#I would love to keep reading orv but it is very long and I already promised to finished like...3 other shows and several books.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

ORV is about enduring the horrors in real time.

(for @everyonesfavoritebastard)

[kadextra]

so on a whim I started reading omniscient reader’s viewpoint manhwa

..and got hooked on the story so hard that I easily blasted through all available eps in less than a week. istg they put dr*gs in this thing it’s so good???? 😭

[SPOILER WARNING! big ramble ahead. if you’ve never read it, leave this post. consider checking it out you won’t be able to put it down]

lets get this out of the way first.

RAHHHHHH KIM DOKJA….. KIM DOKJA I LOVE YOU

GUYSSSSS 🥺 LISTEN. HE’S SUCH A GOOD PROTAGONIST. MY TRAUMA BOY. MY DUDE WITH THE POWER TO INFODUMP PEOPLE TO DEATH. YOU SELF-SACRIFICING IDIOT. his cunning intelligence makes him super attractive what can I say, I LOVE smart mcs with ambiguous morality and self sacrificial nature

here’s a big ✨shut your mouth✨ to every character who’s said he’s ugly- get your eyes checked, get a job get away from him (I know it’s because of the fourth wall’s filter it’s not their fault I’m just being silly)

the fourth wall is such a cool power to have. the complexity of how it acts based on his perception of fiction vs reality as the reader …. that’s very interesting and well thought out!!! how it lowkey has a consciousness too and it’s so tied into his mental state makes me want to psychoanalyze this guy even more. probably one of the most unique powers I’ve seen created and explored in a story tbh

I think the entire system of how the world works is really well done in general. constellations watching the apocalyptic bloodbath via livestream and sending donos to their favorite little guys shouldn’t work as well as it does and cracks me up so much 😭 (uriel is the best). I enjoy learning about all the irl different fables, history & mythologies too. plus doing my own research is fun! I did a deep dive through the web to learn about dokkaebi folklore lol I’m having a good time

I also related hard to how dokja read TWSA throughout his life, the story was a companion for him. got choked up bc I reflected on how much my own favorite companion stories for years mean to me. there’s been situations I’ve thought “what would (character) do?” dokja saying stuff like “what would joonghyuk do?” felt like I got called out <3 I’d probably be the same as him if my favorite characters suddenly came to life

anyways yeah I caught up with the manhwa looked online and discovered it comes from an already completed novel with over 500 chapters and the manhwa is barely a third into adapting it though it’s been releasing every week for 4 years. and that it’ll take like 10 more years to finish. I then planted my face in my hands and screamed with despair

I’ll shrivel up waiting to see what happens……………heyyy woahhhh.. whats this light of salvation ? the novel file just completed download on my phone ? that’s crazyy wow I opened it ? im scrolling it right now ? omg I’m telling myself in the mirror “pace yourself, try to space your reading out do NOT read too fast” ?

jokes aside im excited, first I’ll take some time to read back through the earlier chapters for extra context of scenes! >:D after I finish doing that…. pls pray for my self-control to try stretching this for as long as possible. I’m pumped to see what happens next with this demon king part so maybe I’ll read along with the manhwa unless I get too impatient heh

to conclude- I had no idea the fandom of orv was so passionate. while closing my eyes to spoilers, I was looking at beautiful fanart and animatics (watched this one and ascended that’s one of my fav rin songs). I can tell how much you guys love the story, there’s always going to be people like me who get interested so keep it up :D if the fandom does end up reading this, ummm *knocks on the door* hi im new

I will likely talk about it more in the future!! tagging under “#kade reads orv” ! might draw fanart on my art blog too bc brainworms <3 happy reading everyone

[pttucker]

Aaaand we're done! \o/

Well... "done" in one sense of the word since I just did a very quick search and apparently there's like another 140 chapters of side stories and counting. Possibly post-epilogue stuff??? Didn't look too closely since I don't want too many spoilers if I can avoid it. I already saw one vague spoiler relating to 49% Dokja's side story. 😢😢😢

Though at least now with the main novel+epilogues finished all of the mysteries have been wrapped up (as far as I can remember).

