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IHVIGO 02

IHVIGO

Chapter 2

The shonen manhwa Underworld.

The plot of this webtoon goes like this:

In a world where monsters emerge from portals known as “Gates,” there are superpowered individuals who fight against them—these people are called “Hunters.”

The protagonist, Kwon Seowoo, is an ordinary high school student who accidentally gets caught up in a battle between these superpowered beings and awakens his powers later in life. He grows stronger through training with various mentors and comrades to ultimately defeat the final mastermind.

What’s unique about Underworld is a setting that differs slightly from other Hunter-style stories.

In this world, Gates and monsters have plagued humanity for a very long time, and the history of awakened individuals (those with powers) is equally extensive.

As more awakened beings emerged over the generations, families began to appear where powerful awakeners were born by blood. These were known as “Hunter Clans,” and South Korea had five of them.

This unique worldbuilding helped Underworld gain attention—but, in truth, its overwhelming popularity came from one massive cheat code:


[Title: Let’s be honest, Underworld only got big because of the art]

The story’s not really that good, lol. There are way better ones out there. Even if it got made into an anime, still…
Also, I don’t even get what’s so amazing about the art, lol. People are always posting screenshots of Baekgyeon and Joshua just because they’re hot—there are hot guys in tons of other webtoons too, let’s be real.

[Comments]
Anonymous1: ??????
Anonymous2: I mean, if that’s how you feel about the plot, fine, but don’t go dissing the character designs.
Anonymous4: Are you… jealous because the male characters are too good-looking?ㅠ lmao
Anonymous5: It’s hilarious how this post doesn’t even mention the MC’s looks.
↳Anonymous6: Seowoo’s pretty, duh.
↳Anonymous7: TRUUUUUE
Anonymous8: Okay, then tell us the name of a webtoon with hotter guys than Underworld, I dare you. Say it.


Exactly.

Everyone knew why it was so explosively popular.

First—looks.
Second—looks.
Third—looks!

That’s not to say the story and character development were bad, just that the art quality absolutely crushed everything else.

Of course, I never got to see the ending because I died partway through reading it.

But aside from that, there were other controversies…


[Author-nim, please don’t kill my boyㅠㅠ] — 831 upvotes / 2 downvotes
[If Baekgyeon dies, I’m taking a dump in front of the M-Toon HQ] — 1823 upvotes / 64 downvotes
[Author-nim, open the door. It’s your delivery. I SAID OPEN UP.] — 109 upvotes / 5 downvotes


Reader outcry never stopped because the main and supporting characters died left and right.

Yet the author persisted, insisting, “This is a cheerful, hopeful shonen manhwa ^^”

Honestly, for me and other readers, that felt like complete BS.

No dreams. No hope. No survivors!

The only thing left were ridiculously hot characters.

And I was reborn into that world.

A normal person might have started worrying about their safety, but fresh from reincarnation, I was way too carefree.

‘What if I suddenly awaken as an S-rank?’

As a baby, realizing I’d been reborn, I sucked on a pacifier while planning world domination.

The main characters hadn’t shown up yet, but seeing news reports about Gate incidents and phrases like “Baekyeom Group” and “Chairman Baek Ji-hyo,” I figured out that this was indeed the world of Underworld.

Baek Ji-hyo was the head of Baek Clan—one of the five great Hunter families in Underworld.

‘Let’s try to save some of the leads who are going to die… And that guy, too. That one scene early on with the trap was frustrating—maybe I can warn them to avoid it?’

“Honey, doesn’t Asol’s smile seem a little… sly? Are babies supposed to do that?”

“What do you mean, sly?! He’s just happy because he ate.”

“Abubu.”

“…Really?”

…Ahem. I faced a few brushes with danger, but I got through them fine.

In short, I had that delusional confidence unique to rookie transmigrators.

Then, a year later—

“Asol, come say hi. This is your little brother.”

“…”

“His name is Seowoo. Kwon Seowoo. Say hi~”

“Asol? Why’s she so quiet? Is she surprised?”

For the first time since reincarnating, I felt that something was very wrong.

‘Kwon Seowoo? That Kwon Seowoo? The MC of Underworld?’

This dumpling-looking thing?

I was confused.

I wanted to compare their faces, but newborn Seowoo looked like every other baby. I couldn’t really tell.

The difference between 2D and 3D isn’t something you can easily distinguish.

But the day I realized this Seowoo wasn’t the Seowoo from the original came sooner than expected.

When I turned five, my dad died. At seventeen, my mom passed away in an accident.

That never happened to Underworld’s Kwon Seowoo, who grew up as an only child in a loving home with gentle parents.

‘This life is way too hard mode.’

Left with no relatives to rely on, I became the head of the household overnight.

“Nuna… what’s going to happen to us now?”

Only then did it truly sink in.

This wasn’t just a manhwa world—it was my reality. A place I had to survive in.

“…Hey. Why are you worried? You think I’m a joke? That I can’t take care of you?”

“H-Huh?”

“Kwon Seowoo, you just study. No matter what happens, I’ll get you through college!”

