disappear in a strange way and... |
|
| - | (!!) Have you seen someone disappear the same way?! |
|
| - | (??!) ... Yes, I know it's crazy... but my friend Da-Ye... She's like in the manhwa, transparent, outlined with lines. |
|
| - | I know that!! Yeon-Joo explained everything to me. Who is this woman? Who is important to her?! |
|
| - | ?! (relieved to be believed) Her husband of course, Park Min-Soo. He wants to divorce because of another girl, and it's-- |
|
| - | Can Da-Ye hear you right now? |
|
| - | No, I'm alone. She's lying in her room. |
|
| - | You can help her heal, but you have to lie to her for that. Pretend that Min-Soo called you, that he'll cancel the divorce. |
|
| - | (?!) Could such a thing work?! |
|
| - | Yes. Then, give her a sedative, until Yeon-Joo takes care of it. |
|
| - | (reassured) Okay, I-- |
|
| - | I have to warn her urgently, talk soon. (hangs up) |
|
| - | ... ?! |
Kang Chul understands everything now, except one thing...
He closes his eyes, concentrates... but no teleportation.
|
| : | Impossible to go into W. Because I'm in a manhwa instead of the real world, or else... ?! |
Yeon-Joo reads the rest of the message...
|
| ~ | As a manhwa, "Lost Reality" necessarily has a protagonist. For some unknown reason, it's your professor Park Min-Soo. |
Yeon-Joo, !!, remembers...
The president of Korea pins a decoration to Min-Soo’s chest.
|
| ~ | Decorated as a national hero. |
Her own voice resonates in her:
|
| ~ | No failure! Like those drama surgeons, having almost superpowers. |
She finishes reading...
|
| ~ | Your only chance to stop the Narrator is to go into the new real world, where "Lost Reality" is drawn. For that, Min-Soo must accept being the hero of the manhwa and open his portal of truth. I will already be annihilated. Farewell Yeon-Joo, and fight. |
Yeon-Joo cries, tormented, unstable, full of rage and suicidal madness.
She lights up the closet: dusters, brushes, garbage bags, cleaning products.
She inspects the products and takes out a can that interests her:
"Isopropyl alcohol, 95%", and a flame icon, "Class IB, highly flammable".
She lights a fireproof metal box on a shelf.
She opens it, and inside:
Lighters, boxes of safety matches, an electric gas lighter.
|
| - | (laughs in a demented and tortured way) Ahah... Yes... AhAha... I'm going to fight... Ahah... |
Soo-Bong, anguished, thinks of a plan, checks the surroundings.
He notices his vacation satchel, placed on a wheelchair next to the bed.
Vlan! The door opens and nurse Yeo-Rin enters, cheerful.
| - | Mister Paaark~~. It's time for your antibiotic~~. |
|
| : | ... ?! (suspicious) A nuclear war, and she's smiling? |
Yeo-Rin takes out a syringe and a vial, out of her medical kit.
Soo-Bong, !!, remembers...
| - | Instead of the antibiotics, the nurse administers potassium to Kang Chul. |
|
| ~ | Potassium? She's going to inject it intravenously and stop his heart? |
|
| - | Yes. From my research, it's the simplest. |
Soo-Bong sees written on Yeo-Rin’s vial: "Potassium"!!
She sticks the needle into the vial and fills the syringe.
Then she places the vial on the dresser.
|
| - | Stop!! You're going to kill me with that! |
|
| - | OoOooh, my little pumpkin~~. You mustn't be afraid of a little shot~~. I'm going to inject the antibiotic in there! (sticks the syringe into the IV) |
Scratch! Soo-Bong rips out the IV stuck in his arm.
|
| - | OOOh~ The naughty boy!! |
Voshh! She rips the sheet off the bed, and discovers Soo-Bong’s bare legs.
|
| - | Come on, HOP! Bare butt!!! |
She lies on his legs to control them, grabs one to immobilize it.
|
| - | NO!! RAAAH!!! NOOON!!! (struggles) |
Soo-Bong thrashes his legs in vain.
He tries to grab Yeo-Rin’s hair, but--
Tshak!! She sticks the syringe into his thigh!!!
|
| - | NOOOON!!!! |
Syringe in fist, she places her thumb on the plunger to inject, but--
SNAP! A man grabs her wrist.
He pulls hand and syringe away. He is...
|
| - | (!!) Yeo-Rin, what are you doing?! |
|
| - | ?! |
|
| - | (sees the vial on the dresser) POTASSIUM?!! |
Snatch! Yeo-Rin escapes his grip.
Min-Soo is too shocked to hold her.
|
| - | (runs out of the room) Hiiii!! Hiiiiii!!! It's not me!! I didn't do anything!!! |
|
| - | (breath cut short) Professor Park. You just saved my life! |
|
| - | (looks at the door closing, shaken) And I lost the new woman of my life. But with this nuclear war, does that still matter? |
Among the hundreds of intercontinental missiles flying in the suborbital exosphere...
... we follow one, whose destination is in the distance... South Korea!
Light enters the open closet... No one inside but...
On the floor: empty isopropyl alcohol cans and garbage bags in disarray.
(We only see Yeon-Joo’s face and feet in this scene.)
Yeon-Joo climbs the stairs, which have a window on every landing.
She watches if a "possessed" one might be higher up, but there is no one.
No worry on her face.
Rather a mad and cold determination to intervene.
She passes the landing of the 4th floor.
On the next landing, she sees through the window:
A bloody corpse crushed on the ground, under the windows of the adjacent facade.
Impossible to recognize Su-Ran from afar.
|
| : | They prefer to commit suicide rather than die in a nuclear war... |
She reaches the landing of the 6th floor and sees a Fire Hose Reel:
Valve, fire nozzle, coiled fire hose, and...
... a firefighter’s axe: one side blade and one side point!!
Yeon-Joo grimaces like a psychopath who has found a treasure...
Min-Soo tries to put the IV back on Soo-Bong’s arm.
|
| - | Look at this mess, after having succeeded so well in your operation. |
|
| - | (pushes his hand away) Leave it. Anyway, we're going to die in a nuclear apocalypse. |
|
| - | (dejected) Damn... |
Min-Soo takes out a syringe and a vial.
