nathandouglasdavis

This story has been pretty alright, largely just because the premise of having video game characters be actual people with lives and thoughts of their own is a decent enough premise. I think this manhwa does a decent job of portraying the fear and more negative emotions, which definitely does help to add to the tone. My biggest complaint is probably that it feels like Han isn't doing much of anything to get out of this situation. Like, Han accepts the idea that fe's stuck within this world very readily (and those who spend time trying to find ways out are seen as cowards who just don't want to train).

I also find the callous individualism to be not all that engaging, nor do I care for the dehumanizing way that people are treated as only valuable if they can produce results. Yes, I understand that this manhwa has presented things in such a way that it's like "you need to be this callous in order to survive," but it's still a bit disappointing. Like, I think stories where people maintain their sense of compassion and humanity in the face of dire situations that are trying to push them to only think of themselves are far more inspiring stories. Obviously, not every story needs to be inspiring and some stories can be recounting the tragic ways that humans can abandon their compassion. But what I think grates me the most is that this manhwa doesn't appear to be portraying the callousness or lack of compassion as a tragic byproduct of a harsh situation, but instead it seems like those elements are intended to be interpreted as "cool." 

[Reviewed at chapter 21]