Convenient marker to Sumi

One of the points brought up by @maganbee and @clockworkspider (sorry if I jumpscared anyone with a tag) is that Soleum knows Choi is super smart; Soleum has too many secrets and Choi is smart and so to avoid spilling anything, Soleum chooses to not deal with him too much. I do think this is an aspect, and could lead to Soleum finding interactions with Choi exhausting (who knows if he actually thinks that way though). However, something feels off about even though it makes sense, and I finally realized why.

here’s a little table of contents to summarize what feels off, and I’ll explain the points in more depth

His constant silence makes his talking a tell, which doesn’t help at all if he’s trying to prevent Choi from knowing things.

In dangerous situations, Soleum tends to go for an active approach instead of a passive one. Silence generally is a passive approach. Additionally, actively talking can potentially let Soleum get the upper hand— and he usually is able to change the situation via talking—whereas silence often doesn’t even have that potential.

His interaction with Team B Leader, who is canonically basically a walking lie detector.

Point 1. Choi aside, I think Soleum almost always talks more when he’s trying to hide something (and when he explains something but that might be a personality thing haha~). This can be counterintuitive bc its easily suspicious— over explaining, I mean— but he is creative and smart enough that the explanations he gives on the fly are believable, especially if you don’t know Soleum. Choi is at the disadvantage here because he hasn’t known Soleum for long + Soleum actively tries to hide himself, whereas Soleum has known and presumably analyzed DER Choi for years. But Choi does know that Soleum is typically very very quiet with him, so it’d obviously be suspicious every time Soleum starts talking a lot. Compared to other characters, Soleum talking to Choi has way too much of a contrast. And Choi sees Soleum talking to others (most obviously Jaekwan), so it’s also suspicious in and of itself that Soleum is only unresponsive to Choi. In my personal opinion, the suspiciousness as a result of silence is far more of a con than giving responses as normal, even at the risk of giving too much info.

Everytime Soleum says more than 3 lines there’s a 50% chance of him lying/having a hidden agenda, and Choi is probably aware of that. The reason Choi doesn’t act on this is. Well. It’s Choi, who doesn’t discount any possibility until he’s considered it carefully, and who prefers wait-and-see approaches when it comes to non-urgent situations. Also, Soleum lying while talking does still have more to go off of than Soleum saying nothing, which is probably what would happen if he’s called out for lying (and, like, what most people would do when they’re called out for lying. In my opinion, aside from specific situations or close relationships, calling someone out for lying is more likely to make them defensive than more likely to make them tell the truth).

additionally, Soleum seems to be quiet around Choi even the conversation isn’t dangerous at all. In these situations, it would benefit him to respond more…? I can see his constant silence being beneficial in a ‘he’s silent no matter the topic so it’s never unusual’ but I genuinely can’t tell how well Choi can read Soleum’s reactions. If he can read them well, then the silence doesn’t change anything.

Point 2,

Soleum uses talking as a weapon quite often and he generally prefers a more active approach; if anything, he talks quite normally when it comes to a lot of people he should be nervous about talking to. Ho Yuwon is a very good example, since he’s a superior with a lot of power, but Soleum talks to him quite normally. Soleum using words to get out of a situation is quite common so I’ll list out examples from the top of my head (may be misremembering some. For that same reason these are not in order.). Him getting break time in the quiz show; creating a cult part 1; convincing Nasol to not kill/sacrifice Heeoun (?); convincing Ho Yuwon to not kill him + Choi in the taxi; home shopping channel arc; cult part 2; mansion of the blind convincing his team to let him try and save others; he’s always making people work together, for ex Braun and Jaheon;

there’s definitely more but I’m blanking and I think these prove my point enough ㅠㅠ Talking is definitely a weapon that Soleum is very skilled at using, and he’s experienced at it enough that he should be able to navigate conversations with Choi, especially when it comes to casual conversations. Again, Soleum being so quiet is inherently suspicious/notable because his silence is extremely obvious when compared to how he talks to Jaekwan and other Bureau agents.

