Lookism Chapter 552 started a new arc called The Mandate of Heaven, and it wrapped up Jinrang’s backstory before switching back to the present timeline, right after Kitae Kim axed him. But turns out, Jinrang survived, thanks to Sang Baek, who came in front of him and took the blow.

Most fans expected Jinrang to make it out alive but I thought PTJ might take the other route and actually kill him off to shift the focus back to Daniel Park. But Jinrang’s still standing.

Jinrang vs Dayoung Oh in Lookism Chapter 552

Lookism Chapter 552 starts with Jinrang confronting Dayoung Oh, who is beating up his crew. Dayoung is the ex-King of Busan and also a disciple of Gapryong Kim. Jinrang challenges him as soon as he sees his brothers getting roughed up.

Dayoung throws the first punch and overpowers him for a moment. But Jinrang endured the punch and goes into Gapryong Kim’s fighting stance, shocking Dayoung.

He even asks, “Is that Master’s power?” Right after that, we get a short flashback of Jinrang and Jichang Kwak. Jinrang asks if he can break the leash, and Jichang tells him not to ask others but himself. And he finally comes to his senses and admits that he can do it!

Back in the fight, Jinrang lands a clean punch in that same stance. Dayoung starts mocking him at first, flexing that he is the real disciple and Jinrang is just a mutt raised by him.

But the tables turn real quick once Dayoung realizes he is losing. He starts begging, offering everything, but Jinrang stays calm and punches him to death and says, This is how I will protect my crew from now on.

Jinrang’s Conviction and Final Choice

After the fight, Gapryong Kim arrives. He mentions how Dayoung was once innocent, but Jongnam Hwang and Yongpal Bae twisted him completely.

Gapryong tells Jinrang there will be consequences for killing someone. But Jinrang replies, “He deserved to die, so I killed him.” Then Gapryong asks him if he protected what he wanted to protect, and Jinrang simply says, “I protected it”.

The chapter also confirmed that Jinrang’s name was given by Gapryong Kim, and the reason he went to jail was for killing Dayoung Oh.

The backstory ends here and the chapter switches back to the present. Jinrang is alive, as Sang Baek jumped in and took the axe hit from Kitae Kim. That moment confirmed Jinrang was not done yet, and we will most likely see him stand up again soon.

While all this is happening in Busan, James Lee is chilling somewhere else, sipping red wine. He did not come to Busan himself, he left the job to Kitae Kim and Goo Kim. In the panel, James is seen talking to a guy wearing a police uniform. The officer asks him what he is thinking about, since James looks kind of zoned out.

James replies he was thinking about someone from the past, (Seongji Yuk), a person who actually pushed him in a fight and managed to surpass his limits because of his strong conviction.

But that person died years ago. James says something like “That won’t happen again”, thinking no one will ever reach that level again.

But the panel hints otherwise, Jinrang might be the one who repeats history, because now he also has a clear goal, and he has got that same kind of conviction to protect his people. The chapter seems to foreshadow that Jinrang will break his limits too, and it might be in the second fight against Kitae Kim.

Lookism Chapter 552 is now available on Naver Webtoon, and can be accessed by using coins since 7 latest chapters are available for paid users only.