He shows it to Soo-Bong. Label: "Morphine".
|
| - | I at least have to inject you with morphine, otherwise the pain will drive you crazy. |
|
| (reads the vial, nods "yes") |
Soo-Bong holds out his arm, and while Min-Soo gives him the injection...
|
| - | How can an ordinary guy like you, just a cartoonist, be involved with the secret services, to the point that an army of spies is trying to assassinate him?! And this bizarre story of a genetic experiment... (notices Ren-Bo is not here) Oh?!! Your girlfriend, they moved her to another room? |
|
| - | Professor Park... Yeon-Joo... you must contact Yeon-Joo. |
|
| - | (sighs) Why not... (takes out his smartphone) |
Before he calls, BRRZ! his smartphone rings, displaying "Elite Surgeon".
|
| - | OH?!! It's Yeon-Joo! (answers) |
|
| - | ... !! |
|
| - | Oh Yeon-Joo! |
|
| ~ | ..... |
|
| - | (looks at Soo-Bong) Yes, I'm with him, on the 9th. |
|
| ~ | ..... |
|
| - | (?!) That I not talk about it out loud? |
|
| ~ | ... !! |
|
| - | Yes, yes, understood. |
|
| ~ | ......... |
|
| - | What?! With a weapon?!! |
|
| ~ | ... !!! |
|
| - | Oh, sorry, yes. |
|
| ~ | ...... |
|
| - | (??!) Pardon?!! |
|
| ~ | .... ! |
|
| - | (?!) Yes, I get it. |
|
| ~ | ... ! |
|
| - | Yes! Yes! I understood! |
Min-Soo hangs up, in great perplexity...
|
| - | So? |
|
| - | Basically, she wants me to... (whispers in his ear) go get her with a weapon... then that... that... no, it's absurd, and she insists that I not say anything about it. |
Yeon-Joo waits behind the door of the 9th floor.
She remembers Kang Chul’s message:
|
| ~ | (a part of the message she read, not known until now) The Narrator will not take the risk of appearing near Park Min-Soo. He could see the Narrator, helping him accept the truth about the manhwa. |
We now see: Yeon-Joo carries garbage bags over her shoulder.
They are poorly closed, holed under the opening, swollen and filled with liquid.
She wears an improvised belt made of garbage bags, and stuck in it:
A firefighter’s axe, soaked dusters, an electric gas lighter.
|
| - | She really seemed disturbed. |
|
| - | Professor Park, whatever she asked you, do it!! It's very important, you must trust her without hesitation. |
|
| - | (searches around) A weapon... This isn't an armory here. |
|
| - | (sees a fire extinguisher) Take this extinguisher, it's better than nothing. |
|
| - | Fine... (goes to take the extinguisher) |
He walks to the door, stops on the threshold, turns around...
|
| - | Well... See you soon. (leaves and closes the door) |
Soo-Bong has a sudden idea:
He grabs his vacation satchel on the wheelchair.
He slips the strap around his neck.
Then he strokes the satchel, like a protective totem.
The nuclear missile enters the atmosphere.
Supersonic speed, Mach 20.
The coast of South Korea is in sight.
Impact in two minutes.
A doctor and a visitor, motionless, wearing sunglasses.
|
| : | What are these weird people doing here? (remembers his phone discussion with Yeon-Joo...) |
|
| ~ | Dangerous people will block our way. They have luminous yellow eyes. |
Min-Soo walks and scrutinizes the sunglasses.
He has the unpleasant sensation of detecting a yellow spark.
Seen from another angle:
The doctor has yellow diamond eyes behind his glasses!
A group of motionless people, all wearing sunglasses.
Doctors, patients, visitors, all turned toward him, in a frightening and unnatural way.
|
| ~ | Don't reveal anything out loud. You must find a weapon! We'll have to fight to get back to the room. |
Min-Soo walks to the emergency stairwell door, on the side of the hall.
|
| ~ | When I light the dusters between my teeth, open the door wide. |
|
| : | Dusters... So absurd. |
Min-Soo slightly cracks the door open and sees:
Yeon-Joo, drooling, clenching duster sticks between her teeth!!
She gives him a nod, raises an electric gas lighter...
... and brings it close to the alcohol-soaked duster bristles!
|
| - | ... !! |
Kzit! clicks the gas lighter. Sparks crackle at the tip.
Vroof! The duster bristles immediately catch fire.
She drops the gas lighter.
She grabs one of the garbage bags held in the other hand.
VLAN!! Min-Soo opens the door wide!!
Yeon-Joo charges out, whirling the garbage bag like a sling!
(!!!) Min-Soo backs toward the corridor, frightened.
Yeon-Joo hurls the garbage bag at the man N at the head of the group--
Splash! The bag bursts and sprays him with alcohol.
She unclenches a flaming duster from her teeth and throws it at him!
VROOF!! The man N bursts into blue flames.
Face on fire, blinded, he runs into the stairwell.
Zitch! His eyes become normal. He is useless to the Narrator.
"RaaAAaahh..." He screams, burned alive, and falls into the stairwell shaft.
Yeon-Joo doesn't care. She follows Min-Soo and throws a second bag.
Splash! Bag bursts against a woman N. She throws a duster.
VROOF!! The woman N catches fire. The floor becomes a carpet of blue flames.
She throws her last bag and duster at a man N sprinting toward her.
VROOF!! He catches fire. Then she draws her axe fiercely!!
Blinded, Bump! He bumps into the wall.
|
| - | (demented) ARAAAH! (swings a circular axe blow and--) |
TSHAK! She decapitates him! Axe planted in the wall.
The flaming head rolls on the floor.
Zok! She pulls the blade free, just as a woman N approaches.
|
| - | RAAAH! (strikes with the point side and--) |
TSHIK! She drives it into her eye all the way, piercing the brain!!
Further on, "RaaAAaahh..." the other flaming woman screams.
No diamond eyes. She has been released by the Narrator.
A man N with flaming legs charges at Yeon-Joo.
|
| - | ARAAAAH! (brings the edge down vertically, near the neck) |
TSHOK! The blade sinks to the lung, carotid torn out.
Frishhh... Blood gushes in torrents!! Half the body separates and--
Zitsh! Normal eyes. "KrGLLARgl!!" Cry, suffering and death.
Yeon-Joo screams in furious madness, covered in blood.
Consumed by her frenzied massacre!!
|
| - | ... !!! (stunned by her violence, but must face it because--) |
The two men N from the corridor charge toward Min-Soo!!
He opens the extinguisher and--
PFRIIIIT... He sprays them with carbonic snow and blinds them.
The doctor N strays, but the visitor N continues his run and grabs his coat!
|
| - | AISH!!! (BONK! BONK! pushes him back with extinguisher blows) |
Zitsh! The Narrator releases them. "AhAARaaha" They scream in pain.
Driiiiing... Fire alarm. Pshhrlrl... The automatic sprinklers spray.
The alcohol is merely diluted. It spreads further, setting the whole area ablaze!
TSHIK! She drives the point into a heart. BLOOD!!
Min-Soo despite himself, BONK! BONK!, smashes the visitor N’s head.
The doctor N has recovered and grabs Min-Soo.
He prevents him from using the extinguisher.
|
| - | ARGH! (very close, recognizes him) Doctor Kim?!! |
TSHAK!!! Yeon-Joo’s axe splits Dr. Kim’s skull in two!!!
Splat!! Bits of brain splash on Min-Soo’s face!
|
| - | !!! (shocked!) |
|
| - | QUICK!!!! (pushes Min-Soo) |
They enter room 9-11, pursued by the possessed.
The nuclear missile comes out of the clouds.
Seoul in sight. Impact in less than a minute.
