Lookism (manhwa)

For the discriminatory treatment, see Lookism.

Lookism
Cover of Lookism volume 1
외모지상주의 Oemojisangjui
Genre	Drama
Author	Park Tae-joon
Publisher	Daewon and Book
Webtoon service	Naver WEBTOON (South Korea) WEBTOON (United States, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Spain, France) LINE Manga (Japan) Dongman Manhua (China)
Original run	November 20, 2014 – ongoing
Volumes	15

Lookism is a South Korean webtoon written and illustrated by Park Tae-joon. It was first published online weekly on Naver WEBTOON since November 2014. The story revolves around a high school student who can switch between two bodies—one that is fat and ugly, and the other that is fit and handsome.

Synopsis

Daniel Park, or Park Hyung Suk is an unpopular, fat, ugly, and bullied high school student who is looked down upon by the entire student body. Being constantly bullied and harassed every day by Logan Lee, he often takes out his anger verbally on his mother and soon asks for a school transfer. Resolving to run away from his current problems and to start fresh, he moves to Seoul alone and plans to attend a new high school. However, a few nights before he goes to school, he obtains a new body which is tall, muscular, and extremely handsome. When one body is in use, the other falls asleep, and he is able to switch between the bodies by waking the sleeping body.

His days are always split between the two bodies, his handsome form for the daytime and the original for the night. As Daniel lives his life with his two bodies, he begins to see just how much the world discriminates against people for being simply unattractive or different. Hence the titular name of "Lookism."

Through his original body, he experiences the world's discrimination and hate, while also seeing the kindness and special treatment through the other. His new body takes him through numerous life experiences from becoming a miniature celebrity, a trainee for an entertainment company, and model for clothes. Once the day turns to night, however, this rosy dream turns back into a harsh reality of what the world really is after Daniel switches back to his original body.

Significant Arcs and Side Stories

The arcs put in order:

• Festival (Chapters 21-27): J High launches the "Slave Auction", a fundraising event using male J High students as "slaves" for female students to bid on. Daniel enters and breaks the record for the most expensive bid. When attempting to express his gratefulness to the winning bidder Crystal Choi (as the second-place bidder had been notorious for treating her "slaves" terribly), Daniel gets into a (minor) physical fight with the girl's bodyguard, Jong Gun. Jong Gun is impressed with Daniel's skills. (As the story progresses, the readers learn that Daniel in his handsome body is able to pick up new fighting techniques from his opponents just by watching them execute the moves. Furthermore, all the fighting skills and knowledge are able to be used by his original body, although not to the fullest extent due to his bad physique).

—

• Paprika TV (Chapters 28-33): Paprika, a live streaming site has made several J High students addicted because the platform allows streamers to get paid by their fans. Zoe becomes a victim of a deranged fan who was obsessed to the point of stalking and attempted murder. Thanks to Daniel (in his original body) and Vasco, she was saved. Because of this, Zoe began developing feelings for Daniel in his original body. Yui, a top streamer who constantly flirted with Daniel (in his handsome form), later develops feelings for Zack after he beat up her abusive boyfriend.

—

• Autumn Boot Camp (Chapters 41-45): In this arc, J High goes to a training camp. Heemin, a serial rapist under the pseudonym "Zeus", works as their trainer and almost rapes Mira until another unattractive trainer and Zack save her by fighting off Heemin. This story spotlights another example of lookism as they never suspected Heemin because of his handsome figure but most of the students immediately detested the ugly trainer, Won Bin, even though he was much more responsible and serious.

—

• Pavlov's Dog (Chapters 46-50): Daniel returns to his hometown in his fat body, but is intercepted by another student at his original school. The student who is now the prime target of Logan Lee stalls Daniel until the bullies arrive at the scene. The student tells Daniel that Logan Lee "enlisted" him to be Daniel's replacement after he transferred and hopes to escape Logan's harassment by drawing all his attention to Daniel. During the confrontation, Daniel manages to somewhat fight back against Logan's lackeys but is overwhelmed with terror by seeing Logan himself. Logan steals Daniel's lucky five dollar bill that was gifted by his mother, which causes Jay to fight against Logan to take back the money. The arc was named Pavlov's dog, due to Daniel's PTSD of being violently bullied and his inability to stand up to Logan.

—

• Vasco's Youth (Chapters 51-57): Jace recalls Vasco being bullied by their classmates in his childhood. After doodles were carved into Vasco's skin by a sadistic bully, Vasco developed aichmophobia. One of the bullied victim's pays Joon Goo to deal with the bullies. Later, Jace gets tattooed and persuades Vasco to also get tattoos to cover his scars and help him overcome his phobia. Through this experience, Vasco resolves to become stronger and protect the weak and makes this one of the core principals of his Burn Knuckles group.

—

• Abandoned Dog Inu (Chapters 58-62): Daniel and Crystal's first impressions of each others' good looking bodies starts off sour, but they begin to bond when helping an abandoned dog. The dog later gave birth to four puppies, and Jay adopts the puppies despite his fear of dogs.

—

• Attention Whore (Chapters 63-68): Tae Joon, desperate to earn followers and online influence, makes offensive jokes towards a gangster named Dae Hoon Shin alongside his classmate Doo Lee (one of Zach's "friends"). A cat-and-mouse chase ensues, forcing Daniel, Vasco, and Zack to save the duo from Dae Hoon Shin.

—

• Jay Hong and Inu's Pups (Chapters 69-70): A silent side story about Jay overcoming his fear of dogs.

—

• Fitting Model (Chapters 71-72): On his way to school one day Daniel is scouted by "Gian Shop" run by a single man who has trouble selling his clothes due to having no models. Immediately after he is also scouted by "Oh Clothing," a well-known fashion site to be a fit model. The manager of "Oh Clothing" promises to pay Daniel many times more than what "Gian Shop" offered but he decides to think about both proposals first. During the night Daniel (in his original body) and his mother are kicked out of "Oh Clothing" and badmouthed when trying to buy clothes from them because of Daniel's looks and his mother's "poor" appearance. After this altercation, he decides to model for "Gian Shop."

—

• Dangerous Part Time Job (Chapters 75-80): Daniel, desperate for more money to aid his mother, unknowingly enters into an escort agency. When he realizes that the job entails using looks to scam women for money, he leaves the bar which is later raided by the police. Unfortunately, during his "work," Daniel mistakenly assumes alcohol for water, causing him to go to school intoxicated and act out of character much to the chagrin of his classmates.