I guess I'm still curious about the Library, but even if that's never touched upon in any side story chapters, I think I kinda get it with my theories and how he broke up into many, many different Dokjas and/or was two different Oldest Dreams?

Oh, and the stuff with Dokja & 1863's Sooyoung's blurry faces, I would have liked to have seen that resolved. There were mentions of Dokja slowly getting less blurry that were kinda glossed over but nothing concrete ever popped up for why his face was blurry or if/when it fully stopped being blurry? Unless I just missed some subtle thing?? Like I guess the epilogue did mention that Sooyoung had fun writing in stuff about him being the Ugly King but I don't think she made him ugly, that was just her memories of him?? Either way, poor Dokja. 😭

idk maybe I'm the only one obsessed with things like that. (I literally eventually started a separate section in my ORV Scrivener notes just for all the times Dokja's looks are mentioned in any way.) So maybe it just wasn't deemed important to "resolve"? Or, again, it was but I totally missed it.

Or maybe there's still something about the Library and his looks (and other mysteries I may not be currently remembering) in the additional 140+ chapters out there?

Unfortunately, English translations of Chapters 552+ don't all seem to be in one place, or at least I wasn't able to quickly find them in my first search. I'll keep looking, though. Might just have to cobble together the chapters one by one from various sources. If anyone happens to know where I could possibly find them...

Though I'm honestly not certain if I want to immediately jump into them or if I want to give it a moment to breathe. I actually am a little bit disappointed that I jumped right into the 40+ chapter epilogues right after finishing the main story since I feel like it stole some of the impact from him finding his two separate ■■.

Even if I was really happy to see how they continued living on in the system-less world and how Dokja felt after losing all of his companions to be Oldest Dream. Seriously you never get to see those sort of things after the "happy" ending.

And I did love seeing how it all tied back together with Sooyoung being the author and ORV itself being Dokja's story (which Sooyoung also wrote!) which in turn is our story and getting to see Secretive Plotter and the 999ths again and poor Joonghyuk just not knowing what to do with himself after losing his purpose as a protagonist and him and Sooyoung wanting to save their precious Dokja more than anything and both of them coming to understand Dokja better and so on and so forth.

But if nothing else, I do really want to finally read some fanfiction and otherwise engage with fandom now that the big mysteries are solved. And if I can make one final prediction it's going to be that the top fanfic is some kind of modern, no powers gamer AU or something. Because that's just how these fandoms seem to go. 😂

Anyway, I think it should be obvious from my many, many ORV posts but I really enjoyed the novel! I am very happy that so many things were so well foreshadowed, so much was so carefully planned, so many loose ends were tied up in a very satisfying manner, etc. It's very impressive for such a long, looooong story. I mean, just the fact that you could get inklings that something was up with Secretive Plotter before we even hit Chapter 100 yet not have the reveal come until much later is impressive just on its own.

I guess if I had one complaint it'd be that I didn't quite vibe with the whole "multiple walls to open the Final Wall" thing. Like, I totally was into the idea of Dokja's Fourth Wall being the largest fragment, and I actually thought that Jang Hayoung's wall was pretty clever since it's all about commenting/texting others when Jan Hayoung was created due to Dokja's comments.

But I'm not quite so into the Wall of Samsara and Wall That Divides Good and Evil. Like, I do get how they relate to the story, what with Dokja literally reincarnating into multiple worlds himself and the fact that a lot of Dokja's main theme was that he didn't nicely fit into a box of good or evil. I mean, his literal Modifiers are Demon King of Salvation and Watcher of Light and Darkness. Not to mention, Dokja went through a ton of the novel saying that just because they were evil in one turn doesn't mean they're evil in the next and vice versa, as well as the fact that the had companions on both sides of the spectrum.

So I'm not saying that they just came out of nowhere, but personally I find something to be a little off with them when compared to the other two walls? idk these are just my initial thoughts and I might feel completely different once I re-read the novel and can better appreciate things.

Which, speaking of, I'm debating with myself if I want to do the truly ridiculous thing and start this entire novel over right from the beginning in true Dokja fashion or if I want to be good and maybe give some other universe some love. I was looking at The World After The Fall but...uh...

