#36-yo KRS needs a vacati-wait all ages need a vacation. actually can someone properly retire this man????

[oseike]

My mental image for Kim Rok Soo

I've seen some art of him and have come to realize the image on the novel cover was supposed to be Earth body, but by the time I saw it I'd already come up with my own opinions on his appearance, so I'm not going to set down my vision either lmao

> KRS grew up initially without proper food so he was likely underweight and didn't grow to his proper size, leading him to have a somewhat malnourished look to him

> This is supported by continued comments about his 20-yo self looking painfully thin

> I gave him bangs at that age mostly because he would have been focused a bit more on looking nice for job reasons, but he still doesn't have the money for nice hair products, so it's still pretty short hair

> Since this is also the body he gets in Central Plains, I decided to show his scammer smile too ahahaha-- How odd that must look to Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk, knowing that on Earth he was incredibly stoic and rarely gave a smile - let alone a big one. I didn't look up proper wuxia outfits so uhhh don't think too hard about the fashion djfjsh

> By age 36 he is healthier with regards to his physique, but a lifetime of being thin would likely mean he still would not be the type to bulk up. Getting large would require concerted bodybuilding effort, which he has no time for, and access to a lot of protein. Even if he had time and resources, it isnt really optimal for his own time management nor his actual needs. KRS is a very practical person, so I see him as someone who would prioritize logical self-sustainment: compact, lean muscle, making it easier on resources to maintain

> He might carry a bigger gun too, but I didn't feel like hanging one on him. It would likely be variable anyway, depending on what kind of monster his team needed to face. I chose to just draw the items he would always carry on him. I think he is also supposed to have a metal panel turned into a shield, which I probably should have drawn but didn't ahaha-

> Thanks to overwork, he generally always looked tired and stoic. I imagine his voice was pretty deadpan unless he speaks of something he has conviction for ("you must eat") or during combat if he has to raise his voice for an urgent command

> This older KRS probably has an electric shaver and just buzzes his hair periodically when it gets long enough. He's not vain, so gorgeous hair isn't a priority. I think to contrast this, the long hair he grows as Cale can be seen as him trying to set down this lifestyle, where his self-maintenance only focused on being combat-ready. It also can be seen as him trying to (pre-emptively) enter his "I am done with work" mentality. Fighting with long hair isn't actually logical, so maybe as he grows it longer, it's like mentally telling himself "it's fine, I'm almost done fighting, soon I can be a slacker" (lol)