Rewatching alchemy of souls is so funny because I was too stressed to realize that Jang Uk is THE schemer. He and naksu are so perfect for each other. Truly unparalleled character writing and acting, he really spent his whole life building up a persona that was weak and cowardly and now he can get away with anything. He repeatedly gets out of tough spots because everyone thinks so poorly of him as if he isn’t taking days to master skills and spells that took his peers decades. He spent most of his life building up the book knowledge so that when he gained the magical capability he could apply it. He’s scheming all the time and I love it
haha very good point anon!! although I'd argue that in the world/society he is living in, he was automatically weak because his gate of energy was closed so no matter what he could have done he wouldn't have seemed strong (and he had no idea himself about how quick he could pick up magic spells once his gate opened) but you can also tell that he used that image to his advantage a looot especially since he was seen as someone who never really finishes anything (he had a lot of masters that he quit but he still kept on trying with all of them which is actually real dedication) no one expected him to actually be super serious about finding a master and to scheme his way into accessing his powers - tbh mudeok also added to his motivation lol. and even when he masters things really quickly people think it's all thanks to a master and not really to his own determination. but the way as soon as he met THE most dangerous assassin he knew of, someone performing the exact kind of magic that is forbidden, he was like oh yes perfect master for me because we can both get something out of this, perfect??? he evaluated the situation really quickly and got the best out of it and dared to negotiate with naksu and to lie to everyone about not just giving a job to the enemy n°1 all so he could access his powers but also getting her into his house and into songrim. and even once he sacrifies his hard-earned powers he still deflects the attention from himself onto the crown prince and doesn't tell anyone about having the ice stone. him and mudeok are such a perfect pairing, people thought he was just a reckless young guy with no real focus and kind of childish and people thought she was just this very outspoken weak maid and all this time they're thinking outside the box often ahead of everyone else (and I think the fact that he's so quick at scheming and getting easily out of tensed situations is because he was always kind of an outcast but also someone that no one really expected anything from so more free to make up his own rules and goals) so it's even better that out of all of them he's the one with the king star energy and the ice stone and I'm really curious how people will react to him and act towards him now he basically resurected
