beta
This chapter gave me some frustration for the previous theory I made. So, my previous theory was that Guwons death was the start of loop. The idea being that his time would restart regardless of anything else. Unfortunately, the time loop starts with Jinwoo on the floor and his father dying. Meaning that any idea or possibly of Jinwoo being able to change the series of events prior to his father's and others deaths is not possible.
This could be that everyone's loop has a different restart time or that everyone's loop restarts when Jinwoo's does. It seems the author is hard leaning for the latter, and I am far less excited than I was last chapter. I'll explain.
If everyone had their own restart, Guwon would be a far more complex case of how much the human subconscious can take before it snaps, Guwons og death would be much harder to pinpoint, Jinwoo could have had far more complexity by making him a more gray character rather than just a victim of Guwon, Jinwoos father could have been given character deeper than the baseball bat in his skull, and every single character in the series would not only make more sense, but be equally as complicated as the MCs.
Something about Guwon still isn't adding up though. He recalls crawling out from beneath the collapsed building, then just walks straight to the town where he set up base. I am once again gonna need to reread this, just to refresh my memory, but I don't think he mentioned just wandering or trying to survive for a long time. He is also shown arriving at the town barefoot in the same clothes, and the town is empty. But, why? Like, when he resurfaced from beneath the rubble, there were other people running around in the background, showing this to be the start of when shit hit the fan. And given how he seemed to lack any injuries and was in the same clothes, why would a town that was cleary defensible already be abandoned? Hmmmm.
Please hold while a man rereads this series all over again.
I really like your reply and the theory you came up with. Don't be sad that it doesn't match up anymore, makes whatever is to come in S3 more interesting, doesn't it ?
Ohhhhhhhh, A MAN FINISHED THE REREAD, AND WE HAVE THEORIES ONCE MORE!!!!
Like, they seem to be selling recent chapters of "their translations" on a .com site and through a google app. How boned would our site be if they were taken down, with how many titles they keeping uploading "translations" to? Also, for any actual translators/uploaders, would it be feasible for any of you to upload at their rate, on so many titles, in a single year? Cause this "group" started this year, and it kinda feels like it may be AI "translations".
They're definitely AI translators. They take over as many manhwas as possible with the goal of getting people to go to their website & spend money to read more chapters. There are a few other groups like that on here, but desire scans is probably the biggest.
Bro, I hate AI. Can we bully them off this site somehow? Cause, I sent mail to desirescans through the option on this site, warning them not to upload a certain authors stuff, cause they are a certified site killer, and to my surprise, they not only stopped uploading it, but also removed the chapters they did upload.
List is gone. I had over 26 pages of titles, and now I have only 46 titles in total, and I manually added some of those back myself. Needless to say, not happy about any of this.
Info + Calculated time ur list will go back + status here:
https://www.mangago.me/home/mangatopic/21082568/
Ty
So, I reread, skimmed through the dialog, cause at first I was just refreshing my memories on Guwon. I had misremebered some things, so on my reread while paying an intense amount of attention to the backgrounds, I noticed something, AND IT BREAKS THE IDEA OF A NORMAL TIME LOOP TO SMITHEREENS!!!!
IT'S AUGUST 23RD!
IT'S ALWAYS AUGUST 23RD!!
EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
FROM THE BEGINNING!!!!
AND PROMINENT EVENTS HAPPEN AT 10:10!!!!!
Grab your speedos, cause we're jumping in!
Chapter 0, it is 10:10am August 23rd for Jinwoo. He just turned off the TV, which had been announcing the very first maggot incident. It is implied that anywhere from months to year pass, and the world starts experiencing an insane amount of natural disasters, specifically earthquakes where Jinwoo lives.
It is August 23rd, at 10:10am, and Jinwoo is laying on the ground with a head injury and a sprain in his left ankle. He comes to and witnesses his fathers murder. How do I know that? I'm glad you asked! I know that because of 2 panels in ch.45 and two more panels in the chapter where Guwon "surprises" Jinwoo.
Flashback in ch.8, Jinwoo is a kid watching macho movies. It's August 23rd, at 10:10am. The 23rd is inferred, as the calendars specific date is omitted.
Every single instance in Dr. Lims office, it is usually night, and his calendar is on August 23rd.
