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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 39: What’s your real intention?
It was the start of the new year, and the middle school classroom was unusually lively—buoyed by the seasonal excitement.
“Wait, hold up! 'D Note' is really ending?!”
One student holding the latest issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump shouted in disbelief.
Other students immediately gathered around him in the middle of the classroom, drawn by the commotion and the magazine in his hands.
“It’s ending already? But there was no mention of that last week!”
“No—this week isn’t the final chapter. Next week is.”
“What? Who says that? You sure it’s not some internet rumor?”
Amid the flurry of doubt, the student who shouted held out the final page of 'D Note'.
“See? It says it right here. ‘Next: Final Chapter.’”
“…Whoa. It’s real…”
“Argh! My eyes! I haven’t read this week’s yet!”
At the bottom of the last page of 'D Note', published in that week’s Weekly Shōnen Jump, was a short, definitive line: “Next: Final Chapter.”
“Wow… they’re actually ending it.”
“But how are they even planning to wrap it up? Looks like the protagonist’s about to win.”
“Is J really gonna lose? Can they even finish this in just one chapter?”
In Shōnen Jump, if it says “on break,” it’s on break. If it says “final chapter,” then it’s the final chapter. That’s the rule.
The boys’ group, having moved past “Is D Note really ending?” to “How is D Note going to end?”, broke into a heated discussion.
“Kanna-chan, you read 'D Note' too, right?”
“Yeah, I even bought all the volumes.”
Slightly away from the noisy boys’ group was a circle of girls, with Hasegawa Kanna at the center. Their topic? Also 'D Note'.
“You see this week’s chapter?”
“Yup. Picked it up this morning while I was out jogging.”
Truthfully, she went jogging ‘just’ to grab the magazine at the convenience store—but Kanna twisted the cause and effect a bit to maintain her carefully curated image, like an actress pretending to be effortlessly disciplined.
She smiled faintly as she said it.
If Jung Junhyuk had been there, he would've seen right through that vibe and called it out on the spot—but unfortunately, he wasn’t present today.
“My brother bought it early this morning, so I got to read it before school.”
“Oh? Same here! My brother collects all the volumes—it’s super convenient at times like this.”
The girls with older brothers exchanged giggles.
“So… how’s it going to end, really?”
“The protagonist’s gonna win, right?”
“No way~ It’s gotta be J. He’s been suspicious of the protagonist this whole time—there’s no way he hasn’t prepared something.”
While the class buzzed, boys and girls alike caught up in 'D Note' talk…
Kanna’s eyes subtly drifted toward Jung Junhyuk.
If next week really was the final chapter, the creator himself must be feeling a strange mix of relief and sadness.
With that thought, she glanced over.
Junhyuk sat there calmly, staring out the window.
At a glance, he looked completely serene—like someone with no worries or burdens at all.
But he was trembling.
Like someone riding in a car over an unpaved, rattling backroad, Jung Junhyuk was shaking all over.
＊ ＊ ＊
The old school building—tucked away in a quiet corner—had become Jung Junhyuk and Kanna’s go-to lunch spot.
It had been a while since they'd last met like this.
With Junhyuk frequently absent lately, and a short winter break just recently over, their little hangout felt like a reunion.
“Uh… are you okay?”
Kanna asked, looking at Junhyuk, who was very clearly on edge—anyone could see it.
“Huh? What do you mean? I’m totally normal. Same as always.”
If you were just going by his voice, you might’ve believed him.
Unfortunately for Junhyuk, they weren’t talking over the phone. His lie couldn’t have been more obvious.
“You’re holding your PET bottle upside down and turning the bottom, you know.”
“…Ahaha! Classic me, right? I always do that kind of thing! No need to be nervous about something so small.”
He let out a bright, cheerful laugh… but only the ‘sound’ of it was cheerful.
“I get why you’d be nervous, but maybe you don’t have to be ‘so’ tense? Matsuda-san said they liked it, didn’t they?”
Kanna said gently.
“…Yeah.”
Junhyuk gave a bitter smile in response to Kanna’s words.
“Say you were offered a role in a project ‘guaranteed’ to succeed, a role that would for sure make you blow up—”
“Wait, what?! Where?! Who’s directing?!”
The second the topic shifted into her territory, Kanna’s eyes lit up like a kid at an idol meet-and-greet. Junhyuk had to push her back a little.
