Yi Byul

Yi Byul, most often addressed as Boss, is the leader and Seat of White of the Chameleon Troupe. She first approaches Kim Hajin as a potential weapon against the traitor who killed her predecessor, but their contract becomes a relationship that forces her to reconsider revenge, loyalty, and what a family can be. Her formidable Gift, Infinite Shadow, supports assassination, infiltration, restraint, and destructive close combat, while her later choices turn resources built through crime toward atonement. (Chapters 41, 125, 229, 365–370)

Biography

Watching and testing Kim Hajin

After inheriting leadership of the Chameleon Troupe, Boss treats revenge for the previous leader as both a personal obligation and the purpose holding the group together. Reports from Cube draw her attention to Kim Hajin, whose bullets can destroy magic power. Because that property might work against Bell, the traitor she wants dead, she places Hajin at the top of her recruitment notebook. Her interest is initially instrumental: she is searching for a rare countermeasure, not a friend or equal. (Chapters 36–41)

Boss refuses to rely on secondhand observation. Jain gives her the appearance of the real cadet Seo Ijin so she can enter Cube, and Boss later uses Li Xiaopeng as another false identity; neither borrowed name is a separate identity or a true alias. Hajin repeatedly sees through her concealment, steals and returns her smartwatch with Aether during a test, and recognizes that she is probing his anti-magic ability. These reversals unsettle her control, but they also prove that his value extends beyond the single effect she first noticed. (Chapters 56, 59, 62, and 66)

Recruiting the Seat of Black and building a home

Boss first draws Hajin into Jeronimo work with promises of anonymity and money, displaying a socially awkward habit of trying to solve human uncertainty through payment. In the field she watches his willingness to kill, praises him as her “Little Apprentice,” and asks him to call her Boss. When he later requests Chae Jinyoon's assassination, she does not demand the private reason. Instead, she makes the price explicit: if the Troupe performs the killing, Hajin must become their strength. The resulting contract binds obligation in both directions rather than making him merely disposable labor. (Chapters 91–97 and 119–125)

Jain's unauthorized pressure on Hajin nearly destroys that arrangement, but Boss restrains Jain, hears Hajin out, and apologizes rather than protecting her own authority. She accepts his symbolic blow and brings him into the Troupe as the Seat of Black. Their six-year contract says he cannot betray her and that she must fulfill her duty to him as boss so long as he remains loyal. Hajin then remodels the cave hideout into living quarters, a workshop, and shared facilities, changing a group organized around revenge into something that begins to resemble a household. Boss's quiet delight in the new space reveals how readily she responds to care she cannot yet name. (Chapters 142–146)

Tower reunion and deepening attachment

Inside the Tower of Wish, Boss reunites with Hajin under severe stat and magic restrictions. Even reduced to a fraction of her normal vitality, she kills magical fish with shadows that pierce them from within, reverses hostile spells with a shadow blade, and infiltrates a guarded mansion by turning her body into shadow. The work is costly: subduing the guards consumes several potions, and the Tower's rules suppress the transformation and raw force on which she usually relies. Depending on Hajin's plans while he depends on her execution makes their partnership more reciprocal. (Chapters 158, 167, and 173)

That closeness also exposes the fear beneath Boss's discipline. After a nightmare about her parents, she nearly strikes Hajin when she realizes that he has seen her vulnerability, but memories of his affection and her own longing stop her hand. Bell later calls her Byul and provokes her Yasha Transformation; she overextends, loses mobility, and risks rupturing her blood vessels by trying to transform again. Hajin calms her and uses the Orb of Regeneration to restore her. The episode joins physical dependence to emotional trust: she permits him to see both the child behind her title and the limits behind her power. (Chapters 174 and 185–188)

Jealousy, protection, and Pandemonium

After the Tower, Hajin gives Boss Homer's Ring because its magic-power requirements suit her. She is delighted by the gift, argues over which finger should bear it, and later wears it visibly on her left pinky. Her attachment, however, has a possessive edge. Hearing about Hajin through Rumi triggers a shadow-charged outburst, and seeing an injured Hajin beside Chae Nayun leads Boss to place a blade at Nayun's head. Crucially, she obeys Hajin when he tells her to withdraw. Soon afterward she entrusts him with her full name, Yi Byul, making disclosure rather than force the more lasting response to her fear. (Chapters 220–229 and 235)