VLAM!! They slam the double doors!
Klang! Yeon-Joo slides the axe into the handles, blocking the opening.
|
| - | NOONA!! |
|
| - | (covered in blood, half mad) SOO-BONG! (quickly) The real world has become a manhwa called "Lost Reality"!! And the protagonist of this manhwa is Professor Park!!! |
|
| - | !!!! ("crazy!!") |
|
| - | Professor Park, you can stop this nuclear war!! |
|
| - | (?!) My extraordinary surgeon talent unfortunately doesn't go that far. |
|
| - | You are the hero of a manhwa!!! Do you understand what I'm saying?!! |
Min-Soo figures she needs a hug to regain her senses.
Although embarrassed seeing the blood on her, he takes her in his arms.
|
| - | I know, I know... This situation is terrible. There's reason to be disturbed. Those poor guys outside, and now you. |
|
| - | (cries, feels he will never believe it) You are a manhwa hero. That's why you became super-cool and succeed at impossible operations!! |
|
| - | Aaah. Only idiots never change. |
|
| - | (panics) ACCEPT IT, FOR PITY'S SAKE, OR IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!! |
|
| - | (pretends) Yes... Yes... I am the hero of a manhwa. (pats her back) There... There... It will be better soon. |
Yeon-Joo checks if time stops, if there is movement at the window--
"WOHHHH!!" Clamor! A crowd screams outside. Yeon-Joo, !!
Screams of terror.
People see something like a meteor targeting Seoul, in the sky.
Those here have already accepted their fate, rather than hide in vain.
But facing the ultimate instant, panic takes over.
Some run, others collapse, the bravest embrace each other.
|
| : | (fatalistic) It's too late. |
|
| - | (tries to get onto the wheelchair) Professor, help me sit down!! |
|
| - | You're in no condition! |
|
| - | (tragic) What does it matter now. Help him. |
Min-Soo helps Soo-Bong sit on the wheelchair, before he hurts himself.
Yeon-Joo, stained with blood, staggers toward the open window.
Bruised face. She has cried more tears than she has in her body.
Her gaze now evokes only the pathos of a tragedy already accomplished.
|
| - | Take me over here! (points to a corner of the room) |
|
| - | (??!) Well... (pushes the wheelchair toward the corner) |
Yeon-Joo sees the combustion trail of the missile, curving toward Seoul.
Yeon-Joo has abandoned all hope before the inevitable.
| - | Kang Chul... I'm going to join you... |
Soo-Bong faces the corner of the room...
... and sees nothing particular.
|
| - | (panics) It has to be somewhere! Take me to the other corner! (points to a corner) |
|
| - | (pushes the wheelchair, placid) One way like any other to have fun before the apocalypse... |
Yeon-Joo steps over the window.
She is about to jump, when the atomic flash will blind her.
|
| - | !!!!! (sees something) Professor! Look behind the cabinet!! |
Min-Soo lets go of the wheelchair and goes to examine the corner between the wall and the cabinet.
|
| - | (sees nothing) Mmh, what, an insect? |
|
| - | AaArGh!! (stands up in pain and--) |
Soo-Bong throws himself on Min-Soo and pushes him, embracing him.
KLOFZ! They disappear into the corner between the wall and the cabinet.
|
| - | ??! (looks, no longer sees anyone!) |
A setting similar to the Imagination, but luminous instead of dark.
Here, Soo-Bong no longer suffers from his medical condition.
|
| - | (looks around, stunned) What... What... ?!! |
He looks at Soo-Bong, hoping for an explanation.
Min-Soo is surprised by his calm. Soo-Bong remembers...
|
| - | (pretends) Yes... Yes... I am the hero of a manhwa. (pats Yeon-Joo’s back) There... There... It will be better soon. |
|
| : | He will never be able to believe it. He needs proof. (examines the room) If we are in a manhwa, there is necessarily a graphic structure. An ideal angle to show the scene, with a line of force between the panels. |
|
| - | Look at what is about to happen. This is the proof that we are in a manhwa. |
|
| - | ... ?! |
|
| - | It's something I've already experienced. (tells...) |
A dimensional slit covers the base of the streetlamp, that only Soo-Bong sees.
| - | Jump with me! |
They jump and KLOFZ!, they disappear into the rift, which bursts like water.
Top panel: the streetlamp, and Park Sin-Moo’s blue car leaving.
| - | (shows the top panel) There, the streetlamp! |
Bottom panel: the bank of the Han River. Sin-Moo and Ren-Bo get out of the car.
In the foreground, a tree in the extension of the streetlamp, same ink density.
| - | (shows the bottom panel) And there, the tree! As if the streetlamp were the continuation of the trunk. |
|
| - | You couldn't see it because you're not awakened, but... (tells) |
Soo-Bong throws himself on Min-Soo and pushes him into the dimensional rift, embracing him.
KLOFZ! They disappear into the rift, which bursts like water.
|
| - | (?!!) ... This makes no sense... Why are we in this white? |
|
| - | The next panel existed last time. But for us, it doesn't exist yet, so... (points behind Min-Soo) |
Min-Soo turns around and sees: in the white void, a black line is drawing...
|
| - | ... !!! |
|
| - | The next panel is being drawn, right before our eyes. |
|
| - | ... (dumbfounded) |
Other black lines are drawing, connecting to each other.
|
| - | You see, this isn't crazy. There have been other living manhwas. But this one, you are the main hero. If you accept that, we have a chance to stop the apocalypse. |
|
| - | ..... (looks at the lines, furrows his brows, remembers...) |
The attachment breaks free!! But immediately-- TIME STOPS!!
Min-Soo, ?!!, confused, sees the blood drops stopped in mid-air.
|
| - | I saved you during your operation because time seemed stopped. I thought it was a hallucination... Does this have something to do with it? |
|
| - | It's typical of a manhwa hero. The opportunity to react in time! Kang Chul experienced that, dodging a truck. |
The setting continues to draw itself, resembling the hospital room.
Soo-Bong and Min-Soo are now at the other end of the room.
|
| - | (?!) So the absurdities of W... |
|
| - | Everything is true! |
|
| - | Then your girlfriend... (remembers) |
|
| - | Cosplay? (examines one of Ren-Bo’s wings) ... These are real wings! |
|
| - | (!) Huh?! |
| - | (shows her NIS badge) A military genetic experiment. Top secret. You'll sign a confidentiality statement. |
|
| - | .... ?! (doubts, suspicious) |
|
| - | Out of the manhwa "Butterfly Girl"! |
|
| - | Yes, it seemed too strange for a genetic experiment. |
Yeon-Joo is drawn in the white, looking at the back of the empty room.
The drawing is finished, the setting colorizes...
|
| - | Do you believe me now?! |
|
| - | That's why I felt different... (regrets) And why I left my wife. Damn! |
Finally, the room shifts into three dimensions...
|
| - | ArARGh !!! (pain, collapses but--) |
|
| (Snap! catches and supports Soo-Bong) |
|
| - | ??! (turns the other way, sees them) |
|
| - | I think I am the hero of a manhwa... |
|
| - | !!! |
| - | I think I am the hero of a manhwa... |
Immediately, a hand draws with a stylus:
¤ A yellow envelope in Min-Soo’s front pocket.
