I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

Dear Author,

I am terribly sorry for reaching out like this via direct message. I felt that I couldn’t convey all my thoughts in a simple comment, hence this direct message.

It seems you are considerably troubled about the costume for a superhuman.

While we cannot rashly guess the gender, it appears you are trying to create a costume for a female superhuman.

I assume that you have much to contemplate.

Indeed, female superhumans exposing their well-toned bodies, revealing the grace of their physical forms, is truly beautiful.

However, if you are considering designing the attire of a superhuman, more specifically, the uniform of a hero, I’d like to suggest the Hanbok, which breathes the spirit of Korea.

I am Korean.

And this Hanbok is clothing that embodies the spirit and soul of our people.

Are you familiar with the composition of the Hanbok? The Hanbok is…

From this standpoint, I am boldly proposing the Hanbok.

Many superhumans in Korea already select and wear the Hanbok as their heroic uniform.

However, what they wear is a counterfeit Hanbok infiltrated by the energy of the West.

It’s not a modified Hanbok for convenience in our everyday lives but rather a product of cultural imperialism that insults tradition under the name of boldness and innovation.

In the past, even in the seventies and eighties, we had a tendency to regard the culture of the U.S. as supreme.

The era that brought about the Miracle on the Han River was like that.

But now, having brought about the Miracle of the Nakdong River and the East Sea, and with Korea standing proudly at the center of the world, we need to confidently publicize our things to the world and prove that Korean culture is a global culture.

Over the past twenty-five years, Korea has been spreading Korean culture to the world, but indeed, the most effective way to spread culture is through powerful superhumans.

When the nation’s top superhuman, ‘Snow White with White Eyes,’ shot a commercial eating bibimbap, gochujang sold out in grocery stores overseas.

Such is the immense influence of superhumans.

If superhumans wear Hanbok and designate it as their uniform, there can be no better opportunity to widely publicize our culture.

Dear Author,

The same applies to drawings.

The pictures you draw spread out like a sea of information and will delight the eyes of many people around the world.

Wouldn’t it be great if that clothing were Hanbok?

Won’t a person at the edge of that continent, in Northern Europe, see your picture, become interested in the Hanbok, then become interested in Korea, travel to Korea, dress in the righteously armed forces uniform at the Dongnae Fortress site in Busan, take photos, and create travel memories?

Isn’t there a way to spread the spirit of Korea more than the myriad clothes in distant foreign lands?

Dear Author,

Recently, I often see reverence for foreign things in many places.

It is the new image shown by the creature called ‘Goblin.’

Ah, what a lamentable deed.

Despite having the name Goblin, doesn’t he usually wear a Western suit? The bat he carries around, it’s not a stick from traditional Korean games but a baseball bat started in the West?

Is this creature truly a Goblin?

He is a villain by misusing the name Goblin and distorting our traditional culture.

Even this time.

If his transformation, the one he exclaimed as a Goblin, were the appearance of a Goblin from our traditional culture, I wouldn’t have said this much.

If he had worn a Durumagi and a Sobok, similar to Dobok, underneath and declared a wrestling match against the demon, I would have applauded him, even if he were a villain.

But what did he do?

I don’t know if it’s a transformation tool or what, but he used English as if mocking our tradition when transforming.

Furthermore, he babbled something about ‘uniforms’ and ‘what’ and used weird English to defeat the demon.

He purposefully used English even though he could’ve come up with techniques like ‘Midsummer Southern Cross’ or ‘Crossroads of the Sky.’

All of this at Sejong Island!!

This person is not a Goblin.

He must be an entity from overseas who falsely claims to be a Goblin.

He might be the kind who rinses Kimchi in water, let alone put it in soup, eats rice soup without cubed radish Kimchi, and uses a strainer to filter rice grains when drinking Sikhye.

The world is now fascinated by such a figure.

What a terrible misunderstanding!

It is no different from a cuckoo that secretly lays eggs in an oriole’s nest, pushes out the oriole’s eggs, and behaves as if it were the oriole itself.

I am so angry and upset that such a person is behaving as if he is ‘Korea’s Goblin.’