—

• Illegal Toto (Chapters 83-90): Jiho Park is tricked by John, an "admin" of an illegal odds betting site, to gamble his money. Having befriended Daniel (in his original body) before, he begs him for help. The problem draws the attention of several other students including Zach, Zoe, Jay and later Crystal. Crystal contacts middle school computer genius Kouji, who helps resolve the issue. Jake Kim, the mastermind of site, is imprisoned after being severely beat up by Jong Gun for using illegal methods to obtain money for the monthly quota of his crew.

—

• PTJ Entertainment (Chapters 96-109): Through his viral fame on "Pacebook" (the Webtoon's analogue Facebook) Daniel is sought out by PTJ, a famous entertainment company. Daniel only agrees to attend the audition if Duke is allowed to come along with him. After the audition the directors accept Daniel despite his lackluster audition, while Duke is rejected simply because of his looks. At night, Daniel calls the directors and states that he will only train at PTJ if Duke is allowed to as well, which the heads begrudgingly agree to. Daniel and Duke begin in PTJ's C rank, which contain Oliver and La Sol -- two people who had been perpetual trainees -- and Jay's younger sister, Joy. Oliver and La Sol train the trio for their monthly evaluation. Throughout the story arc, it is revealed that two years ago, ARU and Oliver had been in love, but split apart as ARU's desperation to debut trapped her in a casting couch with a major investor of PTJ. When ARU's situation became worse, Crystal led the entire C-rank team to save ARU. After the situation, ARU went victimizing another producer, Daniel and Joy left the group, Duke advanced to Class B, Oliver debuted with a group named Inspirit, and La Sol moved to Rank A as a trainer (with talk of her having a solo debut in the future).

—

• Stalker (Chapters 113-120): Daniel becomes victimized by a psychotic sasaeng fan and Crystal tries to save him. The two become closer to each other as they realize there was more to one another than they assumed, and the stalker is eventually arrested. However she is released in the epilogue, but with a makeover.

—

• Troubled Transfer (Chapters 123-126): To escape his debt to Joon Goo, Logan transfers to J High and joins the Comics Department. After insulting Mia, Logan gets into three way fight with both Vin Jin and Zach but manages to deal with the two at the same time. Vasco also arrives at the scene but Logan twists his ankle. Logan also develops feelings for Zoe when he overhears her saying that she doesn't mind unattractive people, and when she gives him a band aid for a wound on his hand. He ends up trying to fight Daniel out of jealousy after seeing Zoe with him and triggers the return of Daniel's PTSD.

—

• Cult (Chapters 132-138): Side story with the younger Zack, Mira, and Johan. The story reveals that Johan's mother was a hairdresser and a volunteer in church until she went blind and insane and began following a cult named Pungsan Dog, or "Dog God." At the cult's headquarters, Mira, Zack, and Johan find that the cult had crucified a reporter and grew a unique drug to keep members addicted and "faithful". After the friends escape with the reporter, the story is broadcast over the news and the police arrive at the area. They manage to arrest the leader (the minister of the old church Johan's mom used to attend), and the cult members along with Johan's mom are put in addiction treatment. Johan disappears after the incident but then reappears many years later, beating Zack in the boxing finals, and then disappearing once again with Jong Gun.

—

• Animal Cruelty (Chapters 149-152): Through sheer coincidence, Daniel and Johan meet each other one day and bond over their love for dogs. However, their pets suddenly disappear and the two team up together to find their dogs. They learn that many pets in the area have disappeared due to an elderly animal hoarder. Daniel and Johan manage to release all the hoarded animals but the legal consequence for animal hoarding was minor, and the hoarder relapsed once again after paying the fines.

—

• Seonong Goes to Seoul (Chapters 158-160): During the Picnic Arc (Chapter 139 - 147) Vasco gave Seonong Ham $10,000 in cash after ruining Seonong's $400 outfit during the school trip to Lotte World as Seonong lied that the clothing costed $10,000. Pricked with guilt, Seonong heads to Seoul to return the money, but ends up getting humorously misunderstood by the Burn Knuckles gang, who all believe that Seonong is causing trouble. Near the end of the arc, Seonong manages to finally give Vasco the money but Vasco gives all of it away to a Thai man who wanted to make ends meet in Korea. The Thai man is revealed to be Vasco's teacher and a former undefeated kickboxer, who retired and fled after accidentally killing his last opponent.

—

• Fake Bank Account (Chapters 163-173): Jiho once again gets caught in a money problem after he made a bank account in his name and gives it to one of his childhood bullies, James Gong, who sells the account to a scammer. Jiho asks for help, so Daniel, Zoe, Mia, Vasco, Zach, and Kouji once again resolve the incident. Later Jiho begins to lose rationality and tries to kill James with a card board cutter but is knocked down instead. Daniel arrives and holds James Gong back, but Jiho's inferiority complex takes over and he pushes the pair out of the window, wounding James and putting Daniel in a coma. Jiho is found guilty and imprisoned in a juvenile facility for attempted murder.

—

• The Truth Behind Daniel Park (Chapters 174-177): Daniel panics when the hospital struggles to find Daniel's new body's identity. Hours later, the body is identified as "James Lee," a boy whose parents were overseas. Daniel is faced with guilt as he theorizes that the body may have a family of its own, leading Daniel to investigate his "body's" past. After going on a wild goose chase and finding an abandoned apartment, he locates the school that "James Lee" apparently attended. He finds a blurry photograph of James's family which leads him back to his own apartment. Inside Daniel is confronted by Charles Choi, who orders Daniel to stop looking for James Lee. Charles Choi claims that James Lee was an identity that he created, but Choi's hidden desperation for Daniel to stop looking gives Daniel the impression that Charles Choi was lying and hiding something.

—

• Juvenile Prison (Chapters 180-185): This arc focused on Jiho's experiences in juvenile detention and his deteriorating sanity.

—

• Homeless (Chapters 191-194): Daniel, unable to change into his handsome body, ran away from home. He met a homeless man who did not want to return to his family because he had felt like a burden for being broke. He then helped the man by defending him from thieves who tried to steal the man's savings and reuniting the man with his daughter.