It could be a man’s or woman’s hand.
Just a scar on the index finger.
|
| ~ | If he learns the truth, don't forget the message. |
No one notices.
Yeon-Joo climbs down from the window.
She looks at the nuclear missile and--
FREEZ... Time stops!
The missile stagnates, frozen above Seoul!
¤ New York (night): The nuclear missile falling from the sky stops. Static combustion trail.
¤ Moscow (noon): The nuclear missile stops in the sky. The reactor flame no longer flickers.
¤ White House Situation Room: The American president and his advisors freeze in time.
¤ Earth globe: The hundreds of missiles in suborbit freeze in time.
|
| - | (incredulous) You succeeded?! How? |
|
| - | (in pain) Change... of panel. |
ZzzLIiinnng... Shimmering sound.
A dimensional portal materializes in the room...
|
| - | (stunned) A portal... going to the other world?! |
|
| - | Yes!!! |
|
| ~ | If the screen turns white, destroy the tablet. |
|
| - | AaArh... (suffers) |
|
| - | I'm going to get you into the wheelchair. |
But the wheelchair is on the other side of the room, and at that moment--
BrGrZzz! The dimensional portal trembles!!
Its structure crackles briefly.
It emits supernatural dust under the shock.
|
| - | No time! QUICK, GO!!! |
Min-Soo takes Soo-Bong into the portal.
|
| - | Go without me! |
|
| - | ?!! |
Yeon-Joo pushes them in.
Now alone, she enters the portal but...
She stays halfway in, voluntarily!
GrGrZzz! The portal and Yeon-Joo fracture into quantum crystals, then...
... recompose, degraded by interferences and random particles.
She closes her eyes, as if having nothing left to lose, and hoping for who knows what.
KRASH-ZLLIIIiiing!! The portal and Yeon-Joo explode into a myriad of quantum stained glass!
The fragments volatilize into a cloud of supernatural sparks.
KZZT! Soo-Bong and Min-Soo appear in a luxurious apartment.
Without having time to look around them--
Bompf! Min-Soo collapses! Soo-Bong is dragged down with him.
|
| - | (lies on the floor) Arghh... Arhh... (grimaces in pain) |
|
| - | (helpless) Professor! |
|
| - | (clutches his heart) Aghh... Agrhh... |
|
| - | You can't die like this, for no reason. When we've succeeded! |
|
| - | (agonizing gasps) Araah... Aaraah... |
|
| - | (panicked) How can I help you, professor?! AaAh! Noona would have known, why did she-- |
|
| - | (final hiccup) Couic. |
His head falls back, eyes wide open, those of a dead man!
|
| - | No!!! (reaches fingers to Min-Soo’s neck) |
Before he has time to check his pulse--
FZZT! Colored interference. Min-Soo’s corpse disappears!
|
| - | ...... !!! |
Soo-Bong looks around, ?!
He has the impression of knowing this place. High standing.
He sees a desk nearby, !!!, with a smashed tablet.
Near the tablet, a computer screen displays:
¤ At the top, "Lost Reality".
¤ The drawing of Min-Soo dead, in room 9-11.
¤ At the bottom, "THE END".
|
| - | ..... ! (horror and sadness) |
Out of the corner of his eye, Soo-Bong senses a silhouette rushing and--
BOMM!! sending him a violent kick in the lower abdomen!!
|
| - | AAAARGH !!! (falls flat) |
Spurt! He vomits blood and cries in pain.
| ~ | (angry young man’s voice) You were supposed to die crushed by a truck, killed on an operating table, or poisoned... |
|
| - | (suffers, turns his head and recognizes him) ... !! |
| - | ... not be here, messing up my carpet! |
Sin-Moo, hateful, towers over Soo-Bong, who moans on the ground.
|
| - | You thought I’d let you snatch Ren-Bo without reacting, you bastard?! |
|
| - | Agh... What have you... done with her? |
Sin-Moo slides a partition, revealing an annex bedroom to the main room.
A large bed, armchairs and at the back:
Ren-Bo, gray wings, asleep by IV in a sofa...
... under a sinister cubist painting: Sin-Moo holding a scalpel and Ren-Bo, in an operating room.
|
| - | I put her to sleep for two days. A horse dose. I don't want her to see what will happen here. |
|
| - | Why... Agh... did she come? |
|
| - | The truck accident... (tells) |
|
| - | (sprints) REN-BOOO !!! |
Soo-Bong interposes as a shield between Ren-Bo and the truck.
He tries to push her. Too late--
SBRAAANG!! The truck hits Soo-Bong full force!
The impact rebounds on Ren-Bo. They bounce into the air.
|
| ~ | It wasn't supposed to cause her any damage. It was just a way to chain into this... |
¤ A photo of himself, in Ren-Bo’s hands, in room 9-11.
|
| ~ | There was little chance she would summon me. I was in the new real world, and she, in "Lost Reality". |
|
| ~ | So, happy to see me, she instinctively teleported here... |
|
| - | ... since I erased her most shitty memory: YOU. |
|
| - | ... ! |
|
| - | (points to the hippocampus, black dots) You see these holes? She's missing pieces of brain!! |
|
| - | The rotten year she suffered with you went in the trash. |
|
| - | Mental case... You lobotomized the girl you claim to love?! |
|
| - | (sits in the comfortable desk armchair) Love has no price. |
|
| - | ... ! (horrified) |
|
| - | It all started on the cursed day you came into my world, to steal the girl who was destined for me, by cheating with your meta knowledge. (tells...) |
| - | If they pulled the curtains, that says it all! |
| (morally broken) |
|
| ~ | I stayed there like an idiot, during the night you spent together. |
(In truth: Soo-Bong left for the real world Ep10, then came back in the morning, end of Ep11.)
He's heading toward the house.
Crazy eyes, clenched teeth, vein on the temple bulging.
|
| ~ | I was "a little" jealous. |
He sees no stain on the mattress... reassured?
|
| ~ | I wanted to check what you had done that night. |
He finds behind the toilet...
|
| ~ | Instead of that, I made the discovery that changed everything. |
... A manhwa!!
¤ The cover of "Butterfly Girl", volume 6!
|
| - | !! (remembers...) |
| - | (enters naked) Hiiiiiiiiii! |
| - | ... !!!!! (startles, drops the manhwa he's holding) |
Fallen behind the toilet: "Butterfly Girl", volume 6!
¤ He flips through the manhwa, more and more stunned.
¤ Clic! Clic! Clic! He photographs each page, with his smartphone.
¤ Sin-Moo puts the manhwa back behind the toilet, where it was initially.
