In any other manhwa, or manga or light novel, a pop star moving into the apartment next door would be the first sign of a budding romance for an ordinary young woman. Not in Ran's The Greatest Wolf of My Life - for Eunbyul, having Kang Bin show up in the shabby rooftop studio next door to hers, it's the beginning of the end of her peaceful life. That's because, unlike the idols of many another series, Kang Bin is a jerk with a quick temper and a lot of paranoia, so when he spots her trying to return his windblown boxers to his roof via an umbrella, he immediately assumes the worst – that she's stealing his underwear, not returning them. And if that wasn't bad enough, his assertion that she's a pervert stalker only gets worse when she mistakenly enters his house and climbs into his bed after a drunken night out.

If all of this sounds ridiculous, it absolutely is. Ran is adept at creating a vastly silly story that is fully aware of its own insanity. Eunbyul knows how ludicrous her situation is, and that's part of her frustration with it. In what reality does a K-pop idol move into a crummy rooftop apartment? In what world does an old childhood pal return as a handsome, renowned webtoon creator? She's rightly miffed and more than a little annoyed. And then, if that's not bad enough, all of it has her so rattled that she loses her job at a convenience store just as her landlady raises her rent. It's a perfect storm of insanity, and Eunbyul is not here for it.

But insane plots demand equally bizarre solutions, and the book is more than up to that. In yet another cosmic coincidence, a man Eunbyul knew during the time her family lived in Texas turns out to be Kang Bin's bodyguard, and if Kang Bin wants to break into American movies, he needs to learn English, or at least improve his. So when Eunbyul's oppa reunites with her, he realizes that she'd be the perfect teacher for Kang Bin! It's a storm of goofy coincidences and improbable situations, fueled by Eunbyul not quite being sure how she ended up surrounded by attractive men.

All of this does make it feel a bit awkward when the story suddenly throws in some darker moments. It's one thing to have Eunbyul be separated from Junghoo in elementary school because her family was moving to Texas; it's another to discover that her parents died in a horrible accident that almost killed Eunbyul as well, and then unscrupulous relatives stole her inheritance. While it's not a terrible idea to give the story a bit of grounding in harsher reality, this feels like a bit too much, and it's jarring to read about in the larger context of handsome men popping up everywhere Eunbyul goes. Then, at the last minute, the plot introduces what looks like a supernatural element, where Eunbyul picks up a ring Kang Bin has a strong attachment to and is thrown into a vision of his past. While this certainly isn't a book that troubles itself with realism, this does feel like a bridge too far, although volume two may change that.

It definitely feels like at least a love triangle is being set up between Eunbyul, Kang Bin, and Junghoo, with the possibility of Eunbyul's oppa being thrown into the mix. Right now, Junghoo is coming off as the best choice because he's not a paranoid twit, but given genre conventions, Kang Bin feels like the one she's more likely to end up with. (I hope I'm wrong; the title does seem to be a reference to Junghoo's pen name.) The romance plot is secondary to the lunacy of the rest of the story as of this volume, though, so this feels more like a book you pick up for the zany plot twists than because you're looking for a romantic comedy. BG's art supports that reading – it's one of the least classically “manhwa” art styles I've seen in a print edition of a webtoon. BG's lines don't feel self-assured, but the art is very appealing. It's got more of a western webcomic feel, and that really works for the plot. Colors aren't too bright, which grounds the images, and BG has a real flair for Eunbyul and Kang Bin's funny faces.

The Greatest Wolf of My Life is an immensely entertaining story in its first volume. It knows its own absurdity well and leans into it, and Eunbyul is an enjoyable trainwreck of a character. With fun art and a freewheeling story, this is a very fun read. It has its issues, but if you're in the mood for something offbeat, definitely give this a try.