Chapter 44, while Guwon is holding the hostage, top down panel shows a calendar. This is the only calendar we've ever seen in Guwons home. It's August 23rd.
Same night, Guwons last wish to go up the mountain one last time. He and Jinwoo leave the room at 8:27, and they arrive at the top. Guwon jumps with Jinwoo at 10:10pm.
August 23rd, first and only time we see a clockin Guwons home, it's 10:10pm, and Guwon offers Jinwoo to feel up his muscles.
9:40am August 23rd, Jinwoo is giving the school children and Guwon a simple 20 minute test. If we add an extra 10 for Jinwoo to collect and score those tests, it is 10:10am when Jinwoo realized Guwons lack of basic education.
Only once was a clocknot close to this time, which was at 4:06pm on the pink clockfor the children's school day ending. Jinwoo arrived at Guwons at 10:10pm later that night. Same night of the "touch my rippling abs, I know you want to".
OH, BUT WAIT, CAUSE DADDY FOUND MORE!!!
Guwon isn't fucking human, but I still don't know what exactly he is.
Chapter 2 or 3, Jinwoo goes to stab Guwon. Guwon catches this knife, with the blade slicing into his palm. I have firsthand (pun fully intended) knowledge of this specific injury. I had all four fingers on one of my hands sliced into when I was 2 years old. I was in the, fuck you I picked it up and it's mine now phase. My mother made the unfortunate mistake of grabbing the handle of the knife and trying to get me to release the blade. My response was tendons be damned, the blade side on this belongs to me, and YOU CAN HAVE IT WHEN YOU C... oh, would you look at that, I guess it's yours now. I required 2 stitches per finger, and stitches can take 2-3 weeks to heal.
So, tell me how a person with intent to harm, slices into another person's hand, and that person's hand doesn't have even a blemish the very next day.
The second time, was Jinwoo attempting to sever his own hand. The edge of the knife causes a deep laceration in Guwons forearm. You can teel how deep the cut is, due to the skin under the tattoos being paler. Not only would this have cut the skin, but it would have damaged tendons as well. This would not have been a simple 2-3 week heal session. And yet, the injury is nowhere to be found a few days later. Why do I think it was only days and not the weeks Jinwoo claims? It's due to the slight abrasion on Jinwoos cheek. It's still there weeks later, with the same hue and scratch pattern. And it was intentionally applied to every panel from that point onward.
Guwon nails himself in the head with his baseball bat (pun still intended), before executing the man trying to get meds for his sick child. He is given stitches and makes a comment about how he hopes Jinwoo won't hate the patch. The skin beneath the stitches looks healed. No redness or swelling. This was about a day later.
Guwon was hurt by the first gunshot, but after his initial response, he seems to brush off the wound. No one is really trying to rush him to the hospital for surgery, Guwon is still completely upright. No one acts like the shot to his left shoulder is life threatening when it absolutely would be, including Guwon. His life being at risk is only accepted when he is shot again in the same place from behind.
And lastly, and most damning of all, are the first panels we see of Guwon. Guwon is fully buried beneath the rubble of a fallen building, save one hand, and people were literally running around on top of that rubble. This would have killed anyone else, so tell me how Guwon surfaces from beneath that, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A SINGLE SCRAPE!? Out of everything here, this is the one that is the most impossible, due to him being close to the surface with hundreds of pounds of both concrete and hundreds more of trampling weight from the people running over the area. GUWON SHOULD BE DEAD!!! Instead he immediately starts an almost 2 day journey by foot, straight to the Stillwater town.
And this is where the theories are starting from. Also, Guwon starts wearing the exact same ring as Jinwoo on his ring finger. So Guwon isn't human, but he is mortal, so some extent. The reason August 23rd matters, is that a calendar is an extremely important tool in the event of an apocalypse. Keeping track of seasons, means knowing how long someone has been sick, when to plant crops, what weather could be expected, animal migrations, travel times, etc. Why would every single calendar be the same day across 4 entirely separate calendars? Why waste such an insanely important tool?
Because none of them have noticed that the 23rd never seems to end, possibly because none of what they are experiencing is real. We know each person is an independent, as we get thoughts from their unique perspectives. We don't yet know how they all got stuck here together, or why Jinwoos beginning keeps restarting the illusion of the time loop. The date and time are so important that they keep repeating, even in Jinwoos childhood memories, so the day either paints itself over all others, like a weird time illusion, or the date being significant to either Jinwoo or Guwon changes the day by force, with the illusion there being time seeming to pass, when it is actually stood still at 10:10 on August 23rd.