Point 3

B leader and Choi have a lot in common. Shrewd, observant, seemingly approachable, thinks quickly, leaves possible avenues open as much as possible, they hide their own thoughts / suspicions, etc etc etc. additionally, B leader is canonically basically a lie detector

now, Soleum isn’t that talkative, but he is more talkative to B leader than he is to Choi. Would like to note that at least part of this may be because Soleum’s curious about a bunch of things from the early days. (Screenshots also include another example of Soleum talking more when he’s trying to explain/lie/do something)

Of course, B leader is also more intimidating than Choi. He presses silences instead of filling them, as well. Even then, I think Soleum is more willing to give responses (to show he’s listening) and more willing to ask questions (again may be due to curiosity as a DER fan).

minor tangent but Soleum does listen well in serious conversations and when he’s being given advice. He’s a ‘good child’ for a reason, after all. Hmmm because of this it’s hard to tell if sometimes his silence is due to respectfulness or other reasons (like, not wanting to give more info than necessary).

additional points

@maganbee also points out that Soleum doesn’t like lying to ‘good people’, which is true. It’s a very good point, and is probably an additional aspect; after all if he talks to Choi more, he’d have to lie to him more. But Soleum also doesn’t lie that much to the main cast generally (Saheon being the exception), so I’m not sure if it means anything~. Also, I think he’s lied to Jaekwan a fair amount, who would definitely fall under ‘good person’. Youngeun, I’m less sure of how much he’s lied to her… in fact he ends up not lying to most of the Daydream agents very often, primarily because the agents don’t really pry into each others’ lives.

I was trying to think of other characters who Soleum may be this silent toward, other than Choi. The potential other person I think he might not respond to as much is Seonghae but he’s contaminated in most of their interactions ㅠㅠ I distinctly remember a conversation where Seonghae was adamantly saying Soleum was ‘good’ and Soleum was fairly quiet in it… likely due to not agreeing or because he’s awkward about complimented. Anyway, Seonghae and Choi are similar with portrayed upbeat energy so I considered if maybe Soleum is bad with those types; I went back to check. This is how he talks to Seonghae (and Leopard, both energetic people) in chapter 68 and 70

Vs Choi in 143 (paraphrased convo but accurate silences),,, could’ve been a Grapes persona thing but it shouldn’t be.

3. Just to address it, id like to mention that Soleum does weaponize his silence against Choi in 193. It’s pretty funny tbh because the way he ‘stalls for time’ is legit just. Saying nothing. So yes, Soleum’s silence has been to his advantage. But I think this is him using what’s available instead of him, like, being silent this whole time just for the sake of this one time. I do believe that his constant silence with Choi has more negatives than benefits, objectively speaking. The silence is only suspicious after all, and as a spy he should be trying to blend in. And if he talked to Choi more, then it would’ve been prime opportunity to ‘ask for little favors’ or get more information and things like that. Slightly risky, but not as much as silence, and any exchange comes with risks.

all I’ve done this far is disprove potential reasons, so what are actual reasons for Soleum’s silence

Well. Who knows. For being the narrator, Kim Soleum sure is hard to understand. I think silence is due to a multitude of reasons, including Soleum potentially finding it tiring to talk to Choi, and Soleum not wanting to lie. <- update as of,,, 6 hours later? : I’ve actually come to a conclusion on this that I’ll make a separate post on later, and I’ll link it when it’s done

I think one of the definitive reasons is because Soleum thinks he can get away with being silent to Choi. An accurate belief, evidentially. The thing with silence is that it’s often risky because it can be escalating or de-escalating, and is so vague that it can be read in any matter of ways including the worst possible way. For example with B leader, it’s possible that Soleum being too silent could make B leader think Soleum is being un-cooperative— then causing B leader to turn hostile or consider Soleum as an enemy. Not a good outcome, right? To be perfectly honest, this also should’ve been a consideration for Choi, especially since we know he’s been aware of Soleum’s daydream identity from the very beginning. If Soleum was a spy with no knowledge of Choi, he’d honestly be stupid for being as silent as he is, both because of how suspicious it is and because of how easily it’s seen as a lack of cooperation. Choi could have killed Soleum or outed Soleum or imprisoned Soleum at any moment and for good reason, because Soleum is a spy. With these considerations, why is Soleum being so silent even though it’s obviously pretty risky? I think it’s because he knows he can get away with it, because he has a decent idea of Choi’s personality from the wiki. At the very least, he knows that Choi does more of a wait-and-see, and doesn’t usually take drastic action. With other people, Soleum’s silence can get him killed. With Choi that isn’t the case, and Soleum knows that.