“It’s hypothetical. ‘If’ there was such a role, and you got it, how would you feel?”
“…Well, I’d definitely feel the pressure. But I’d still give it everything I’ve got.”
“What if you ‘didn’t’ blow up from that guaranteed-success role? Or what if the project bombed entirely… and everyone blamed ‘you’?”
“…Ugh. Okay, now you’re making my stomach turn.”
Kanna gently put down her lunchbox.
“But don’t you think that metaphor’s a bit off? I mean, what kind of project is ever ‘guaranteed’ to succeed?”
“…Yeah. You’re right.”
Junhyuk gave a small nod. His faint smile had a trace of self-mockery to it.
“Here.”
Kanna said, trying to lighten the mood, offering him a notebook and pen.
“I heard artists doodle when their heads get all scrambled. Might help you feel better.”
“Just forget about the final chapter and all that for now. Draw whatever you feel like. Oh! I’ve never seen your original characters before—can I see one? Pretty please? Anything’s fine!”
Junhyuk took the notebook and pen as she looked at him with a purposely cheerful face.
“Whatever I feel like drawing, huh.”
He flipped open to the first page—and froze.
“…Is this paper… black?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? It’s white. Oh—maybe it’s the shadow on that side?”
“——sh…”
“Hmm? What’d you say?”
Kanna leaned in, trying to catch what he mumbled. But Junhyuk just shook his head like it was nothing and shut the notebook.
“Next time, I’ll take your request. Since you brought this all the way here, I’ll draw something you want.”
He twirled the pen with a little flair and gave a smile that looked a bit more composed.
“…Hmm, then I’ll go with a cow! Since it’s the Year of the Ox, right?”
But Kanna could tell—it wasn’t real composure.
That smile wasn’t calm—it was a thick mask, carefully placed.
And yet… she also sensed that Junhyuk ‘really’ didn’t want to talk about it. So she let it go.
Choosing to believe that, with time, things would work themselves out.
＊ ＊ ＊
[Thoughts on the Ending of Jump’s Popular Hit “D Note”]
Today, I want to talk about 'D Note', a series currently being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.
I’ve been following 'D Note' since it first launched… (text omitted)
Honestly, I’m feeling a bit skeptical about the news that the next chapter of 'D Note' is going to be the final one.
Sure, the story’s at a climactic moment, but there’s still so much that could be explored. Just wrapping it up with the main character and J’s current standoff feels a bit… (text omitted)
ㄴTo be honest, I also feel like the ending’s kind of abrupt.
ㄴIs this what happens when the editor doesn’t step in at all and just lets the author do whatever they want…?
ㄴAt least wait until you’ve seen the actual ending before you talk. You’re making it sound like they botched the whole thing.
ㄴWakayama-sensei, is that you?
ㄴI don’t think it came out of nowhere. The story’s been heading toward a clean resolution for a while—people have been speculating about the ending for some time now.
Likes: 3,092
Recommendations: 1,059
[D Note Ending? Obvious Setup for a Sequel — Foreshadowing Breakdown]
[Sudden Ending? D Note’s Current Plot Summary]
[D Note’s Ending—Let’s Be Real, It Feels Abrupt]
Online, conversations about D Note’s ending were blowing up.
The reactions were split 50/50 between “It’s so sudden” and “Not really”, but people—no matter the era—are always drawn to drama.
Critical takes tended to stand out more than supportive ones, and since defenders usually don’t make as much noise, it ‘seemed’ like criticism was more common.
“Ughhh! These people don’t know ‘anything’!”
Kanna, entering her very first internet flame war, picked up her phone and called Jung Junhyuk.
“Don’t go online for a while, okay?!”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Who was that?”
“It was Kanna. She says I shouldn’t look at the internet right now.”
“Hm… you two are pretty close, huh?”
“It just… sort of happened.”
As Jung Junhyuk waved dismissively and set his phone down, Matsuda changed his expression and slid a thick stack of paper into a document envelope.
“Good work. Got the 'Fullmetal Alchemist' manuscript safely.”
“Thanks for your hard work too.”
It was the same as always in Jung Junhyuk’s workspace.
Matsuda, having just packed away the 'Fullmetal Alchemist' draft, gave a wry smile and looked at Junhyuk.
“Nervous?”
“…Well, a little.”
His tone made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but Matsuda—who had known Junhyuk longer than anyone else in Japan—could tell he was bluffing.