Pandemonium turns that protectiveness into a crisis of leadership. During the battle with Kurukuru, Boss initially understands Hajin as the tool that will help avenge her predecessor. When he appears to die protecting her, she recognizes the cruelty of that assumption and apologizes for failing him as a boss; after his resurrection, she embraces him instead of hiding behind command. His later disappearance nearly drives her to attack the world indiscriminately, but the other Troupe members restrain her until his letter arrives. Her devotion has become genuine, yet these episodes show that love without trust can reproduce the violence from which she wants to protect him. (Chapters 236–239)

Orden operations

Boss and Hajin enter the campaign against Orden as an established combat pair. She destroys humanoid monsters in Yasha form, catches Hajin when exhaustion makes him fall, and carries him to safety. At the larger coalition meeting, she bargains with Wicked as an equal and secures authority in Pandemonium, but she also insists that the Troupe does not take another faction's orders. Her glance toward Hajin before accepting the operation shows the balance she is learning: she retains final command while allowing the judgment of someone she trusts to shape it. (Chapters 250 and 254–257)

In the field, Boss uses hellfire-like shadow to char the ground, infiltrates enemy territory, and tears off Kurukuru's legs. She also reveals the moral boundary by which she distinguishes herself from Yi Yeonjun: her members chose to follow, so she believes she can grant Hajin's requests without claiming ownership of them. That claim remains imperfect. When Jin Sahyuk threatens to take Hajin, Boss binds and imprisons her, and when Hajin is endangered Boss repeatedly loses composure. Nevertheless, she coordinates portals, reconnaissance, and retreat, survives Orden's final blast in Shadow Armor, and returns her people home rather than sacrificing them to prove her strength. (Chapters 259, 270, 278–285, and 288–300)

Kwang-Oh and a manufactured childhood

The Kwang-Oh disaster forces Boss to confront what the Troupe did under the logic of revenge. She confesses that she killed Kim Chundong's parents, accepting responsibility for the orphaned life later connected to Hajin rather than hiding the crime behind collective orders. Reuniting with Yi Yeonjun initially pulls her in the opposite direction: she had regarded him as the father who saved her after she killed her own parents. Even then, when he claims that Hajin cooperates with Bell, Boss immediately rejects the accusation. Her faith in Hajin is stronger than the story on which Yeonjun built her loyalty. (Chapters 272 and 301–302)

The recorded past reveals that Yeonjun manufactured the rescue. He brainwashed Byul's formerly benevolent parents into treating their daughter's dark Gift as a curse, then pushed them to murder her so that the traumatized survivor would trust him. Byul killed them to live, after which Yeonjun controlled the direction of her life. Hajin's encounters with the neglected child—feeding her and sharing ordinary warmth—clarify what Yeonjun withheld. Later, hidden in shadow, Boss hears Yeonjun admit that he wanted to own her and found her easier to shape once broken. The revelation turns her history of obedience from a debt into an abuse she must finally judge for herself. (Chapters 312–316 and 336)

Baal's war and choosing for herself

During the war surrounding Baal, Boss faces Yi Yeonjun with twenty years of mixed dependence, anger, and grief still unresolved. She attacks when he ignores her to pursue Hajin and asks whether he has nothing to say to her, demanding recognition from the man who constructed his authority through silence and lies. When Yeonjun later attempts to collapse the barrier around Hajin, Boss intervenes and drives a black blade through his body. Killing him is not another order fulfilled for a predecessor; it is her own decision to stop him from destroying the person she has chosen to protect. (Chapters 355–360)

Boss carries Yeonjun's corpse out with an empty expression, but she can still answer Hajin when he asks whether she remembers his name, and she accepts his hand. She retrieves the body for burial and admits that without Yeonjun she might have lived normally, while also recognizing that the same chain of events led her to Hajin and the Troupe. Unsure what remains when revenge no longer defines her, she asks what she should do. Hajin points to the comrades beside her and tells her to choose happiness without killing. The answer reframes freedom as responsibility to the living, not denial of the past. (Chapters 360–364)

Atonement and chosen family

After the war, Boss disbands the Chameleon Troupe and takes leadership of the Colored Calves club, ending the organization whose crimes and purpose were tied to Yi Yeonjun. She buries him but does not let the burial erase her culpability, instead vowing lifelong atonement. As Yi Byul, she works with Yoo Yeonha and directs her wealth toward the Colored Paper Charity Foundation and Healing City, which houses 100,000 children and 30,000 adult caretakers. The transition converts resources and leadership once used for assassination into institutions meant to repair lives. (Chapters 365–370)

