Chapter 2 – I'm Back... For Real
I'm really back.
Johan sat silently in front of an old CRT monitor inside Ethan Oh's small bedroom.
The outdated homepage of Blue House, Korea's largest internet portal, filled the screen.
Its interface was cluttered with celebrity gossip, banner advertisements, and promotions for long-forgotten Flash games.
It looked exactly as he remembered.
More importantly...
"What day is it today?"
Ethan glanced at him strangely.
"I already told you."
"It's July 18."
"...July 18, 2005, right?"
"Yeah. What's wrong with you today?"
Johan stared at him.
Ethan Oh.
His childhood friend.
They had lived in the same neighborhood since elementary school and had been inseparable ever since.
Years later...
After Johan lost the use of his hands...
Ethan had been one of the first people to stand beside him.
And now—
There he was again.
Young.
Healthy.
Alive.
Instead of going to a PC café like they usually did during summer vacation, Johan had come straight to Ethan's house.
Because he remembered this day.
During every school vacation, they would spend hours here reading rented comic books and playing games together.
"Heh..."
"Hehehe..."
His laughter escaped before he realized it.
It was real.
Monday.
July 18, 2005.
The first day of summer vacation during his third year of middle school.
Somehow...
He had returned to the past.
***
Why did this happen?
He hadn't been hit by a truck.
He hadn't heard the voice of God.
Nothing extraordinary had happened.
It was as though reality had simply...
rewound itself.
"Did my life really become a comic book?"
After obsessing over comics his entire life, had he somehow become the protagonist of one?
No matter how much he thought about it...
There was no answer.
There hadn't even been a clue.
Ethan sighed.
"Seriously... what's wrong with you?"
"Did you have some weird dream?"
"...Something like that."
Johan scratched the back of his head.
Right now...
None of that mattered.
He slowly looked down at his hands.
Opening them.
Closing them.
Again.
Again.
The hands that had once trembled so badly they couldn't even hold a pen...
were perfectly healthy.
Smooth.
Young.
Almost childish.
"..."
There was no denying it anymore.
He had truly gone back in time.
The impossible had become reality.
***
Then another thought surfaced.
What do I do now?
Most people who returned to the past dreamed about investing in stocks.
Buying Bitcoin.
Becoming rich.
But the instant those thoughts appeared—
A strange discomfort twisted inside his chest.
His head throbbed.
It felt as if his entire body rejected the idea.
And before long...
He instinctively understood why.
"I didn't come back for money."
This wasn't the wish buried deepest inside him.
Whether this miracle had come from God...
or fate...
or something beyond human understanding...
it hadn't been given to make him wealthy.
There was only one reason he had been brought back.
"I can draw comics again."
The dream he'd abandoned.
The regrets he'd carried until death.
Everything could be changed.
With these healthy hands...
He could chase the dream he'd failed to protect.
He could become...
the greatest cartoonist in the world.
Not someday.
Starting now.
A smile slowly spread across his face.
He was poor again.
Back in a cramped basement apartment.
But unlike before—
He possessed thirty-four years of experience.
There was almost nothing he couldn't accomplish if he truly devoted himself to it.
His heartbeat quickened.
Excitement surged through him.
It felt as though someone invisible was gently pushing him forward.
Almost telling him...
This is the path you were meant to walk.
And...
The timing couldn't have been better.
2005.
The webtoon industry barely existed.
Most comic artists still looked down on digital comics.
Very few believed webtoons had a future.
But Johan knew better.
He had already lived through that future.
He knew exactly what was coming.
Blue House would become the center of Korea's webtoon industry.
Digital comics would surpass printed manga.
Entire multimedia franchises would be born from webtoons.
Animation.
Television.
Movies.
Global audiences.
He already knew where the industry was headed.
And that knowledge was priceless.
Not only that—
He remembered countless techniques that hadn't yet become common.
Digital coloring methods.
Efficient production pipelines.
Modern storytelling trends.
Reader engagement.
Future business models.
Everything he'd learned over decades as a professional webtoon artist.
This wasn't merely an opportunity to change his own life.
He could help change the Korean comics industry itself.
His heart pounded harder.
This felt like nothing short of divine intervention.
He looked at Ethan.
"Hey."
"What?"
"...Thanks."
Ethan blinked.
"...For what?"
Johan smiled.
Because another memory had surfaced.
***
"You want to quit your job and become a cartoonist?"
"You've completely lost your mind."
"...Go for it."
"If you don't chase your dream, you'll regret it forever."
"If you ever run out of money..."
"Call me."
Even in his previous life...
When everyone else questioned his decision...
Ethan had believed in him.
He had supported him until the very end.
Even if that path had ended in tragedy.
Johan couldn't explain any of this now.
No one would believe him.
Still...
He wanted to say it.
"...Just."
"Thank you."
Ethan frowned.
"You're acting weird."
"...Did you do something you're feeling guilty about?"
"Huh?"
"You didn't even borrow any comics today."
"...Oh."
Right.
Everything had happened so suddenly that he'd forgotten.
Johan reached into his pocket.
His mother had left him 5,000 won that morning.
He smiled.
"Then let's go."
"Where?"
"To the comic rental shop."
"I'll rent whatever you want today."