¤ Him and Ren-Bo getting married at 26. Ren-Bo without wings.
|
| - | ... |
|
| - | A beautiful story, the one that should have been mine... Even though it's a hypothetical future, all the details matched. |
Sin-Moo scrolls through the pages and shows:
¤ Jin In-Jin in prison. (Ep11)
|
| - | I did a search, there really was a billionaire named Jin In-Jin, famous for his insect collection. That very evening, he died under inexplicable circumstances. (in truth, eaten by his insect collection, Ep17) But in the manhwa... (shows) |
¤ Drawing of Sin-Moo in his car, determined face illuminated by lightning. (Ep11)
| - | (to Ren-Bo) Someone other than you will pay for that. |
Sin-Moo shows another page:
¤ A newspaper article, "Unusual: President Jin murders his secretary".
|
| - | Jin In-Jin, accused of having slit Secretary Min’s throat with a paper cutter. I suppose my hypothetical "me" set a trap for him? |
Sin-Moo takes a paper cutter from the desk.
He caresses the sharpened blade, with an unhealthy smile.
|
| - | The manhwa lacks logic. Sure, Ren-Bo suffers misfortunes, but I always manage to protect her at the crucial moments. No one ever threatened me, even though I was alone against everyone. Why is that, in your opinion? |
|
| - | ... ?! (fears the worst) |
| - | (raises his eyebrows, recognizes him) Ah yeah... Psycho doc! The dangerous maniac, glued to that abominable girl, like a rabid dog. |
"MrGhGh..." Muffled screams in the sordid room...
Those of a high schooler tied to the operating table, mouth held open by a retractor.
Sin-Moo has his hand plunged into his mouth, holding an object.
|
| - | That cutter slash on the wing cost her a week in the hospital. That's next-level compared to flour in her hair! I thought we agreed to stay within the limits of decency? What I have to do to punish you, you won't be able to... |
"MrGhGh..." The terrified high schooler struggles in vain.
Sin-Moo feels the throat with the other hand, to confirm the object is properly lodged, and--
Gzt!! A red flash inside, at the vocal cords level. The high schooler stops screaming.
|
| - | ... Nor say it. |
Sin-Moo takes the object out of the mouth: a small medical laser.
He puts it above an eye, immobilizing the head with the other hand.
Gzt! Red flash in the eye.
Gzt! Red flash in the other eye. Permanent blinding.
|
| - | ... Nor see it. |
Sin-Moo takes pruning shears and inserts the blades at the base of the fingers.
TSHAK! He snaps the shears. Four bloody fingers fall to the ground.
|
| - | ... Nor write it. |
|
| - | Agh... You're a real... psychopath?! |
|
| - | What can I do? Behind the scenes, the illogic of the scenario must be compensated. The manhwa can't assume it, since it has to stay sentimental and cute. |
|
| : | (realizes, pathetic) ... This scenario was shaky from beginning to end. |
Sin-Moo shows the cover of the manhwa on this smartphone.
He enlarges the authors’ names: "Park Soo-Bong".
|
| - | I suspected it was you, and that you gave her this manhwa. (tells...) |
| - | (to Soo-Bong) What are you doing there, you bastard?! |
| - | Soo-Bong. |
|
| - | "Park" Soo-Bong. That was the only time I heard your name. But it was incomprehensible. Why would my rival give her that? Why would he draw a manhwa where another guy gets the girl? |
|
| - | ... (listens painfully) |
The seller shakes his head "no".
|
| ~ | Why was this manhwa never published? Why didn't even the publisher exist? |
| - | AAAH! (startles seeing Soo-Bong) |
Sin-Moo loses control of the vehicle.
|
| ~ | How were you in my car, when I didn't see you get in? |
KZZT! Soo-Bong reappears behind Sin-Moo, who turns and sees him. Anger!
|
| ~ | How did you disappear in the middle of a fight, to surprise me afterward? |
|
| - | I couldn't find any answer, and Ren-Bo then disappeared. (in the real world, Ep18) (takes a photo from a drawer and shows it to Soo-Bong) |
|
| - | ... ?! |
The photo shows a modern 5-story high school.
(The moment "Butterfly Girl" and "Queen of Darkness" merged into a crossover. Ep29)
|
| ~ | That was only the beginning of my wandering into the unknown... |
The students are dressed Joseon style, with modern details, such as their bags.
However, Sin-Moo is dressed entirely in modern fashion.
Eun-Ji comes to see him, walking with a crutch, one leg in a cast.
| - | (repelled) Sin-Moo, what did you disguise yourself as? |
|
| - | (?!) The high school, what has it become? Why are you all dressed like that? |
|
| - | Mmh? What's special? |
People pass by, dressed half Joseon style, as if everything was normal.
|
| ~ | In the snap of a finger, everything had changed. And everyone acted as if it had always been that way. |
|
| - | ... (in pain) |
|
| - | I was the only one remembering the original world of "Butterfly Girl". I thought I was going crazy. But social contacts didn't matter because... (tells) |
GZZT! His arm crackles, transparent, outlined by lines!
Sin-Moo, ... !!!
|
| ~ | ... Shortly after, I was no longer in a state to show myself to others. |
GZZT! His body crackles, transparent, outlined by lines. Even his face!
|
| ~ | For a brief moment, I looked like my portrait in the manhwa. For sure, there was a link, but I was too rational to guess which one. |
Sin-Moo, depressed, no longer even wants to study...
He lets himself fall onto the sofa and turns on the television:
A journalist speaks into the mic, in a poor abandoned neighborhood. (Ep42, days before the battle)
| ~ | ... The urban legend of the flickering ghost. This is where the ghost was supposedly seen the most. |
Several people interviewed:
"It has wings". "There are always two light flashes".
"The ghost only stays a split-second".
"It looks more like an angel than a ghost".
The journalist interviews a kid, in an abandoned shack:
(Corresponds to Sung-Moo’s house in the crossover.)
| ~ | I always come play here, I've seen her often! |
|
| ~ | We can say you're not afraid of ghosts. |
|
| ~ | It's not a ghost, it's a girl with butterfly wings! |
|
| - | ... !!! |
|
| ~ | Once, "Pop!", I saw a pile of food appear on the table. Right after, "Flash-Flash!", she took away those 5-star meals! |
Title: "The flickering ghost".
Below, a photo of Ren-Bo, hard to recognize because of the light.
|
| - | ... ! |
|
| - | She hadn't permanently disappeared and wasn't dead. That encouraged me to search for her. |
That barely hides his disappearance crackles, which overflow onto the raincoat.
|
| ~ | I went to a place she liked a lot. |
He looks around, hopes to find Ren-Bo, when--
SHAF! He disappears. Light flash!
Sin-Moo appears on the 5th floor of a hollow-tower shopping mall. (Ep42)
(??!) He looks around, bewildered!
Then he hears a clamor coming from the lower floors.
|
| ~ | I learned later that this kind of involuntary summons existed... |
He leans over the railing, and sees on the ground floor:
A group of children scream with joy and run toward a statue of 3 cherubs...
