Zack Lee (2024)

Zack Lee (이진성 Lee Jin Sung) is a secondary character in Lookism. He is a student in the fashion department of J High School, as well as Mira's love interest. He's also Gongseob Ji's successor.

Appearance[]

Zack's height is somewhat tall, and as a result of his physical training, he has a sturdy, muscular physique, at one point reaching 99.8kg (199 lbs).^[2]

He has slicked back black hair that is cut short on the sides, though his hair had been shaved off as a result of him getting into a fight after promising not to. After this incident, he started wearing a wig^{[Citation needed]}. after some chapters that had him in it were introduced, it's most likely he grew his hair back.

He has a very good fashion sense, paying attention to his looks when it comes to outshining his peers. He tends to wear gray scale colored brand clothing. On several occasions, he has worn earrings. Currently, he's wearing Gongseob Ji's clothes and glasses when he was younger.

Zack has a serious resting face, with sharp glaring eyes, which in turn, easily intimidates those who look at him. He only occasionally smiles, and he only smiles when he is with Mira or when he is fighting someone of great strength and beating them. he wore a wish bracelet, but it had been took off years ago.

Personality[]

Prior to meeting Daniel, Zack was somehow kind at heart despite his poor manners and extremely high imprudence. He had helped both Mira and Johan in many situations regarding their pasts, such as rushing Mira to the hospital^[3] and saving Johan from bullies, but this kindness was reserved for those that are close to him. As shown in the Cult Arc, Zack was referred to as the strongest of his middle school.^[4] This greatly boosted his ego which, when in conjunction with his very short and bad temper, was the reason for most, if not all, his fights and was also the reason for his violence towards the weak.

After meeting Daniel, Zack slowly changed in ways that he isn't very attentive to, although other characters such as Mira Kim have. Under the circ*mstances of promising his love interest not to fight, he's had to put a calm face towards those mocking him, and he learned the lives of how his own victims felt. He realized his immature empowerment actions were wrong, and began to stop bother those under him,^[5] even being shown to be remorseful.^[6] Peers commented on this behavior, although to Zack it just felt like a bother to waste time picking on others. He matured impressively in a short life span due to his tolerance.

Although he has become somewhat diplomatic, he will try to reason with people that attempt to bother him, preferring to avoid conflict. Regarding his treatment towards others, he will tell people off for unjust actions, but tries to manage it before it resorts to violence. He controls his temper and apologizes, even if nothing is his fault. This is because he doesn't want to make Mira unhappy by having physical altercations with others, and results with others believing he's weak-willed.

Zack has had a strong affection for Mira Kim ever since they were children. He cares for her deeply and attempts to impress her without making a fool of himself. He gets exceedingly jealous when others flirt with her, he is always considering keeping Mira safe from others due to her bad memories of predators. Although this plays off to be a lap-dog trait, always doing everything Mira desires of him.

Despite the fact that Zack has developed into a person that truly wants to protect his friends, he is very hard on himself. He continues to blame himself for the fact that Jiho had attempted murder and that Jasmine ran away, although that's not the true underlying case. In addition to this, he had worked his body hard and trained for countless hours every day to achieve his goals of being stronger than Daniel and Johan, wanting to beat their mysterious talents with his pure effort. Zack pursued defeating Daniel,^[7] however Daniel awoke in 'Ultra Instinct,' showing his true capabilities, and Zack continued to look down on himself for not being strong enough to obtain a victory.^[8]

After resuming training, Zack has shown himself to in complete subscription to boxing as not only a fighting style but fighting philosophy. The latter trait expressed with him taking 1-minute breaks after 3-minute intervals during his latest fight with Daniel Park (emulating the format of real boxing matches). In addition, he staunchly takes pride in his status as a boxer, calling himself a "professional" who would not engage in street fights. Despite that, he states that if he is to engage in street fights he would do so not as a boxer aiming to win but as someone aiming to kill.

However, due to a bevy of defeats at the hands of Johan, Daniel Park, Mandeok, among others, Zack has shown a keen neuroticism concerning winning fights. This has led him to adopt dirty boxing as his trump card when pressed against stronger opponents, something which he loathes due to his pride as a professional. As such, when in this state of neuroticism, Zack acts in an exaggeratedly morose and depressed manner whilst maintaining his aggression - verbally lamenting his inability to win without resorting to dirty boxing.

After not being able to get a single win against anyone in the 2nd Affiliate, even with dirty boxing, he was at a loss. He lamented about how everyone else around him was getting stronger and he seemed incapable of being so, frustrated to the point he didn't have any tears to cry about it anymore. His pity party was cut short when Cho Ma and Gong Ji found him sulking. After criticizing him for fighting, they told him to go to Daegu if he wanted to go continue ruining his life by getting stronger. There he found Gongseob Ji, a 1st Generation King who once ruled over Daegu. While hesitating at first to train him, Zack managed to touch Gongseob's heartstrings and began to learn iron boxing. While physically training him was part of it, the most important thing Gongseob trained Zack was mentally. In a month, Zack became a different person, No longer was he a guy quick to anger or someone filled with neuroticism, going down the path of self-loathing would leave him as a bird trapped in a cage unable to fly. He would only become stronger once he took pride in himself and everything he learned, and Zack Lee achieved it with flying colors.

He became someone who believes in himself and his abilities, now trying to block out any form of negative thoughts not cloud his judgment, and has even picked up the habit of crying out to the Buddha as a means of calming himself. After everything he's been through, Zack Lee has finally become a bird able to fly, now confident with the person he has became and no longer burdened with his shortcomings.