No more self-pity. I had to live like I was fighting the world!

My whole life—my family—was here now.

Forget awakening powers or evil masterminds. Putting food on the table came first.

After that, I worked like a madwoman. School, part-time jobs, libraries—nonstop.

I’d pass out studying after midnight, only to repeat it all again the next day.

And finally, the year I entered college without ever encountering any original characters…

I was ready to let go of any lingering attachment to the story.

“Unfortunately, the results say ‘undetermined’ again. Normally, awakenings happen around age 14, up to a maximum of 19. So unless you’re some miracle late bloomer, the odds of awakening are virtually zero.”

“I see.”

“Yes. And even the chance of that miraculous late awakening is lower than getting struck by lightning. So I hate to say it, but—”

“No worries. That’s exactly what I came to hear.”

“…Sorry?”

“Thanks. Bye!”

So while others cried their way out of the center after hearing they had no awakening potential, I walked out smiling.

I’d never encountered a Gate in real life. And now even the slim chance of awakening was ruled out.

I was 100% guaranteed to live as a normal person. That meant I could finally focus on getting a job.

And it seemed like my wish was finally coming true.

“Nuna! I passed!”

“…What?”

“I passed! I PASSED!!”

“AAAAAAHH!!”

One year after I started college, Seowoo got accepted too.

Despite everything, we made it through. I planned to pay for his tuition through scholarships and part-time work.

I truly believed the cycle of poverty and misfortune had finally ended.

That’s why I, someone who rarely touched her credit card, was at the department store with Seowoo that day.

And now, here I am—in the middle of the lobby at the Korea Hunter Association HQ in Gangnam, Seoul.

“Nuna! My sister’s still in the department store! We need to bring Kwon Asol back—she’s still in there!”

“Support teams are searching right now. Sir, please calm dow—hey! Grab him!”

And now I’m seriously wondering… where did I go wrong?

“Let go of me!”

Seowoo shouted, nearly in tears, as Association staff surrounded him.

He struggled so desperately that they couldn’t even subdue him properly.

Amid the chaos, I ran straight toward Seowoo.

He didn’t even notice me until I was right in front of him.

“Kwon Seowoo!”

“…Nuna?”

The moment he saw me, he shoved aside the officials and ran to me.

“Nuna, are you okay?! Did you get hurt?!”

And that’s when I saw it—he looked rough.

His black hoodie was shredded and bloodstained—he looked like a walking rag.

I felt my voice rise with emotion.

“Hey! I should be asking that! I told you to stop running into the game zone like a hyper puppy—”

But I couldn’t finish.

Yeah, we got separated because he ran off to play, but that wasn’t the real issue.

It’s not like he knew a Gate would open there.

More than anything, Seowoo was crying. Hard.

“I-I saw the ceiling collapse with you underneath… I thought you were d-dead… Huuugh…”

“Wait—are you crying?!”

I never thought I’d see my strong little brother cry like this.

Panicking, I patted his shoulders awkwardly.

“U-Uh. Yeah, yeah. I get it. It was scary. But I’m fine now, so don’t cry. See? Totally fine?”

“B-But…”

“Yeah?”

Thankfully, the tears didn’t last long. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then paused as he looked up.

“Wait… why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in the hospital or something?”

Judging by his expression, he had just now noticed his surroundings.

Instead of being at a hospital, I was here—with officials surrounding me too.

“Ah, well, about that, Seowoo…”

Feeling a crushing sense of despair, I said words I never thought I’d say in my life.

“You and I… we’re both Awakened.”

 

And then Seowoo collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

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I’m not a Hidden Villainous, I am a Gate’s Owner

I’m not a Hidden Villainous, I am a Gate’s Owner

I’m not a Hidden Villain, I am a Gate’s Owner, I’m not the Hidden Villain, I am a Gate’s Owner, I’m not the Hidden Villain, I am the Gate’s Owner, 흑막은 아니고요, 게이트 주인입니다
Score 9.9
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Artist: , Native Language: Korean
I was reincarnated into a shounen hunter comic—infamous for killing off both main and supporting characters without mercy. The problem? I’m a civilian with zero combat power. Living a normal life and bouncing from one part-time job to another, I was just trying to get by—until I got caught up in a Gate incident. By the time I came to my senses… [Welcome, Awakener !] [Your Unique Ability has been successfully identified!] “…What?” All I got after nearly dying was the same ability as the original villain of the story— And the shocking truth was that my younger brother is the actual protagonist of this world. With that in mind, I have only one goal: “In this completely chaotic shounen comic, I need to keep my airheaded brother alive!” But then… [Your Personal Gate has been created!] [Your exclusive beast has been summoned!] From the fully opened Gate, hundreds of teddy bears came pouring out. …So my power is to summon stuff like this and fight with it? – Wait, am I the only one who thinks the teddy bears are cute? – What is that pudding-looking thing??? ↳ Shockingly, it’s the new beast Kwon Asol summoned. – Why do all the beasts Kwon Asol summons have those faces LOL And now, my journey begins—accompanied by people whose sense of aesthetics has been completely shattered.

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