... on which Ren-Bo is clowning around!! She laughs and falls from the statue, then--
FSHA! Light flash. A giant teddy bear appears and cushions her fall!
Sin-Moo, ... !! He rushes down the escalators leading to the ground floor.
|
| ~ | ... But alas, that their duration was limited. |
When he arrives below-- SHAF! He disappears. Light flash!
Haggard, mad with incredulity, and despair at having missed Ren-Bo.
|
| - | ... (peak of pain, the morphine dissipates) |
|
| - | After that, I went to that hill every day. In the hope that it would happen again, but instead... (tells) |
He reads a newspaper: "Violent demonstrations in the Capital. Police overwhelmed".
He looks around: the butterflies flutter in the flower gardens.
He hopes to return to that "elsewhere".
|
| ~ | ... "HE" came to me. |
KZZT! A pale yellow paper appears in his hand.
(??!) Sin-Moo reads the paper:
"You are not crazy, and everything you are undergoing has an explanation".
Sin-Moo, !!!, stunned!
KZZT! A yellow paper appears in his other hand:
"You still lack a bit of awakening, to be able to see me".
|
| ~ | Finally a bit of hope. Someone was maybe going to explain to me. |
Sin-Moo, ... !!, impatient!
KZZT! A new yellow paper appears:
"Take off your raincoat and think about this: you are a character living in a Manhwa".
Without hesitation, he takes off his raincoat, half transparent.
Then he thinks for a long moment...
|
| ~ | If this crazy hypothesis was exact, then almost everything made sense. |
As he gradually admits the truth, he sees his body become solid again!
At that moment-- FREEZ... The butterflies freeze in time!
(??!) Sin-Moo sees a yellow frame drawing itself, then... the face of the NARRATOR!!!
|
| - | Park Sin-Moo, if we can reach an agreement... I can satisfy your dearest wish. |
|
| - | (amazed) ... Ren-Bo? |
|
| - | Yes, my enemies are the odious Park Soo-Bong and his allies. Dangerous and unscrupulous people, cause of the chaos in your world. They are the ones who corrupted Ren-Bo and destroyed your life. |
|
| - | (macabre joy) Park Soo-Bong... your enemy?! |
|
| - | Of course, the Narrator explained everything to me about living manhwas. Despite his frightening appearance, I immediately found him sympathetic. |
|
| : | (disgusted) Two psychopaths made to get along. |
He wears an empty bag over his shoulder and holds an extinguished flashlight.
|
| ~ | The Narrator had asked me to wait here, day and night. |
SHAF! He disappears. Light flash!
Sin-Moo appears on a bench and wakes with a start.
Quickly, he turns on the flashlight and goes through the library shelves.
|
| ~ | I had to take advantage of Ren-Bo’s involuntary summons. There might not be any more. |
He finds the "Encyclopedias" aisle.
He loads as many books as possible into his bag.
SHAF! He disappears. Light flash!
Sin-Moo looks at the decor, dejected:
The room is deformed into a rough sketch.
FREEZ... The Narrator appears...
|
| - | Is it normal that everything is misshapen? |
|
| - | An involuntary consequence of my appearances, worsening with repetition. Better to meet only here, rather than impact your whole apartment. |
|
| - | (points to the bag overflowing with encyclopedias) I suppose I have to read that? Why? |
|
| - | Do you definitively accept our arrangement? |
|
| - | Why would I refuse? Let's do it! |
|
| - | Then I'm going to give you a weapon to destroy Park Soo-Bong. A weapon more dangerous than all the nuclear warheads in the world. A weapon more powerful than the sun and the galaxies. |
|
| - | (!!!!) ..... Such a weapon exists?!! |
|
| - | I hid it right here, on top of the wardrobe. |
(??!) Sin-Moo goes to put his hand above the wardrobe.
(!!) He finds something, takes it in hand.
|
| ~ | It seemed aberrant, and yet... |
Sin-Moo brings down the object he grabbed:
An electronic stylus, whose golden tip is engraved "OSM"!
|
| - | ... !! |
|
| - | This stylus here. (takes the OSM stylus out of his pocket) |
|
| - | (!!!) ... What... How? (suffers) |
|
| - | (places the stylus on the table) The Narrator was evasive about this... (tells) |
|
| - | (holds out the stylus) What is it? |
|
| - | A stylus altering the reality of parallel worlds. |
|
| - | How did you get that? How was it at my place? |
|
| - | Luck. I wasn't certain of its usefulness. But a ally of Park Soo-Bong confirmed it by stealing it from me. |
|
| (looks at the stylus) |
|
| : | (looks at Soo-Bong, sadistic smile) You hope to use it, you bastard? |
|
| : | That ally must have been Kang Chul. (guesses...) |
He draws with the "OSM" stylus:
¤ Weapons in the hands of rebels.
|
| ~ | The Narrator must have been intrigued that the drawings had more force. He made the link between "OSM" and Oh Sung-Moo. |
Young-Sik looks at the stylus he holds in hand, then he draws:
¤ The "OSM" stylus on the wardrobe, in Sin-Moo’s guest room.
|
| ~ | Just in case, he reproduced the stylus at Sin-Moo’s, a potential ally. |
WOSHH... Young-Sik zombie tries to stab Kang Chul... !!!
Kang Chul, index on the stylus!!! FZZT!, TELEPORTATION!!!
|
| ~ | The Narrator thought Kang Chul already knew the power of the stylus. |
|
| : | Then, he reached the same conclusion as Kang Chul on the activation of the tablets. (grimaces in pain) |
|
| - | (smiles sadistically) The effect of the morphine is wearing off? That's why I'm taking the time to tell my story. (tells...) |
|
| - | Draw? I have to study medicine. |
|
| - | You don't need to become a surgeon to be loved by Ren-Bo. |
|
| - | I swore to take off her wings. That's why she got interested in me! |
|
| - | Copy the method of your rival Park Soo-Bong. She fell in love with him, because he was the only one who accepted her wings. |
|
| - | (!) I've been studying medicine self-taught for years. But learning to draw? I have no talent for that. |
|
| - | As an apprentice surgeon, your manual virtuosity is exceptional. You'll even be better as a cartoonist. |
|
| - | Ok. I'm discussing for nothing. It's our arrangement, anyway. What do you want me to draw with this stylus? |
|
| - | Currently, I'm intensely fighting against Park Soo-Bong. His ally Kang Chul is a formidable adversary, with an intelligence of manhwas almost equal to mine. I'm not certain to win. If I'm defeated, you won't have Ren-Bo. |
|
| - | (!) You want me to help you in this fight? |
|
| - | No. I just need a safety margin. You'll have to be patient. It will take a year before your efforts bear fruit. Will you be confident enough? |
|
| - | If your defeat leads to losing Ren-Bo, it's impossible for my will to fail. |
|
| - | If I'm defeated, you'll draw a manhwa called "Lost Reality". Its universe will have to be identical to that of the encyclopedias. That's where Ren-Bo will be. As for the protagonist... |
KZZT! A photo appears on the bed, surrounded by a yellow frame.
