Cha Hyun-su is a mess. When we first meet him in Sweet Home chapter 1, he isn’t some heroic figure waiting for a call to adventure. He’s a shut-in. A "hikikomori" in the truest sense, sitting in a dark, cramped apartment at Green Home, planning the exact date of his own death. It’s grim. It’s uncomfortable. Honestly, it’s one of the most effective psychological hooks in the history of the Naver Webtoon platform.
While many people found this story through the high-budget Netflix adaptation, the original source material by Carnby Kim and Young-chan Hwang hits differently. The first chapter isn't just a setup for monster fights. It's a character study of a boy who has lost everything—his family, his social standing, and his will to live—only to be forced into a fight for survival when the rest of the world starts turning into their deepest, darkest desires.
The Psychological Weight of the First Few Panels
Most horror stories start with a scream. Sweet Home chapter 1 starts with a calendar. Specifically, a date circled in red: the day Hyun-su intends to end his life. This isn't just flavor text. It sets the stakes. The irony of the series is that the protagonist has to find a reason to live exactly when the world gives him every reason to give up.
Kim Carnby is a master of the "unreliable or unstable narrator." If you’ve read Bastard, you know the drill. In the opening pages, we see Hyun-su’s internal monologue. He’s cynical. He’s bitter. He’s moved into this decaying apartment complex because he’s broke after the death of his family. He’s the classic "loser" archetype, but the art style by Young-chan Hwang makes him feel human rather than a caricature. The shadows are heavy. The color palette is muted, mostly greys and sickly yellows. It makes you feel the claustrophobia of his room.
Then, the delivery happens.
Hyun-su goes to his door to pick up some ramen he ordered. This is the first time we see the "Monsterization" process, though we don't know it yet. He sees his neighbor's hand. It’s long. It’s distorted. There are fingers where fingers shouldn’t be. It's a jarring shift from a gritty drama to body horror in the span of three panels.
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Why the Webtoon Beats the Live-Action Intro
The Netflix series is great, don't get me wrong. Song Kang does a fantastic job. But the pacing of Sweet Home chapter 1 in the webtoon is much more deliberate. In the show, they lean heavily into the CGI and the scale of the building. In the webtoon, the horror is intimate.
The first chapter focuses on the "Ramen Girl" neighbor. This sequence is a masterclass in tension. Hyun-su is looking through the intercom. He sees a beautiful woman, then he sees her transform into a starving, distorted creature. The webtoon uses the vertical scrolling format to its advantage. You scroll down, and the creature’s face stretches. It’s a jump scare that you trigger yourself.
- The Webtoon emphasizes Hyun-su's inner thoughts.
- The pacing is slower, building dread through silence.
- The art style allows for more "impossible" monster designs that CGI sometimes struggles to replicate.
I’ve seen people argue that the show is better because of the music, but the silence of the webtoon is scarier. When you’re reading Sweet Home chapter 1, you can almost hear the wet, cracking sounds of the neighbor’s bones shifting. It’s visceral in a way that high-def cameras sometimes sanitize.
Understanding the "Desire" Mechanic
To really get what's happening in the first chapter, you have to understand the lore that Carnby Kim sprinkles in later, but hints at early on. The monsters in Sweet Home aren't zombies. They aren't aliens. They are humans who have succumbed to their own desires.
The neighbor in the first chapter is obsessed with her weight and hunger. That's why she becomes a "Starvation Monster." Hyun-su’s struggle, which begins the second he sees her, is a struggle against his own internal monster. The "nosebleeds" are the first symptom. In Sweet Home chapter 1, we don't see Hyun-su’s nosebleed yet, but the atmosphere is already infected. The world feels sick.
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You’ve probably noticed that Hyun-su is strangely calm. Or rather, he’s numb. This numbness is his shield, but it’s also his greatest weakness. The story is essentially asking: what happens when a person who wants to die is forced to fight for his life?
The Cult of Green Home
Green Home, the setting introduced in the first chapter, is a character in itself. It’s a crumbling apartment complex that represents the fringes of Korean society. It’s where people go when they have nowhere else to turn.
By starting the story here, the authors are making a statement about social isolation. The "Sweet Home" title is deeply sarcastic. There is nothing sweet about this place. It’s a concrete coffin. Yet, ironically, it becomes the only place where these strangers actually start communicating.
If you’re revisiting the series, pay attention to the background details in the first chapter. The trash piling up in the hallways. The flickering lights. The way the other residents are briefly glimpsed. It’s all intentional. It builds a sense of a dying ecosystem that is about to be replaced by something much more predatory.
What New Readers Often Miss
A lot of people breeze through the first chapter to get to the "action." That's a mistake. Honestly, the most important part of Sweet Home chapter 1 is the flashback to Hyun-su’s family. It’s brief, but it establishes his guilt. He blames himself for being the only survivor. He thinks he’s a "monster" long before the infection even starts.
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This psychological depth is why Sweet Home stands above other survival horror series like All of Us Are Dead. It’s not about the monsters outside; it’s about the monsters inside. The first chapter lays the groundwork for the entire series' climax. If you don't buy into Hyun-su's despair here, the rest of his growth won't land.
Practical Steps for Fans of the Series
If you've only seen the show, go back and read the first ten chapters of the webtoon. It’s a different experience. The art by Young-chan Hwang is iconic for a reason.
- Check out the official LINE Webtoon version. The translation is the most accurate and it supports the creators.
- Look for the "Easter eggs." Carnby Kim often references his other works. There are small nods to Bastard hidden in the background of some chapters.
- Read "Shotgun Boy" afterward. It’s a prequel set in the same universe. It explains more about the origin of the "monsters" and fills in the gaps that the first chapter of Sweet Home leaves open.
The brilliance of Sweet Home chapter 1 is its simplicity. One boy. One room. One monster at the door. It takes a universal fear—the invasion of your private, safe space—and turns it into a metaphor for mental health and societal decay. It’s brilliant, it’s terrifying, and it’s the reason why this series became a global phenomenon.
If you want to understand the modern horror landscape in manhwa, this is where you start. Don't skip the dialogue. Don't rush the panels. Let the dread sink in. That's how it was meant to be read.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Understanding:
Identify the specific "desire" of each resident as they are introduced. In the first chapter, it's hunger. Later, it becomes power, grief, or vanity. Mapping these desires provides a much clearer picture of the series' themes than just focusing on the gore. If you're interested in the technical side, compare the paneling of the webtoon to the storyboarding of the Netflix pilot; you'll see how the creators used verticality to simulate falling and fear. Standalone reading of the prequel Shotgun Boy will also clarify the "Zero" monster mentioned in later arcs.