I Became a Childhood Friend of a Mid-Level Boss - Ch. 39

[komeijikooshi]

naw this was such a fun reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad

 

[NoctyrneSAGA]

Spoiler: 10 Families, 10 Scandals

Do family - A litttle bit before the mid-terms, there was a banquet for the 5 major families in the Swordsmanship system. Haneul and Eunbi sneak in and they are hit on by some drunk upperclassmen. When they get handsy, Kyunwoo appears in his formal attire "dressed as a noble" and growls "Hands off before I cut it off." (makes me wish the artstyle was more like an otome isekai) His cousin Do Seungwoo (the nasty cousin) is mystified by the angry face Kyunwoo made because he'd never seen it before and then smiles to himself thinking, "If that's how he reacts when someone approaches her, I wonder what face he'll make if someone kills her?" And so begins his murder plot for the mid-term exam. It ultimately fails and the Do family ends up paying a steep price for one of its members attempting murder on school grounds. I'll explain this in more detail because this is THE MAJOR TURNING POINT for Kyunwoo and Haneul's relationship.

Spoiler: Mid-term exam

However, this brush with death has made Kyunwoo aware of how he sees Haneul as more than just a childhood friend or powerful ally. He winds up doting over her nonsensically with random trivia about the weakpoints of a rabbit's biology. "They may have strong legs but their bones are very weak. They also get sick easily from stress. And and and..." When Haneul wakes up she briefly pretends to have amnesia and Kyunwoo nearly loses his mind again.

Spoiler: Kyunwoo and Haneul's relationship - major developments

Officially Dating: The Do Family Head keeps trying to set Kyunwoo up with a Swordsmanship System daughter from another family. He needs to be "officially" dating her because Haneul is not appropriate for his status and dating rumors can wreck his reputation. This brings an endless amount of anxiety to Haneul. Kyunwoo doesn't want to make Haneul official because the torment his mother endured is always on his mind and he doesn't want to put Haneul through that. Things come to a head when Haneul is so upset that she basically asks if they'll wind up doing everything together except date to which Kyunwoo cannot even respond. Eventually he takes the words of another Ain to heart and asks her out formally in a private confession with a gift of necklace and flowers under The World Tree. Also, to reciprocate Haneul offering him her tail, he offers her his neck as the most vulnerable part of the body.

Marriage: The Do Family Head doesn't mind Kyunwoo dating Haneul if it's to learn how to interact with women. However, he draws the line at marriage. He can take Haneul as a mistress but his legal wife cannot be an Ain. If Kyunwoo fails to abide by this, he will be expelled. Kyunwoo is so angered by this he goes straight to Hanbyul's love interest and commissions a wedding ring on the spot with materials he has on hand. He then runs over to Haneul and proposes marriage and this is when Haneul's mental health is totally healed (she no longer feels insecure or jealous). The ring he made has a small ruby the color of her eyes. It's a color she hated so much but Kyunwoo loves it and she realizes the meaning behind it. He makes it clear that he knows the road ahead won't be easy, but he promises to face everything with her together. Kyunwoo then bundles everything he ever received related to the Do Family and ships it to the family head alongside a copy of their marriage certificate.

Following the mid-term exam, Kyunwoo's idea that Haneul was a near-invincible mid-boss was completely shattered. From this point forward, he treated her like a helpless damsel in distress, constantly protecting and coddling her. IIRC he even monologued about how he should lock her up indoors because the outside world was full of dangerous people like Seungwoo that wanted to hurt her. This is what drove him to hide so many things from her, not talk about his family's situation, and why he won't clearly define what their relationship is. He thought this was the right choice to protect her and it wasn't until he confessed that he realized Haneul is strong enough to offer help. This carried over to his proposal where he reaffirmed that they will confront all their problems together.

Spoiler: Various other funny incidents

snip

One more funny incident is Haneul's time in the student council. Do Sieun had been cheering for Haneul's success with Kyunwoo and recruited Haneul to help her build achievements. Since Haneul's bloodline was a problem, she had to make up for it with big achievements and Sieun thought this should be one of them. As it turned out, Haneul was very talented at administrative work even without Cloning. Using it made her easily the most productive member of the student council in just her first year.