—

• Daniel Park vs. Logan Lee (Chapters 195-197): Daniel learns that Logan had forced Zoe to date him by threatening to beat up chubby Daniel. Daniel is forced to face his ultimate fear, Logan, to protect Zoe like she had been protecting him. While being beat up by Logan, Daniel realizes that although his life had changed so much after gaining a new body, he had not changed at all. He realized that he kept running away, never stayed back to fight, and always relied on his handsome body to fight his battles for him. He overcame this, and kept getting up after Logan's blows. Daniel told Logan to let Zoe go if Logan used his strongest arm to beat him up, and Daniel succeeds, but loses consciousness.

—

• Daniel Awakens (Chapter 198): Daniel's slim body woke up after the fat one was beaten unconscious by Logan. It was revealed that Jay used his money to transfer Daniel to a VIP hospital room.

—

• God Dog (Chapters 199-213): God Dog, a gang that was run by Johan, made their move, this time against Vasco and Burn Knuckle. Some other J High students were caught in the crossfire between the two gangs. But in the end, Johan was betrayed by his second in command, Jin Jang. Jay used his money and power to cover up the incident.

—

• Vasco's Crisis/Jacedaichi Case Files (Chapters 214-217): Gordon Park, the teacher of the Architecture Department, finds himself in trouble as the Burn Knuckles annoy the principal with their loony ways. He believes that the problem would be solved by Vasco's expulsion, and attempts to frame Vasco for stealing a lost wallet full of money. Jace decides to use his "detective skills" to root out several suspects: Mr. Park, Yui, Zack, Vin Jin, Mary, Logan Lee, and Logan's follower. As Jace gathers the suspects and compares their testimonies, he ends up uncovering loads of embarrassing information about each person. These included but were not limited to: Yui's constipation issues which Zach heard while sleeping in his classroom, Vasco taking laxatives, Logan's crush on Zoe, and Vin Jin secretly idolizing Duke and Duke's music. As the suspects get cleared, Jace deduces that the wallet's owner was the real culprit: Jasmine Huh, a mythomaniac. Gordon Park ends up just returning it to her and Vasco is cleared of any blame. This side story parodies Kindaichi Case Files.

—

• Stockings (Chapters 217-219): A story which involves Jasmine Huh once again. She used photos of unsuspecting girls from J High to sell her own spit, underwear, stockings and other personal items to those who have olfactophilia for large amounts of money. Mira, Zoey, Joy and Mary's photos were used in Jasmine's scam. Zack stopped this scam, but a larger problem quickly arose.

—

• Runaway Fam (Chapters 219-231): After the stockings incident, Jasmine ran away to a massive gang named Hostel that was running the fetish market and prostitution scams. Hostel included a branch called the Runaway Fam, consisting of runaways and drifters. Daniel, Zack, Vin Jin, Mary and Vasco infiltrated the group. Daniel meets two girls nicknamed "Like What" and "So Funny", who ran away from their abusive homes. James Gong joined Hostel, seemingly mentally degraded. Johan Seong's former ally, Jin Jang, joined another large gang called Big Deal and started strengthening the group. The arc ends with the escape of Olly Wang, James, Jasmine and others, and Eli Jang was eventually found by members of Hostel B, revealing that he is the member of the original Hostel.

—

• Eli Jang (Chapters 232-248): Eli's past was revealed. He ran away to escape the domestic abuse he had constantly faced at home and met Sally Park, an orphan who lived in an abandoned building that she inherited. He lived with her, alongside Warren Chae, Derek, and Max. Sally's friends, Heather and Olly Wang were frequent visitors and Eli and Heather soon fell in love. Eli then created Hostel from initials of their Korean names, excluding Olly Wang's. Hostel was formed from Eli's dream to take in abandoned children and give them better lives on the streets. Joon Goo and Jong Gun discussed the creation of Hostel. Olly Wang tricked Heather, who was carrying Eli's daughter, into thinking that Eli did not care for their child and wanted her to get an abortion. Heather eventually died from childbirth, and Eli raised their daughter, Yenna, rather than fulfilling dream of expanding Hostel. Hostel disbanded after Heather's death and Olly Wang built another branch of Hostel called Hostel A.

—

• Wuthering J High (Chapters 250-251): a side story in which both Crystal and Daniel forgot to transform and went to school in their alternate forms. It is foreshadowed that Daniel's original body was gradually turning into his new body.

—

• Jin Jang's Analysis (Chapters 252-254): Jin Jang, formerly of Johan Seong's God Dog, went spying on J High, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the strongest J High students.

—

• Hostel Branch/One Night (Chapters 255-263): A story following three points of view as the friends go to Cheonliang. The first point of view is of Daniel, Joy, Zoe, Zack, Mira and Crystal in Cheonliang. The second is of Jace and Johan in an uneasy alliance against Cheonliang gangs allied with Hostel A. And the third is of Vasco and his misadventures in a forest after missing the train.

—

• Juvenile Prison Jiho Park (Chapters 264-265): A story about Jiho Park and a rehab officer who believed Jiho to be an innocent child and wanted Jiho to get special pardon. In the end, the officer was attacked by Jiho, and the other inmates take the blame for themselves out of fear, showing Jiho's increase of power as his mental state deteriorated. The epilogue was a discussion of which inmate(s) would receive the special pardon, revealed that Jake Kim is one of the candidates.

—

• Hostel (Chapters 266-283): Daniel, Jay, Zack, and Vasco went to Gangdong to find Jasmine and return her to her father. Vin Jin and Logan went to find the one who used Mary and Zoe's pictures. Eli met another "Eli", a kid trained by Olly to act like Eli Jang, and decides to fight Hostel for taking advantage of children. Daniel and Zack fought because Daniel tried to return Jasmine home, but Zack tries to stop Daniel from taking Jasmine back after she had told Zach that her father was a sex offender. Logan and Jay fought because Logan stole Jay's motorcycle and told Jay he was going to beat up Daniel. Vasco and Vin Jin fought because Vasco despised Vin Jin's ill treatment of Duke. This entire fight is anticipated by Jin Jang as he had manipulated the situation carefully for the outcome he wanted. He then sent Hostel members to beat up each of the fighting pairs and gather them together. The J High students and Burn Knuckles are coerced to joined forces and fight the Hostel members together and the students eventually end up on the roof of the abandoned building from Sally's childhood (see Eli Jang arc). Olly Wang realizes that the only feeling he ever felt was guilt for hurting Heather, so he commits suicide by jumping off the roof. The arc ends with the mourning of Olly Wang, not only by Hostel A, but by the original Hostel and the J High students as well. Jasmine Huh and James Gong set off to create a new Hostel with all of the children that Olly Wang had trained, revealing that she tells the truth about her situation at home to Zack.

