Chapter 145 – Past Mentor
“Ask him to read his comic?”
“President… isn’t that a bit much?”
“Hey, have some conscience.”
The club members standing behind him looked visibly uncomfortable.
Asking a pro comic artist — and one who was still just a high school student at that — for feedback just because he let them use the internet once… felt a little excessive.
But Jin Young-jun didn’t back down.
“I dream of becoming a comic artist! My dream and goal is to draw great works like Brave King, just like you, artist-nim. I know I still have a lot of shortcomings, but I have nowhere to learn from… Even if it’s just for a moment, even if it’s only one or two comments, could you please take a look at my work?”
Jin Young-jun’s face was trembling, and his voice was filled with desperate longing.
However, that desperation was something he felt only inside — it didn’t fully reach others.
“…Um, excuse me.”
Even Ho Tae-yeon frowned and bared her teeth slightly, clearly trying to protect Kang Min-hyuk as her employer… or rather, as her younger brother figure.
But Kang Min-hyuk simply smiled brightly and answered without hesitation.
“Sure.”
A short and cheerful reply.
“…Huh?”
“What?”
Everyone in the club room turned and asked at the same time.
Even Jin Young-jun himself, who had made the request, hadn’t expected such a simple and positive answer.
Of course, Min-hyuk’s thoughts were quite… no, very different.
‘So Jin Young-jun artist was here at this time.’
Kang Min-hyuk knew exactly who the man in front of him was.
The God of Webtoons, Jin Young-jun.
He wasn’t called that because he was literally a god of webtoons — “Webtoon God” was the name of the YouTube channel he would run in the future.
He had aspired to become a comic artist, but his debut was delayed due to his parents’ expectations. He had struggled tremendously before barely managing to debut as a pro.
The experiences from that difficult time were later turned into various drawing technique lectures, advice content, and consultations on his YouTube channel, which became an unexpected huge success.
When Min-hyuk himself had quit his public enterprise job in his 30s and jumped into the webtoon industry, he had also received a lot of help from Jin Young-jun artist’s channel.
Back then, Min-hyuk had been a complete novice in the comic world with no connections or knowledge.
He had even received personal feedback on his works from him a few times.
Therefore, Jin Young-jun artist was, in a sense, a mentor from the distant past and a deeply grateful figure to Kang Min-hyuk.
When someone like that asked him to look at his work, there was no way Min-hyuk could refuse.
However…
He also had something to gain from this situation right now.
“I’ll probably be coming to this annex until mid-February. If you want, I can look at as many of your works as you’d like during that time.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. If my advice is okay with you.”
“Then I’d be incredibly grateful! Really, truly thankful!”
Jin Young-jun bowed his head repeatedly.
Even though he was at least six years older (having already completed his military service), seeing a grown man bow so deeply to a mere high school student looked quite strange…
But he himself seemed overjoyed, as if he had met a divine being.
“Instead, I have one condition.”
“A condition…?”
“Right now, I’m preparing a new series here with Ho Tae-yeon artist-nim. While I’m here, I’d appreciate it if you could take a look at it whenever I ask.”
A new series? Here?
‘Just who is that ghost-like woman that he’s preparing a work together with her?’
Young-jun scratched his forehead, his mind growing complicated, and cautiously asked,
“When you say ‘take a look’… do you mean you want feedback?”
“No, just looking is enough. Literally.”
“…Huh?”
“Anyway, if you accept that condition, I’ll give you as much feedback as you want. How about it? Ah, the same goes for the rest of you if you’re interested.”
“W-Well then… Of course I’m good with that. You guys… are okay with it too, right?”
“I-I mean… sure.”
“Getting feedback from David artist-nim is a bit scary, though…”
“Tsk…”
“O-Okay. Haha!”
When Jin Young-jun clicked his tongue, the others awkwardly smiled and nodded.
Then Min-hyuk smiled brightly and said,
“Then, would you show me your work? Finished pages are fine, storyboards are fine — anything is okay. I’ll give you my honest opinion to the best of my ability.”
“Ah, yes!”
Jin Young-jun brought over the roughly half-finished pages and storyboards and handed them to Min-hyuk.
“We… haven’t finished the storyboard yet.”
“Ahem… I’ll show mine next time.”
It seemed the other club members didn’t have anything ready to show yet.
In the end, Min-hyuk stared intently at Jin Young-jun’s storyboard and rough pages.
To be honest, it was quite rough.
Objectively speaking, the skill level wasn’t particularly outstanding either.
However…
‘Even though it’s a short piece, Jin Young-jun artist’s style is already showing through.’
The title was <Heartbeat>.
It was about a young psychology major who could read other people’s emotions and thoughts through their heartbeat sounds.
At first, he used the ability usefully, but because he could feel people’s negative emotions and thoughts too vividly…
The story depicted the daily life of a misanthropic, pessimistic character suffering from anthropophobia.
The corners of Min-hyuk’s mouth lifted slightly.
‘As expected, it must be because he’s a psychology major.’
Overall, the character’s psychological portrayal and emotional flow were very smooth and natural.
Usually, artists who were weak at handling characters needed a very long time to overcome that weakness, so having solid fundamentals in this area was a huge advantage.
The problem, however, was that the fun of a comic wasn’t decided by this one element alone.
