Surviving in an Action Manhwa

Whether you agree or disagree with me on how great this series is, I think we can both agree that this is one of the most original concepts to come out of the Isekai genre in a long time. We’ve seen MCs get isekai’d into a magical world, video games, parallel universe or even an alternate timeline of their current world, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone enter a book (if you don’t include Western novels with similar concepts). Honestly, it feels like the “Give Yourself Goosebumps” spinoff that I read as a kid.

The layout and concept seems like a game, but it heavily emphasizes the MC’s decisions. He rarely overpowers his way through and he actually has direct influence of the plot. The MC has to think of creative ways to keep himself alive by actually moving the story and ‘inserting himself in’ so to speak. His knowledge of future plot points isn’t considered as a crutch and can actually be discarded if it manages to reach that point.

This is also the first time (for me) an MC directly at odds with his “God” AKA the author. I’ve also never seen one’s literal status as the MC to be the main focal point before. This is the complete opposite of breaking the fourth wall and it’s extremely intriguing to me.

The comedy is its strong point, though not to say that the endearing, wholesome moments are poorly done. The end goal of the story is clear cut: to survive while helping the “MC” be the Adventure King. It’s an adventure type of story, so expect the characters moving from town to town a lot, but despite that, the pacing is great and the victories felt deserving and earned.

All in all, I definitely highly recommend this series and you can be sure that I don’t bandy about that kind of compliment to anything.