Sin-Moo looks: a portrait of Professor Park Min-Soo.
|
| - | Who is this? |
|
| - | The surgery professor Park Min-Soo. |
|
| - | (!!) Park Min-Soo?! |
|
| - | Yes. It seems you have more in common than the name. Make him the super-surgeon you dreamed of being, and live it by proxy. |
|
| - | ... (suffers the martyrdom) |
|
| - | You understand better, you bastard? While you were living the good life in fatal carelessness... (tells) |
Sin-Moo copies the photo and draws Sung-Moo, using the "OSM" stylus.
Already drawn behind Sung-Moo: a poster of the manhwa "Z", instead of "W".
|
| ~ | ... I was patiently transforming your world into a manhwa. |
|
| - | Without certainty, I was working to wake the Narrator, and recover Ren-Bo. |
|
| - | Agh... It's impossible... The Narrator wasn't supposed to wake up automatically... |
|
| - | Oh that? It's anecdotal... (tells) |
|
| - | When drawings appear by themselves on the tablet, you'll know the manhwa has become alive. You'll then draw me an alarm clock. |
|
| - | (?!) An alarm clock... Like the one next to my bed? |
|
| - | No, a paradoxical alarm clock. To start... a nighttime scene. |
|
| - | A scene taking place at night? But what's in it? |
|
| - | Doesn't matter. But at the top of the image, you'll draw... |
¤ Min-Soo kisses Yeo-Rin on the hospital roof, at night.
At the top of the image, a yellow frame with: "Later, in full sunlight".
|
| ~ | ... a yellow frame with the text "Later, in full sunlight". |
|
| - | Yes, it's contradictory... |
|
| - | Then a page where you'll repeat the text "That is not dead which can eternal lie". |
¤ A page without drawing, filled with "That is not dead which can eternal lie".
¤ An empty yellow frame at the top of the image!
|
| ~ | At the top of the image, my frame will contain no text. |
|
| - | Then you'll conclude the episode with "NOT TO BE CONTINUED". |
|
| - | (?!) That should be "TO BE CONTINUED". It's absurd. "NOT TO BE CONTINUED" doesn't exist, or would be replaced by "THE END". |
|
| - | Exact. That will force me to write an absurdity. As for my frame, at the top of the image... |
¤ A plain, the sky and clouds, with "NOT TO BE CONTINUED" at the bottom.
¤ At the top of the image, a BRIGHT yellow frame with "I am awake".
|
| ~ | ... it will be bright yellow with the text "I am awake". |
|
| - | I understood. I hope you'll win the battle. Otherwise, I'll wake you for sure! And we'll massacre that pack of rats. |
|
| : | A series of absurdities, to be certain that at least one works. |
|
| - | Unfortunately, I understood that the Narrator was defeated when... (tells) |
|
| - | I don't love you, I've never loved you, I'll never love you, and let's even go further, I hate you, I've always hated you, and I'll always hate you! AH!! Without forgetting the magic formula: I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!! And where I'm going, I'm 200% certain I'll never see you again! |
|
| - | (desperate) Ren-Bo, it's not-- |
GRzZzZzt!! Electric shock from the stick. Sin-Moo collapses unconscious.
He overflows with controlled anger and sadness...
|
| - | My poor love, they transformed you into an inhuman monster. Scum... fucking scum... I'll make them pay. Don't worry Ren-Bo, I'll give you back your heart and your kindness... We'll end up getting married and being happy. |
|
| - | (face distorted by suffering) Argh. The Narrator sabotaged your plan to create "Lost Reality". |
|
| - | ... (stoic) |
|
| - | He tried to kill us all! You included! (tells...) |
The Narrator tenses with a cold fury.
|
| - | IF THIS IS THE END, IT WILL BE THE END FOR BOTH OF US. IT WILL BE THE END FOR EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS. AND I WILL WAKE UP ONE DISTANT DAY. I HAVE ETERNITY FOR THAT. |
He scans higher than the sky and his mouth twists into a demented smile.
|
| - | IN SPACE, THERE IS AN ASTEROID! |
|
| - | Yes, I know... |
|
| - | THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, REN-BO! TURN AROUND, OR YOU WILL RETURN TO DUST, INEXORABLY! |
Ren-Bo fiercely throws her can toward the Narrator.
Then she stares at him with anger and...
The SPARK in her eyes SHINES intensely!
|
| ~ | I suppose something disturbed him... |
The Narrator grins! The closest expression to dread in him.
His diamond retinas slowly turn away...
He cannot sustain that spark. An unknown mystery he dreads.
|
| ~ | ... and that for an instant, he lost sight of his objectives. |
The room darkens. A storm breaks outside. Occasional lightning.
|
| - | That happens to me often, when someone gets on my nerves. It's human!! |
|
| - | (!) Agh... It's Ren-Bo he wanted to kill as a priority. |
|
| - | (annoyed) .... I never said that would go unpunished. |
|
| - | He betrayed you and you still woke him? (extreme suffering) |
|
| - | (nods) I had two good reasons. One: "Lost Reality" didn't involve Ren-Bo as protagonist and the Narrator would have no reason to attack her again. Two: it was the only way to bring Ren-Bo back from your degenerate world. |
|
| - | And just for a girl, you destroy an entire world... |
|
| - | ... Oh. (ironic smile) You devastated my world, travestied its reality, caused a total war, then an apocalypse of dimensional breaches. And you don't even have the excuse of being a psychopath! (hateful) So... you and your world deserve no pity. If the Narrator hadn't triggered this nuclear war, I would have done it myself!! |
|
| : | It was stupid to try to guilt-trip a psychopath. |
|
| - | As for the Narrator’s betrayal... (grabs the hammer) |
BANG! Sin-Moo smashes the "OSM" stylus with a hammer blow!
|
| - | ... ?!! |
|
| - | He was asking me to draw another manhwa... |
BANG! Sin-Moo breaks the pieces of the stylus!
|
| - | ... then it would be another, (BANG!) yet another, (BANG!) It would be endless!! (BANG! BANG! BANG!) |
|
| - | .... (looks at the stylus crumbs, desperate) |
|
| - | I hate drawing. It's a sterile and irresponsible job. As a surgeon, I can save lives, and also... have a little fun. |
|
| - | ..... (twisted in suffering) |
|
| - | You look done to a turn. (looks at the hammer in his hand) |
|
| - | .... (looks at the hammer, bad feeling) |
|
| - | The Narrator provided me the rest of "Butterfly Girl". There's this funny scene, where you teach Ren-Bo to fly. In a way, the root of the problem... |
He clicks on a folder on the computer, then displays an image:
| - | Then clack your teeth, thanks to a voluntary jaw cramp. Clac-clac-clac-clac-clac. Like a laughing skeleton.. |
|
| - | .... !! (understands his intention, horrible apprehension) |
Sin-Moo stands up calmly, goes toward Soo-Bong, hammer in hand...
|
| - | (!!) ArgGrhh... (tries to straighten up in vain) |
He passes Soo-Bong and stops behind his head. A blind spot.
