Responses
I also wanna say I made a comment about Jinwoo also hiding something big along with Guwon. Chapter 2 he wakes up trying to stab Guwon and keeps having flashbacks about his dad. The author might be trying to make him seem like just a victim but I think their might be something dark within Jinwoo too that hasn’t been explored yet.
PLEASE someone add onto their theories here. This story is a lot more interesting than I thought it would ever be ╥﹏╥
Guwon is so interesting to me. Sisyphus established himself as a ruler of great intelligence and ambition after killing the previous ruler and manipulating the political landscape to gain the loyalty of the people JUST like the story suggests Guwon did by having him say, “I’m grateful you all chose what was right”. In one of the previous chapters he says “I’ve always wanted a home like this” with no telling how he put together a village all by himself. I believe he didn’t and took it just like Sisyphus by killing the previous “king”. Not only that but his name meaning “Salvation” is just hilarious in a post apocalyptic world especially considering this one is clearly dark asf. There is no salvation but Guwon has made it so there technically is. A salvation in which there are strict rules now that it’s been taken over by a cunning king which would also explain why everyone seems to avoid him.
Not only that but in chapter 3 Guwon brings up a large boulder at the top of a hill and how it reminds him of his dedication to protecting the town and everyone in it. He said he’d do anything to protect them as he ruthlessly plunges a zombie with his bare hands (which I think parallels what happens in this chapter). In relation to that, Sisyphus’ punishment condemned him to eternally roll a boulder up a hill. His punishment was a result of his attempts to cheat death, including trapping the god of death and returning from the underworld which might pertain to Guwon’s character design with all his stitching and black skin.
It should be known that Sisyphus became king by taking advantage of an unstable political climate through trickery and manipulation. Manipulation he then used to trick death twice, first by chaining the god of death and a second by lying to the goddess of death. This will probably come up more later in Guwon’s backstory as I believe he has already tricked death twice and somehow got that boulder up the hill (metaphorically) even though he was supposed to be condemned to endlessly pushing it for all of eternity. Especially since Sisyphus’ punishment is often interpreted as a metaphor for the human condition: the endless struggle against forces beyond one’s control, never yielding any final success or relief, it would only make since that Guwon’s name means salvation. Because despite all the odds, he got that boulder to the top.