He didn’t know why, but Junhyuk always got visibly anxious whenever he released a new work.
At first, Matsuda chalked it up to youth.
But over time, he started to realize that Junhyuk’s anxiety wasn’t just typical nerves—it was something different.
Maybe it would help to steer the conversation in another direction.
With that thought, Matsuda suddenly asked, as if an idea had struck him:
“Jun, you know the artist Enju, right?”
“…Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course. I was the one who told you about them, remember?”
Junhyuk’s eyes practically did a seismic tremor, and he let out a forced laugh as he looked away.
“I recently got my hands on a new series by that artist.”
Matsuda pulled a manga titled 'Monogatari' from his bag and flipped to a specific page.
“Check out this scene here… doesn’t it look kind of familiar?”
“…Not really?”
Junhyuk averted his eyes again.
“Come on, look. Right here. A certain artist recently revised the final chapter of their series, and the cinematography in this panel is ‘very’ similar to what they used.”
Junhyuk’s eyes started to twitch like they were under machine gun recoil.
He tried to deny it at first, but with Matsuda shoving the book in his face every time he looked away, Junhyuk eventually raised the white flag.
“Fine. It’s me. I’m Enju.”
“I actually figured it out during NatsuComi.”
“Wait—hold up—so when you insulted the series to my face, that was on purpose?!”
Matsuda chuckled.
“In 'Fullmetal Alchemist', you split the action scenes in that distinctive paneling style. Then suddenly the exact same technique shows up in 'Art Sword Online'. Not to mention the contract clause you revised recently about outside creative work. I’d have to be an idiot not to notice.”
Junhyuk scratched his head awkwardly.
Yeah… it ‘was’ pretty obvious in hindsight.
“Well, I wasn’t totally sure at the time. But when 'Monogatari' dropped with that unique direction? That’s when I knew for sure. So really, I’d say I figured it out during FuyuComi.”
“Man…”
Junhyuk glanced over at Matsuda. If someone asked why he kept it a secret, he could come up with a dozen reasons.
And he ‘had’ intended to tell Matsuda eventually.
But now that he’d been found out like this, anything he said would just sound like an excuse.
After everything Matsuda had done for him—helping out in Japan, offering personal support—it felt like kind of a betrayal to keep it from him.
He probably had a right to be a little hurt.
Seeing the look on Jung Junhyuk’s face, Matsuda spoke first.
“Don’t worry. I’m not hurt or anything like that. And I’m not going to ask why you went as far as hiding your name when publishing at Comiket.”
Matsuda continued.
“But I ‘would’ like to know why you’re pushing yourself to draw on top of your already packed schedule.”
Junhyuk was known for his unusually fast drawing speed—but just as often, he made a lot of revisions.
It wasn’t that the initial drafts were bad.
Even if nothing major changed, he’d go over the same manuscript again and again, refining it endlessly—like something about it always felt ‘off’ to him.
All artists revise their work—but with Junhyuk, it felt like something more. An obsession. As if even the slightest flaw could mean total failure. That fear clung to everything he created.
“...Before I forget, the meaning of—”
He mumbled something in Korean, the rest of it fading into unintelligible syllables.
Matsuda didn’t understand, so he simply waited, silent and patient.
“...I just. I just want to make a lot of money.”
With that same mischievous grin as always, Junhyuk stood up from his seat.
“I’m just gonna run to the bathroom.”
He walked off, footsteps echoing with heavy thuds. Matsuda watched him go and muttered under his breath—
“What a ridiculous lie.”
Editors know what their artists earn in royalties.
And since Matsuda served as Junhyuk’s legal guardian in Japan under unusual circumstances, he even had partial insight into his finances.
- Are you Mr. Jung Junhyuk’s legal guardian? We’re reaching out to confirm some details regarding recurring donations. Monthly donations have been auto-transferred under a minor’s name, so we’ll need some guardian consent for certain documents.
Other than the money he sent to his family, nearly all of Junhyuk’s income went to various charitable organizations.
Who would believe that ‘this’ was someone drawing manga just to make a lot of money?
There were still so many parts of Junhyuk that remained a mystery—even to Matsuda.
Thinking that, he gave a tired smile.
“Matsuda, sorry—could I get some toilet paper?”
“...Yeah, sure.”
＊ ＊ ＊
A week passed.
And finally, the last chapter of 'D Note' was released.
[Where are all the people who said the ending to ‘D Note’ came out of nowhere?]
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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