Goyangi’s comments are in blue italics; my take on the matter is in black.

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+ I have the same question as everyone about why Marco and Sejoo seem to be exempt from bug status. Possible answer: Sejoo said Marco no longer showed up once Jinwoo completed the quest and became the new master. Were they “debugged” at that point?

In the case of Marco and Sejoo, Marco couldn’t debug himself because he was an NPC, just like NPC HS couldn’t debug himself because he was already dead.

Sejoo, on the other hand, was the living person who could have stabbed NPC Marco since NPC Marco only haunted Sejoo. But Sejoo was no longer in the game.

He was released from the game when he was rescued by Jinwoo during the quest. According to Sejoo, “the reward of the quest was becoming master.” Thus, Sejoo ceded being the master and Jinwoo took over Sejoo as the master.

In effect, Jinwoo was both user Zinu and user master at the same time! Right?

PERHAPS as far as NPC Emma was concerned, she was killing two birds with one stone bugs with one stab: the user master bug and the user Zinu bug, so it was no longer necessary to stab Sejoo. Sejoo was not user master anymore anyway.

Remember also: Try not conflate the real person with his avatar or user/gamer identity. The intent of the NPC Emma was NOT to kill Jinwoo the person (or else she TOO is a “killer” bug just like NPC HS, lol) but to eliminate the user/gamer Zinu who had the bug.  That’s why Jinwoo lived but his previous avatar/user identity is gone.

Does that make sense? 🙂

+ Also, on bugs, in episode 15, the show specifically included a message from the game when Jinwoo removed the Key of Heaven from his chest: “You cannot delete the bug.” How was he able to delete Hyungseok, Prof. Cha, and Sec Seo NPCs? Unless the game only meant he couldn’t delete himself (hence the job for Emma)?

NPC Emma couldn’t delete NPC HS, NPC Prof Cha and NPC Sec Seo because those three didn’t interact with her. Only Jinwoo/user Zinu could kill them because those three were linked to him and they APPEARED only in his presence.

Why can’t Jinwoo delete himself? Because a bug cannot kill its own self. 🙂

Of course, Jinwoo the person could kill himself if he wanted, too. He could also kill his user Zinu identity by deleting it from the server. But what good would that do? Zombie HS would still attack him. That’s what Jinwoo said in Episode 7. “The server wasn’t the issue. I kept seeing him even after I escaped to America.” And then, he wouldn’t have any sword or gun to fight off Zombie HS.

But a bug itself doesn’t self-destruct. The bug can only replicate and generate itself by creating another NPC but it can’t delete itself.  Very logical when you thing about it.

Originally, I too assumed that all bugs had to be eliminated before the reboot because if they weren’t fixed, then they would just carry over when game is rebooted.

However, even if the three other bugs, NPC HS, NPC Prof Cha, and NPC Sec Seo, didn’t have to be eliminated, I also understood why emotionally and psychologically he had to eliminate the bugs himself.

You see, HE created those bugs. Those were HIS creations in the sense that they emerged from his imperfect relationships with those people. HS was a friend who betrayed him, Prof Cha was his mentor who turned against him, and Sec Seo was a loyal aide whom he’d taken for granted. Those bugs were the virtual manifestation of his personal mistakes.

Now I also said that the created NPCs cannot destroy their creator although the creator can easily extinguish them. Jinwoo had to kill the bugs himself not because he still harbored ill-feelings toward Hyunsik or Prof Cha. No. He was no longer angry. To me, he wanted to make peace before his own death. He wasn’t sure what would happen next so he needed closure.

For instance, NPC HS was a burden he carried everywhere for over a year — like a ball-and-chain to his leg as punishment for having “killed” him.

Remember in Episode 5, his ex-wife screamed at him after HS’s death, “He also lived in agony. He always wanted to reconcile with you. He cried and drank every day. We weren’t always happy.”

He just brushed off her tirade.

But for the past year, he followed in HyunSuk’s footsteps who “lived in agony.”  In Episode 6, when he was enclosed in the glass shower stall talking to NPC HS, he asked, “HyunSuk. Until when will you keep following me? Can’t we stop this now? I really…I really want to stop. Will you be happy only after you have killed me? Until when must we fight?” Then, in that Barcelona station when Sec Seo shot NPC HS, he narrated, “I desperately hope this is the last journey with him.”

After HyunSuk’s death, Jinwoo too wanted to reconcile with his old friend but he couldn’t anymore. Instead, he had to live every single day shooting the bloodied image of HyunSuk.