I’ll throw out some other possible reasons as well, without necessarily strongly believing in all of them. After all, Soleum knowing he can get away with silence doesn’t explain why he does it. Keep in mind that his silence is very likely due to a multitude of factors.

Soleum is naturally pretty quiet, I.e. his very short responses in his texts to his friends in ch 1. If he’s ‘naturally’ quiet then why isn’t he silent to everyone? Well, the situation, and you need to conversational to get by in society, and also it’s only polite to talk to people. By default this would imply that Soleum is most quiet with Choi because he’s most comfortable with Choi which is. A questionable assumption, and would be related to the fanboy Soleum idea. Or it means he’s too tired but he has the energy to talk to other characters, so.

Soleum is trying very hard to not form attachments to everyone. This is canon. The reason it’s a ‘possible’ reason is because he’s still talking to everyone except Choi

(fanboy Soleum theory) @somber-cryptid and @ghoststorygottatheorydump and @everyonesfavoritebastard have brought up that maybe Soleum is starstruck because he’s a major Choi fan. So he’s too nervous to talk to Choi. To my knowledge there’s nothing to disprove this. Plus, Soleum talks a bit more to Choi in part 2, which could be a result of enough time passing for him to be less starstruck; it’s hard to tell due to all the contamination and I…still haven’t done a part 2 full reread, so I could be wrong.

@ghoststorygottatheorydump also says that maybe Soleum feels awkward because he wrote something in relation to Choi (don’t think he wrote Choi because he seems more of a lurker and wouldn’t have written anything that early, and I don’t think he wrote the Looky Mart entry because he…seemed pretty unhappy with it). Aka, he’s silent because of awkwardness and maybe guilt. There’s nothing to disprove this. As for why he felt guilty, it’s possible he wrote the disaster that gave Choi his neck scar (possible as in it hasn’t been disproven LOL)

(fanboy theory) I have a minor theory/headcanon that Soleum looked up to DER Choi and admires him. If so, it’s possible that Soleum is silent because he cares too much about Choi’s opinion. When you admire someone a lot, you don’t want to say the wrong thing because you put a lot on emphasis on their opinion, right? It’s a bit different from being starstruck. As a side note, i do wonder if this (and being starstruck) could tie into his interactions with B leader, since B leader is from the early DER days

Contamination. Just because it’s alwaysss a possibility (esp with the story usurper page). not sure how it’d relate to Soleum’s interactions with Choi specifically tho.

Update: @mr-crescent brought up intimidation and I don’t think Soleum would be intimidated in a traditional sense, but if he’s built up an image of DER Choi in his mind, then a certain type of intimidation makes sense, esp if he has this passive belief (from reading DER and maybe being a fanboy) that Choi always figures out the truth or something like that. Even if he logically knows that’s not the case, the brain isn’t such an easy thing~

Hahhh I wish I had more possible reasons that aren’t related to the fanboy theory but I’m blanking a lot. If Soleum hates Choi or was scared of him, he’d still be able to talk to him, so it’s not those. There’s no other reason for him to feel awkward or uncomfortable or anxious around Choi, at least not moreso than other characters…

Haha is this what Choi feels like? Soleum is so hard to understand, props to bds-nim for creating such a mysterious narrator/protagonist

The Baek Deoksu Phenomenon

The possibility of web novels, as seen through ‘Debut Or Die’ and ‘Even If You Fall Into A Ghost Story, You Have To Go To Work’.

by Lee Jayeon / Cine 21 no.1517

This April, on the opening rush that happened in front of the franchise cafe EDIYA, there were a few notable points. The first question in taking a look at the scene - are opening rushes at franchise cafes a rarity? Not so much. Every season, we see cafes filled with people rushing in to get original merchandise. However, what EDIYA offered this time were not the franchise’s own branded merchandise, but idol photo cards, acrylic stands and figurine magnets. A second question. Are opening rushes to get idol merch a rarity? Also no. However, the idol we are discussing here do not exist in the real world - they are fictional characters from a web novel. It is the boy group TeSTAR from the web novel ‘Debut or Die’ (DoD).