Not to say that things with tiny fandoms aren't also good!!!

But it does make me kinda side-eye it a little and wonder if I shouldn't just read Solo Leveling...

...or read whatever side stories I can find, aaaaaalllllll the fanfic, and then read ORV all over again. 😂

We'll see.

FYI when I do start reacting to the side stories I think I'll use the tag "orv side story" if anyone wants to block it preemptively to avoid spoilers.

[hehearse]

A Few songs I’d like to see your take on: Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons, Love Me Less by MAX, Light by Sleeping at Last, and Memories by Maroon 5

putting that under read more as well because it got so long.... you're giving me too many opportunities to talk in circles

mumford and sons - little lion man ogh head in hands...

points. 1863 han sooyoung and little kim dokja (<- the guy that sees them in everything) han soyoung augh. carrying the burden of fucking the world up. for the kid unconcious in the hospital bed. all that for him to pick himself up and keep going. to then boldly go through the end of the world, his brazen attitude carrying him despite the wreck that he is ^^

MAX - would you love me less

i mean. one could say it's kdj but i won't because for it to work kdj's baseline would need to include an actual belief of. you know. being loved in the first place. ANYWAY. sctir cast. but more specifically han brothers and sung hyunje to a lesser degree. han brothers are obvious - yoohyun knows he is "weird", that he is off-putting to others. that his instincts are something that might spook and hurt his hyung. would yoojin love him less if he were to stop repressing himself? yoojin is the same. haunted by his own past, by the 8 years of being on the very bottom, so used to the idea of being treated as a baggage etc etc. he himself is his own skeleton in the closet, nested there cozily with his brother's cold corpse :) this works both with him and yoohyun and him and shj. after all, he let yoohyun die - yoohyun might be happy about saving him, but that doesn't change yoojin's feelings on that matter. and with shj - well. what's good he is if not his knowledge of the future and skills? is the guy who practically lost himself chasing his brother, had nothing and only gained something because he let yoohyun die for him - is this worth great guild leader's interest? AS FOR SUNG HYUNJE. i mean. the guy might've said that he will never be like han yoohyun in his affection and changes surrounding han yoojin. and YET. he practically ran off in his attempt not to scare yoojin off with his possessiveness rearing its head. (well, he also needed some time to figure out what the hell is happening in his head but we shan't talk about it). he already grew fond. enough to let yoojin take care of himself in his most fragile huh. to let yoojin stab him in the chest (with juuuust a bit of resistance). in this essay i point out similarities between han yoohyun and sung hyunj- /dragged away by the guards/

Sleeping at Last - Light

easy but also incredibly evil. 999 crew and oldest dream. proving he is loved despite it all. promising to love him no matter what, now that they are here and see their helpless, trembling god. letting him adjust to being suddenly showered with all the love they hold in them still. easy. but waugh. shaking sopping wet teary eyed.

Maroon 5 - Memories oh this one is difficult. because i uh. i don't think i can put anyone from sctir here yet. and i don't think anyone in orv is this... accepting of. a certain "wish you were here but you're not" and "lost on the way". i was half ready to say it's jung heewon or yoo sangah. or maybe uriel. but no, i can't in good conscience.... but my best guess. that it would be sctir adjacent in the end.

[lee-hakhyun]

keep in mind that i’m enjoying the side stories through the reaction of people that are actually able to read it, so please take my own suggestions with a grain of salt and let me know if it sounds plausible or not

saw a few posts on twitter that extrapolated that 41!yjh was just numb, rather than actively horrible or anything - that the narration gives off more of the idea that he was cold, and that it was likely that after seeing so many of his companions die and come back to life repeatedly he decided to stop hiding his disconnect

but that that doesn’t mean he didn’t care - he does, and even promised 41!sys something that didn’t quite work out the way they both hoped it would, at the time. his companions wouldn’t have stayed so loyal if the care wasn’t there. sys wouldn’t have endured so many timelines willingly if she didn’t have a reason not to be loyal.

there’s two things, i suspect, that is limiting our understanding of this round’s yoo joonghyuk;

