[May contain some spoilers]
THIS IS A 10/10 MUST READ PLEASE DO NOT LET THE BAD REVIEWS STOP YOU FROM READING THIS MASTERPIECE.
When I was deciding if I should read this story, a lot of people said that it's similar to Necromancer survival, that made me hesitate a lot as I didn't find the latter appealing but they are TOTALLY different, the only similarity is BL in a hunter world.
Story:
The story is not actually about a hunter but a restorer (person with building repair powers), I don't really want to give a lot of details since experiencing it firsthand will be the most fun imo, but the short version is, his friends were turned into zombies and cannot die, the ML is the only one who can kill them and because of that he has to accept an offer from him (the ML is a famous hunter who wants to recruit the MC).
Traces of the sun is a dark story that gives off an eerie vibe and explores some heavy themes like depression, suicide, mental health... The pacing is perfect and the chapters are eventful, it's a slow burn so it'll be a while before anything major happens, but trust me, it's better for the story this way, I prefer a good build up instead of the usual unrealistic pushy love in webcomics.
The storytelling and the way the author portrays and navigates these heavy themes is phenomenal and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Although the events are straightforward, the art and storytelling with the interactions between the characters will make things eerie at times and wholesome at others, sometimes you'll feel sad and other times you'll jump with happiness. In some stories, especially BLs, the MC is plain and most of the readers care for the ML and the ship more than anything else including the MC himself, but this story will really tug your heart strings and make you genuinely care about the MC, the ML is cool as well but I personally find myself wary of him at times especially at the beginning because it starts off like a mild horror mystery.
As it is a story in the usual hunter dungeon world setting, there are inevitably action scenes, the MC is a non-combatant but he plays a big role in dungeon raids, we will see how other characters fight and it's very enjoyable. The action adds to the story and pacing so if you like these genres please give this webcomic a try!
Characters:
I love the MC so much, he is like the sun to everyone but because of what happened to his friends he became depressed and is afraid of being seen. You'll see and feel the MC's pain throughout the story and sympathize with him, he wants to die but can't do that yet and it's very heartbreaking.
The ML is a mysterious guy, at first he will appear kinda creepy and will add to the eeriness of the story, he seems pushy, calculative and cunning, but then we'll see that his goals are righteous, although the means can be questionable. We can see later on how much he loves the MC and cares for him through his actions, my only complaint is that we never saw his POV (a major one), I keep being wary of him even though he did so much for the MC, he just feels a bit hard to read (I rated characters 9 because of this), and I think it's probably part of the story so we have to wait more to understand why he loves the MC so much in the first place (My theory is that he liked him since he was active years ago, if you reread the story, you'll see that he's been treating him differently from the start and he also said that he was looking for him before so it sounds plausible to me)
The side characters are actually pretty cool! I expected the ML's guild members to be dark like him but they are funny fellows! I was happy that the MC liked them, we don't see much of them but I like it better this way as opposed to other stories that keep following random characters instead of the MCs for no reason.
Art:
The art is super good and suits the story well, the effects aren't too much but just right.
I find the ML's eyes super creepy though!!! It adds to the story ofc, but it stops me from loving him wholeheartedly and makes his intentions ambiguous, this can be easily solved with a POV chapter or when there's more romance down the road.
Overall:
The story is a 10/10 for me, I read many webcomics and I think it's hard to find ones that are truly moving like this especially in these genres and setting.
Through the experiences of the MC, we can feel his pain and be happy when fortune finds him, although he is still chained by his past, I believe he will soon heal from it with the help of the ML. Please read this not just for the BL but also for the good storytelling and suspense!
Final thoughts:
As you can probably guess from all of this, I love this story so so much, it's a mix of all of my fav genres and I experienced a whirlpool of emotions reading it, I even cried at some scenes! My ONLY disappointment is (S2 START SPOILER) WE DID NOT GET TO SEE THEIR FIRST NIGHT T-T, I know it's not smut but I was looking forward to MC's reactions JKSSKDMC, we'll probably see his reactions through their interactions after the end of this dungeon so I'm super excited!!!!(END OF SPOILER)
