Speculating about KSE’s past
Good people who are manipulative, I feel like generally (and I could be wrong!!) are a result of either good or bad circumstances, with few in between
Learning from bad example and wanting to be better, learning from good example (white lies for the sake of others), having to be a mediator from a young age, needing to adapt personality to changing circumstances, heavy insecurity and masking (both faking/exaggerating a more likable/healthy persona), etc etc
Manipulation inherently requires the ability to read people, how to best manipulate them, and the ability to actually do that thing. Effective manipulation also requires adjusting your image in a way to better fit the goal. It’s not something that’s learned automatically; it’s either taught, intentionally learned, or a survival method. And good people who are manipulative,,, it might be a bit harder because manipulation is, stereotypically, ‘bad’. How does a good person reconcile themself with using a ‘bad’ method, even if the outcome is ‘good’? Manipulation (of a certain level) isn’t something a good person learns or does by accident
So, how did soleum become so good at manipulation???
The easy answer is through his work as a salaryman dealing with various people, but do most salaryman know how to act, manipulate, and read people that well?
The most obvious example is how he acts with BSH, and that can be explained by “he knows BSH from DER” (don’t even mention his ability to actually act out that persona). But, we can kind of see a shift of how he talks to and interact with Braun, changing how he converses as his impression changes through the chapters. With Choi, a chronic manipulative good person, and Braun, someone in the manipulative entertainment industry, KSE can recognize when he’s manipulated and can manipulate back but also knows when to step back. Then there’s BSH again, with a different persona.
Additionally, KSE knows how to control a crowd and can actually control a crowd (two different things) to the point of blind faith. He’s also able to control a specialized crowd that consists of enemies, and can make them work together.
He changes his vibe according to what’s needed. He understand stereotypes, personalities, and associated personality traits well enough to imitate him. He predicts possible outcomes, chooses one he wants, and is able to manipulate all manipulate-able factors in order to reach the best outcome. Even when he’s terrified, he’s able to act super well. Even when he’s terrified, he’s able to recognize his own state of mind and wrestle it back to calm-ish (ocean palace arc, ch 155), which is not a skill that’d be learned in standard daily life
Most people who grew up in normal circumstances wouldn’t even know how to read a situation, never mind any of the other things. And there’s also Soleum’s self-sacrificial tendencies; while there are ‘heroes’ in real life, most people would find it difficult to harm oneself for the sake of others, by virtue of learning to prioritize their own life. Doesn’t Soleum value himself and his emotions too little?
He’s always future oriented, almost never taking care of himself in the present. Even if a well-decorated room could bring him consistent, temporary peace of mind, he wouldn’t do it because it would hinder his goals. This is actually something society/capitalism tries to indoctrinate into people (‘you can do anything if you tried harder’), but Soleum does it a strange degree. From his manipulation abilities to his single-mindedness when completing a goal, doesn’t it all seem like a survival instinct? And he is in a survival situation, but why is he already so skilled in all these things?
Of course this is a novel, and perhaps this is just the way Soleum is, with no deeper meaning. He is undeniably a very fun and beloved protagonist, and not everything in life or stories has a deeper meaning. And Soleum has been through so much, he really doesn’t need more angst in his life
Still, it’d be really interesting if, for example, KSE’s parents are questionable people
- (this one is minor spoiler) I’m aware of dessert sibling and the implied good relationship, but KSE doesn’t really talk about his parents to my memory
- it’s possible he was in a bad situation before but, through his own efforts, improved it up until Ch1. He doesn’t talk about his past so we don’t t know
- I’m going to assume he’s a bit of a loner/isolated at some stage at his life because following DER from the early days gives the vibes of a chronically online kid. It’s also, to our very limited available knowledge, his main and perhaps only hobby? Don’t know if any of his friends are into it, I personally lean towards no (since no one accompanies to buy merch, he doesn’t meet any fellow fans at the event, and he doesn’t mention buying merch for other people which is a common fellow-fans things to do)
- according to middle school logic, this hobby is very worthy of being bullied if discovered Ch 1 heavily implies KSE got into DER while working at office. Either he’s older than I thought or DEE blew up very quickly? But he has talked about “before DER got popular”. Maybe first year while working?
- from Ch 1 we know that KSE is very very aware of the perceptions of others, how he may be perceived, and can be made uncomfortable by them. And, heavy maybe, his ideas-of-how-he-may-be-perceived-others leans negative? At least in his own world
My guesses off the top of my head are questionable parents that made KSE mature too quickly and he had to adjust personality for them. Or, bullied kid who forcibly learned to become likeable and act in ways he perceived to be likeable (accurately perceived, probably, considering gsgw kse). This sort of implies parents he can’t fully rely on, too. Doesn’t mean the parents are bad people btw. Parenting is hard. But it may not be a picture perfect family
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