Thus, to me, stabbing NPC HS was his way of ending that long agony and reconciling with HS’s and WITH HIMSELF.

Same with Prof Cha and Sec Seo. Although the actual people were already dead and buried, their “memories” lived on to haunt him as NPCs. Stabbing their bugs was his way of finding CLOSURE.

Further, as I said in another post, he can’t run away from this responsibility. He wasn’t a “traitor.” He had to make sure, even if it might not be necessary at all, to eliminate the bugs as they appeared before him in that church. He could hardly face NPC Emma and his death, knowing those NPCs, especially Prof Cha and Sec Seo, were waiting for his next move. As he said, “We will survive together, and die together. We’re allies.”

Of course, there’s a religious dimension here, too. But I’ll leave that for another time… when I have time. 😉

+ I think Oli raises a really good point about the necessity of Jinwoo’s sacrifice at all, something I hadn’t considered until now. Possibly Jinwoo believes that ALL bugs must be eliminated for the game world to stop bleeding into the real world? Or he was just so weary and broken down by this point that a part of him *wanted* his story to end?

Yes, JW’s death could be viewed as a sacrifice. If you consider that he was doing it in front of the crucifix which is the ultimate meaning of sacrifice, then yes, it was definitely a sacrifice.

However, if you want to argue this from a non-religious/non-Catholic point of view (because not all the viewers will realize and appreciate how Christian the motif is of this kdrama), then it can be argued that his act was the right and noble thing to do. I also explained the “traitor” concept here to Oli here.

Link: Memories of the Alhambra: Oli’s Bugs and Dungeons

+ If Jinwoo is stuck in an instance dungeon the same way Sejoo was, how is it that Next players are able to see him when Jinwoo couldn’t see Sejoo on the platform at Granada station? I can accept that instance dungeon = different dimension? = no physical body = no need for food or drinks or showers or using the toilet or anything like that, I guess—maybe time even moves differently there, or doesn’t move at all—but ?? @ the different experiences that Jinwoo and Sejoo seem to have in the indun.

No, he isn’t in the “instance dungeon” anymore. Once the game Next was launched and the servers went up, he was released (or he released himself) was the instance dungeon. Think of the instance dungeon as an earthquake shelter or Noah’s Ark. You know that a big catastrophy is about to happen (i.e., the game reboot) and you’re stuck on the ground.What do you do? Of course, you seek shelter.

According to Sejoo, the instance dungeon was designed specifically as a shelter “in times of danger.”  I’ll post his dialogue with the Programmer here so I don’t have to keep on looking for it in my notes.

Pro: I felt most hopeless when the game reset. Gosh. everything disappeared right in front of my eyes. I was about to give up and quit my job. Who would have thought that Emma would have a function like that? Had I known, I would have deleted it. I cared too much about her for no reason. I was betrayed.
SJ: About that… there could be an instance dungeon.
Pro: What?
SJ: Instance dungeon.
Pro: What about that?
SJ: I programmed the game so that only the master can create it in times of danger. I was hiding in the instance dungeon at the train station. At first, I made the feature to deceive enemies. But it really worked at that time. No one could see me. It was like we were in the same place, but in a different dimension. An instance dungeon in real life.
Pro: I don’t get it. What do you mean?
SJ: You can’t believe me, right? I still can’t believe it either. I’ve thought about this countless time. But it really existed at that time. I can’t check since everything got reset. If Mr. Yoo Jinwoo was the Master…the reward of the quest was becoming the Master. That means he could have been the Master. You never know. Just like me…he could be alive somewhere.

SeeJoo and Jinwoo both occupied the instance dungeon. SeeJoo used it first when he was hiding from his enemy and then Jinwoo used it later seeking shelter from the reboot.

SeeJoo was released from the instance dungeon when Jinwoo accomplished his quest.

However, he thought that NPC Marco was still chasing him after his release from the instance dungeon. Park found him hiding in the clothes closet when there was thunder and rain because he thought the game was still on.

He did NOT know that Jinwoo already reset the game and NPC Marco was gone forever.