—

• VS Gun (Chapter 284-286): Jong Gun appeared with Yenna, provoking Eli. Gun beats up Eli and tells him that he would've killed him if it wasn't for Olly Wang making Gun promise to never harm Hostel B. Eli reveals his backstory to Daniel and his friends. Daniel once again looks for his fit body's true source, but he encounters Gun when revisiting the abandoned school that "James Lee" supposedly went to. Jong Gun demands that Daniel create his own crew otherwise he would make Daniel's friends start their own crew, which led to Gun and Daniel fighting after Daniel refused to start a crew and refused to let his friends start a crew. Somewhere else, Charles Choi and Steve Hong were hunting, when Steve Hong implies that he knows about the Four Crews and that the monthly installments they paid went to Choi. Daniel and Gun's brutal fight comes to an end after Gun is severely beaten by Daniel in his state of unconscious fighting. Gun, incredibly impressed with Daniel's fighting, tells him he won't force him to start a crew anymore and that he will let him destroy the Four Crews like Daniel (and his friends) had originally intended. Jong Gun also gave Daniel access to ONE MCN, a mysterious company run by Workers, and revealed that Daniel broke his arm in the fight they had. The story ends with an introduction of ONE MCN's executive, Samuel Seo, and Like What and So Funny's (see Runaway Fam) interview to become professional streamers.

—

• Workers (4 Affiliates) (Chapters 287-299): The story begins with a panel of a mukbang streamer named Jamie being threatened to stream by a gangster. The panel ends abruptly and cuts to Like What and So Funny being hired after an interview with Samuel Seo. Daniel (in his original body) begins streaming on ONE MCN and shares his experiences of being bullied to viewers who could relate. Daniel goes to J-Fest, a convention of streamers, and meets Samuel Seo under the pretense that Daniel wanted to become a paid streamer. Daniel uses the ONE MCN keycard given to him by Gun (see "VS Gun") to open the secret door found in Samuel Seo's office, which leads to a hidden office with a bulletin board of information on the four crews and a locked safe. After Daniel, Like What, and So Funny sign a contract with ONE MCN, they wake up in separate, locked rooms where they are forced to stream by gangsters. Daniel finds out where he is by ordering takeout chicken with his original body and using his attractive body as a chicken deliveryman. Warren went to J High to ask Daniel about Like What and So Funny's recent disappearance, and they plan to infiltrate ONE MCN. Kouji informs Daniel that Jong Gun gave him one of the 5 VVIP badges (the other badges were in the possessions of Jong Gun, Goo Kim, and other 3 people). Warren and Doo Lee went on with Daniel -- disguised as VVIPs -- and Warren Chae looked for Like What and So Funny while Daniel went to Samuel's office alone. Daniel entered the office to see Joon Goo, who hits him with a chair. The fat Daniel, regaining consciousness, freed himself and all the other streamers, but Mr. Gold, another gangster who disguised himself as one of the top Kwitch streamers, beat Daniel up. He accuses Samuel for screwing him over. Daniel and Warren entered the room and the manager claims that there is no evidence of illegal activities and that Daniel had a fake VVIP badge. Daniel showed Samuel and the manager the contracts that were proof of illegal activities, and the Workers are disqualified from being the 4 major crews. Goo initially suspects that Daniel has a double agent assisting him, but shakes away the suspicion due to his confidence in his skills. Charles Choi talks with one of the Ten Geniuses, Tom Lee, telling him about the illegal moves by the Workers. Tom later on confronted Goo while at the site. Tom then goes to the Worker's site, single-handedly beating Warren. He then beat Daniel unconscious after the he tried to fight back. Meanwhile, Manager Kim and the 2 managers returned Like What and So Funny to Hostel B. In the epilogue, Johan Seong was eating the food given to him by 2 former Hostel A members, when Zack arrived and took a seat near him.

—

• VS Johan Seong (Chapter 300-301):

Johan Seong and Zack Lee once again met and fought each other, while the former Hostel A members who run a food stand was watching.

In the meanwhile, the masked member of ONE MCN's Kwitch 5 was streaming while smoking. Afterwards, the streamer removed the mask, revealing that the streamer is Yui, while she talks with Crystal, owner of the CrystalTV MCN. And also revealing that another MCN was under Crystal's name, CrystalTV. Then, Tom Lee beats up his underlings while Johan was on his office. Tom fought him, the old man stripped his clothes. He beats Johan, with a couch which his hand stuck.

Also, the Burn Knuckles were busy fighting with another gang after seeing Vasco with too many wounds and blood. Vin was seen with Mary while the former was pulling a stone marker. Logan was on his classroom, later on going with Goo Kim.

Then, Daniel and Samuel has both graphs of 4 major crew leaders, with Johan, Eli, Olly and Jake's pictures in a graph. Daniel using the images he got on Samuel's room, while wondering how to deal with them.

In the epilogue, Jake Kim was released from juvie, and welcomed by his gang members.

—

• Jake Kim (Chapter 302-318):

Now Jake was released, he plans to take revenge on Jong Gun. And Jake Kim's past was revealed, having fought Samuel to a standstill, and their trying to mess up Black Bear Clan ends up in near-death experience, until Big Deal's leader took them. Then, after many months of running the gang, they were threatened once again, this time from the hands of Goo Kim and Jong Gun. In the aftermath of the duel between Goo Kim and Sinu Han, which the former won, Jong Gun called James Lee.

After that, the Black Bear Gang tries to fight the duo as a test, but they lost. And much later, Jake and Samuel were treading different paths, Jake quits Big Deal, Samuel became the new head of Big Deal, while using Old Face as front. Goo Kim then meets with James Lee and his group.

Days after taking over, Samuel tries to be radical in enforcing his will upon the salesgirls, but Jake appears, with Gapryong Kim's clothes. The duel between them was interwoven with his story of Samuel trying to claim Gapryong as his father and his denial of his true father, a technician and repairman. After Jake beats Samuel, Sinu appears. He tries to duel with Jong Gun but loses. Jake tries to raise money for Jong as a part of Big Deal. But unknown to the Big Deal, Sinu Han sold himself for 1.2 billion Won, which the group used to give to Jong's demand for a year. Then he made an excuse for selling the group to Workers, and beats Jake for his alibi.