It’s true - the result of the collaboration between EDIYA and the web novel <DoD> have been record-setting. The photo card set that offers two random photo cards sold more than a hundred thousand within three days, and the limited collaboration goods consisting of acrylic set and figurines + slogans sold out in four minutes. The event was held around the same time the idol group TeSTAR officially debuted, and the fans of the original work quickened their pace to the cafe as if a real idol was having a come-back.

The basic premise of <DoD>, in which Ryu Geonwoo, who has been preparing for the civil servant exam for four years, finds himself in the body of Park Moondae, having to debut as an idol within 365 days to survive, has its roots in the common grammar of webnovels, Hoe-Bing-Hwan (회빙환 : regression, possession, reincarnation). So does the author’s next work, <Even If You Fall Into A Ghost Story You Still Have To Go To Work> (GSGW) which has achieved ‘The Great Unification of Otaku’ one more time after <DoD>. The main character Kim Soleum, having visited a ghost story fantasy popup store, finds himself sucked into a real ghost story world, and solves ghost story mission after ghost story mission in order to return to his original world.

Ryu Geonwoo, who is highly knowledgeable of the K-pop industry due to his experience of earning money by taking pictures of idols, and Kim Soleum, who is well-versed in ghost story creations in the first place, share a common trait - they have a detailed understanding of the world they suddenly find themselves thrown into. They smoothly solve every problem with their deft people skills and strategical movements. Considering the characteristics of Hoe-Bing-Hwan, which guarantees catharsis from the dramatic victory of the protagonist who is practically living their life for the second time, <DoD> and <GSGW> also achieve safe entertainment within the genre.

However, the two novels don’t just exist within a peaceful fence. Although they follow traditional grammar and virtue of web novels, they freely cross the line in their own ways. What characteristics of <DoD> and <GSGW> have led to the wide fandom interactions? What kind of popular subtext might be embedded in the warm reaction to these novels? How did these two novels widen the variety of web novels? In the year 2025, to foresee the archetypical possibilities of web novel IPs, we aim to take a look back at Baek Deoksu’s footsteps.

The Records Set By <DoD> and <GSGW>

To look at Baek Deoksu as a syndrome, one must first look at the cultural/industrial achievements of their novels. <DoD>, first published in KakaoPage in January 2021, was popular among young subscribers from the beginning - currently in July 2025, it has 650 million cumulative views. Even after it ended in 2023, it reached third place in KakaoPage’s 2024 report’s ‘Works with Most Number of Comments’.

Due to the urgency of the premise in which he has to debut within a set amount of time to keep his life, Park Moondae joins an idol survival program, <Idol Inc>. The point to which he has returned is three years ago. Because he already remembers past information and data, Park Moondae respond calmly and confidently to problems and unexpected situations lurking around every corner, until he finally debuts as first place. More than anything, the way he smartly and quickly avoids the so-called ‘devil’s editing’, reminds readers of the nature of idol survival programs, leading them to get hyper-immersed. As such, <DoD> reached wide audiences, from a highly engaged group of fans who have personally experienced K-pop culture to the general public who likes survival TV shows. It’s read by a wide age group, from teens to those in their thirties. In the web novel market, trend shifts at a moment’s notice, and fnas are always hungry for new subject matter - <DoD> contributed to the diversity of subject matter by bringing together a well-known but new subject material (idol debut) and the classic Hoe-Bing-Hwan. This fresh attempt not only created an industrywide flow, it became a chance for the novel to easily reach a wide variety of audiences.

In May 2023, <DoD> opened a popup store at Hyundai Department Store ‘The Hyundai Seoul’. It was the first web novel / webtoon IP to do so. Moreover, the average spending per person was over 500 thousand won (360 USD), and the total number of visitors reached twenty thousand. Discussing this heated and crowded event, Ha Deokho, the IP Business Team Leader of KWBooks, explains : “Though we can’t say a popup store is the standard of the novel’s popularity, considering the budget/process/collaborations, it isn’t a project that we can simply start due to good feelings. With <DoD>, we carefully investigated the popularity of the novel, the immersion, and the online/offline fandom reaction, and concluded we could open a popup store.”