"...Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"...Then let's go."
Although he still looked confused, Ethan stood up immediately.
***
Later That Day
Comic books covered the bed.
Two empty cups of Yukgaejang instant noodles sat on the floor.
The remaining thirteen volumes of One Piece waited beside them.
Ethan lay sprawled across the bed, laughing.
"This never gets old."
"One Piece is seriously amazing."
"Right?"
"It is."
Johan smiled as he turned another page.
Even after reading it dozens of times in his previous life...
it was still exciting.
He looked around the room.
The comics.
The instant noodles.
The laughter.
The tiny bedroom.
His chest tightened.
"...Yeah."
"This is what it felt like."
This was why he'd fallen in love with comics in the first place.
Back then...
Life had been difficult.
Money had always been scarce.
But every time he came to Ethan's house and read comics...
he forgot all of it.
Without realizing it...
he smiled.
"I really do love comics."
More than anything else.
He couldn't imagine living without them.
"Hey, Johan."
"Hm?"
"What high school are you applying to?"
Johan looked up.
"Why?"
"Our homeroom teacher told us to decide already."
"Academic high school?"
"Vocational school?"
"You've got to choose."
"..."
A memory surfaced.
There was one place...
One place he'd wanted to attend more than anywhere else.
"Animation High School."
"...Huh?"
"I want to attend an Animation High School."
Ethan blinked.
"Since when?"
It wasn't sudden.
Even in his previous life...
He had dreamed of attending one.
A school devoted to comics, animation, and visual storytelling.
A place where students shared the same dream.
Back then...
He'd never gone.
Because reality had gotten in the way.
But after becoming a professional webtoon artist...
He realized something.
***
"We've known each other since Animation High."
"We were classmates."
"We were in the same comics club."
Every gathering of successful webtoon artists was the same.
Someone had graduated from Animation High School.
Another had studied comics there.
Many of the artists Johan admired came from those schools.
Half the room sometimes shared the same alma mater.
He used to joke...
"Animation High School has its own secret cartel."
But deep down...
He envied them.
Their friendships.
Their rivalries.
The environment where everyone dreamed of becoming artists together.
One famous creator had once told him:
"My years at Animation High were the foundation of everything I became."
Those words had never left him.
This time...
He wouldn't miss that opportunity.
This second life would not become another collection of regrets.
He would become a cartoonist.
Not just a successful one.
The greatest cartoonist in Korea.
No...
The greatest cartoonist in the world.
***
"I need the computer."
Ethan moved aside.
"...What are you doing?"
Without hesitation, Johan opened a search engine.
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Animation High School.
Search.
"There are four schools..."
He quickly read through the information.
Each school offered departments in:
• Comic Creation
• Animation
• Film Directing
• Game Development
Ethan looked over his shoulder.
"You're seriously applying to the Comic Department?"
"Of course."
"...Can you even draw?"
"Reading comics isn't the same as making them."
Johan smiled confidently.
"I'll figure it out."
Ethan stared at him.
His expression clearly said:
Thirty percent confused.
Seventy percent worried.
Johan couldn't blame him.
If his best friend suddenly announced he wanted to become a cartoonist...
he'd react exactly the same way.
He continued reading.
Fortunately...
The tuition wasn't impossibly expensive.
Tuition.
Dormitory fees.
Meal plans.
Costly...
but manageable.
A thirty-four-year-old mind knew many ways to earn money.
If necessary...
He could even take advantage of future investments.
Money wasn't the biggest obstacle.
Another line caught his attention.
Admission Requirements:
• Academic grades
• Interview
• Practical examination
"..."
He sighed.
Ethan laughed.
"I don't think your grades are good enough."
"...Yeah."
Unfortunately...
He was right.
Academic performance carried enormous weight.
And Johan's middle-school grades had been average at best.
"Why do they care so much about grades?"
"I'm applying to draw comics."
"That's life."
"If you're applying to a science school, you need science grades."
"If you're applying to a history school, you need history grades."
"This isn't any different."
"...Since when did you become so smart?"
"I've read plenty of detective comics."
Johan couldn't argue.
There was another problem.
The entrance practical exam.
Comic Creation Department
Four-hour illustration examination.
Although he'd once been a professional webtoon artist...
Entrance-exam illustration was completely different.
Different techniques.
Different standards.
Different expectations.
There was a reason students attended expensive art academies.
He couldn't afford that now.
And convincing his mother—
Alysa Seo—
wouldn't be easy.
She had never supported his dream of becoming a cartoonist.
He sighed again.
Ethan patted his shoulder.
"Don't look so depressed."
"It happens."
Johan forced a smile.
He knew there were many other paths.
He could enter the traditional comics industry.
He could even aim for Japan.
But...
He truly wanted to attend Animation High.
He wanted a second life without regrets.
He wanted fellow artists beside him this time.
He wanted companions.
He continued searching.
"There has to be another way..."
Then—
His eyes froze.
A headline appeared on the screen.
Daehan Animation High School Holds Its First National Comic Contest!
Grand Prize Winners Receive Cash Awards and Preferential Admission Benefits.
"..."
A slow smile spread across his face.
"I found it."
The opportunity he'd been searching for.
His ticket into Animation High School.