W-Two Worlds Apart

episode 16 (Final)

We’re out of time and out of cliffhanger exits, and the final chapter of our story is hurtling towards that final frame. Will our hero find a way to escape life as a manhwa hero, or die trying to change his fate? Will two worlds implode, or will our brains implode first? And what really defines a happy ending? The answer may surprise you…

 
FINAL EPISODE

It’s the final episode of the webtoon, and Kang Chul, Yeon-joo, and Dad are stuck inside the manhwa world until the ending, happy or sad. With the police closing in on them, Kang Chul makes the decision to erase Yeon-joo from his family registry and pulls off their wedding rings. Out in the real world, Crazy Dog reaches this part in the episode and his jaw drops.

Chul asks Yeon-joo to decide what kind of ending they get, promising to follow her lead. So she puts her wedding ring back on and calls his plan nonsense. Yessss, this is why we love you! She reaches for his hand, which is still flickering in and out and threatening to disappear, and slides his ring back on too. She says there won’t be any ending where anyone disappears, and all of them will get out of here together.

He points out that she can’t live in here for the rest of her life, but she says that the three of them can live together, and argues that visiting him in jail for the rest of their lives is better than never seeing him again. Wait, is this really your plan? Chul doesn’t think such an uneventful ending is possible, but Yeon-joo stubbornly refuses to imagine any sort of ending where Dad and Kang Chul aren’t both by her side.

Yeon-joo says that the only options for leaving her are for him to get sick or die of old age, and declares that her decision is made: They will live out the rest of their lives in here and die. The end.

It doesn’t seem like Chul thinks this is possible (and frankly neither do I), but he can’t argue and asks her to draw them an exit and a car for now, so that they can escape.

On the drive, Chul says, “You said once that your husband never told you that he loved you… I love you.” Agh, why does that make me more scared than happy? It brings Yeon-joo to tears, and she cries silently in the backseat.

Chul drops her off with Dad in a motel before going back to rescue Do-yoon. He tells Assemblyman Han’s henchmen that he wants to see Do-yoon alive before handing anything over, and they turn Do-yoon over to him without a fuss. He’s bloodied and barely conscious, and Chul makes sure that his bodyguards take Do-yoon to the hospital. He remains behind, knowing that this is the deal.

Assemblyman Han is waiting for the tablet, but Chul says he doesn’t have it, and offers up a copy of the CCTV footage of him being tortured in here a year ago. Chul warns him that he has multiple copies, and threatens to turn it over to the police if Assemblyman Han ever attacks one of his people again.

Chul adds that he should stop looking for the tablet if he doesn’t want a syringe in his neck, and turns to go. Assemblyman Han stops him with a question: “What if this ends only when you die?” Before Chul can even react, Assemblyman Han pulls out a gun and shoots him in the chest. Gack.

It sends Chul tumbling backwards, and he lands on the floor with a thud. Back in the motel room, Yeon-joo notices Dad’s hands suddenly solidifying, and she starts to panic, knowing that this means Chul is in danger.

Assemblyman Han says he heard something strange, about two worlds, and how Kang Chul is the hero of a manhwa and he’s the villain. Dude, take a number. Assemblyman Han says he thought it was crazy at first, but it explains so much of what he couldn’t understand before.