The man was reading a webtoon.

The so-called “Magic School Kids.”

Just a few years ago it had been all the rage.

Back in high school, every Tuesday the greeting was, “Did you read Magic School Kids yesterday?”

It was that popular. But now it was being torn apart for over-the-top plot twists and character breakdowns.

Once every chapter scored 9.9, but now it languished at an average rating of 7.2.

The top comments on the latest episode were a complete mess—nothing to do with the story itself.

“Hope the author gets milked until they die lol”

“It’s minus 3 degrees today. Everyone watch out for colds!”

“Did you know you’re supposed to wash strawberries with a toothbrush?”

The man was a devoted reader of that very story.

Throughout his high school years it had been his rock, so no matter what appeared, he always gave it a perfect ten and a like.

But this chapter he couldn’t.

“What on earth....”

He stared at his phone with a stunned face.

Unaware of anyone watching, he looked horrified.

— Magic School Kids Episode 592 [Final]

The finale’s rating was 1.0

Normally when something ends you feel a fondness and give it a generous score, but one point?

And honestly, it was deserved.

In the finale, the hero and his friends faced the villains and met a gruesome death.

The comment section went berserk, and online communities were ablaze with threads titled “Today’s Magic School Kids Finale.jpg.”

The man blinked in disbelief.

What on earth had happened?

No—why....

Tears welled in his eyes.

Even as he scrolled he couldn’t believe it.

All the characters he’d loved for years were dying.

Some minor characters didn’t even have a last word—they just turned to dust.

If it hadn’t been the end of the serialization, there might have been hope of a rescue.

But before him glowed the word “Final.”

Truly over.

Ignoring everyone around him, the man burst into tears.

Everything around him turned gray.

If you wanted to end it, just end it. Did it have to be like this?

Eun-ho, Eun-sung, Ji-eun, Teacher Park....

Did they have to send off those characters this way?

He felt ridiculous crying over a webtoon—but it had carried him through tough times.

Whenever he felt lonely or sad, he drew strength from the friendships and love in its pages.

Now it felt like someone had stolen it all away.

“If I were the author....”

If he were the author, he wouldn’t have ended it like this.

As he thought this, something strange began to happen.

The subway car lights blinked out one by one from the far end, and in an instant the car he was in went dark.

And he fainted.

When he opened his eyes again, the man was bewildered.

He was sitting in a classroom at some school.

It was break time; students were chatting noisily.

He looked around in confusion, then froze.

His reflection in his phone’s screen was younger, but more so, the surroundings...

A familiar classroom setting.

Navy uniforms and red ties he’d seen countless times.

“No way....”

As he realized where he was, a shadow fell over him.

A tall, handsome high-school boy.

When the boy smiled, the room brightened.

If someone made a Korean high-teen movie, this would be the lead’s look—literally the protagonist.

The very hero of Magic School Kids, Ra Eun-ho.

“Hi, you’re the transfer student, right?”

The class president perched on the desk beside him and grinned.

“The homeroom teacher said to look after you. You came from a non-magic school, so it might be hard to adjust.”

“...Oh? Uh.”

“If anything’s hard, just tell me. I’m not great at studying, but I’m sure I can look out for people.”

As he exchanged confused greetings, students who looked like Eun-ho’s friends came over and tapped him.

A sporty-looking student said, “Basketball call?” and they all stood up.

The «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» man—now the “transfer student”—tried to sort out the situation.

This was the world of the webtoon.

Whether a dream or an illusion, he decided he had to find a way out.

Then one thought struck him.

The protagonist’s legs were still fine.

He checked his phone for the date: April 2012.

Having binge-read the webtoon multiple times, he knew that in April the accident hadn’t happened yet.

The author’s first misstep: Eun-ho’s traffic accident.

He’d been hit by a car and crippled when he rushed out to save a little girl in disguise.

Eight months later in December 2012, everyone died.

Lost in thought, his phone pinged with a mysterious message.

[Mission: Save the protagonist “Ra Eun-ho” from today’s accident!]

[Reward: Return]

That was how he could go home.