Samuel has also fought his way to Jong, but lost too. Then, days later Jake and Samuel meets Johan and Olly respectively. A free-for-all was happening while Jong and Goo were playing cards. Goo won the cards, and went to the area where the free-for-all happened, and saw Jake and Johan knocked out by Samuel. Despite Olly being persistent, he was garroted by Samuel.

Back at the present, Jake and his group meet up with Samuel, now a new member of the Workers. The latter left after a short scuffle.

Meanwhile, Chairman Hong is with his bodyguards, including a muscular Russian woman named Sofia, who raids Daniel's house. The man tries to pay off the damages to the owner, but Daniel is assaulted by Sofia.

At another location, Alexander is bowing to the Number 3 of the Workers, which oversees a nightclub named ViVi.

—

• 3 Affiliates (319-346):

Jake Kim prepares to infiltrate the Workers. Johan is interviewing for his new job as a bouncer at the club.

Meanwhile, Daniel is interrogated by Chairman Hong, even offering him food and money to give him info about the 4 major crews. One night, he tries to enter Club ViVi with his original body, feeling that he can get in without relying on the slim version of himself, but fails. He contents in loitering outside, when a group arrived with a handicapped Chinese speaking woman with a pacifier in her mouth, they were obviously Workers members, with the men having the engraved Gold Badge and the woman in engraved White Badge. He then meets with Mr. Hong once again, and Sofia roughs him up. Meanwhile, a cleanup crew cleans up a scene where an overdosed woman was seen laying on the toilet, high.

In a bar, Tom Lee is seen with another VVIP Worker. Brekdak sets up a stall in front of the club. Vasco joins him as an employee, their customers are bouncers, Jake Kim, and even the woman, who nearly collapsed, but was then held by her bodyguard. Jake easily enters the club, where Old Face was. He wants info on the area but is disturbed by Vasco forcefully entering the bar after the woman didn't pay 500 won.Vasco fights against executives of 3rd affiliate while Johan Seong and Jake Kim interview for the post of a club bouncer in club vivi. Both of them eventually get the job and Vasco leaves after getting 500 won. Daniel Park infiltrates Club Vivi imposing as an illegitimate son of a billionaire in his old body which is now toned to perfection after his weight loss training against Sophia. Daniel Park befriends a poor girl and suggests her to make online videos to earn money. Daniel Park is offered a seat by Vivi where he is drugged and learns that Vivi cookies contain drugs. Meanwhile he wakes up in another body and runs towards the clubhouse where he is ambushed and locked up by Jake Kim. He wakes up in his original body and learns club vivi abducts people and abuses them to entertain guests. He tries to fight and almost wins using his newly learnt system but his second body is awoken by Jake Kim in a rotating room causing his main body to fall unconscious. Big Deal decided to save the abducted people and Jake Kim calls Zack Lee, Vasco, Jerry Kwon and Lineman to fight against 3rd affiliate. After gruelling fights Jake Kim manages to defeat ViVi's bodyguard Xiaolung, while Johan learns that Vivi's drugs were the cause of cult incident and he goes on a rage defeating both Vasco and Eli Jang. Daniel climbs the hotel from outside to free the abductees but finds something locked in a closet. Jake ends up having to fight Samuel Seo to procure information from Vivi but as they are about fight Daniel is thrown flying out of the room in the midst of battle as he warns them to run away while Daniel's other body, having the same strength during their match with Jong Gun, is seen walking out in ultra instinct state. Jake Kim and Samuel Seo instinctively fight Daniel but are taken out easily. Johan appears and starts to fight Daniel as well but is also easily defeated while finally Goo Kim arrives and uses poleaxe/glaive as a weapon against Daniel. Logan Lee, joining his debtor Goo Kim after voluntarily leaving J High, is seen arriving shortly after as he announces 3rd affiliate has been disbanded and sees Daniel lying unconscious while Goo Kim says he had to fight seriously and has broken an arm in the process, nearly beaten by Daniel but his iaijutsu saved him, then ordered Logan to take both Xiaolung and Vivi. Both bodies of Daniel reach home and other abductees are released as well. Samuel shows Jake the place where Sinu Han was locked up and forced to fight naked for entertainment, Samuel feeding him drugs and giving him marker pen for writing his memories, and asks his help to beome the king of Workers. Daniel has extracted Vivi cookies amongst the chaos and goes to deliver them to Mr. Hong so he can get evidence but is interrupted by DG on his way who takes the cookies, but gives it back instantly after getting answers from Daniel. In the aftermath, Vivi and Xiaolung arrived at a house, but the latter's master took him somewhere. Back at the story, Daniel was with Zoey, when the woman he initially introduced to social media thanked him, and decided to improve her skills in Kwitch, then leaves, which made Zoey wonder. At the abandoned property of Sally, Eli and the Hostel A were shocked to receive an invitation from a supposedly dead Olly Wang, forcing them to go the described place. Also, Zack contemplates about his defeat at the hands of Johan, and noticed his degrading eyesight, which made him sob, while Johan noticed it too, but still held on. _

• The Summit Meeting (346-354)

Hostel members, along with Chuck Kwak and Justin Peng of Olly's Hostel, Jake Kim and his crew, Samuel Seo and his partners and Johan alone goes to the meeting place. They were welcomed by the actual sender of the invitation, Eugene, head of the mysterious 4th gang. Eugene offered a truce on the rest of the gangs, citing that Chairman Charles Choi decided to sever his ties to them, now that he had enough gains from them. He offered the crews protection, and monetary amount, just to weaken Charles enough to maintain the status quo.