My brain cells are fried, crispy BBQ style, so I really hope some of ya'll with fresh ones can utilize this info more!
This is awesome, thank you
Holy peak
You’re our genius
Lol, it will be til season 3! The way my theory boulder keeps falling back down the hill! Lol!
You should see the pile of downloaded scans I am sitting on from up here! The view is insane!
I'm a fucking madman who spent almost a whole calendar day staring at walls in art for secrets today! I got lucky this time!
boots on the ground right here
Holy Yap-A-Mole, you are my GOAT now.
Holy shit.
This analysis genuinely has me so excited- thank you for writing this holy shitt!!!!!
You are an observant, analytical genius, THANK YOU for bless me with this masterpiece.
If I may, I do have my own on what Guwon could be that I would be more than happy to share
holy
Omg this is awesome
This is so fucking crazyyyy
I knew something was up this is totally mind blowing
I'm just gonna fucking marry youuuuu
Pls share!!! I have been stumped af!
Lol, you can't, I have already promised this brain to another! Also, you should have seen my face when I realized what I had!!!!
Thank you! I occasionally have moments of genius, and they get stored in my gremlin hole with all my shinys!
Yes, my child? Lol!
When they aren't sinking into mud! Lol!
Aww shucks, so sad
Right!! Trying to summarise this as much as possible (especially since the more I write, the more my stuff just starts to feel like word vomit & mush to me ToT)
Initially, I'd theorised the possibility of Guwon either being some sort of mutated Maggot or a maggot 'variant' or, what I considered at the time to be a very far-fetched possibility, some sort of 'divine' being or entity.
This theory came about due to what you'd mentioned (his 'invulnerability'//swift regeneration, for lack of a better term) and also him not having memory of the past, his lack of formal education & knowledge on social norms and nuances, the fact that he generally doesn't sleep, and the consistent connection made between him & the moon. I also believe that his tattoos have something to do with it (especially since he doesn't seem to have them in official 'AU' or collab art, from what I've seen), but I'm not sure exactly what they signify or mean.
I, however, have ultimately ruled out the maggot theory since, unlike Guwon, the maggots are implied to still bear any injuries that they had upon death and, depending on when/how they died & when they got back up, some of them are literally just rotted or even continuing to rot.
I still think my latter theory is far-out and crazy ngl, but, it's the one that makes the most sense to me at the moment so....
Narrowing it down to my two biggest reasons for some simplicity: 1.)The connection to the Moon & 2.)The timeloop.
The Moon is related to Guwon (& vice versa) numerous times throughout, particularly in relation to his eyes. With two notable examples being in Jinwoo's nightmare in Chapter 31 where he'd said how he saw the pale, white moon above him & reminding him of someone's eye and in Chapter 43, where he'd recounted that 'it felt as though the Moon itself was falling' with him. In this way, the Moon is treated as some sort of observer that's always hanging above them & watching as well as a living presence amongst them, with Guwon seemingly being a 'manifestation' of that presence. And, back in Chapter 9, Jinwoo had also expressed how the Moon served as a source of comfort, paraphrasing here: 'like at least something was there' (again labelling it as a sort of presence) (Also, in that flashback panel, it looks there's a black cat standing near Jinwoo. Pretty random, yes, but I believe that it could mean something. Since black cats represent good or bad luck depending on culture or context, I personally believe it was an omen to the latter or even a mix of the two).
Now, in my initial theorising, I'd done a wee bit of research on the Korean cultural significance of the Moon and the examples above align with the belief of the Moon being a source of comfort (especially when separated from home or loved ones) & it being a sort of living presence amongst the people.