The opening rush was also heated. From before dawn, two thousand people stood in line. More than twice of the opening rush for the popup store for <The First Slam-Dunk> which was 800 people. “On the first day, there was a line from The Hyundai Seoul to Yeouido Station, 15 minutes by walking distance. There were even cases where people who were curious about the crowd became new fans. We were very surprised and grateful for this opening rush, but we don’t take it for granted. We are continuing to discuss methods to improve the convenience of fans in future events.”

The characteristic of the <DoD> fandom is that it is very similar to an actual idol fandom culture. “When planning merch, we take idol culture into account a lot. The most popular merch in the popup store was the acrylic stand. Since these are idols, the fans highly prefer visual merchandise that vividly shows each member’s illustration. In addition, we developed perfumes for each member. Many idol fans are fond of matching scents that would fit their favorites. We discussed with the author Baek Deoksu which scent would fit the TeSTAR members - we planned the bottle’s shape, the weight, even the packaging.” When you smell the scent, you will remember the popup store, and <DoD> - the novel’s world has been connected and expanded.

<GSGW>, the author’s next work after <DoD>, is referred to as ‘The Great Unification of Otaku’. Otaku from all sorts of genres have joined Kim Soleum’s adventures in ghost stories. <GSGW> reached ‘Milliion Page’ within five days of launch, a record in 2024 KakaoPage - for the ‘Fantasy-Modern Fantasy-Wuxia’ genre, the quickest ever. (Editor’s note : ‘Million Page’ is a KakaoPage Brand for novels that were either seen by a million readers or reached cumulative million USD revenue.) Currently in 2025 July, <GSGW> has over 190 million views and three hundred thousand comments. Its first official merchandise, the ‘Daydream Inc. Onboarding Kit’ that recreated what the protagonist received in-novel, sold over 10 thousand sets, reaching 500 million won (360 thousand USD) in revenue. There is an exhibition planned for September. Ha Deokho IP Business Team Leader says : “It will be an exhibition in which the attendants will feel a sense of immersion as if they have fallen into that world, just like the protagonist.” It will be a story experience that follows a narrative, which brings into real life the scenes you have only imagined. The duration will be fairly long as well.

Derivative Works - How a Vibrant Fandom Breathes and Evolves Alongside the Novel’s Universe

In an attempt to analyze the public’s excitement for the two webnovels from an industrial point of view, we requested distribution platforms and industry stakeholders for an analysis and commentary on the factors behind its success - but in the end, all declined to participate. We could sense the caution and reluctance surrounding the idea of making an official statement about a specific work. At the same time, this cautious refusal itself shows one side of the current fervor for the novels. It seems that due to the immediate and explosive fandom reaction, the distribution platform and the publisher can’t help but be cautious in making official statements. This heated fandom response can be interpreted in many aspects.

First, there is the area of derivative works. Derivative works go further than drawing (or writing) imitating the original work. Rather, it refers to delving into the small gaps left unspoken by the original work—proposing imaginative and novel ideas that breathe life into the novel’s universe and expand it in vibrant ways. One can present a situation in which two characters who have no relation to each other grow close, or have characters fall into entirely different worlds. Then what about <GSGW>? What kind of fluidity and creative flexibility does <GSGW> potentially hold?

To hear voices in real life, we interviewed actual fans of <GSGW> who create various fanworks such as fan fictions, illusts and comics. What they all pointed out in common is that <GSGW>’s episodes consist of ghost stories.

Here is the more detailed plot of <GSGW>. Kim Soleum, who originally liked a ghost story creative work called <Darkness Exploration Records>, visits a related popup store where he falls into the ghost story world. He opens his eyes to find himself in Daydream Inc. In this company which sells various products by collecting energy that are emanated from various ghost stories, employees go to work risking their lives. Just as a lawyer works on their cases, as a surgeon works on surgery, the people there solve ghost stories one by one. The thing is, this <Darkness Exploration Records> read by Kim Soleum is, to make a comparison, something like Namuwiki (Translator’s note : a popular subculture wiki in korea). It is an open-source online platform where everyone can participate - various ghost stories are created from the original archetype. Therefore some patterns emergy. Although the whole story is connected, it is divided into episodes. Each feature different ghost stories. This is where the gap lies where fans have the chance to get involved.