History[]

Zack comes from a rich family referring to $500 as pocket change.^[9] During the early parts of the story he was seen spending his money on top-notch clothing to impress Mira.^[10]

Zack has known and had a crush Mira since childhood. He used to accompany her on various extracurricular activities, not out of his own interest but rather to spend more time with her. Mira was the one who introduced Zack to the world of boxing being one of the activities she was attending at the time.

At some point, he befriended Johan who was going to the same church he did when they were young. Zack wasn't aware of Johan's fighting potential until he saw him copying one of his boxing moves.^[11] Zack knew Johan had feelings for Mira, and it was part of the wedge that drove the two of them apart.

Having once enjoyed the bullying of the weak, Zack has since changed due to the influence of Mira, who he is in love with, and is now on good terms with both sides of Daniel Park.

Fighting Prowess[]

Zack is a very capable fighter who can hold his own against most of his peers in school and was placed in the same caliber as Vasco and Daniel. Unlike Vasco or Daniel, Zack had neglected his training for quite some time as he was confident that his fighting ability was enough to hold his own against any opponent at the start of the series. His pride in his abilities has since been humbled by the staggering number of formidable fighters around him who possess even more talent than him. Once realizing he's no longer able to fully protect Mira, he has decided to resume training with a mindset that his hard work would surpass his enemy's and friend's talents.^[12]

Zack is a proficient out-boxer, having trained since childhood and is considered a formidable opponent by his peers due to his outstanding talent earning him achievements in numerous competitions. His type of fighting style is a hit and run outboxer.^[13] Zack's out-boxing style is typical, relying heavily on speed to deliver quick combinations utilizing straight punches with little in the way of body blows. This fighting style effectively placing Zack in a position to attack and denying his opponents counterattack. When pressed, Zack will normally use his footwork and head movement to evade.

When in a situation in which blocking is absolutely necessary, Zack has demonstrated an impressive understanding and application of the Philly Shell, a style popularized by Floyd Mayweather Jr.. This style is characterized by the usage of the shoulder roll, resulting in opponent's punches being deflected and diffused off of the user's round shoulder.

Only a handful of fighters can actually keep up with Zack and dodge his punches such as Daniel Park and Johan. As such, Zack's speed has been used as a benchmark for other fighters. If the said opponent is on par with or surpasses Zack's speed, they are considered threats not to be taken lightly which is a further testament to the danger Zack's speed possesses.

However, as a result of Zack's reliance on his speed, fighters that equal or surpass found themselves in a position much more favorable to victory.

However, Zack is not set in his style, having created counters to techniques used against him such as being able to respond to Daniel's utilization of a body blow in Zack's later fight with Logan Lee. Beyond skill, Zack has also demonstrated vast improvements to himself after resuming training, giving up his pride in exchange for grit and determination. On a mental level, this has given Zack greater endurance and resolve to see his strategies through such as enduring Daniel Park's attacks to formulate his own counterattacks. On a physical level, this has resulted in Zack becoming immensely more powerful, stunning Johan and Daniel in a past fight with narration stating that he has the style and tendencies of an out-boxer but the power of a in-fighter.

However, despite Zack's continual efforts to become stronger now, he held an inclination to not train in other styles, sticking only to boxing. Even when pressed to train in a mixed martial arts setting, he refused, and continued with boxing, despite his own coach's admission that Zack has essentially mastered all of boxing's techniques with any further advancement coming in the form of physical training. However, as of Chapter 352, Zack has begun to "discard his pride" and now utilizes dirty boxing, having used head-butts and pivot blows (spinning backfists). This could lead into a transition to other forms of martial arts. Recently, he enjoyed using chains as a weapon.

He loses confidence due to repeated defeats, falls into a state of self-loathing and his body starts "burning up." This is called heat mode. It occurs when feeling self-hatred for not being able to achieve something. The body becomes really hot to the point where your heart is about to burst, causing you to have an awakening in strength.

Later on, he is trains under Gongseop Ji, a king from the first generation whose fighting style consists of being able deal with and dish out heavy damage. This is shown by him being able to not only take hits, but also deal overwhelming damage to Mandeok Bang, who had previously been able to one-shot Zack.

After his training is finished he teams up with Daniel and Vasco to fight against the Workers. Eventually, after the battle is finished Zack joins the Allied crew.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

• Whenever Zack Lee is drunk, he becomes a weak, weeping face, even hugging and kissing Daniel.^[14]
• Some have said that an appearance of Jin Sung resembles the famous tattoo maker, Kiji (named after Instagram: Kijikush).
• Zack's English name is the same as Zack Lee, an Indonesian born British boxer and actor.^[15]
• One of the supporting characters, Ma Cho Il (student of the 2nd Fashion Department), resembles the face of Jin Sung. The difference between the two is his long curly hair, while Zack keeps his fringe of hair gelled back.
• He was an atheist^[13] however, after he met Gongseob Ji, He converted to buddha
• Whenn a state of motivation, Zack's eyes are drawn glowing blue.
• In Chapter 27 of "My Life as a Loser" (another series by Park Taejun), a boxing genius named Gu Sangmin is said to be the 3rd best in middle school boxing competition. Zack Lee (2nd) and Johan Seong (1st) are the two who he could not beat.
• Zack possesses phasmaphobia (the irrational fear of poltergeists, ghosts, and other similar creatures).^[16]
• In episode 14 of webtoon he was able to get the highest score in the arcade punching bag which was 892, but it was shortly beaten by Vasco with a score of 910.^[17]
• Early in the series, his height was 180cm^[1]- 182cm (Before training)^[2]; then, it became 185cm (after training)^[2].
• In chapter 428, James Lee mentions that Zack must improve his breathing control to emulate Gongseob Ji.

References[]