Da-Ae's past, during a time when hope still feels lingering around

I guess it's true that sometimes you can find a gem in the unlikeliest of place. Like how I accidentally found this manhwa here, titled Redemption Camp by Ramjak, because of its 'alluring' cover.Looking at it, I thought to myself: Wow, it's probably another soft porn nonsense, should be nice for a certain "short-term entertainment and pleasure" (IYKWIM). But boy, was I very, very, very wrong.The story follows a young Korean supermodel named Choi Da-Ae (don't ask me how to pronounce it) who gets kidnapped by a group of four guys and brought to an abandoned building for their own pleasure. At this point we have known that Da-Ae is a very attractive girl who take advantage of any guy who happened to be hooked by her sex appeal. Therefore, we can already establish that this guys are seeking revenge to Da-Ae for whatever misdeed she has done to them.The group consists of a son of a minister who found out that Da-Ae has cheated him, a highschool teacher who Da-Ae has falsely accused of raping her, a college professor who has had an affair with Da-Ae to the point of pregnancy and a corporate employee whom Da-Ae has taken advantage of in the past. All of this guys have a good reason for wanting to lash their revenge on Da-Ae and the author really nails how slutty and bitchy the character of Da-Ae is.At first, Da-Ae is a character that the reader should hate and the reader is encouraged to feel the same way as her kidnapper through tons of graphic and exploitative images. In a way, we were put in the same position as her captor so when they were torturing Da-Ae, we feel that we are doing the same thing. It gives us a surge of power and domination and it's probably relatable to people who ever had this kind of fantasy. This is the kind of softcore entertainment that I was expecting so no surprise, there.But then, the story went into a much different and darker direction.Through series of flashbacks, we were given a background information on why Da-Ae became the kind of person that she is now. How she was abused by her father, how her mother neglects her well-being, how she must run away from her home with her first and only true love and how she must abandon him in order to be able to survive alone. In an instant, the story changed from revenge porn flick into a story about how a person able to survive this harsh world against all odds.I was surprised by this development especially after chapter 40 or something when I began to actually sympathize with the character of Da-Ae. The turning point that changed my position from hating and wanting to exploit Da-Ae into actually caring and loving her is in chapter 50 when the college proffesor asked why did Da-Ae have to ruin his life, to which she replied: "The words and images shown above is very powerful to me and makes me realize how Da-Ae is not much different with the rest of us. Da-Ae used to be a sweet and innocent girl, waiting for her prince of charming, until society molds her into the very representation of wrath.Da-Ae pours her rage into the world by doing everything she wants and taking advantage of any man who are not necessarily benign themselves. She hurts everyone who hurts her because she is frustrated and because noone was there to help her when she need it. Most importantly, Da-Ae's story establishes that everyone could definitely be just like Da-Ae simply by being under a society without love.The word "I'd rather just burn the whole place down" shows how much empowered Da-Ae is, that she knows what she is doing and that she got something to say under the disguise of her slutty and bitchy character.This post is most definitely not by any means justifying the kind of behavior that Da-Ae has shown throughout the story. However, this post simply seeks to gain understanding of how a person can easily be corrupted just by, borrowing The Joker's words, "One Bad Day." And I guess it's true. Every individuals in society is only "One Bad Day" away from being a person like Da-Ae.What makes this story is very recommended to me is definitely not its theme, since it is quite common nowadays, but the way the author tells their story. The back and forth nature of Ramjak's storytelling (from past to present) is very reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's storytelling and if you know me: I fucking love Nolan!The back and forth storytellling in Redemption Camp is very effective in showing what the reader needs to know and not about Da-Ae's character which makes the sudden reveal in the latest chapter much more rewarding. Just like watching Nolan's movie, I became intrigued to read the story once again from the beginning to find the foreshadow that the author has prepared that I didn't notice in the first reading.All in all, reading Redemption Camp has been nothing but rewarding. Lots of fanservice in the beginning is a lot of fun and the 'twist' in the latest chapter is very engaging. The story has been an emotional roller coaster for me and I enjoy it. Choi Da-Ae herself is portrayed very attractively and she is definitely a 'waifu' material (at least her past self, but I won't mind her present self).The current story seems like it's nearing its climax and I'm curious to find out how the ending turns out to be. I'm definitely rooting for Da-Ae now and really wants to know if she can finally found her happiness or simply revert back to her ugly and bitter self. Either way, there's no denying that Redemption Camp is an amazing story.