Payback (SAMK & Fujoking)

Description

While other students were preparing to take their CSAT exams, Lee Yoohan was swept up in an exhilarating lifestyle of crime and debauchery. While working for a loan shark, karma catches up to him when a family member dies from an act of revenge against him. After years of repenting for his sins and trying to turn over a new leaf, he meets a man in the entertainment industry who gives him the opportunity to get his revenge… (Source: Lezhin)

Official Webtoon:
R19: Bomtoon
R15: Bomtoon, Lezhin, Comico, Naver Series, MrBlue, BookCube, KakaoPage

Official Translations:
R19: English, Japanese (Webtoon, Manga), T.Chinese, French, German, Thai
Spanish: Censored, Uncensored
R15: S.Chinese

Note: The T.Chinese, French, and English are uncensored.

Type

Manhwa

Related Series

Payback (Novel) (Adapted From)

Associated Names

偿还

偿还-pay back

舍邪归正

페이백

페이백(PAYBACK)

페이백(SAMK & Fujoking)

Groups Scanlating

Catoru scan

FujoMelon Scans

Le Mafia Scans

Latest Release(s)

c.63 by Catoru scan 2 years ago

c.62 by Catoru scan 2 years ago

c.23 by Le Mafia Scans 3 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

95 Chapters + Prologue + Side Story (Ongoing)

S1: 40 Chapters (Complete) 1~40
S2: 40 Chapters (Complete) 41~80
S3: 15 Chapters (Complete) 81~95

Side Story: 4 Chapters (Ongoing)

Author will release a spinoff under the title "Pay-Off" after taking some time off.

Completely Scanlated?

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8.9 / 10.0 (121 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.39 / 10.0

45%

28%

11%

10%

Last Updated

April 30th, 2025 8:58am PDT - 1 week ago

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Genre

Drama Mature Romance Yaoi
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Usagi Yojimbo

Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect (Novel)

This Wasn't My Plan

Payback (Novel)

Ghostly Vendetta

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Bomtoon

Kidari Studio

Serialized In (magazine)

Lezhin (Lezhin)

Bomtoon (Bomtoon)

Comico Korea (NHN Entertainment)

Naver Series (Naver)

MrBlue (Mr. Blue)

BookCube (BookCube)

KakaoPage (Kakao)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Lezhin US

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #248

(+12)

Monthly Pos #279

(-9)

3 Month Pos #322

(-40)

6 Month Pos #300

(+16)

Year Pos #291

(-66)

List Stats

On 576 reading lists

On 250 wish lists

On 117 completed lists

On 14 unfinished lists

On 241 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Great art, okay story but lacks character depth

by StellaStar1
3 weeks ago

Rating: 6.0 / 10.0

This is a primarily character driven yaoi, which is refreshing in itself, and definitely gives more depth to the story and all. But I feel they somehow botched this. The whole point of the story is to show how the MC (the uke) ticks and lives his life. Hollow, empty, punishing himself. Avoiding everything that could make him feel. Completely destroying his personality and lifeforce. Now, this is no easy feat, and to some degree, the manhwa does show it... But not nearly enough. I considered uke a boring, too cold and bland char, behaving like a piece of stone. The whole point is that we understand the mechanism behind this, but I just didn't. Plus he was pretty idiotic at times. If I had a deeper inkling of him as a character, I could never take this as a minus, but I did and this largely diminished the quality of the manhwa. I know it's much easier to write a novel about how people think, than to show it in a manhwa, but they needed to spend less time on the revenge story and more on the uke's psychological make up. Ditto for seme. he gets much less screen time, so he's very shabbily developed as a char. You get the general outline of what he is and how he acts, but it's too little, not deep enough. This is a problem when you have a limited number of pages and a story that has to followed. But the whole point of the story is the character development. The revenge is pretty secondary, in fact. So this is a major omission, IMHO.

Well, now for the revenge arc. At some points, it's thrilling and so cool! At other points, it's boring and bogged down by not so interesting characters and story arcs. A major script rewrite was needed, IMHO. As I said, less drama, more character development, but they did not go down that route. Also the antagonists were... Cliche? Expected? A more nuances, more grey antagonist is always welcome, but no such thing here.
On the flipside, the art was excellent!! Loved it! Overall, this was okay, but nothing outstanding.

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Compelling story and MCs

by looklookie22
2 months ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I read both the manhwa and webnovel. It is now one of my fave BLs out there.

Payback has a good story and drama that kept it going. It honed the Celebrity AU plot so well like a knife (hehe). It has eventual identity reveals, good use of flashbacks and surprisingly no amnesia 😂.

Yoohan is such an amazing character and how his journey unfolds just lured me in. His depressing thoughts, guilt and feelings are just chef's kiss. And for the ML, even if Jay can be read as the typical red flag chaebol, the way the story presents him is so alluring for readers (me) and Yoohan. Like we know 100% he can do worse but would it be relevant to the plot? That's how I can describe him. His dubcon-ness/red flag ness is something Jay also hones well.