1) kim dokja’s narration in orv, as it is limited; not only would it have been a long time since he had read it as one of the early rounds, but his understanding of it would have been impacted by his age at the time and life experiences. whose to say that he doesn’t actively avoid reading it again, because of how painful it was? whose to say that time hasn’t distorted what he knew? to see the character you love fall that far out of numbness would be painful to anyone, and kdj would probably HATE rereading those chapters. on top of that,,,,, i did a quick scroll-through of 41st in the ebooks search bar through my orv copy, and. this is speculation, since i’d need to go read through it again PROPERLY to put a pin on it, but it’s entirely possible kdj had put more focus on actions than yjh as a person whenever referring to that round rather than really clarifying what he thought

that aside, however

2) keep in mind that. that a character that wasn’t even from orv has just been isekai’d directly into one of the early antagonists of the individual timelines along with a bunch of other readers, and are already making massive changes to what is expected

yjh might have gone numb with grief and exhaustion of the neverending timeloops, but it’s a very different story when an outside party has made changes so massive he suddenly has to pay attention. suddenly, everything is NOT the same; there are more people alive, people you previously thought needed to die for their crimes have suddenly decided to make kinder decisions, there is a change in the narrative that wasn’t made by you. suddenly, you are shaken out of the numbness that’s been instilled in you; you are forcefully reminded that the world is not supposed to be a script, and you’re rapidly forced to backtrack as you realize you were about to do something irreversibly bad

simply by cheon inho not actually being cheon inho, this worldline suddenly has the promising aspect of going completely off the rails simply because 41!yjh is now paying attention and has been offered with the possibility of a different route, a kinder one

while i was typing this, a fun third alternative occurred to me that i suspect is unlikely to be the case, simply because kkoma 41!yjh has apparently 0 memories of his own route (potentially due to trauma). i will reserve that for a different anon ask, because i consider that a fun ‘what-if’ that i doubt will be what actually happens, but on the note of 41!yjh not remembering his own route; another one for the ‘forgotten, unappreciated stories’ being dumped into the lot, by orv own narration no less. i’m betting kdj’s feeling guilty as he reads side story 41 now

SORRY for taking so long i wanted to read a few more chapters before answering this if you haven't seen yet there is a way to get chapters for free,, i might make a detailed guide if people need it i really want more people to talk with about the side stories

so yeah. you are like. entirely correct about yjh just from the few lines in orv about the 41st yjh, everyone has a skewed perspective of how this yjh was, and it isn't really kim dokja's fault this time, even with all his unreliability 41st shin yoosung's lines were also pretty damning

through lee hakhyun watching the memories of the 40th turn, it's clear yjh had just given up and planned to end it all in the 41st round, straight up telling 40th cheon inho that everything would be destroyed in the next turn

he says that, but.. he's not really acting that way? sure, he was harsh on jhw and cih when first meeting them, but he tried to help geumho station and left ellain forest essence to help them heal. and the reason why yjh was wary in the first place was because of other readers approaching him he had correctly guessed that lee hakhyun wasn't cheon inho

and in the latest chapter i read,, yoo joonghyuk's is shaken from the differences in the turn, and being given an offer for a different path

things ARE changing and hopefully this 41st turn will have a happier end

[katcadecascade]

Dumplings Before this World Ends (ORV oneshot)

*spoilers up to chapter 235

Summary: 

First Murim is known for their dumplings. It's a shame that Kim Dokja mostly remembers that this place is gonna be destroyed later but for right now he'll enjoy the dumplings with Yoo Jonghyuk.

Kim Dokja is a bit ashamed to admit that he has never been asked out for dinner.

As a man in modern society that clings to traditional (heteronormative) relationships, Kim Dokja attempted to ask out a few women in his life. They all declined to no one’s surprise.

It didn’t discourage him to purse romance. It just reinforced his daily solitude to keep reading Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.

There wasn’t much else in his life to emotionally invest into.

So majority of his life is spent diverging into the words of a fictional world.

Then to everyone’s surprise, Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse became real. There is a lot to unpack there, the whole reality shaking knowledge of trying to understand how any of this is possibly and how so far Kim Dokja has not been dead.

Like permanently because he promised to his companions that he’ll come back.

