말하는 감자(The Talking Potato)

Eight years ago, you met the most infuriating and brilliant man in the world. He was your roommate. Everyone loved this motherfucker, not knowing he was a fucking psycho who talked to a plush bunny and watched cartoons every night on the shared tv. He was quickly promoted, had ties to superiors high up in the company, and was always perfectly flawless and neat.

A year later that man is dead. You couldn't be happier. And that is when you meet the angel. He is tiny, messy, and seems new. You personally screw him over out of fear and anger at not being 'worth it' to save. And he isn't mad at you. He admits that he doesn't care if he lives or dies anymore. His own life means nothing to him. But he also promises to save you. And you watch as he does exactly that, in his own brilliant way. He frees you from hell. You won't have to be killed by the same thing that killed your sister. She can rest. You can rest.

You leave him a paper for communication. Just in case. Because you like this man.

You don't hear from him for seven months. Kimd of pisses you off, not hearing from this guy. You gave him an ITEM for gods sake---those are expensive! And a communication one, at that!

And when you hear from him again, he is in trouble. The government stuck him in a darkness for six months, and he doesn't know how to get out. And since he is so new and inexperienced, he didn't know how to use the item you gave him. You call him a fucking idiot--- then rephrase a little, for fear to scaring him off---and from that point onward you help him out. Never face to face, but that's alright. He saved you. Besides, on the rare occasions you do meet somewhat face to face, he is always....cute. Bumbling around in disguise, trying to do insane things and somehow always pulling it off. He is fun to tease. Even if you do not know his face, you like this man a lot.

When you see him last, he is in trouble. And you know who he is, now. You figured it out a while ago. Of course you did, you aren't a moron. You help him. Of course you did. You like this guy a lot. This infuriating, bumbling, adorable, brilliant man. And you may never see him again. But thats okay. This is payback, an eye for an eye. He saved your life and now you can save his. He is gone. You hear, before he disappears, him shout thank you. You tell him you need to pay him back in points later. He doesn't respond.

You haven't seen Kim Soleum in three years. Which is fine. You are doing well for yourself without him. If he was here, he would probably be on your level or higher. He was clever, being director or even CEO wouldn't be unbelievable. And that probably wouldn't be great for either you or him.

You get a call to deal with a branch of the company. They just had a Darkness containment breach. You go to deal with them---after all, this is the perfect way to squeeze them of everything they are worth! The darkness is handled and everything is dealt with. Which means this is the perfect time to make the rounds to see what could be useful or valuable. And as you are looking around....a commotion. The workers are fighting, apparently, in the darkest corner of the facility. As you walk over, two of them run out. One has bruises on his neck and both look terrified. You pay them no mind. Its the person collapsed against the sink who you care about.

Covered in barely healing wounds---most seemingly self inflicted, bruises on his face as if he had been regularly beaten, water covering his front and sticking his hair to his face.... His clothes hang off of him loosely as if he isn't underneath them at all. On his neck is a sticker with a number that declares him as the under even the rats, as well as revealing that this room was where he ate and slept.

There is a decades old shit pile in the corner. A corpse is decomposing on one of the only usable beds. Blood and urine make the whole place reek worse then death. And yet that is where Kim Soleum, once Daydream's poster boy and the man who saved your life, now sleeps.

For days, I was speculating about a particular type of darkness/disaster. Today's episode, a full explanation of what white rope/hose darkness is, solidified that my apocalypse theory may be right, and I would like to share it.

(Disclaimer: it may sound far-fetched & some may probably be a stretch, but still, please bear with me😢)

My theory elucidates 2 things.

1) What is the main cause & 2) How does the apocalypse happen?

Let's begin with identifying what this A-class darkness is.

It is a native darkness that resides in Namhae. Much before Daydream existed.

I speculate it was first discovered when this place was a mine. A place that digs up the minerals hidden underground.

Little did they know that it was not minerals but an unknown being buried deep down. They accidentally woke this ancient darkness. Things turned to chaos. The mine then became derelict, only to be bought by a money & darkness-hungry company.

Inferred from the explanation, this Namhae-residing darkness collects human juice for 1) storing energy & 2) converting it to a useful chemical substance, hormone.

Tyroglobulin, mentioned as one of the components of the liquidified human, is a precursor to Tyrosine, a hormone secreted from the thyroid gland & regulating metabolism.

Also, after the whole facility is encroached by this darkness, it transforms into a fully functional organ of a larger living organism, an endocrine gland.

Putting the given chunks of information all together, Namhae's darkness is turning into a thyroid gland.

As you can see from the human anatomy, the thyroid gland is located at the protruded area of the neck, which we call "Adam's apple".

Please remember this location for later.