Jake accepted, which made Samuel glad. Eli declined, saying that his crew is a family, not another stooges. Warren threatened Eugene, but was surprised by the capped silent man. Lastly, Eugene personally offered Yohan. The latter asked the former that if he was cahoots with Vivi regarding the Poongsan Cult, Eugene affirmed his connection with them. Johan tried attack him, declaring that he went to the meeting just to eliminate them all if they decide to ally themselves. But Eugene blown his secret, that he is also turning blind, his other eye totally and the other blurred. Eugene, Samuel and his men corner him, declaring that he will be done for. A brawl started after Eugene's men mauled Johan, Eli and Warren facing off Jake and the Big Deal, now allied with Eugene. Samuel interfered, leaving Jake in the sidelines. Johan was nearly incapacitated, until Zack made the save, and Jake was attacked by Vasco. Daniel (on his slim body) also arrived, shocking almost everyone except Eugene, now allied with Chuck and Justin. Daniel declared that he will help both Hostel and God Dog. Zack was beaten up by Mandeok defending Johan, Jerry and Warren, Jake and Vasco, Samuel and Eli, and the duo of Hostel were dueling. Daniel finished both Justin and Chuck, and decides to attack Eugene, who tasked Mandeok to attack Daniel, but he was approached by the silent guy with the cap and a black VVIP badge.

The duels ended in a draw, with the belligerents are on square one.

Now, another problem arose. Jiho, who was imprisoned due to attempted murder, has returned to the class, visibly changed.

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• Jiho Returns: (355-)

Jiho, just conditionally temporarily released, returns to J High. Visibly changed and him being on close guard. He immediately confronted Daniel. Then left to the toilet. Another group of usual bullies tried to hurt him, the trio got mauled.

Daniel and Eugene was on discussion with each other, while Jiho attacks a Big Deal member, which was seen by Jake.

Characters

Main Characters

Daniel Park/Park Hyung Suk: Daniel Park, from the Fashion Department, is a naïve high school student who was bullied by Logan Lee at the start of the series. Just before transferring to Jae Won High to run away from his bullies, he wakes up one day with a slimmer and more attractive body next to his chubby one. With his new ability, he makes new friends and learns about the world and himself through two perspectives. The slimmer body was based on Park Hyung Suk, a fit model.

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Vasco/Lee Eun Tae: Vasco, from the Architecture Department, has the reputation of being a "Robin Hood" like figure, as he stands up for the weak and bullied. He is one of the strongest characters in the series and is the leader of the loyal gang, Burn Knuckles, who "punish bullies" and "bad guys." His tough exterior is misleading as he is very sweet and seeks the friendship of those he deems as good people. He is also the childhood friend of Jace Park. The character Vasco is inspired by real-life K-rapper with the same name.

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Jay Hong/Hong Jae Yeol: Jay Hong, from the Fashion Department, is a quiet and mysterious character. He is rich, fights using systema and kali martial arts, and helps those that he likes. Though not directly stated, many readers speculate that throughout the series Jay has "romantic feelings" towards Daniel Park. Some reasons can be seen through his actions such as keeping a coupon with Daniel's face on it in his wallet (the coupon is from "Gian Shop"; see "Fitting Model"), adopting Inu's puppies despite his fear of dogs (see "Abandoned Dog Inu" & "Jay Hong and Inu's Pups"), and Jay's habit of giving Daniel his clothing (Chapters 20 & 162).

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Zack Lee/Lee Jin Sung: Zack Lee, from the Fashion Department, is a boxer and very aggressive, with the exception to his childhood friend, Mira Kim, who he is in love with. He wants to become her boyfriend, but she dislikes violence, so Zack often attempts to change himself for her. With Mira's influence, Zack stops bullying others, diminishes the number of times he gets into fights, becomes more patient, and overall matures. He was once friends with Johan Seong, though Johan disappeared after the God Dog cult story arc (chapters 132 - 138). When Johan resurfaces, Zack tries to befriend him again and even promises to help Johan take revenge on Jong Gun, who severely beat up Johan for not taking proper control of his crew "God Dog."

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Mira Kim/Kim Mi Jin: Mira Kim, from the Fashion Department, is a compassionate, caring, and patient person. She is very observant when it comes to human emotions and sees the good in everyone. She dislikes fighting and believes there are better ways to solve problems, which is why she gets upset when Zack gets into fights. She is the childhood friend of Johan Seong and Zack Lee. They both were in love with her, but she never exactly reciprocated to either them. She is very attractive and beautiful, which put her at the risk of rape multiple times.

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Zoe Park/Park Ha Neul: Zoe Park, from the Fashion Department, is a beautiful girl who, in the beginning, tries to use her charm to get what she wants. However, after Daniel's original body saves her from a stalker, she develops feelings for his original body, proving that she doesn't care about appearances as much as before.

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Crystal Choi/Choi Soo Jung: Crystal Choi, the daughter of the HNH Company Chairman, is the second character that is discovered to have two bodies. She first appears as an obese student that transfers to the Fashion Department in Daniel's school. Yet, unlike Daniel Park, Crystal Choi chooses to live in her original body during the daytime. This shows that she feels a hint of pride in her first body. The different treatment to both of her bodies leads her to strongly believe that "all men are the same" and that the world judges those with different appearances without reason. This explains her initial dislike towards Daniel in his handsome form, though her treatment of Daniel shows her hypocrisy as she treats him badly and looks at him as an egotistical bully. She is shown to like Daniel's old body more due to his personality.

Supporting Characters

• Daniel's Mother/Mrs. Kim Park: Daniel's single mother is a hard working and patient woman. After seeing Logan bully Daniel and later getting yelled at by her son, she transfers Daniel to Jae Won High. She works twice as hard to allow Daniel to enter J High, with the work ranging from folding and selling empty boxes to working part-time waiting tables. She sacrifices everything for her son to just to see him happy and contented. This leaves her with no free time and she never gets to do anything for herself. As the series progresses, Daniel begins to realize how much his mother cared for him and little by little, he returns her sacrifices.

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• Jace Park/Park Bum Jae: A student of the Architecture Department, Jace is the number two of the Burn Knuckles and childhood friend of Vasco. He is the one who helped Vasco overcome his aichmophobia and even got a tattoo that said "My Hero ET," ET standing for Eun Tae.

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• Duke Pyeon/Pyeon Duk Hwa: A short and chubby student from the Vocal Dance Department and an aspiring rapper. Due to his body, he was bullied by others and rejected by producers. But upon meeting and collaborating with Daniel, he gained confidence and started to stream on Paprika TV. He also becomes a member of PTJ Entertainment, when he was brought along by Daniel (through his insistence) and was part of the party that freed Aru. Afterwards Daniel helped Duke become a member of PTJ's B rank, and Duke became famous for his rapping ability, despite his body size.