If you're seeking for a shipping main story, this might not be for you. This story is kinda like Drama/Plot first, couple later or the couple is the dessert and not the main course. The smut is the device for the characters' development. (Especially in one part of the novel)

I recommend this to anyone who's down to be intrigued and sit down for plot and drama and how it ties with the pair's relationship.

This review is solely for Payback not for the side stories Payoff and Paid Payback(?) for I haven't read those yet.

... Last updated 2 months ago

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Read it not as a romance but as a revenge story

by jaeminuf
3 months ago

Rating: N/A

Initially, I was gripped by the premise. Over time, however, I found myself less and less engaged. If I had gone into the story primarily as one of revenge rather than revenge AND romance, I might have been less disappointed. The revenge storyline is well done, very well done.

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Toxic but likable

by whitelotusflower
4 months ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

Tbh I was reading it for so long, that I can't remember previous seasons XD But no hard feelings, so I guess it must've been good. It's good that he found his reason to live <3

🍭2/5 🎈1/5 🌶️4/5 🚩4/5

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They are definitely hot together

by kasekimizu
4 months ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I thought this was just a simple showbiz revenge story but it's much more intense than that. And the manhwa had already toned it down from the novel. It's got shades of "The beast must die". Jay is really much more of a black flag, so it's fortunate that Yoohan can really dish it out too. Their relationship is really interesting and Jay helps Yoohan with his guilt issues.

The tone can be somewhat uneven between the seriousness of the main plot (r*pe, SA, murder, corruption etc) and the silliness of the background characters but everyone is for the most part interesting and not just one-note. The particulars of the entertainment industry that gets put on show in the revenge plot is also intricate and thought out.

... Last updated 4 months ago

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tried to read it, art is really good and unique

by mimi201
2 years ago

Rating: N/A

It is great that a a lot of people enjoy this webtoon adaption. Unfortunately there is just something about it that made me drop it in the first or second chapter. Maybe one day I will revisit and try to read it again.....I have seen spoilers and oof the sex scenes are hot as hell...., the art is really good and I like the character designs of the two main characters and love the overall main premise of the manhwa.

I am unsure what impedes me to getting past the first/second chapter. I think maybe as a new reader, the first chapter was not attention grabbing. I love the premise but maybe it is because the first chapter was just....not good........I think storytelling wise it could be better....? Sometimes it's good to show more, and not overly explain. And if you do tell, then the characters thoughts should be better.
Storytelling wise It just felt forced and awkward (the ukes narration of his own thoughts...?). There was just no allure of mystery in the first/second chapter. I felt as if they wanted to implement a novel type first person narration by the uke MC but to me it just falls flat. I think I had the same problem with another series Checkmate (TAN).

I am a fan of slow burner and premise of getting revenge against someone in the entertainment industry (Again a BL, Skip Beat! a shoujo manga) but Payback did not hold my interest. It's funny because I also dropped the other work Peach something because of the awkward too long text writing.

Can't rate it since I could not get past even two chapters.
E Just realized this is Samk's first novel! So that could influence now my review....

... Last updated 2 years ago

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Plot driven with solid characters

by BepsRose
2 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

This is more of a sweet revenge story than a romance. And it's a very cold revenge that can't be accomplished in a short time. In fact I'd say there's not enough romance to be even put in that category.

However, the characters are well rounded, dynamic, and complicated. Flawed but likeable. Even the male lead "sponsor" who could have been lazily written as a stereotypical toxic rich man seme is likeable and has his own take on that trope. The antagonists are truly despicable, so you really get invested in seeing their downfall. There are side characters who have their own stories, yet not in a way that distracts from the main plot. The side characters contribute to the main plot, and importantly, help the main characters grow more, without sticking around beyond their usefulness.

The situation is multifaceted with each character's motives and goals, without getting confusing. Everyone is memorable, as unique individuals. I guess this is not too surprising since it's based on a novel.

The character designs are great--no one looks too similar to be confusing. The art is consistently good and well planned.

The pacing is a little slow because you learn more information as the MC does during his struggle to get even a few more steps closer to his goal. Nothing is easy or quick. You really understand how much work the main character is willing to put in to get revenge. It's not taken lightly. Nothing just conveniently works out--it all is down the character's persistence navigating a predatory and unapologetic entertainment industry and his ability to analyze the best strategy.

The main MC is not well educated, which frequently becomes apparent, but he's no dummy. He doesn't have a great personality, but he also doesn't need to have one. Prickly people are loveable too! He's quite commendable, even though he's hardly a Saint. He's a victim of circumstance and it's his rough personality that allowed him to get this far without turning into scum and completely losing sight of humanity.

... Last updated 2 years ago

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Omg, season 2, pleeeeeease

by Kadov
3 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This one remembered me the feeling of waiting for the continuation of killing stalking.
The slow burn 'romance'... Is slow. But very worthy untill now.

Kindly waiting for the continuation, but if you are the type who like to wait the update and respond well to serious and very mature narrative, I gladly recommend.

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