He should not call himself a Goblin.

He should use a different name, a title fitting his original nationality.

I have been informing many people about what a Korean Goblin is.

In opposition to the malicious distortion of the determined Goblin, I am spreading the knowledge of our real Goblin to preserve our tradition and spirit.

I’m not forcing this.

However, if you, dear author, were to participate in spreading the spirit of our people, I would be extremely happy and grateful.

I’m not just asking verbally.

I have prepared some resources so that the Hanbok you draw can spread widely around the world and convey the spirit of our Republic of Korea.

One. National Central Museum_Introduction to Our Traditional Hanbok_

Two. National Central Museum_Virtual Reality Experience of Hanbok Exhibition Hall_

Three. Video_[I rented a Hanbok and came to Busan to eat pork soup.] Source: Piesto Carman’s Korean Working Holiday.

Four. ….

Our ancestors have put diverse and vibrant colors into Hanbok since ancient times.

In addition, the Yangban added beautiful embroidery to the Hanbok.

I have tried drawing some drafts.

Each is like a Hanbok you’d wear during the Ganggangsullae dance, a Sobok that you’d wear while tying hair in a chignon on Dano, a colorful Jeogori like the rainbow rice cake that suits Jeongwol Daeboreum, and even the Hanbok with a pattern of a general’s uniform that the hero ‘Bamgeun’ wore during the Korean Armed Forces Day celebration in 2020.

My sketches may be nothing compared to your drawing skills, but I hope they can provide a tiny reference for your drawings. With that wish, I am sending this note.

I hope that your drawings can capture the spirit of Korea, and with that, I conclude my letter.

It’s the season of cold winds that anticipate blooming flowers.

Please take care not to catch a cold and keep creating beautiful drawings.

From Lee Geulgeo, the Blazing Teeth.

“…….”

I wondered why they wrote such a long note, but the scariest part was this.

“Do you know this, Yumir? There’s only one word in English in this note.”

“…The source?”

“Yes.”

It was common to comfortably use a few foreign words in everyday life, but this note avoided foreign words a bit too much.

“Having such a person around would be tiring, wouldn’t it?”

“Is that so? I often see such people on variety shows.”

“…What?”

“People with blond hair living in the walls, dressed in Do-po, wearing Gat hats, carrying fans, saying things like ‘Uh-hem’ or ‘You rascal!’. Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know about this in Korea.”

“…….”

Just what was the nationalistic fervor in this world?

Could it have even reached as far as a Canadian variety show?

That was truly an appalling situation.

‘So now, something called Dodjirider or something is popular.’

This was an era where even broadcasting companies were engrossed in praising Korea.

Dodjirider, with its mix of Hollywood Science Fiction sentiments and the Tokusatsu culture within Japan, almost excluded Korean emotions. This might have been a trigger for them to evoke the nostalgia of the past.

“…Hmm.”

For that reason.

“Yumir, I think this is a good suggestion.”

“Pardon?”

“The Hanbok. Let’s go with a Hanbok concept for your suit.”

“……Teacher? Weren’t you quite repulsed by this just a moment ago?”

“That’s right. But think about it, if you design with Hanbok in mind, these people in this country will support you, Yumir, won’t they?”

“Oh.”

They may be hooligan-like, but nothing was as reassuring as having such hooligans as allies.

“If Yumir is going to be a villain, it would be appropriate to look like those in Gyeolsa, Goblin, or Dodjirider. But what was Yumir’s purpose in coming to this academy? It wasn’t to become a villain, was it?”

“I am….”

“If Yumir doesn’t like it, then it can’t be helped, but I am personally curious.”

To be honest,

“I think you would look very pretty in Hanbok, Yumir.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes, of course.”

Wearing a Hanbok can help you avoid criticism and live comfortably in this country.

“Many people in this country will see Yumir as a foreign daughter-in-law. If you design with a Hanbok costume in mind.”

“A foreign…daughter-in-law?”

Yumir smiled awkwardly, clearly taken aback.

“…Yes, that’s right. A daughter-in-law.”

Soon she regained her composure and laughed lightly.

“Alright. I’ll do it. A Hanbok costume.”