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• Jiho Park/Park Ji Ho: A boy who faced much bullying at J High until Daniel took him under his wing. Throughout the series he is obsessed with power and societal standards; Jiho also showed signs of an inferiority complex and eventually goes to juvenile prison for the attempted murder of Daniel Park and James Gong. During the Juvenile arc, he loses his sanity in juvenile prison and becomes influenced by Jake Kim. Interestingly, Jiho's life is of stark contrast to Duke, even though both were bullied and looked down upon, Jiho decides to bet on risky decisions and never changes his behavior or perspective throughout the story.

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• Logan Lee/Lee Tae Sung: A strong, large teen who used to bully Daniel Park frequently in his former school and original body. Logan was the primary reason why Daniel moved to Seoul. Unfortunately, Logan also moved to Seoul and coincidentally entered the same school as Daniel. Daniel later stands up to Logan in his original body and the two become somewhat neutral with each other (although one could make the case that Logan still hates Daniel since he harbors romantic feelings towards Zoe who is amusingly enamored by both forms of Daniel). Logan now resides in the Animation Department (see "Troubled Transfer" arc).

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• Vin Jin/Jin Ho Bin: An arrogant member of Vocal Dance Department. He claims that he's better than the everyone else and particularly dislikes Daniel and Duke. Never takes off his sun glasses. He has a fear of losing his shades, revealing that he becomes berserk once they are removed. (He also seems to have inverted eyes with his shades gone, similar to Gun, Goo and later Daniel)

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• Mary Kim: Mary is a blonde haired girl who is friends with Vin Jin and is a student of the Vocal and Dance Department. She is quite pretty and well-known in Cheonliang (her and Vin Jin's hometown) as the "Empress of Two Seconds" because she is great at fighting and many of her peers claim that she can defeat her opponents in two seconds. She also has a strange fascination with Jace's ears.

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• Yui Kim: Introduced during Paprika TV Streaming Arc, she was the leading streamer on the website, until Zoe joined. During the story arc, her boyfriend finds out from Zach that she had been flirting with Daniel, which causes him to start beating Yui until the scene is interrupted by Zack. This causes her to develop feelings for Zack.

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• Doo Lee/Lee Hyun Do: A student of the Fashion Department, he is one of Zack's "friends" who acts as Jiho's main tormentor. He stays around Zack and Daniel mainly to boost his own popularity, but helps them out in the story whenever he is needed. A notorious streamer on Paprika TV, Tae Joon collaborates with him to taunt Shin Dae Hoon, leading to the two of them being caught by his gang before they were eventually bailed out by Vasco, Zack, and Daniel. Afterwards, Doo shows a brief moment of kindness towards Jiho by lending him his gym clothes.

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• Tae Joon Park: Introduced in the Attention Whore Arc, Park is from the Architectural Department. He was a famewhore who taunted a gangster named Shin Dae Hoon in worked shoots. During the story arc, Park and Doo Lee are eventually caught Hoon and his gang. They are released by Vasco, Zack, and Daniel after a brief fist fight. He shares the same name as the author and PTJ Entertainment.

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• Leon Lee: A freshman from the Architectural Department. Initially mysterious, she is eventually revealed to be a girl, though she convinces everyone in J High that she is a boy. It is implied that she has feelings for Vasco and seems to hold a tsundere like personality around him.

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• Joy Hong/Hong Jae Hye: Jay's little sister and a Aboki model. When she first met Daniel (in his handsome body during model arc) she immediately developed a crush. Joy later entered J High to see Daniel more often.

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• Nam Su Lee: One of the nerdy classmates, he was initially tasked by Zack to buy shoes for him, but when he tried to obtain the shoes, it ended up being scam. After the issue was settled, he bought a Chrome Hearts ring and started a rumor that Daniel was poor and had no fashion sense, which lead to Jay giving Daniel a bunch of expensive clothes.

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• David, Dylan & Sarah Park: Daniel's cousins. Dylan is a wannabe rapper and Duke's fan. David is a college student who is the "star" of the Park family. Sarah is Dylan's sister, who has a crush on Daniel Park's handsome body.

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• Hong Ki Tae: Jay's older brother and the head of H Group.

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• Samuel Seo: Initially alluded to be Jake Kim's half brother (later confirmed not related), also ONE MCN's executive. Jong Gun hired him to oversee Workers MCN until its downfall. He later meets up with the newly formed K House.

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• Alexander Hwang: President of Workers 4th affiliate and a long time "friend" of Samuel. After MCN's disbandment, he goes missing.

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• Like What and So Funny: Two girls who ran away from their troubled homes and joined the Runaway Fam, a branch of Hostel A. They were forced into prostitution scams by their Runaway Fam and later joined Hostel B, as it was a more stable and was a non-abusive environment. In fear that they would be kicked out of Hostel B if they didn't earn money (as this frequently happened in some Runaway Fams), they began streaming on ONE MCN for money.

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• Warren Chae: One of Hostel's original member. He and Sally went looking for Eli after he went off the grid. He is known as the "Gangdong's Mighty Warren Chae" and often speaks in broken and missing sentences.

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• Eli Jang/Jang Hyun: Beauty department's only male member. He is the single father of a baby girl named Yenna, the daughter of his teenage sweetheart Heather. Jong Gun had his eyes on him for his fighting prowess but also because Eli created the original Hostel.

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• Sally Park: One of the Hostel's original members, she is looking for Eli after he went missing. During the Eli Jang Arc, she is shown to be an orphan who lives in an abandoned building that she inherited from her grandmother in America. She is usually seen with Warren Chae.

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• Max Kang and Derek Jo: Two of the original Hostel members. The two are currently tteokbokki dealers and club promoters.

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• Olly Wang: Former member of the original Hostel, but created another one called Hostel A after the original disbanded due to his manipulation and play in Heather's death.

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• James Gong: Formerly Jiho's psychotic bully, who loved wounding his enemies and doing dirty actions. He duped Jiho by selling a bank account Jiho made for him and was pushed out of a building window along with Daniel. He survived the incident, but became more and more mentally insane afterwards.

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• Jasmine Huh: Daniel's classmate, and a mythomaniac. In a side story she initially accused Vasco of stealing her purse, then scammed fetishists with used items, lying that it belonged to Joy, Zoey, Mira and Mary. After the fiasco, she disappeared, joining James Gong and eventually Olly Wang's Hostel A. Due to her father's abusive nature, she left home, and now lives with James, and the child soldiers Olly trained, while riding a bus stolen during the chaos.

