I don't think the pacing is drawn out at all, i think it's the publications schedule making it feel longer?
Because if something happens over 3 episodes of a webtoon and you read it all at once, you realize it's pretty short. But since episodes here come out every 10 days, 3 episodes take like a month. So if youre just casually reading you forget stuff between updates, and it just feels like the story is much longer/more confusing than it is.
Tbh if youre invested in the plot the progression has been pretty good so far! And good pacing of a story is more important because it means there will be something worth coming back to if you ever wanna reread when it's completed
I get that the publication schedule makes it feel longer than it actually is. Even I think 1 chapter every 10 days is a bit of a wait, but too many people are comfortable criticizing the author for slow pacing and bad writing when it's not that but more like what you mentioned before
I'm seeing a lot of complaints about recent chapters, but I genuinely like them a lot??? Maybe it's me but it isn't even drawn out or anything, it just lacks the fluff and smut of the earlier chapters and alot of ppl are confusing that for it being 'too drawn out' and 'boring', however these kinds of chapters are what makes the fluff of future chapters and even the current onesmore precious, so me personally? I love them.