Soo-Bong protects himself with one arm, agitates the other with difficulty.
Outside, the storm intensifies, the lightning illuminates the scene.
Sin-Moo crouches. Smile and psycho eyes.
He raises the hammer, clears Soo-Bong’s arm and--
BANG!-Crack! He smashes his mouth!! Blood! Broken teeth!
|
| - | MrGAAAAH !!! (struggles, agitates his arms) |
Sin-Moo, hindered by his arms, spreads them and--
BANG!-Crack! Hammer blow to the jaw!!
He strikes again but an arm hinders him, so accidentally--
BANG! Hammer blow to the skull!! Soo-Bong faints.
Now unhindered, Sin-Moo enters a frenzied rage.
BANG!-Crack! Breaks the teeth. BANG!-Crack! Breaks the jaw.
|
| - | (sadistic snickers) Ah-Ah... (BANG!-Crack!) Ah-Ah-Ah... (BANG!-Crack!) Ah-Ah... (BANG!-Crack!) Ah-Ah-Ah... |
Asleep on the sofa, Ren-Bo cannot see this foul carnage.
BANG!-Crack! BANG!-Crack! BANG!-Crack! Exploded teeth, Pulverized jaw.
Soo-Bong’s mouth is reduced to a bloody pulp.
|
| - | Laugh like a skeleton, now. |
Sin-Moo puts down the hammer and puts on surgical gloves.
Like a pro, he puts Soo-Bong in the recovery position.
He searches in his mouth, extracts the bits of teeth and bone, to prevent him from choking.
Then, he picks up the hammer and goes to put it on the desk.
In the recovery position, Soo-Bong’s mouth drips with:
Flood of blood, vomit, minced flesh, shards of bone and teeth.
Sin-Moo takes from the desk drawer:
A syringe and a vial "Epinephrine (1 mg/ml)". (adrenaline)
He fills the syringe, not caring about overdosing, then puts down the vial.
He crouches next to Soo-Bong and injects him in the arm.
He returns to the desk, takes out a scalpel and waits while observing Soo-Bong...
|
| - | Why would you fight? No more tablet, no more stylus, and an "END" impossible to modify... |
Subjective view: Soo-Bong opens his eyes and sees Sin-Moo, blurry.
His vision clarifies but is reddened, throbbing.
BoBoom! BoBoom! Frenetic heart. The effect of the adrenaline.
Objective view: Soo-Bong is awake, eyes mad with ultimate pain.
|
| - | (hateful) I've just started torturing you, you bastard. (looks at Ren-Bo) You're going to pay for every second you soiled her. And once her honor is washed, I'll be the only one to touch her! |
Soo-Bong sees the empty vial on the desk: "Epinephrine".
|
| : | (temples pounding, feverish, energetic) His product is going to help me. There won't be another chance. No matter the pain and the consequences, Ren-Bo will not fall into his hands. |
Soo-Bong straightens up, puts one knee to the ground, then one foot and--
He gets up quickly while screaming! Destroyed mouth, reddened torso.
|
| - | (?!!) ... 4 hours after a thoracotomy?! |
Soo-Bong knows his lifespan is limited. He charges at Sin-Moo!
Sin-Moo strikes with the scalpel, parried by Soo-Bong, who follows up with--
PUNCH! Punch to the nose. Burst! Blood!
Sin-Moo, broken nose, too shocked to react, suffers--
PUNCH! Punch to the jaw! PUNCH! Another!
Sin-Moo strikes the scalpel blindly, and--
Ziiirp!! Lateral blow to the belly. Slashed, bleeding!
That stops Soo-Bong’s assault.
Sin-Moo backs along the bookshelf, threatening with the scalpel.
But Soo-Bong refuses to stop the assault!
He pushes the desk rolling chair toward Sin-Moo, to open a path.
Sin-Moo has to back further! Time to avoid the chair.
In passing, he grabs the broken tablet with one hand, from the desk.
He strikes with it, but Soo-Bong doesn't back down--
Brash! Soo-Bong partially parries, lightly struck on the head.
Sin-Moo extends his scalpel, expecting a punch, but--
SBAAM! Direct kick, driven into his belly!!
Sin-Moo doubles over immediately, breath cut, tetanized by the pain.
Soo-Bong tries to follow up but--
Zrritsh!! His stitches pop!
The physiological reaction stops him cold.
His patient gown reddens with blood at the abdomen.
Sin-Moo goes around the desk, out of range, catches his breath...
|
| : | This bastard fights better than me. Even at the article of death. |
Soo-Bong staggers, sees with horror his bandages streaming with blood.
|
| - | (out of breath, in pain) Agh... One more kick... of that kind... and you'll empty yourself of your organs, chest wide open. |
Soo-Bong tries to approach Sin-Moo, but he turns around the desk.
A game of cat and mouse. Sin-Moo cowardly plays for time!
|
| - | (snarky smile) Yes... Yes... Piss blood! Like at the Corrida. Piss all your blood, you bastard. |
Soo-Bong, mad with powerlessness, throws the computer screen at him.
But Sin-Moo dodges and continues turning around the desk.
|
| - | (shows his scalpel) I'm an expert at finding organs with this. I know where the titanium plates of your thoracotomy are. Be sure I won't miss your heart!! |
Soo-Bong falters, half-conscious.
He sees Ren-Bo, asleep in the annex room.
|
| : | Rip out the IV to wake her! |
He walks toward her backward, to keep an eye on Sin-Moo.
Sin-Moo follows him, annoyed. He doesn't dare approach him too closely...
They enter the annex room.
A few steps in, then...
(!!) Sin-Moo smiles when he sees:
Soo-Bong’s eyes roll back. A brief syncope.
His buttocks bump against an armchair behind him, keeping him standing.
Two seconds later, Soo-Bong regains consciousness, and sees:
Sin-Moo at contact, holding the scalpel, ready to stab, and--
SHLACK! Sudden gesture. Soo-Bong’s eyes suddenly widen!!
Kr-KRAAK! Outside, a violent lightning illuminates Soo-Bong’s agonizing face!
At their feet, Shhplic-ploc-plic! a cascade of blood falls and...
... becomes a pond, into which Sploch!, the scalpel falls.
This blood flows like a torrent... from Soo-Bong’s chest.
Kr-KRAAK! Outside, a violent lightning illuminates Sin-Moo’s triumphant face!
His hateful gaze dominates that of Soo-Bong, who is open on death.
Soo-Bong’s eyes close and Bompf... he collapses...
... in front of Ren-Bo asleep, the non-witness of this terrible scene.
Close-up of the face: Sin-Moo looks at Soo-Bong’s corpse...
... with the mad eyes of a psychopath, and a rictus of frustration.
