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Jung Heewon is known to readers as many things: She is the incarnation of the archangel Uriel, the strongest sword of KimCom, the fiercest protector of Kim Dokja, an embodiment of justice. We see this sort of personality in the main ORV timeline, and to a lesser extent her version in the World of Zero. However, the Side Story gave us the shocking revelation that this defender of justice was a character in Ways of Survival, and was a very different person: The Crazy Butcher. This left many readers shocked, as the Jung Heewon we know is actively against killing for no reason. However, the side story gave as an answer to why she became this way: Isolation. This essay is going to be talking about this aspect of her character.
First, let’s talk about the Crazy Butcher. Main story readers only got a vague description of the Crazy Butcher, as one of the 100 strongest incarnations in TWSA, and someone who had the “crouching figure” attribute at the start. However, in the side story, we got far more information. In the first place, the “Crazy Butcher” isn’t strictly one person. It is a moniker that each of the three members of the Jung family take in different regressions when both of the others have died. Very rarely the father, to the point he can barely be considered a “Crazy Butcher”. Sometimes the younger brother, but we get an excerpt from TWSA where he mentions that it really shouldn’t be his moniker, but someone has to take on the role. The proper “Crazy Butcher” is Jung Heewon, as she is the Crazy Butcher in the majority of regression turns.
The Crazy Butcher is a murderer behind a mask, a killer without a name or face to identify her by. Quite different from the Jung Heewon in the main story, who righteously declared she didn’t want to become a person who killed for no reason. However, the Jung Heewon in most regression turns experiences a different story than the Jung Heewon from the main story. In TWSA, after nearly being assaulted, there is no one to save her. Instead, she has no choice but to try and make it home on her own. When both her father and younger brother are gone, and she has no one to know her as “Jung Heewon”, she loses her mind, and discards that name, hiding her face and identity behind her mask. She is completely isolated, has lost everything around her, and thus discards herself as well.
There is one thing that saves her in both the side story and main story: Companionship. In the main story, when she is abandoned by would-be rapists, Kim Dokja is there to give a hand and save her. Because of this, she is able to devote herself to saving him in turn. Even when things are difficult, even when she never sees her family again (as far as we know), she is able to use that bond as Kim Dokja’s sword to keep her sanity. When she is hindered by Nirvana’s Thought Infection, when she is trapped in flashbacks of the many men who have abused her, it is Lee Hyunsung, a man kinder and more honourable than most, who proves their forged bond to save her. In the War of Saints and Demons, when Kim Dokja is not around and Lee Hyunsung seems to have died, it is Lee Jihye and the others who come to the rescue. Again and again, when she is trapped in despair, in the main story she always has those around her, so she does not succumb to madness, persists in being an honourable person.
In the side story, things are different; As Lee Hakhyun (a partial reincarnation of Kim Dokja) took on Cheon Inho’s body, he is able to prevent Jung Heewon nearly being assaulted. The reader who became Kyung Sein is also there to protect her, and attempts to be helpful to her from the moment they meet. However, she is the Jung Heewon who becomes a partial “Crazy Butcher”. What’s different? From the start, Lee Hakhyun has several threats to his life, from the monster that has her attribute become “Judge of Monsters”, to an angry Yoo Joonghyuk, among other forces that try to kill him. “Cheon Inho” is the person who she feels gratitude to for saving her, and as she is a person who greatly treasures fairness and paying people back, she tries to save him in turn. And unlike the Jung Heewon of the main story, she has to watch her father die in front of her, and nearly her brother as well. The bond she has with “Cheon Inho” is strong, and is what prevents her from completely becoming the Crazy Butcher, but seeing a family member die, having a familial bond severed so completely when she is already under stresses, nearly ruins her.
What is it about Kim Dokja (and his partial reincarnation) that makes Jung Heewon so protective that it protects her sanity? For this, we shouldn’t underscore the parallels between the Kim and Jung families. In both, there is an abusive father, a young boy, and a protective woman who tries to take on the burden for him. For Kim Dokja, that protection ended up not working, and things went horribly south for both him and his mother. For Jung Heewon, she ends up having to leave the household to find any peace, but her little brother’s death in most regression turns completely shatters her. In this way, Kim Dokja strongly parallels Jung Heewon’s younger brother. It’s thus no surprise that she wants to protect him as strongly as she does.
Now, I am aware that some readers take issue with Jung Heewon’s attachment to Kim Dokja. The perceived implication that her character revolves around a man would indeed be poor writing, if it were the correct interpretation of her character. Fortunately, we can see why that is nonsense. She has a strong bond with the main character, but it is only a part of her larger character. Additionally, we know she is far from the only character to have a strong attachment to Kim Dokja. KimCom in general are extremely devoted to Kim Dokja in their own ways, so to take issue with their bond simply because she is a woman is rather strange. Especially considering that the strongest parallels in terms of her bond with Kim Dokja are Lee Sookyung and Yoo Joonghyuk. I’ve mentioned her parallel with Lee Sookyung above, so I will take the time to talk about her parallel with Yoo Joonghyuk.
This is primarily an essay about Jung Heewon, so I will be brief, but it is established that Yoo Joonghyuk is a very lonely person. Many versions of Yoo Joonghyuk became attached to Kim Dokja because he is unique in understanding Yoo Joonghyuk. This connection, this unique sense of being understood, is also what ties Jung Heewon to Kim Dokja. In the main story, he gets an understanding through his skill, and in the side story, Lee Hakhyun has this skill in addition to his knowledge of ORV. For Jung Heewon and Yoo Joonghyuk(s), lonely people craving a connection, this sort of bond is more compelling than anything else.
In short, Jung Heewon is a person on the brink; if she is given a helping hand, she has the potential to become a strong warrior, full of courage and justice. If left alone, she loses those values she cherishes, and destroys people around her just like her own world was ruined. She’s incredibly nuanced and well written, and while I haven’t done enough justice in discussing her in all her complexity, I hope this essay encourages readers to think more about her character.