In Haneul's second year, the White Mage girl became student council president but she was ousted after the Wings Project scandal. Haneul wound up becoming the acting/interim president. During the transitional period, Kyunwoo and Haneul marveled at the empty president's office that now belonged to her. Kyunwoo, feeling frisky, started to undress her and pushed her down on the desk. However, they realized people were approaching and scrambled to hide. The door opened and in walked White Mage girl and a few others. Kyunwoo tried to appear as naturally as possible sitting in the president's chair and they asked him what was going on. He denied anything was happening but their faces were unconvinced. That was when he followed their gaze towards the desk and saw Haneul's bunny ears clearly poking out above the desk... and directly in front of his abdomen. Realizing the jig was up, Haneul timidly crawled out from under the desk with her clothing visibly disheveled.

 

[ZC1SKULL]

This can't be happening
It ended so quickly why
I want to see the real ending 😭

There more chapter in
Novel version like 320 chapters
😭

 

[Zenset411]

If you’re interested, you can continue the story by reading the last couple paragraphs of the novel’s chapter 82. I found it on novelbin, which may or may not be MTL.

 

[ohthemisery]

Man I wanted a manhwa of this not a fucking promo

 

[kmd3133]

I knew this was gonna be something like axed, rushed or a promo since the first chapter but i wasnt expecting this much. Honestly rushed ending would be better than this one, this is literally a promo for novel.

 

[StuffedP]

man oh man that was disappointing
the only thing i can hope for this is a continuation
i love this but if its only promotional manhwa then theres no point reading any further to the novel

 

[NoctyrneSAGA]

man oh man that was disappointing
the only thing i can hope for this is a continuation
i love this but if its only promotional manhwa then theres no point reading any further to the novel

Rather than a continuation, a remake would be needed. There was so much cut content/romance that continuing from here would make no sense. This webtoon focused on action but the novel is actually romance.

You can also read my earlier comments in here to see the spoilers on the rest of the story.

 

[mubbywub]

Following the mid-term exam, Kyunwoo's idea that Haneul was a near-invincible mid-boss was completely shattered. From this point forward, he treated her like a helpless damsel in distress, constantly protecting and coddling her. IIRC he even monologued about how he should lock her up indoors because the outside world was full of dangerous people like Seungwoo that wanted to hurt her. This is what drove him to hide so many things from her, not talk about his family's situation, and why he won't clearly define what their relationship is. He thought this was the right choice to protect her and it wasn't until he confessed that he realized Haneul is strong enough to offer help. This carried over to his proposal where he reaffirmed that they will confront all their problems together.




One more funny incident is Haneul's time in the student council. Do Sieun had been cheering for Haneul's success with Kyunwoo and recruited Haneul to help her build achievements. Since Haneul's bloodline was a problem, she had to make up for it with big achievements and Sieun thought this should be one of them. As it turned out, Haneul was very talented at administrative work even without Cloning. Using it made her easily the most productive member of the student council in just her first year.

In Haneul's second year, the White Mage girl became student council president but she was ousted after the Wings Project scandal. Haneul wound up becoming the acting/interim president. During the transitional period, Kyunwoo and Haneul marveled at the empty president's office that now belonged to her. Kyunwoo, feeling frisky, started to undress her and pushed her down on the desk. However, they realized people were approaching and scrambled to hide. The door opened and in walked White Mage girl and a few others. Kyunwoo tried to appear as naturally as possible sitting in the president's chair and they asked him what was going on. He denied anything was happening but their faces were unconvinced. That was when he followed their gaze towards the desk and saw Haneul's bunny ears clearly poking out above the desk... and directly in front of his abdomen. Realizing the jig was up, Haneul timidly crawled out from under the desk with her clothing visibly disheveled.

this is so peak sucks that all the sites were dmca’d

 

[megaguil]

I came back to this because I still couldn’t believe it ended the way it did. And Noctyrne’s comments about all the stuff the manhwa artist left out made it even worse. This could have been so incredibly peak executed in a graphic format. All the little scenarios, fluff, relationship growth, etc. felt like it was on the cusp of brilliance but good god it was just thrown away.

