Hi guys, I hope you're doing well.
This short chapter is to inform you about how the second volume will be approached.
In this volume, we'll see how Robert learns more about the reality he's living in and how he ends up getting involved in a battle between mafias and economic conglomerates for economic control of Seoul. Additionally, Robert gradually learns about his new nature and the implications of being reborn in this type of world.
As you can see from the title, we will see Robert fully enter the plot of the webtoon "Lookism," created by Park Tae-Jun, which is one of his many interconnected works within the so-called "PTJ verse," encompassing webtoons like "Manager Kim," "Viral Hit," "Questism," "My Life as a Loser," and many more.
All of them are great webtoons, each with its unique characteristics and interconnected stories. Among them, I think "Lookism" is the most popular, as it has an anime adaptation you can watch on Netflix and a Chinese TV series.
The central theme of the entire "PTJ verse" revolves around the battles between school gangs, mafias, and organized crime within Seoul, featuring talented young fighters, martial artists, and veteran expert fighters who occasionally appear in their respective works.
All these fighters possess superhuman strength and speed, allowing them to perform spectacular fights.
Another noteworthy aspect of PTJ's webtoons is the distinct fantasy and supernatural elements present in some of them.
For example, in "My Life as a Loser," the story focuses on time travel where the soul of one protagonist travels back in time and takes over the body of the second protagonist, but the latter still retains his soul, and together they develop the story.
In "Questism," the protagonist receives a system of questionnaire-like cards to complete tasks (hence the name), which reward him with increased height, improved strength, speed, density manipulation, and other abilities that allow him to face various enemies in battles.
In "Lookism," as many of you already know, we have a protagonist who possesses two different bodies: his original body and a completely enhanced one, where he can transfer his consciousness from one to the other every time he falls asleep.
Another thing to mention is the power scale, which isn't well-established and is completely crazy. We have human characters destroying concrete walls and even wrecking balls (yes, those cast-iron balls used by cranes in construction).
Within each verse, there isn't an established classification for the level of each fighter; everyone just starts fighting everyone else. The Wiki tried to standardize the power level about the energy they possessed (the amount of Joules they contained), but the scale went through the roof.
Therefore, I will propose a small power scale for them according to what I am handling in my fanfic, which I will divide as follows:
Level C: Normal person's punch. Speed of 5 – 10 m/s
Level B: Maximum punch of a martial artist necessary to break a punching bag (10 – 20 times that of a normal person). Speed of 10 – 100 m/s
Level A: Maximum punch to break a concrete wall (20 – 50 times the strength of a normal person). Speed of 100 – 300 m/s
Level S: Maximum punch needed to break a cast-iron plate (50 – 100 times the strength of a normal human). Supersonic speed (>350 m/s)
Level X: Maximum punch equivalent to the impact of a ton (100 – 200 times the strength of a normal human). Supersonic speed +
Now, the reason for this chapter is to inform you of the following:
> First, I will take the Lookism storyline from when the characters are in their second year of high school, specifically before the fight between J High and Hostel A begins (around chapters 240-250 of the webtoon). Don't worry, I will detail and narrate everything that happened before so that nothing is left unclear.
> Second, as some of you may have deduced, "Manager Kim" takes place 1 to 2 years before the "Lookism" storyline, as when the 'Workers' arc begins, Manager Kim is already working there (around chapters 290-300).
> However, as I had planned from the beginning, the "Manager Kim" storyline will start in this second volume of my fanfic. An indicator of this was the use of 'Agent Nam' as a bridge for my original characters. Therefore, the "Manager Kim" storyline will change.
Finally, and perhaps what many of you have been wondering until now: Where the hell is Sung Jin-Woo?
Well, considering that the Shadow Monarch is a god, this setup of fights between teenagers, gangs, and conspiracies wouldn't make sense, as for an absolute being like Jin-Woo, these issues could be resolved simply by sending one of his shadows.
So, why hasn't he done anything so far? Well, the answer will be developed in this second volume when Robert meets him, but part of the explanation is given in chapter 33.
With nothing more to add, I hope you continue to enjoy my fanfic.