+ How about the show’s final message: “Trust is the magic that changes the world, not the technology.” (Screen cap: My first reaction after the end of ep 16 was: “That’s it??” but after the credits rolled and I saw that last line, I thought: “Ooh PM3’s post on faith!!” 😂 Not to mention the on-the-nose church + Jesus imagery in the last two episodes. Heejoo telling PSH that she won’t give up on Jinwoo. The final affirmation of her belief/faith that they would meet again. Is Heejoo going to be able to see him like the other Next players? Season 2 where Heejoo grinds to become the new master, completes a quest, and rescues Jinwoo? 🤪

Lol. I haven’t seen this scene yet! Thanks for the screenshot. Thanks for the screencap. I’ll check it out later. Is it on netflix, too??!!

No, please. No Season 2. Who on earth suggested that??!! lol.

This story is done. For me, everything that needed to be answered was answered satisfactorily. And if there were things left hanging, then it’s up to the viewers’ imagination and perspicacity to find their own answers themselves. We can’t be spoonfed everything.

Yes, I saw the Jesus imagery. Please feel free to point them out and discuss them. I’ll take me some time before I look at the Christian motif of the show. Thanks!!

+ I think it’s kind of funny that for most of this drama’s run, it felt like game > romance but by the end, I was feeling the romance more than the game. It’s a bit romantic that Jinwoo survived two near death experiences (stabbed in the heart and Prof. Cha’s NPC ambush) and the first thing he did was think of Heejoo waiting for him to come by, right? Retrieved her car, even, stood outside her window, and just… watched over her for a bit. And then quietly went to his death. 🙃 It’s a pity they didn’t have any scenes together in the last two episodes, but I actually don’t mind that they didn’t reunite at the end. The foundation of their relationship is Heejoo’s trust and that’s what we got.

Same for me. It had been the game world first.

Towards the end though I was able to see how the the romance tied everything up together. It’s clear to me that this isn’t a “young love/spring love” sort of story like “Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon” or “Weightlifting Fairy” or the “Gangnam Beauty” or “Secret Garden.” These are light and fluffy kdramas.

To me, this kdrama is about an “old world” love. 😀

I see what the writer meant when she said she drew inspiration from Odysseus. Every time Jinwoo leveled up thinking that he found shelter (i.e., he wanted to reach Level 4 so he could duel HS, Level 50 so he could get gun, Level 90 so he could find the master, Level 100 so he could do mission), he discovered that he had to sail to another distant shore for safety.

At the end of the story, Jinwoo really did resemble Odysseus because he was survivor. A shipwreck survivor.

This screenshot in particular reminded me of Odysseus theme.

If you wanted a metaphor there, I’d say that Heejoo was his lighthouse. The light in her room was always lit, like a lighthouse, so Jinwoo aka Mr. Odysseus (pfft) could watch it and be comforted when he was lost at sea. He was going away on a deadly mission but knowing that she was waiting for him gave him peace and, I’m sure, courage to finish his job. Her light would bring him home.

Further, the light in her bedroom reminded me of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, who also waited for his return faithfully. I can’t remember now if Penelope was 10 or 20 years but she kept their house and she rebuffed all her suitors who wanted her to forget her husband. (lol. Kinda like Park, right?) One time, she tricked the suitors to wait by telling them she had to finish making a garment. During the day, she would weave the cloth industriously. But at night, she would also unravel the threads secretly.

For some reason, I have this image of Heejoo creating her guitars in her workshop and ignoring Park’s call to start dating again.  😀

We can also point out that Heejoo was a survivor too in this game of Jinwoo — in more ways than one. We’re not talking about the equality of experiences or the 50/50 split of pain here. (I hope militant feminists will get this soon: there are more ways to be a heroine than fighting NPCs.)

Instead of demanding that wrong sort of “equality for women,” I’m stressing the mutual sacrifices and unheralded sufferings of our couple.

Like this scene here in Episode 14.  I’m surprised nobody mentioned this.

Heejoo kept on walking although she was getting shot at point-blank range and from rooftop by snipers. Each time she was “logged out,” it meant that she died in the game. Not being a gamer, this must have scared her. But with dogged persistence, she searched for the missing Jinwoo. (I don’t know about you, but from my limited Spyro the Dragon experience, every time a cartoon bull rammed me down, I freaked out. And it was only my controller that jiggled, okay? It wasn’t Augmented Reality.)

So yes, if Jinwoo’s mission was to end the game, her mission was to get him back to safety. Again, if you wanted a metaphor there, Jinwoo was Mr. Odysseus sailing his boat, but Heejoo was his anchor when waves came crashing down.

So there you go. If people want to mention Odysseus again, tell them they can’t use that to belittle PSH’s character as Heejoo. lol.