Prologue: First Footprint in the Snow
I have a perfectly ordinary hobby.
Actually, calling it a hobby might be a stretch. This is just my daily routine.
Isn't there any killer new release yet…
On the subway, on the bus, in the bathroom, lying in bed before sleep—whenever a free moment floats up, my hand naturally reaches for my phone and opens a webtoon.
I watch a lot of YouTube too, but I prefer webtoons more.
And the thing I care about most in a webtoon is the art style.
It's not that I favor any particular look—it just shouldn't be uncomfortable to look at. Sometimes a series has incredible ratings but an art style that hurts the eyes, and I pass on those without a second thought. One glance at the first panel of chapter one, and I'm out.
It's a visual medium. If looking at it is unpleasant, no amount of great writing will make me want to keep reading.
Huh?? What's this?
A title sitting at the very bottom of the popularity-sorted webtoon list suddenly snagged my eye.
Whoa… the art is insane. Why is this all the way down here?
With webtoons, good art can carry a mediocre story to a certain extent. This work was a textbook example of that. The early plot wasn't particularly gripping, but the art kept pulling my eyes in—top-tier artwork paired with a thoroughly average story.
It wasn't some new release I'd been saving up, either. Over two hundred chapters were already piled up.
So why was this thing dead last?
It was so absurd I backed out to the list and checked the upload dates.
Today…?
From chapter one all the way through the final installment, every single chapter had been registered today. No "New" badge. No ratings. No comments.
I can't let this slide!
I never leave comments. That time is better spent reading the next chapter or hunting down another series—more efficient, and more fun. But just like an untouched field of fresh snow makes you want to run straight through it, the empty comment section naturally pulled me in.
And so, for the first time in my life, I left a comment on a webtoon.
Felt pretty good.
Wonder if this'll become a top comment later?
But why did it have to be an apocalypse… Now I'm not getting any sleep tonight!!!
Two hundred thirty-eight chapters total. Sleep was not on the table until I'd finished every last one of them. And of course, that meant two hundred thirty-eight comments as well.
Wait—did I just get a notification?
Ah, whatever…
Time to sleep…
I'm so damn tired…
Still, that was genuinely fun for the first time in a while…
Think the finale will go up tomorrow…?