Dal Justice

IMO, Ain is definitely Ian/Duke. I haven’t read the novel so I don’t know Ain/Ian’s background, but I’m assuming Michelle’s dad spoke highly of him and mentioned that he was probably the most frail of the brothers, which could suggest why Ain/Ian is trying to ease him into northern life. Previous conversations could also be why Ain/Ian feels so protective of Michelle to a certain extent.
And I’m gonna make an educated guest that suggests that Ain/Ian was used/abused by nobility which is why he’s almost toying/keeping his distance from Michelle (nobles like deformed things

Here’s a little theory of mine that is definitely flawed and broken, so bear with me.
Given the title and a lil research on Sisyphus, what if this whole story is a time loop and everyone time Jinwoo gets close to figuring out what’s going on, the loop resets.
We see in the beginning we start at Jinwoo’s house with an unidentified dead person and Guwon who just happens to show up. Next we see the two in the back of the truck on the way to town. We see this again for a second time in Ch 24. Each loop is slightly different, but start the same: Jinwoo in his house with a dead person (robber, his father, and now doc) and Guwoo.
This theory isn’t soundproof, but let’s think about it like this: Sisyphus is forced to repeat the same task of pushing a boulder up a mountain because he cheated death. For an undisclosed reason, humanity is cheating death and is now stuck in a time loop. Not sure how Jinwoo gets stuck in it, but the loop could explain why Guwoo has the mental capacity of a child (if you remember in chapter 1, he struggles to read Jinwoo’s diploma, but after a minute, he suddenly remembers how to read. This might suggest that he’s been in it so long, he’s just lost certain skills) but also knows how to run the town and keep everyone in check.
Still trying to figure out the hounds part, but this is all I got for now.