“The overall emotional line and flow feel natural and good. I can also see that you’ve tried hard to solve any directing issues as much as possible. I don’t know exactly how you’ve been practicing comics, but I think you’re heading in the right direction. If you keep pushing forward like this, you’ll definitely do well.”
“Th-Thank you!”
Jin Young-jun bowed so deeply it looked like he was folding in half…
The club members beside him chimed in with “Ooh,” and “President, you’re amazing!”
But then Min-hyuk poured cold water on the moment.
“However, there is one part that worries me.”
“Ah, please tell me.”
“Because this is a short one-shot, your weaknesses don’t show up as much. But from what I can see, you have one fatal flaw.”
“And that is…?”
“Setting goals and motivations. You’re not good at it.”
“Um… Could you explain in more detail what you mean?”
Min-hyuk stroked his chin for a moment before continuing calmly.
“I understand that the character developed anthropophobia because of his ability. But this character has no sense of ‘I want to become this’ or ‘I want to achieve this.’ A story needs that to truly work.”
“Hmm… Does it really have to have that?”
“Not ‘necessarily.’ Like I said earlier, in a short story, you can deliver enough fun just by focusing deeply on the concept or situation and building the atmosphere.”
Min-hyuk closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and continued,
“What I’m saying is under the premise that you want to become a ‘pro’ comic artist.”
“A pro…?”
“Commercial works won’t work if the character’s motivations, goals, and deficiencies don’t operate organically… At some point, readers will start to feel, ‘Why is this character acting like this?’ or ‘Why is this even happening?’”
When Jin Young-jun blinked, the club members standing beside him let out sighs of relief and said,
“Well, then it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“President… you’re not planning to go pro anyway, right?”
To anyone listening, this feedback sounded like sufficient praise for the amateur level.
In fact, the work Jin Young-jun was submitting to Comic Land was a short story, and even in its current state, it was quite readable.
But at that moment—
Thump! Thump!
Jin Young-jun’s heart began pounding violently.
- If you want to become a pro.
- You’re not going to go pro anyway.
The two voices — one from Kang Min-hyuk artist and one from the club members — echoed in his ears as if overlapping.
Then, his instinct…
Gave him the answer.
“I am aiming to become a pro. So… could you please explain that part in a little more detail?”
“Of course.”
Min-hyuk continued explaining without pause.
“First, if the protagonist has developed anthropophobia, you need one more layer: Does he want to be cured of that state itself… or does he feel loneliness because of it? That’s what allows the next step to connect. For example… if I were working on this one-shot.”
Character deficiency, desire, and the goals that arise from them.
How to set up and achieve objectives within the genre, and so on.
Min-hyuk explained the elements he considered when planning and developing his own works…
And logically laid out why they needed to work that way.
‘Do you really have to think that deeply when drawing comics?’
‘Wasn’t he just a talented kid? Why is he explaining things like a professor?’
Perhaps overwhelmed in this moment,
The club members blinked in surprise.
Scratch scratch!
Jin Young-jun, with a deadly serious face, was writing down every single word Min-hyuk said in his notebook.
“If you consider all these points together, I personally think it would be much better. This one-shot and the current storyboard are already fine, but… if you apply these changes in certain parts, I believe the latter half of the story will change as well.”
“Ah! Yes! I see! Thank you! Really, thank you so much!”
Jin Young-jun bowed deeply again and again.
“Ah, you don’t have to thank me that much… You’re already doing well.”
‘His gratitude is a bit too much…’
Min-hyuk scratched the back of his head awkwardly. After all, it was ‘that’ Jin Young-jun artist acting this way.
In the first place, Min-hyuk felt that he himself owed Jin Young-jun a much greater debt.
“No, not at all! There were things inside me that felt ‘off’ but I couldn’t figure out why. After hearing what you said, artist-nim, I feel like I’ve finally found some direction!”
“If that’s the case, then I’m glad.”
Pat!
At that moment, Ho Tae-yeon, who had been standing quietly, grabbed Jin Young-jun’s shoulder and said,
“Then nooow… you have to fulfill Min-hyuk artist-nim’s request too…”
The way Ho Tae-yeon said it made it sound like they had signed a demonic contract.
‘It was just… reading a comic…’
Min-hyuk scratched his head, then opened his laptop.
He smiled brightly at Jin Young-jun and the other club members and said,
“Here, four of you — this comic… I’ve finished up to episode 2. Would you all read it together?”
“Together?”
“Is it okay if we read separately?”
“No, reading it together would be better. I think that will help me more.”
“Ah… understood…”
What was this about?
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion as they pulled chairs over and sat in front of the laptop.
Once everyone was ready, Jin Young-jun began scrolling down.
‘What is this… an occult club?’
‘Is this a horror comic?’
‘Come to think of it, I think I saw online that Kang Min-hyuk artist was doing a horror series for his new work…’
With a mix of curiosity and confusion on their faces, they continued reading.
Then suddenly—
Clang!
When a character in the story dropped and broke a plate, sound erupted from the screen.
“Eek!”
“What the—?!”
Everyone jolted in surprise, their bodies flinching.
Jin Young-jun quickly turned his head and asked,
“W-What is this, artist-nim?”
Then… Min-hyuk watched as Ho Tae-yeon quickly jotted something down in her notebook. He smiled and said,
“For now, just keep reading.”
The four of them continued reading the comic with slightly uneasy expressions.
And not long after…
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
A scream loud enough to shake the entire Comic Creation Club room echoed through the building.
TL Note:
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