Hello.
I’m Korean author Gookmun Parang, the writer of <A beautiful girl with Artistic Genius becomes an Artist>.
Ah…
This was truly difficult work. Especially writing the parts where Go Hana explains artwork, it felt like my mind was being drained.
First of all, there was just so much knowledge I needed to make the protagonist a “visual artist.”
So every weekend, I visited the library to read books on art, learned from ChatGPT-sensei and YouTube lectures, and even watched VTuber streams of art-world girls.
“What exactly is art?”
That was the question I asked myself at the start of my studies.
Why do people spend hundreds of millions to buy a work that’s just colors slathered on a canvas? Is it really just rich people playing money games?
If so, should Hana-chan just become a pure, innocent little sister-type VTuber and make money that way?
I started out with those doubts, but in the end, I managed though humbly to arrive at my own answer.
“Art is the discipline of expanding the definition of beauty.”
It is the pursuit of beauty in the familiar, the unfamiliar, the ugly, the old, the small, the personal ultimately, in everything that exists in the world.
…That was my conclusion.
And I wanted to apply this to a TS (gender swap) story.
If you ask people whether they’d rather be Go Hun or Go Hana,
Honestly, ten out of ten would choose Go Hana.
When you look at both characters,
it’s clear who embodies “beauty.”
Of course, it’s Go Hana.
But…
Does that mean Go Hun’s life is ugly?
A life where he’s forgotten even the beginning of his dream,
where he mechanically repeats efforts that will never be rewarded,
where he pushes away the last bit of kindness he’s given out of inferiority,
and in the end, he leaves nothing behind.
Is this hopeless adult’s life something that must be swapped out for a cute girl’s skin?
Is it something bad?
This story began from that very question.
A story of learning to accept one’s own lackluster self.
Of course, it’s not about having some supportive uncle show up and go,
“Oh wow, kiddo, you’re the best no matter what.”
Rather, it’s about a genius art girl transforming an existence that failed and never even got to be into something beautiful through a fierce journey.
And I wanted to depict that journey artistically.
Another thing I kept in mind.
Unless a character represented a social phenomenon I deliberately didn’t include any villains.
The real world already has enough of those people, and they wouldn’t contribute anything meaningful to this journey.
Instead, I focused solely on what Go Hun had missed,
the people Go Hana encountered,
and retracing those steps
to depict a journey of self-acceptance.
Because of that, this story lacks the usual spice of modern fantasy the jealous rival character or the power-hungry, old-fashioned authority figure who always argues with the protagonist.
And so, the story may feel a little plain…
Even so, I really wanted to write a story like this.
A TS protagonist who respects their past self.
Just that theme alone made me want to give it a try.
Because of that, this story ended up straying quite far from the typical web novel style.
I’ve heard a lot of feedback saying it felt *too bland* and *boring*, and honestly, those comments did hurt a bit…
But anyway.
I also included some Easter eggs in this work.
1. The timing of Marie’s appearance.
2. The progression from VTuber → short-form content → telling one’s own story.
These were things I had planned from the very beginning,
so every time a reader caught on to them, I felt really proud.
Of course, there are even more hidden details than just these.
I think that’s about all I wanted to say about this work.
As for some unresolved hints, most of them weren’t crucial to the theme of self-reflection, or they weren’t meant to appear at this stage of the story.
That’s why, in the next 10 chapters, I plan to cover some of the unspoken epilogues.
As for my next project I’ve actually written a fair bit of it already,
but I’ve been hesitant to upload it because I’m not confident yet…
Once I’m fully ready, I’ll post it.
And with that, this is my final author’s note.
To all the readers who stayed with this story until the very end.
To all the friends who didn’t hold back on their honest critiques.
I want to give you all my deepest gratitude.
Thank you.
Gookmun Parang.