A different kind of romance fantasy webtoon has arrived. 

This is ‘Refund high schooler,’ a so-called ‘afterlife romance fantasy school-toon’ from author Croissant. Aru is a 19 year-old high school student who has never dated anyone and only studied for her entire life. Aru was being pestered because her cousin studied hard, entered a good college, and found a boyfriend there. Aru’s mom always compares her with her cousin and says she can find a boyfriend once she goes to college. Her mom nags her about college all the time and she imagines doing everything as a couple. It’s so bad that she even does it while sleeping. 

The next day, Aru is about to be late for school. Her socks don’t even match, but she leaves home anyway. If she doesn’t hurry, she will be late. Running fast, right when she is about to cross the crosswalk, Aru sees Ryu-geon, an Instagram Star, whom she likes. Aru freezes in her tracks. She doesn’t even hear Ryu-geon shouting “Watch out!’ and is hit by a car...

When Aru wakes up, there are people gathered around talking and the car is smoking. Aru checks the scene, wondering if there was an accident, and finds her body lying on the ground. Then she realizes that she’s dead.

Whether it’s just coincidence or misfortune, inside the car that hit Aru is Se-whi, a trainee of 7 years waiting for her debut to become an idol star, and passionless Marie, who joined Se-whi’s group just because she is the niece of the agency CEO, who both died in the accident. Nearby, Instagram Star Ryu-geon, who is only interested in Instagram followers, jumped in to save Aru, but dies at the scene. The four people, Aru, Se-whi, Marie, and Ryu-geon are no longer in their bodies.

Aru, in the afterlife, tells her story to the King of the Afterlife and is told to make a choice. She can either move on to her next life or to enter Hwanseng Sungbul High School and study for 3 years. Aru absolutely hates studying, but when she sees a person standing in front of the roulette wheel for their next life who is about to reborn as an invertebrate 19,790,000 times in a row, she chooses to study.

The King of the Afterlife says that Hwanseng Sungbul High School, Hwanbul High School for short, is a place where souls who died at a young age like Aru can go and be reborn as whatever they wish if they continue their school life and pass the exams for 3 years. So, Aru enters the Hwanbul High School.

This is a webtoon that demonstrates an outstanding drawing style and story. Exaggerated expressions are used freely, but it is not over the top. Rather, it feels like it harmonizes well with the characters. The cute style of the characters and the four-panel comic structure give it a casual feel, which makes it read quickly and easily. This is a cute and cheerful webtoon. I highly recommend it.