I’d LOVE to see this executed as a manga with whoever the mangaka was for Horimiya at the helm for the romance and a solid action artist for the battle scenes. It deserves at least that.

 

[NoctyrneSAGA]

I came back to this because I still couldn’t believe it ended the way it did. And Noctyrne’s comments about all the stuff the manhwa artist left out made it even worse. This could have been so incredibly peak executed in a graphic format. All the little scenarios, fluff, relationship growth, etc. felt like it was on the cusp of brilliance but good god it was just thrown away.

I’d LOVE to see this executed as a manga with whoever the mangaka was for Horimiya at the helm for the romance and a solid action artist for the battle scenes. It deserves at least that.

Whoever makes a better adaptation just needs to understand that this is not just a battle manhwa. It's very much a romance manhwa too. Kyunwoo isn't dense. He's actually very articulate about how he feels towards Haneul but he simply can't say it out loud because of their status difference. It'd also be best if the artist read the entire thing in one go to smoothly adapt the story because the original WN was really good at setting up threads and foreshadowing that would pay off hundreds of chapters later. The manhwa paneling would need to reflect that.

It's in that regard that I actually was quite excited for this manhwa because all the way back in Chapter 1

right here would've been perfect for a big flashback/retrospective sequence when Kyunwoo dreams about OG Haneul's death. A repeat of these panels as a callback to Chapter 1 but with his oath ("If there is a next life, I swear I will protect you. And if you'd be okay with it, I want to be your friend.") massively distorted leaving only "friend" visible would've been peak. It is the vestigial emotions of that promise which lead to the two getting a happy ending in this TL and I think it needs to be highlighted.

And it'd also be really nice for OG TL Haneul and Kyunwoo's relationship to have been expanded on in such a flashback/retrospective sequence because the two of them clearly had a deep history. My own headcanon is that OG Kyunwoo, mirroring this TL's Haneul, pushed her away thinking what she did: "If she gets close to me, she'll just be bullied even more and it's enough if I'm the only one getting bullied." That misunderstanding, that not even the only other social pariah in the school wanted to befriend her, was probably the final straw that led her down the path to becoming the Witch of Calamity. It'd also reinforce how Kyunwoo's mentality changed after meeting the Fox Ain Noona to include Haneul in his plans instead of pushing her away or keeping her on the sidelines.

Fox Ain Noona: "As your senior in life, I will give you this advice. You're treating her like a piece of glass that could break if handled improperly. But if you have the chance, it is not a bad idea to combine your strength. And she will show you... we are not that weak."


Better yet, all of this gets animated because I think this story deserves it compared to the amount of other isekai harem slop that gets pushed out.

 

[megaguil]

Whoever makes a better adaptation just needs to understand that this is not just a battle manhwa. It's very much a romance manhwa too. Kyunwoo isn't dense. He's actually very articulate about how he feels towards Haneul but he simply can't say it out loud because of their status difference. It'd also be best if the artist read the entire thing in one go to smoothly adapt the story because the original WN was really good at setting up threads and foreshadowing that would pay off hundreds of chapters later. The manhwa paneling would need to reflect that.

It's in that regard that I actually was quite excited for this manhwa because all the way back in Chapter 1

right here would've been perfect for a big flashback/retrospective sequence when Kyunwoo dreams about OG Haneul's death. A repeat of these panels as a callback to Chapter 1 but with his oath ("If there is a next life, I swear I will protect you. And if you'd be okay with it, I want to be your friend.") massively distorted leaving only "friend" visible would've been peak. It is the vestigial emotions of that promise which lead to the two getting a happy ending in this TL and I think it needs to be highlighted.

And it'd also be really nice for OG TL Haneul and Kyunwoo's relationship to have been expanded on in such a flashback/retrospective sequence because the two of them clearly had a deep history. My own headcanon is that OG Kyunwoo, mirroring this TL's Haneul, pushed her away thinking what she did: "If she gets close to me, she'll just be bullied even more and it's enough if I'm the only one getting bullied." That misunderstanding, that not even the only other social pariah in the school wanted to befriend her, was probably the final straw that led her down the path to becoming the Witch of Calamity. It'd also reinforce how Kyunwoo's mentality changed after meeting the Fox Ain Noona to include Haneul in his plans instead of pushing her away or keeping her on the sidelines.