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• Johan Seong: Zack and Mira's childhood friend. He was always bullied because he was poor and his mother was becoming blind. He had a crush on Mira but felt embarrassed as he was always beat up by his peers and rescued by Zack. During the Cult arc, his mother's mental state deteriorated and a local church minister persuaded her to join the God Dog cult. After the story arc, Johan abandoned all those he cared about and took over one of the four major crews: God Dog, taking the cult's mascot as his own. He asked Daniel to join him, but was turned down and his own crew betrayed him. Gun appeared and disqualified Johan after berating him for losing control of his crew and later beats him up after Johan refused to back down. He appeared later in the webcomic again, aiding Jace in Cheonliang, getting into a small fight with Jin, and witnessing the end of Hostel A. Afterwards, Johan joins the White Tiger Job Center under Tom Lee.

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• Jong Gun/Jang Dong Gun: Jong Gun is Crystal Choi's gangster bodyguard, who used to extort money from the various groups. He has reverse-colored eyes, and is arguably the most ruthless fighter in the story. Gun also used to manage several gangs called the "Four Crews" in Seoul before passing the job onto Joon Goo. Throughout the series, Gun shows signs of sadomasochism.

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• Joon Goo/Goo Kim: Introduced during Vasco's Arc, Goo is a fighter who frequented juvenile centers. After a massive and brutal fight, he became Jong Gun's equal and is in charge of Jong Gun's extortion racket.

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• Jake Kim: Jake Kim is the leader of a Seoul's major crew called Big Deal, and is an excellent fighter. He was put in juvenile prison for an illegal betting ring and later became influenced by Jiho's dirty fighting style in juvie.

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• Jerry Kwon: Jake Kim's number two, also known for his strength as the "Sword of Jake Kim". He took care for the Hostel's cat, Leon. And had a quite gentle stance, except when Jake told him otherwise.

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• Jin Jang: Formerly Johan's lieutenant, but betrayed his "friend." He starts spying on J High, and heeded a plot to put various students against each other. He also goaded Eli and Olly to fight which dismantled Hostel A. Afterward he revived his "K House" crew from the fallen "God Dog."

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• Kouji/Ko Woo Ji: Another one of HNH Chairman's minions. As a genius hacker, he duped the illegal toto operators and hacked the security feed of the store that Daniel works at.

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• Charles Choi: Crystal's father and the chairman of HNH Group. It is revealed that he worked at a convenience store years ago until he was recruited by Jong Gun to be the leader of the Four Major Crews.

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• Steve Hong: Ki Tae, Joy and Jay's father and chairman of H Group. He has known Charles Choi for many years but it is implied that the two are not friends. Later in the webtoon, Hong becomes Daniel's secret ally to take down the four crews.

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• DG: A kpop talent of PTJ, later CEO of the agency, and one of Charles Choi's 10 Geniuses. It is implied throughout the story that he knows of Daniel's ability. He was modeled after G-Dragon.

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• Oliver Jang/Jang Udon/Woo Dong Jang: A PTJ trainee talent for 6 years and ARU's former boyfriend. Oliver was stuck as a C-Rank trainee alongside La Sol because of ARU's bias against them. Near the end of the PTJ entertainment arc Oliver debuts in a new group called Inspirit.

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• La Sol/Ra Sol: Another PTJ trainee talent and ARU's former best friend. She was stuck as a C-Rank trainee alongside Oliver Jang due to ARU's bias against them. Later Sol becomes PTJ's resident A-Rank trainer.

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• ARU: Formerly Oliver's girlfriend and a PTJ main star. She was caught in a casting couch by a major PTJ investor in her desperation to become famous, but was saved.

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• Tom Lee: One of Charles Choi's 10 geniuses, and the owner of the private security agency that ONE MCN has. It is stated that Tom Lee trained both Gun and Goo.

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• Justine Peng and Chuck Kwak: Two illegal Chinese immigrants initially rejected by Jake Kim, but later accepted by Olly Wang. After the Hostel arc and destruction of Hostel A, they built up a skewer store, and witnessed Johan and Zack fight each other. They later reappear where Eugene offered them the same opportunity as the others.

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• Vivi: A Chinese woman who fled to Korea to escape her drug cases in China, head of a powerful family who built a club and hotel to cover up her continued drug addiction and inviting elites to join her in a drugged and doped hobbies. She was loyally served by Xiaolung. After the arc, she was taken off to China with Xiaolung. She is the 3rd affiliate Head.

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• Xiaolung: Vivi's servant, so loyal to her that he even became a eunuch just to be close to her.

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• Alexander Kwang: The 4th affiliate head, who used Kwitch to cover up his rackets, by imprisoning promising vlogger and forcing them to act inside his company. Daniel forcefully ended the 4th affiliate.

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• Sofia: A muscular Russian woman and Steve Hong's bodyguard. She roughen up Daniel whenever she has the opportunity to, and was tasked to train Daniel, which reduced his weight due to her Spartan training.

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• Eugene: Head of the 4th major crew, where Samuel is now employed, and made deceiving invitations under Olly Wang's name. He offered the other crews to join forces against Charles Choi, which Jake and both Justin and Chuck accepted, and Johan and Eli declined. He has a handful of skilled people as his bodyguards.

Theme

The title is self-explanatory of the theme; lookism, or bias due to a person's physical appearance. The main character is a fat, unattractive student who is bullied by those stronger than him. The story also has themes including (but not limited to) gangs, extortion, animal hoarding, cults, stalking, rape, and attempted murder.

Character designs

Daniel Park's design was inspired by a model named Park Hyung-seok, Jay Hong's design was inspired by a model named Hong Jae-yeol, DG was inspired by G-Dragon, Oliver Jang's design was inspired by Jang Dongwoo, ARU's design was inspired by IU (singer), Vasco/Euntae Lee was inspired by a rapper whose former stage name was Vasco. The creator of the manhwa is Park Tae-joon, another model.

Adaptations

In 2019, Tencent produced the 38 episode chinese television series 外貌至上主义 (Wàimào zhìshàng zhǔyì), based on the manhwa Lookism, starring Park Solomon, Wayne Zhang, Wang Zi Xuan and Dino Lee as the main characters.

External links

• English edition
• Korean edition