Aramintai

It’s fantasy. Maybe Ice Stone can resurrect her or there is something else.

Hey, if you really are a fan of JSM you should watch it no matter how her character ends up in the end. She worked hard in this role.

But that's also still Naksu, lol :). She's double badass both for her magic knowledge and for her clever wits.

Consumers often don't know what they want. Also, I'm sure they have focus group screenings to determine what will work with the audience.
Also, this show so far didn't disappoint, so I think we gotta give the benefit of a doubt. For now at least.

Yea, I feel ya. Just put it on hold then and check it out after part 1 ends. Maybe it will end up good (but with Hong sisters you better err on the side of caution).

Hey, calm down. Nothing is confirmed yet because spoilers :) And who said Naksu will stay in Mu-Deok's body for whole 20 episodes? These two characters may get separated at some point for all we know. And we can finally start learning about the real Mu-Deok person. And since Naksu actress now is in support, not guest role she may still get some more screentime for the audience to warm up to her.

Yea, agreed. What's up with splitting it up anyway? Wanted to release one part faster to regain money spent on the project or smth? I bet it's Netflix's doing - they started splitting up projects this year to keep subscribers from leaving.

They changed the actress while filming the pilot episode, not half the season. And she was to play the same character as Jung So Min - Mu-Deok/Naksu. Source here:
https://kisskh.at/article/park-hae-eun-drops-out-from-hong-sisters-drama-return
But here we have the news that og Naksu actress will become the lead, an already established different character from Mu-Deok.
So it is your comment that is not applicable.

The story for part 2 was already finished because production has already begun. This two part story was planned since early pre-production. And since scripts are done in pre-production there was plenty of time to cast Jung So Min back if the plot required it so. Naksu's story and predicaments dictate the actress, not the other way around. So I doubt they would change the plot just because they couldn't get Jung So Min back.
Also, check out this article - doesn't seem she has any conflicting schedules if her agency is to be believed:
https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/125806/20220712/jung-so-min-not-reprise-role-alchemy-of-souls-part-2-why.htm

I'd have to agree here. If you always give the audience what they want you may lose the entire plot you had envisioned. And then it becomes a mess and plain fanservice. I don't see why we can't trust the showrunners for now, the show's been great so far.

I doubt it. It's too big of a change. Naksu is not just some supporting character you can quickly rewrite.

Yea, and who's to say that Naksu will stay in Mu-Deok's body until the end? As you've said, we haven't even seen half the season, anything can happen, even Mu-Deok and Naksu separation from each other. After all, Mu-Deok is her own person as well.
Personally, I'm all for Mu-Deok/Naksu combo because it's what made the premise so great and funny and the actress nails this difficult 2 in 1 role. But most of all I'm rooting for Naksu character, if there's gonna be a planned body swap I guess I'm ok with it if she stays alive.

I doubt it. Production/filming has already started for part 2. It means the script and cast are already set. They won't start from scratch to rewrite the plot for different character FL. If they'd planned for Naksu to return and separate her from Mu-Deok, there's nothing we can do about it.
On the other hand, since they can't deny or confirm the rumors due to it being a spoiler, there's still a chance that Jung So Min will stay for part 2.

Yea, especially considering they can't deny or confirm anything at this point because it will spoil part 1 ending.

It looks like there was a leak and PR team is just doing damage control by addressing it like this. They wouldn't pull such a stunt deliberately.

Naksu was always the heroine, but right now she's in Mu-Deok's body.
Also, it is not known whether she'll stay that way permanently until the end of part 1. Considering the news and og Naksu actress now being promoted from guest to support role in part 1, somewhere down the line two girls can become separated. That og Naksu actress needs to earn points with the audience if she wants to be accepted as FL in part 2, if rumors are true. Right now it seems nobody's happy with Jung So Min leaving - she has charmed everyone already.

Probably gonna end on a big fat cliffhanger to keep us waiting for part 2 🙄.

Nothing is known atm. It can go either way. I'd suggest not having any headcanons to avoid disappointment.

It's fantasy, anything can happen. There's already a thing revealed that can potentially ressurect her - the Ice Stone.

In the drama ML's supposed to be 34 (35 in Korean age), FL - 28. Irl lead actors have a bigger age gap, you can look them up in cast & credits section here.