Better yet, all of this gets animated because I think this story deserves it compared to the amount of other isekai harem slop that gets pushed out.

FUCKING THIS. ALLLLLL OF THIS. PLEASE.

Jesus Christ man, if you were an executive assistant for the producer of this anime, that would be incredible.

 

[NoctyrneSAGA]

FUCKING THIS. ALLLLLL OF THIS. PLEASE.

Jesus Christ man, if you were an executive assistant for the producer of this anime, that would be incredible.

I'd certainly like that. There are a lot of aspects that I wouldn't trust any old studio to properly adapt if they didn't read the whole thing like Haneul's name. However her name gets rendered in Japanese, it needs to have the character for "heaven" in it. In the novel, she made a passing remark about how her abysmal luck surely had to have been because she somehow incurred divine wrath for being named after the heavens. IIRC it was around the same part where she wonders if she used up all of her life's luck to meet Kyunwoo. If they don't use the character for "heaven" somehow, the impact of that line is lost.

Spoiler

Also, if I were somehow an executive on an anime adaptation, I would push with all my might for RONDO's "Last Song" to play as an insert song over OG Haneul's death and a flashback/retrospective sequence comparing the two timelines. It hits all the right notes for such a scene and the lyrics just somehow coincide with Kyunwoo and Haneul's journey up to that point. Especially the last two lines - "See, we are not weak./Yes, we are not weak."

Spoiler: Last Song

We were still dreaming before
That day, that time, we promised to the future

From here begins the farewell and departure
Telling "goodbye's" and "see you later's" as we walk on

What filled the emptiness in my heart
Were some countless melodies

Back to back, I looked up with you
It was like an uneasy evening

If it ends like this without grasping anything
The fear will come flooding back

We were holding tightly on each other
Onto the flickering blue fragments of our dreams

Endless scenarios were explored

Yes, we are just some illusions

Nobody can understand this vague weakness

Will we become adults carrying all this?

The doubts I can't put into words
They sink in and come flooding back again

Aah

The cloudy sky is just like a mirror
That reflects my heart

I don't know, is it okay to stay this way?
Sometimes, is it okay to stop?

The future is always like a passing shower

I saw a single grain of admiration
That fell down from the heavens

"Maybe I should try to live a little longer?"

Is what I thought that night

I was afraid to show who I truly am
So I closed the door and listened to that song alone

Soon it will spread its wings and fly
And lead the way to the future

It will take me to you
Wherever that may be

Heading towards a road far away
That neither you nor I know

When I wake up, the view is still the same
As always, the window is a little dim

We will open and show it to you

See, we are not weak.

Yes, we are not weak.

eMPIRE SOUND SYSTeMS

Rough TL of tweet:
A STORY that begins from the end

That's what this song is

Ah, even though it's called Last Song, do you like Neverending Worlds?

----
the view is still the same
----

I've been through so many reincarnations and rebirths but

One thing I can say is

We are overwhelmingly
strong.

Also the mid-term exam arc is just so emotionally charged. Kyunwoo's sheer panic over Haneul's poisoning and the possibility of her dying really shows how much he treasures her. After taking the antidote from Seungwoo, he rushes to a proctor's item store that's part of the exam.

"Student Kyunwoo, learning the location of a specific student costs half your points. Are you sure you-"

"You can take all of my points for all I care! Just tell me where Haneul is right now!"

Really pisses me off how this manhwa left us with the impression that Kyunwoo only values her as a weapon.

 

[bossSHREDDER]

lol what a complete waste of time. Never reading anything this down-syndrome-ridden author writes ever again.

i completely agree bruh

this was a good manhua and then boom "im just a promo and you dont get an actual end because im just going to cuck you.. but im going to reveal some things youve literally never seen before because tehee"

hate shit like this

 

[bossSHREDDER]

Korean stuff often has 'seasons' to their comics like with television shows, so is this definitely over, or is this possibly just a season end?

no its just a bs promo

people dont know how to actually commit to something or say that its only a promo at the start.. if they said its only a promo at the start they will see just how little anyone cares about their crap

 

[Bing_chillingno]

dawg it always has to be when im starting to like one manhwa then it'll get axed