When the world's memory of Kim Hajin is erased, Yi Byul nevertheless remembers enough to search for him, recognizes him, and says his name through tears. Healing City becomes the gathering place for the small group who retain that connection. She tells Hajin that he is free to leave, but he stays after she reminds him that she promised not to forget and found him first. Their joined hands and shared breakfast with Evandel and Rachel do not restore the childhood stolen from her; they establish a chosen family in which belonging is offered without ownership. (Chapters 375–376)

Appearance and personality

Yi Byul has long dark hair, black or obsidian eyes, and is described as tall for a woman, although her hands can appear unexpectedly small and coarse. She normally carries a controlled, cold expression and favors dark clothing suited to concealment. In Yasha form, her eyes—including the sclera—turn red, her irises become beastlike, and shadow covers or blackens her body. Her titles should not be confused with temporary disguises: “Boshy” is a public alias and “Seat of White” her Troupe position, while Seo Ijin is a real cadet whose appearance Jain lends her and Li Xiaopeng is a fabricated cover. (Chapters 56, 62, 186, 202, 210, 222, 229, and 257)

Boss is terse, proud, and practiced at intimidating others, but the composure conceals social inexperience and an intense fear of betrayal. Early on she substitutes money or contracts for emotional negotiation; later she expresses attachment through gifts, protection, and the creation of shared space. Her jealousy can become violent, especially where Hajin is concerned, and setbacks sometimes make her lose the restraint expected of a leader. Against that volatility stand genuine loyalty, willingness to apologize, and increasing respect for other people's choices. Her final charitable work is not presented as proof that her crimes vanish, but as the form her responsibility takes once revenge is no longer an excuse. (Chapters 91–92, 142–146, 225–239, and 362–370)

Gifts and abilities

Yi Byul's Gift is called Shadow and later displayed as Infinite Shadow. It is the foundation for her weapons, body transformation, concealment, binding, defenses, and Yasha state. The corpus demonstrates a flexible substance or magic that responds to her intent, but it does not define a single exhaustive rule for every manifestation. Her large reserves make her an appropriate user of magic-demanding equipment, while repeated overextension shows that reserves do not eliminate cost. (Chapters 173, 186, 220, and 271)

Infinite Shadow

Boss shapes shadow into blades, thorns, armor, barriers, and a burning form described like hellfire. The constructs can pierce targets from inside, neutralize or redirect magical attacks, dismember powerful enemies, scorch wide areas, and protect her from Orden's final explosion. Her shadow can also apply learned magical properties: while studying under Shimurin, she produces blue, ice-attributed shadow. These variations demonstrate development and control, but the source does not establish that every element or spell can be reproduced. (Chapters 158, 167, 259, 270, 299–300, and 326)

The Gift is powerful rather than unconditional. Tower restrictions greatly reduce Boss's available statistics and force her to spend potions on demanding operations. Bell can withstand or disrupt her attacks, and Bloodsucking Cleaner's spirit-enhanced attachment is tested as a way to nullify the Gift at very high consumption. Darkness is also poorly matched against some devil-related enemies. These encounters establish counters through suppression, superior resistance, specialized nullification, and unfavorable affinity rather than a simple shortage of offensive force. (Chapters 158, 173, 185–186, 231, and 271)

Shadow body, infiltration, and restraint

Boss can merge with darkness, liquefy into a shadow pool, erase her presence, and move through guarded spaces before reconstituting. She uses this mode to infiltrate a mansion and overwhelm soldiers, and later becomes a puddle-like shadow while concealing herself. The same control lets her bind a target with shadow, place blades at close range, or establish a barrier around herself and an ally. These applications make Infinite Shadow as useful for capture, escape, and protection as for killing. (Chapters 173, 225–228, 323, and 334)

Shadow form is not costless intangibility. The Tower infiltration requires multiple recovery potions, showing that sustained transformation and simultaneous restraints consume significant power. Her concealment can also fail against sufficiently perceptive opponents: Hajin detects her even through dedicated concealment and later recognizes her disguised approaches. Boss therefore succeeds most reliably when stealth is paired with intelligence, disguise, and controlled timing rather than treated as an absolute defense. (Chapters 38, 56–66, and 173)

Hellfire shadow and Yasha Transformation

Yasha Transformation is an extreme state within Shadow rather than a separate person or Gift. Activation turns Boss's eyes red and sharply increases her dynamic vision and physical capacity; outside the Tower she can combine it with shadow weapons, speed, and hellfire-like destruction. She uses it against Bell, Kurukuru, and Orden's humanoid monsters, while the infernal shadow she releases can char the battlefield and threaten opponents beyond ordinary blade range. The transformation makes her one of the Troupe's foremost direct combatants. (Chapters 185–186, 236, 250, 259, and 267)