“Because the basic format is Soleum entering the ghost story, solving the problem and then coming back, fans create original ghost stories to see how Soleum would react, or how Soleum would interact with other characters. Whether it be comics of fanfics, this is the popular format. The <Darkness Exploration Records> that Soleum read is becoming real life.” (Fan A). With the protagonist at the center, the fans create ghost stories which involve the characters that they want him to be connected with, or the happenings that they want him to experience. What happened inside the world of the novel is being recreated in real life. When you think about how passionate love and imaginative variations serve to extend the life of the original work, <GSGW> is certainly moving forward with its fans.

There are characteristics within derivative works due to the original work being a web novel. According to how the character is described in-novel, each fan imagines a different face. The less description there is, the less limits there are to their imagination. “This character called Kwak Jegang barely has any description in the novel. So the readers imagine long hairs, glasses, and such - as a result, this character has a true variety of presentation. There are sad stories, too. Everyone’s been drawing characters the way they want, but when the official description or the illustration that goes against it is posted, there are mumblings and mutterings before the artist deletes their work. Our cultural heritage, gone. (laugh)” (Fan A)

Of course, the derivative work has its dark side as well. There are fans who sell actual merchandise of in-novel items or symbols. For example, Braun. This bunny keyring that Kim Soleum holds inside his chest pocket is his good friend and advisor. Fans made actual keyrings of Braun out of love for the character, but in the heated atmosphere, there began to emerge full-fledged profit-driven activities that are difficult to regard as mere fandom activities. <GSGW> fan B remembered the atmosphere of November 2024 as this : “Those people commonly known as “dealers” began producing and selling merchandise. Recreating exactly what the original work describes, or adding imagination. The latter is part of the charm of derivative works, but at some point, it has started to tread a fine line. For example, the fan merch for the Supernatural Disater Bureau used symbols similar to actual governmental agencies. Because there weren’t official merch back then, people began to treat it like official.”

Hyper-immersion is fandom’s significant play material, but a need for a divide that makes clear the virtue of where unofficial merchandise must stay began to rise. As such, KWBooks announced guidelines for derivative works twice. November 2024, and May 2025. It hasn’t been unheard of to set the direction and limits for fandom’s play culture, but it isn’t a commonly done thing either, so it gained some attention.

Ha Deokho Business Team Leader explained : “Voluntary derivative works are very important from an industrial point of view, but the pursuit of excessive profit not only disrupts the industry ecosystem but also dampens the atmosphere within the fandom.” “The MZ generation needs a playground where they can play freely. A space where they can talk about the things they like and actively express their thoughts on it has become important. That is the current derivative works. However, because items from the original work were repeatedly becoming fan merch, ironically, the original publisher was having to tread carefully. Ideally we wish to create new merchandise that is not currently available. In addition, when unofficial merch is first registered onto the fans’ brains, they are sometimes taken as if they are official merchandise. It was about time that a precise guideline for a more healthy fandom culture had to be announced.”

After the two guidelines were announced, the overheated fan-merch culture began to cool down. It was made possible by the active involvement of fans who brought attention to the problematic situation and the company’s flexible response in quickly recognizing and addressing the issue.

Super IP, Baek Deoksu : What Only They Can Elicit

At first glance, the world imagined by Baek Deoksu seems like a world of despair. Even under the refreshing goal of idol debut you have to be concerned for your life, and the grotesque descriptions of various ghost stories raise goosebumps just as horror movies do. But at the same time, Baek Deoksu finds hope. The premise that Kim Soleum, the protagonist of <GSGW>, is a huge scaredy-cat, doesn’t merely stop at eliciting empathy from the reader. Despite that, he moves forward. Having witnessed employees dying before his very eyes, having to shudder in fear as he touches his own corpse, Kim Soleum thinks of what he can do at that moment. Fear and horror are his main emotions, and identity. But that does not make him turn away from others. He doesn’t abandon others due to fear - he holds others close due to fear. A hope that comes to you in the darkest form possible. It is what Baek Deoksu holds close in their hands at the face of any danger.

That is not all. Baek Deoksu doesn’t divide characters clearly into light and dark, good and evil. In Baek Deoksu’s world, the annoying coworker today can be the savior of tomorrow. Did not the TV-headed guy from the Tuesday Talk Show who killed off participants without any guilt become ‘Braun’ who shares his emotions with Soleum? (Unbelievable.)