Now, before I get into the time loop, let me pull in the actual myth of Sisyphus rq. I personally think that both Guwon & Jinwoo are Sisyphus just in different aspects. Guwon is Sisyphus in being the 'founder & leader of the town (Sisyphus was the founder & king of Ephyra) and in how he 'ruled,' particularly with his strict rules & how he killed outsiders unless they were of use to him or the Town (Sisyphus killed any travellers that came upon Ephyra). They're both Sisyphus in the sense of cheating death (the time loop), and Jinwoo is Sisyphus in the more 'surface level' way with him trying over & over again to save the Town (Sisyphus' punishment of having to push the boulder up the mountain, only for it to come down again when he neared the peak). For this theory though, we mostly only have to focus on how Guwon is Sisyphus + how they're both Sisyphus. It's also note worthy that, in the same research I'd done about the Moon in Korean culture, there also a belief that a utopia existed on the Moon.
As to how my theory relates to the timeloop: In Chapter 43, Guwon's reaction to recalling the time loop had led me to believe that he was the one who made it, however, Chapter 45 directly contradicted that belief since we see Jinwoo, in technicality at least, 'create it' instead. Still, I like to believe that Jinwoo made it DIRECTLY whereas Guwon made it indirectly. Why? Because of the ring.
I'd noted this in a comment I made when the chapter first dropped. The timeloop only started after Jinwoo had made his 'wish' and, more importantly, that wish was only made after he'd stabbed his finger. The finger-stabbing is significant both because it was foreshadowed in ~Chapter 31-32, and because the blood got on the ring. Essentially, I'm implying that Jinwoo-more or less unintentionally-performed some form of blood magic, hence creating the timeloop directly.
And Guwon would've then made it indirectly granted that it was the ring that he gave him. Now, Guwon likes to wear rings, that much is obvious. And it wouldn't be impossible to find one or two for his collection while out with the Hounds. But to find two, matching rings in what looks like pristine condition; it's highly unlikely. So, I'm considering (as I'm not sure yet) that Guwon had somehow MADE the rings himself. Gyeongha and the others were able to replicate the armoury key, then we can infer that they have at least some sort of metal work equipment in the Town. But it then becomes a question of, if Guwon made it, how did he know how to?? Hence why I'm unsure.
ANYWAY, all of this is to theorise this: what if, and just what if, MAYBE-and just maybe-Guwon is some sort of spirit or deity that had originally, or at least for a time, resided on the Moon. Maybe he'd been there of his own volition, or maybe he was imprisoned. And, what if, perhaps, he'd been able to observe Earth from there. Perhaps, one day, after observing Earth for so long (with particular emphasis on observing how death happened & the impacts it'd have. (Hint hint)), he decided to go down. What if his arrival on Earth is what caused the apocalypse by bringing about, somehow, a world without death, by creating the Maggots. Now, there are gaps to this theory, as there are for most theories. But. "If this were to be true, how come Guwon doesn't have any magical abilities or why doesn't he remember anything??" Well, arguably, the transition from the Moon to Earth could've taken an insane amount of energy and may have thus resulted in memory loss & the loss of some of the abilities he may have had. But he also may have retained some of them, or just had his power(s) significantly reduced (which could explain his advanced healing(??)).
Yeah, it seems highly improbable, even to me, but. Ykw.
That's just a theory
A GAME THEORY-
Sorry, I had to.
Anyway, yeah. That's what I got. I think it's a wee crazy though.
I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A DEITY OF SOME KIND THEN!?
I am not certain if he is a deity of the moon, or if some kinda of magic changed him (like jack frost from the guardians), but I did also take note of the moon references as well. I just wasn't certain how they fit in. I don't think your theory is actually all that far fetched, believe it or not. I hadn't actually thought about the idea that it could be a lore mixture like that, which is really fucking smart!
I definitely think Guwon must be Sisyphus, and my brain can't stop this nagging feeling that Guwon still is the cause of the loop, somehow.
I do think the only part that doesn't feel like it fits for your theory is the blood on the ring. I found it more odd than anything that Guwon suddenly had the exact same ring, worn on his ring finger. At first, I thought he maybe was Wearing Jinwoos, but then realized that that not only wasn't the case, but couldn't be cause Guwon has massive fingers. I think the something of significance with the rings started, when Guwon started wearing the same band. I also had been curious about where he got Jinwoos ring from, but initially tossed it aside thinking he had simply taken it from a corpse or something. Lemme go check something ring wise, and I will mention more if I find anything of significance.
Okay, waow.
I'm actually SO glad that I'm not the only one. Because all of the other theories I saw pointed towards Guwon being some sort of maggot or experiment and it just, never sat right with me lol.