Knowing the solution, the transfer student immediately tried various methods.

He used his wits to keep Eun-ho at school, but Eun-ho bribed him with some item and foiled the plan.

He tried other routes and distractions, but what would happen, happened.

On a different road than the original, the little girl burst into tears.

But apart from that change, events proceeded the same.

The screaming girl, the oncoming car, the protagonist throwing himself into danger and being frozen by the villain’s magic.

Everything unfolded as in the story.

Before he could intervene, Eun-ho ran into the road without hesitation, was struck by the magic, and his body stiffened.

The car sped toward him.

Then the transfer student cast the “Lighten Clothes” spell they’d learned in class, sprinted at astonishing speed, and saved him.

As Ra Eun-ho exhaled in relief and showered thanks in a warm moment, the transfer student picked up the phone Eun-ho had dropped.

“This is your phone, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Just then, it vibrated and displayed a message.

[Notification!]

[You have succeeded in saving “Ra Eun-ho” from today’s accident.]

At that strange text, Eun-ho’s expression froze.

Questions rained down, and Eun-ho glared at him.

“...Who are you, really?”

A tense atmosphere reigned....

One sat dazed, the other gasped for breath. The seated one’s face twisted angrily.

[Who are you, really?]

Just as the “transfer student” parted his lips to answer—

The screen switched.

A pure white screen displayed the logo “EverDream.”

In front of baffled viewers, a lively voiceover rang out.

[Comfort in every uniform! EverDream~]

At that moment, everyone watching the ad wore the same expression.

“....”

The SNS commercial for EverDream, “Magic School Edition.”

Winner of the Excellence Award at the 2014 TV CF Awards, later infamous online as the “most infuriating ad.”

[The video that’s getting slammed online.metube]

It’s a uniform ad by EverDream... I seriously want to kill whoever planned this.

Watch it once then talk.

“-Ah shit

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ when I saw it to comment, my reaction was the same

-What is this, really? Aoo ㅅㅂㅅㄷㅂ3ㅎㅅㅂ

-So what happens next...??

-ㅋㅋㅋ who planned this

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I feel like I won’t forget this for years. EverDreamㅋㅋㅋ I’m speechless..

-Another meme spawn

-Please... give us the rest...

-ㅋㅋㅋ it’s so well made. Who’s the director?”

The once-small SNS ad had sparked huge reactions online in under three days.

Word of mouth did it.

Curious viewers spread it everywhere, and the ad exploded.

EverDream became a meme like a sitcom cafe logo.

No one—brand or otherwise—had foreseen the outcome.

It wasn’t just the story.

The overall package drew eyes.

Above all, the director’s skill.

Director Yoo Geon, who came from indie film circles, shot it like a short film.

Any still from it looked like a frame from a drama.

Plus, a fresh format unheard of until then.

Though weird, story-driven ads were emerging, a dramatized commercial was new to consumers.

Finally, the acting by New Black backed up the story.

As the video spread, the two New Black members in leading roles also got praise.

“-Wowㅋㅋㅋ so handsome, who are they? Forced nostalgia hit me

-222

-Yeah, like a nonexistent first love

-ㅋㅋ they’re those guys from Ju Se-han

-Ju Se-han??

-The one who sunk the basket as class president

-I saw the ad and actually thought, ‘Finally good acting in a while’

-Are they trained actors? At first I thought they were unknown rookie actors, especially the transfer student one

-ㅇㅇㅇ me too”

And watching all these reactions with a smile was Team Leader Woo Hee-seon in the Apparel Division 3 office at KG International.

She’d sensed its potential since the internal preview.

Unlike Blink’s “Girl Detective Unit” which was stiff acting, New Black’s “Magic School Edition” exceeded expectations with their acting and the director’s inspired direction.

It could’ve been submitted to a short film festival.

And it hit its advertising goals too.

Brand awareness.

Like a donut ad set in Antarctica that left a deep impression, this cemented the EverDream name.

It didn’t highlight functional aspects like stretchiness, but it was even more successful.

Especially among teens who actually wear uniforms—their response was great.