To sum up, it is a darkness that:

1. Is hidden in the basement, underground.

2. Is Flesh & blood-based

3. Somewhat follows the cult's doctrine ("Join us & become one")

4. Related to the church's sectors (Lover of Paradise Sect)

5. Turns out to be a part of the giant organism

...Doesn't this sound familiar?

The "HAPPY ENDING Sector" from part 2?

The happy ending sector is located in the underground of Jisan Village, in a ghost story named "Final Ritual Center".

The basement is now in a strange space. A weird-looking corridor with crimson flesh pulsating. A blood vessel connected to the head was elongated, reaching the end of the corridor. As if the thing itself has a suction power, it tries to absorb me.... (Chapter 234)

This ghost story ticks all the boxes from the list above.

It's an underground bunker (1),

covered with pulsating flesh & blood vessels (2),

contaminated by the same ghost story, based on the fish parasite that eats off their tongue & all voluntarily jumped into alcohol to become a human-brewed liquor, thus creating a sense of oneness (3),

...A human body has voluntarily turned into a part of the gigantic organism. (...) (chapter 389)

tied to Happy Ending Sector (4),

... and located in something's stomach (5).

Let's put an emphasis on the "something's stomach/belly."

This part wasn't clearly explained & was just skimmed in Part 2, and we readers quickly moved on to the Sekwang City arc at the moment.

After Part 2, we don't really know what happened to the remaining Happy Ending Sector, and it seems that this place isn't destroyed. Meaning, information regarding the "Final Ritual Center" is still intact & can influence future arcs/episodes.

Moreover, it reads that this ghost story doesn't have a "FIXED LOCATION", "MOVES ALL AROUND THE PLACE," & EVOKING VARIOUS KINDS OF SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA.

What if Namhae's darkness is a variant of this ghost story?

Following the logic of Namhae's darkness, what if Happy Ending Sector's darkness became a fully functional stomach?

The underground of the Happy Ending Sector is functioning as a digestive tract, especially where the stomach & liver are located, since it's associated with alcohol. Alcohol enters the stomach, and the toxic substance inside is detoxed by your liver.

But here's the question.

Why are these darknesses creating a different organ, not the same one?

The answer is simple: It is waking up a gigantic living organism, currently dormant under Korea.

With that in mind, let's look at the map.

This is the map of Korea, each marked with the location of Namhae & Jisan Village. (According to Chapter 195, Jisan Village is located in the city of Cheonan-Asan, 30 minutes by bike from the station, and the circle is exactly where the city is.)

I am going to superimpose a certain image over this map.

Volia! You can see a humanoid being in the shape of Korea's coastline, all curled up.

(Pardon me, this was the best image I could find)

Namhae is located where the thyroid gland should be, & Jisan Village is located where the stomach should be.

There must be sectors everywhere in Korea, and the respective, but same-rooted, darknesses underneath must be creating different organs, depending on where they are (like a stem cell).

When all of the organs from all sectors are successfully created & developed, the organs will connect with each other and turn into a single being, FINALLY WAKING THE CREATURE, under Korea as a result.

This is how the APOCALYPSE occurs.

Soleum did mention the cause of the apocalypse before.

It happens because of the "CONTAINMENT FAILURE," & eventually everyone dies; NO SURVIVORS.

This NATION-SCALED HORROR definitely CANNOT BE contained when awake and would kill all of the living people on the land.

Then, who is this currently dormant cosmic horror?

As many speculate, I also think this being is related to Ireum-nim, the creator of this world.

The most prominent reason for this is that the Ireum-nim worshipping cult (Church of the Luminous Unknown) is involved. But this whole thing reminded me of a character from Korean Mythology, called "Mago Halmi or Grandmother Mago (마고 할미)".

Mago Halmi is a powerful, giant goddess who created the entire landscape of Korea, a goddess of creation.

Her urine formed rivers & her poop formed hills. She moved tons and tons of mud to create mountains and land to live.

Associating this myth with Ireum-nim, a creator god, sleeping after he finished creating the world, kinda makes sense logically & thematically.

For days, I was speculating about a particular type of darkness/disaster. Today's episode, a full explanation of what white rope/hose darkness is, solidified that my apocalypse theory may be right, and I would like to share it.

(Disclaimer: it may sound far-fetched & some may probably be a stretch, but still, please bear with me😢)

My theory elucidates 2 things.

1) What is the main cause & 2) How does the apocalypse happen?

Let's begin with identifying what this A-class darkness is.

It is a native darkness that resides in Namhae. Much before Daydream existed.

I speculate it was first discovered when this place was a mine. A place that digs up the minerals hidden underground.

Little did they know that it was not minerals but an unknown being buried deep down. They accidentally woke this ancient darkness. Things turned to chaos. The mine then became derelict, only to be bought by a money & darkness-hungry company.