Its strength comes with a dangerous ceiling. In the Tower, system restrictions leave much of the transformation expressed only as physical reinforcement. A prolonged clash drains so much magic that Boss has less than minutes of useful time, loses the ability to move afterward, and risks bursting her blood vessels when she tries to force a second activation. Bell's ability to survive the first exchange further shows that Yasha is not a guaranteed finishing move. Hajin's calming intervention and the Orb of Regeneration are necessary for her recovery, making judgment and support important counters to her tendency to overextend. (Chapters 185–188)

Leadership and operational judgment

Boss's authority is a learned role separate from her Gift. She controls volatile specialists, negotiates with rival organizations, assigns infiltration and combat teams, and preserves the Troupe's autonomy within coalitions. She is strongest when she listens to Jain's planning, Hajin's judgment, and the concerns of other members while still making a clear final decision. Her weaker moments arise when fear for Hajin turns command into impulsive violence or when revenge narrows people into tools. (Chapters 142–144, 235, 254–256, and 278–285)

Her final development is therefore also a change in how she leads. She rejects Yi Yeonjun's model of ownership, disbands the organization built around his wish, and assumes responsibility for charitable institutions rather than demanding continued loyalty from assassins. Healing City demonstrates that her wealth, decisiveness, and ability to organize people survive the end of the Chameleon Troupe. What changes is the purpose: protection becomes sustained care rather than a claim over a chosen person. (Chapters 259 and 362–370)

Power progression

Relationships

Kim Hajin

Boss begins by evaluating Hajin as an anti-magic weapon and binds him to the Troupe through a reciprocal contract. Shared danger, the home he creates in the hideout, and his willingness to protect and confront her gradually make him the person whose judgment she most trusts. Her attachment is romantic and sometimes dangerously possessive, but Hajin repeatedly insists on choice rather than ownership. By the ending, she remembers and finds him despite the world's erasure, while he chooses to remain after she gives him permission to leave. (Chapters 41, 125, 143–146, 174, 220–239, and 362–376)

Chameleon Troupe

The Troupe first receives its unity from Boss's promise to avenge the previous leader. She commands through strength and contract, yet the members also restrain her, advise her, care for her when injured, and choose to remain. Hajin's transformed hideout makes that mutual dependence visible as domestic life. Boss ultimately recognizes that their voluntary bonds distinguish them from Yi Yeonjun's control, then disbands the Troupe when its inherited mission ends rather than preserving her title for its own sake. (Chapters 41, 143–154, 239, 259, 291–300, and 365)

Yi Yeonjun

Yi Yeonjun presents himself as the father who rescued Byul after she killed her parents, and she organizes decades of loyalty and revenge around that supposed debt. The recorded past and his own confession reveal that he brainwashed her parents, engineered their attack, and wanted to possess the broken survivor. Boss cannot erase her emotional history merely by learning the truth, but she finally chooses against it when Yeonjun threatens Hajin. Killing and burying him ends his immediate control; asking how to live afterward begins her independent moral life. (Chapters 301–314, 336, and 356–365)

Bell

Bell is first the traitor whom Boss believes killed the previous Troupe leader and the reason she seeks Hajin's anti-magic ability. He also knows her as Byul and can provoke the wounded identity beneath her title, drawing her into a ruinous Yasha clash. Although revenge against him shapes her recruitment decisions, the relationship's deeper consequence is indirect: repeated encounters expose how easily an inherited mission can override her body, judgment, and treatment of Hajin. Her eventual redefinition of purpose leaves Bell's betrayal behind as an origin, not a permanent command. (Chapters 41, 174, 185–188, and 236–239)

Items

Homer's Ring

Hajin gives Homer's Ring to Boss because her exceptional magic power makes her a suitable wearer. Her delighted concern over which finger should hold it shows that she interprets the transfer personally as well as practically, and she later wears it on her left pinky. The ring's transfer makes Yi Byul its final established owner rather than a temporary custodian. (Chapters 220–221 and 235)

Orb of Regeneration

The Orb of Regeneration belongs to Hajin, but it has a recurring recovery and custody association with Boss. After Yasha Transformation leaves her immobilized and endangered by further activation, Hajin uses the Orb to heal her, and she remains with it while recovering until the next day. The episode establishes beneficiary and temporary custody, not a transfer of ownership. (Chapters 186 and 188)