Watching the viral video on SNS, Team Leader Woo smiled.

All the news was good.

Her choice of models was praised by superiors, and HR friends reported positive buzz.

A tailwind was blowing.

“They must be buzzing over there too.”

Thinking of New Black, the ad models, she smiled. They must be thrilled as well.

New Black’s name was spreading among idol-obsessed teens.

Summer break was winding down and Hongdae was crowded with teens out for fun.

On the second floor of a fast-food place right outside the subway station, a group of middle-schoolers, fries spilled everywhere, gathered around a phone.

A girl said, “What, it’s on the page again.”

“What?”

“It’s been popping up lately. You know, the uniform ad from a few days ago.”

“What’s that?”

The girl tilted her head.

“...You don’t know?”

“No, but it’s on a Facebook page?”

“Oh! I watched it.”

When a boy pretended to know, she signaled him to hush.

He grinned.

The two showed the video to their friends in unison.

They reacted angrily as when they first saw it: “Ah, what the hell. What’s the rest...?”

“Damn, what is this.”

“Hey, who are they? So handsome, seriously.”

“They’re those guys from Ju Se-han’s basketball scene.”

“Oh, them? Wow. Didn’t recognize them.”

Soon her friends began talking about rookie boy group New Black.

And...

The girl who feigned ignorance, fan-cafe nickname Powerw Suple, smiled with satisfaction.

They had no idea she owned an album autographed by Sun Woo-joo with the note “Please forget the World Cup joke...”

As she subtly plugged New Black in the conversation, she laughed quietly.

A perfect civilian cosplay.

I want to make a mini-doc called “New Black in 3 Days.”

Show what can happen in three days.

Honestly, I thought Ju Se-han would get a reaction; I never expected the ad itself.

For us it was the first ad, meaningful but just an SNS ad, so we didn’t expect much reach.

But the moment I watched it, I was speechless at the quality.

The direction was so good we were glued to it.

Later I learned Director Yoo Geon, who shot our CF, is famed for beautiful visuals.

Thanks to him, “Night Sea” started at an astonishing rank of 89 and climbed to 59 in three days.

Still below Something in the top 20 and Fireworks in the low 50s, but for a three-day-old song, very encouraging.

I was so happy those three days.

If someone’s sad or depressed, I’d take their hand and share this feeling.

You can’t know it unless you experience it.

The joy of having all three songs in the Top 100 that I made or co-wrote.

I might be proud forever, am I exaggerating?

And I wasn’t the only one feeling that.

“Might we hit number one at this rate?”

At Jung-hyun’s remark, we all burst out laughing. But he, earnest, chewed his jelly.

“I’m serious. If a documentary or Chuseok special airs, we might go even higher.”

“Hyung, it’s already amazing. Have you seen the news articles?”

“Yeah. My dad called last night, casually asked if I wanted to model for their chicken ad.”

“And what did you say?”

“I asked for a huge fee, and they hung up.”

Imagining that scene in my head, we all laughed.

I looked around.

We were in the HBS MTV studio meeting room.

It was our second pre-meeting.

“They’re really late.”

Bi-ju said worriedly.

“It’s been like thirty minutes since we started.”

“Yeah.”

As the members puzzled, I alone smiled slyly, knowing the truth.

Though they didn’t know, hidden cameras were filming us from all around. The PD and writers were watching elsewhere.

“So if you have something you want to try with your siblings, write it down. We’ll consider it.”

That was my idea when asked at the last meeting.

A small revenge for the surprise camera during the uniform ad.

As we waited happily for what was to come, the TV turned on.

“Eek, what is that!”

Startled like someone spotting a haunted spot, my siblings stared at the screen.

First confused, then their eyes went wide.

“...What is that.”

“Why is that airing here?”

On the screen played the interview shot back then.

-What kind of person is the hero in everyday life?

Everyone reacted, “Why is that here...?”

Bi-ju and Ri-hyuk snapped their heads to me. The others finally grasped what was happening.

“That wasn’t the doc team’s footage?”

“No.”

I gave my startled siblings a bright smile.

“That was the reality team.”