Inferred from the explanation, this Namhae-residing darkness collects human juice for 1) storing energy & 2) converting it to a useful chemical substance, hormone.

Tyroglobulin, mentioned as one of the components of the liquidified human, is a precursor to Tyrosine, a hormone secreted from the thyroid gland & regulating metabolism.

Also, after the whole facility is encroached by this darkness, it transforms into a fully functional organ of a larger living organism, an endocrine gland.

Putting the given chunks of information all together, Namhae's darkness is turning into a thyroid gland.

As you can see from the human anatomy, the thyroid gland is located at the protruded area of the neck, which we call "Adam's apple".

Please remember this location for later.

To sum up, it is a darkness that:

1. Is hidden in the basement, underground.

2. Is Flesh & blood-based

3. Somewhat follows the cult's doctrine ("Join us & become one")

4. Related to the church's sectors (Lover of Paradise Sect)

5. Turns out to be a part of the giant organism

...Doesn't this sound familiar?

The "HAPPY ENDING Sector" from part 2?

The happy ending sector is located in the underground of Jisan Village, in a ghost story named "Final Ritual Center".

The basement is now in a strange space. A weird-looking corridor with crimson flesh pulsating. A blood vessel connected to the head was elongated, reaching the end of the corridor. As if the thing itself has a suction power, it tries to absorb me.... (Chapter 234)

This ghost story ticks all the boxes from the list above.

It's an underground bunker (1),

covered with pulsating flesh & blood vessels (2),

contaminated by the same ghost story, based on the fish parasite that eats off their tongue & all voluntarily jumped into alcohol to become a human-brewed liquor, thus creating a sense of oneness (3),

...A human body has voluntarily turned into a part of the gigantic organism. (...) (chapter 389)

tied to Happy Ending Sector (4),

... and located in something's stomach (5).

Let's put an emphasis on the "something's stomach/belly."

This part wasn't clearly explained & was just skimmed in Part 2, and we readers quickly moved on to the Sekwang City arc at the moment.

After Part 2, we don't really know what happened to the remaining Happy Ending Sector, and it seems that this place isn't destroyed. Meaning, information regarding the "Final Ritual Center" is still intact & can influence future arcs/episodes.

Moreover, it reads that this ghost story doesn't have a "FIXED LOCATION", "MOVES ALL AROUND THE PLACE," & EVOKING VARIOUS KINDS OF SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA.

What if Namhae's darkness is a variant of this ghost story?

Following the logic of Namhae's darkness, what if Happy Ending Sector's darkness became a fully functional stomach?

The underground of the Happy Ending Sector is functioning as a digestive tract, especially where the stomach & liver are located, since it's associated with alcohol. Alcohol enters the stomach, and the toxic substance inside is detoxed by your liver.

But here's the question.

Why are these darknesses creating a different organ, not the same one?

The answer is simple: It is waking up a gigantic living organism, currently dormant under Korea.

With that in mind, let's look at the map.

This is the map of Korea, each marked with the location of Namhae & Jisan Village. (According to Chapter 195, Jisan Village is located in the city of Cheonan-Asan, 30 minutes by bike from the station, and the circle is exactly where the city is.)

I am going to superimpose a certain image over this map.

Volia! You can see a humanoid being in the shape of Korea's coastline, all curled up.

(Pardon me, this was the best image I could find)

Namhae is located where the thyroid gland should be, & Jisan Village is located where the stomach should be.

There must be sectors everywhere in Korea, and the respective, but same-rooted, darknesses underneath must be creating different organs, depending on where they are (like a stem cell).

When all of the organs from all sectors are successfully created & developed, the organs will connect with each other and turn into a single being, FINALLY WAKING THE CREATURE, under Korea as a result.

This is how the APOCALYPSE occurs.

Soleum did mention the cause of the apocalypse before.

It happens because of the "CONTAINMENT FAILURE," & eventually everyone dies; NO SURVIVORS.

This NATION-SCALED HORROR definitely CANNOT BE contained when awake and would kill all of the living people on the land.

Then, who is this currently dormant cosmic horror?

As many speculate, I also think this being is related to Ireum-nim, the creator of this world.

The most prominent reason for this is that the Ireum-nim worshipping cult (Church of the Luminous Unknown) is involved. But this whole thing reminded me of a character from Korean Mythology, called "Mago Halmi or Grandmother Mago (마고 할미)".

Mago Halmi is a powerful, giant goddess who created the entire landscape of Korea, a goddess of creation.

Her urine formed rivers & her poop formed hills. She moved tons and tons of mud to create mountains and land to live.

Associating this myth with Ireum-nim, a creator god, sleeping after he finished creating the world, kinda makes sense logically & thematically.