#whb chapter 1

So, Minhyeok thought that what happened with Gabriel/MC was a dream. Which was also said in the Halloween event.

But this reinforces that Minhyeok died. He sacrificed his life for MC.

Maybe when Minhyeok died he lost his memories relating to angels and heaven, etc. because of the trauma of dying.

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In the Halloween event, Minhyeok meets the three Seraphim. Minhyeok doesn’t show any recognition of them, but they’re acting a bit oddly towards him.

Michael talks about sorrow, attacks Minhyeok, Leviathan saves him, Michael is about to try again, then stares at Minhyeok’s chest where he was cut by Gabriel, and smiles. He says “Now that I see you, I am no longer in sorrow”. Then he leaves.

Minhyeok sees Raphael, who starts the meeting by saying, “Hey, you’re here. Since you’re here, leave that tasty looking head behind”.

Raphael stomps towards Minhyeok, rips his shirt open, stares at and then places his ear to Minhyeok’s chest. Raphael listens, sniffs and licks at his chest. Then he bursts out laughing and smacks Minhyeok into a wall hard enough to leave a hole. Raphael stares and then leaves.

Gabriel shows up and immediately slashes Minhyeok with his scythe, but Minhyeok was fine. Gabriel stands in front of Minhyeok and says, “Ahh? Aren’t you…? Why are you alive? Did I say? That we’ve met?”

Minhyeok: “You! The angel I saw in my dream!? Wait… that wasn’t a dream!"

Gabriel: “Dream? Ahh, you consider it to be…”

Satan attacks Gabriel, who recognizes the situation is now unfavourable to him. He relaxes and looks at Minhyeok with something like a smile. Gabriel says “Did I say? That I’ve never said anything like this before. See you again”. Then he leaves.

Satan explains Gabriel’s scythe and why Minhyeok didn’t die from being cut by it for a second time. The scythe is bound by a rule of God. Anything that it cuts dies. No exceptions.

MC made a contract with Satan in exchange for Minhyeok being brought back to life. Which falls under another rule of God. The first promise must be kept because God liked miracles.

These two rules of God clashed and created a loophole. Since Gabriel’s scythe never needs to cut something more than once to kill it, any cut past one isn’t included in the rule of God, so it doesn’t result in death.

It’s rare for the Seraphim to show up in Hell, except for Gabriel, and even more rare for all three of them to come at once. So, the fact that they all show up when Minhyeok's there is notable.

So, the question is do the Seraphim know Minhyeok in some way or are they simply reacting to Gabriel's scythe scar on his chest?

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Minhyeok suddenly collapses in Chapter 7. And I find it very notable that it shows what’s happening to MC at that moment. They don’t usually check back in on MC during the Minhyeok side stories. So, the fact that Minhyeok collapsed at the same time MC is being strangled to death is suspicious to me.

Minhyeok seemingly collapsed for no reason. There’s nothing physically wrong with him.

The game specifically makes note that Minhyeok touches the back of his neck for some reason.

Minhyeok calls out to his brother and his brother asks who he is, surprising everyone including himself.

Minhyeok is physically fine, and yet he feels heavy.

Minhyeok touches the back of his neck and feels heavy. This could be connected somehow. Something entered through the back of his neck to make him feel fuller? A different soul? Forgotten memories? Angelic energy?

The crucial thing here is that Minhyeok’s brother doesn’t remember/recognize him for a moment. This could be for several different reasons. Like something has so fundamentally changed about Minhyeok that now his own brother doesn’t recognize him. Or maybe the magic that made Minseok think of Minhyeok as his brother was disrupted for a moment.

Minhyeok is acting much more subdued than usual.

Minhyeok is still acting odd. Sadly mentioning his want for a family and his wish to have grown up faster.

Minhyeok is acting very out of character. He references growing up again, but he seems negative about it this time, not positive.

Minhyeok has a lot he wants to forget. He never discussed anything like this before chapter 7, which leads me to believe that he regained memories or knowledge when he collapsed that he wishes he didn't.

He talks about Fererere being garbage when it's clear he's really talking about himself. So, he has a lot of guilt/regret/self-loathing.

Minhyeok basically flat-out states that he's actually an angel. How exactly he relates to the angelic faction is left for debate. And then, just as Minhyeok is about to open up about himself, he disappears right in front of Ppyong.

MC and their demon comrades have been looking for the Ark of the Covenant, which holds the Tabot in real life (the Ten Commandments inscribed on a stone tablet), but, in WHB, it holds the 'True Seed of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil'. A cursed relic containing the power of the purest good and most chaotic evil, that turns good into evil, evil into good, life into death and death into life. Only God can handle it.

But when they reach the Ark of the Covenant, it's open and nothing's inside. Eventually, they find a human child that resembles Minhyeok in the room that holds the Ark. This happens at the same time Minhyeok disappears from the human world.

The child part is throwing me off. Minhyeok does talk about growing up, but I really don't know how or why he would turn into a child at the same time the Tree Seed went missing. MC didn't open the Ark, someone else did and maybe they did this somehow. But why? And MC is supposed to be the only one who could open the Ark anyways. The only other two should be Solomon and God, and they're gone. So who opened the Ark? The child Minhyeok somehow? Implying the child is somehow related to God?

Maybe this is not the real Minhyeok, but like some kind of manifestation of MC's desires. Or like maybe it's the manifestation of the Tree Seed itself? And the real Minhyeok just got yoinked back to heaven for some reason at the same time.

At the end of the PG13 trailer, Gabriel seems like he's reuniting with a high ranking angel that looks very similar to Minhyeok. The hair is not a one-to-one match, but it is very close, and a specific tuft of hair on the right side of his head is exactly the same. To me, this has to be Minhyeok in some form.

Here's my Minhyeok theory:

Minhyeok is some way related to angels/God, but he also somehow has a human side. I'm not too concerned about the specifics. The important part is that he knows about angels and demons. For some reason, he's near Solomon's Descendant, who he's supposed to hate, but eventually he falls in love with them, and he disguises himself as Minseok's brother to be close to them as a human.

So, Minhyeok saves MC from Gabriel, but when he dies he loses his memories (and maybe angelic powers), so that's why he doesn't know anything about angels or demons in the main story. Something happens when Minhyeok collapses in Chapter 7 and he regains his memories.

Then, at that moment he disappeared, Minhyeok was split in two, his old angel self that despises Solomon's Descendants and his new human self that loves MC, which looks young because it is young compared to his angel self. And the two selves got sent to their most important places respectively: heaven for Angel!Minhyeok and 'wherever MC is' for Human!Minhyeok. Lots of angst ensues!

I don't expect this theory to be true, other than Minhyeok being related to heaven in some way. But I think this concept could be really interesting.