Kakao Entertainment said on the 9th it selected three webtoons and web novels expected to remain popular this year based on last year's performance.
The selections are the fantasy webtoon "Pick Me Up!," the action webtoon "Red Storm: Return of the King," and the modern fantasy web novel "Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work" (hereafter "Ghost Story Commute"), all of which have stayed at the top of the popularity rankings for a long time since release.
The webtoon "Pick Me Up!" follows a protagonist who falls into a mobile gacha game and must conquer dungeons without a single failure. Although it began serialization in 2022, it ranked in the monthly top 10 in the fantasy webtoon category on KakaoPage for all 12 months last year, holding the No. 1 or No. 2 spot for eight of those months.
The webtoon "Red Storm: Return of the King" is season 2 of "Red Storm," the signature martial arts intellectual property (IP) by writer No Gyeong-chan that shares a universe with "Abimussang." After season 1 ended following about nine years of serialization, it returned after about five years to much attention. It tells the story of a protagonist who has grown into a martial god of the desert and goes to war once again to save the world. Since its release on Kakao Webtoon in Feb. last year, it ranked No. 1 for two straight months in the action and martial arts genres.
Writer Baek Deok-su's web novel "Ghost Story Commute" also appears poised to enjoy a long run. Set in a universe where ghost stories are real, it depicts the struggles of a protagonist who joins a company that exterminates them as a new employee. It topped the genre rankings as soon as it began serialization in Oct. 2024 and surpassed 100 million cumulative views in three months.
A Kakao Entertainment official said, "Based on the proven narrative completeness and fandom of KakaoPage and Kakao Webtoon, we will continue to unveil competitive new titles in 2026 and strengthen the foundation for producing many works that can be loved over the long term."