Kim Dokja is still trying to make his way to them, currently preparing for the Demon King Selection. His plan right now is to get the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint on his side by shoving Yoo Jonghyuk back onto First Murin against the protagonist’s wishes.

It’s a good plan right?

So far, the only kink in the plan is the unexpected invitation to the Gourmet Association.

Oh and the fact that the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint forces Yoo Jonghyuk and Kim Dokja out of her temple to go have dinner.

[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is ecstatic of these turn of events]

A bit dumbfounded, Kim Dokja tried to refuse all of this but instead Yoo Jonghyuk simply started walking to the town district and said one thing as if everything was normal.

“Are you coming or not?”

Kim Dokja could’ve just go back in the temple, pretend that Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t just ask him out for dinner in the rudest way possible, and remain as a dateless nobody he has always been.

After all, who would ever ask out Kim Dokja?

But this is Yoo Jonghyuk, a protagonist that he has followed and practically knows like the back of his hand.

Kim Dokja accepts the invitation and starts walking by Yoo Jonghyuk’s side.

First Murin’s nightlife is a pretty scene to witness in person. No amount of written words it has been described in the novel matches the way Kim Dokja is feeling. He feels otherworldly for stepping into this supposed fictional world, a real tourist in actuality, but as much as he enjoys the scenery is can’t help but morn.

Both he and Yoo Jonghyuk await the fated destruction of First Murim. This place of forsaken tradition is simply not to be. One day this place will fall as depicted in the original novel.

But before then, dumplings.

Yoo Jonghyuk leads them to a hole in the wall restaurant. The restaurant perfectly matches the one in the book, a small place filled with many people and yet the power of the protagonist guarantees a table in the corner for them.

A server quickly gets their order for the all-you-can-eat dumpling special and thus leaves Yoo Jonghyuk and Kim Dokja in silence. Obviously, Yoo Jonghyuk opted to stare out the window rather than the awkward shape before him.

As mentioned before, Kim Dokja has never been asked out on a date and he’s hesitant to even call this one a date. He will always be an introvert at worst and yet with Yoo Jonghyuk he feels weirdly comfortable, sort of.

Any time they’re together it was only to barely make it past a dangerous scenario.

Right now, the biggest danger is probably making it through this night with Kim Dokja’s dignity intact.

“So,” Kim Dokja idly traces the condensation on his glass of water, “how’s earth?”

What he really meant was how the others was but he already asked that back in the Demon Realm. If Kim Dokja knows anything about Yoo Jonghyuk, and he does, then small talk is the last thing the protagonist will indulge in.

Yet this is Kim Dokja and he’s known to annoy Yoo Jonghyuk.

“I wouldn’t have to tell you if did not die.”

“Look, I was fated to die.”

“By the one you love most.”

“Do you have to remind me?”

Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyebrow twitches. “I killed you.”

“It was a group effort.”

“Do you have any idea,” Yoo Jonghyuk begins hotly but like a star it dies out fast with a muttered, “…never mind.”

“Huh?”

Before Kim Dokja could question further, a server delivers them a big amount of steamer baskets. Yoo Jonghyuk wastes no time to take off the lid, releasing a puff of hot steam of the most delicious smelling dumpling ever created in a once fictional world.

As much as Kim Dokja wants to copy Yoo Jonghyuk on just happily eating the dumpling, he wants something else first.

“You were gonna say something.”

Stubbornly, Yoo Jonghyuk ate a dumpling in silence. In retaliation, Kim Dokja did the most suicidal thing he could ever do (discounting all his previous deaths of course). He stole the next dumpling Yoo Jonghyuk was aiming for.

The protagonist glares at the reader munching on the savory dumpling. It’s very good. A part of him melts at the sheer taste.

Before Kim Dokja could pick out another dumpling, Yoo Jonghyuk says something that shakes the constellation to his core.

“They miss you.”

Kim Dokja remains frozen for an impatiently long time, long enough for Yoo Jonghyuk to grab the next basket for a new set of hot dumplings.

“Bastard, why are you shocked?”

“Because I am.”

If there was another curse in mind, Yoo Jonghyuk doesn’t say it. He just studies how Kim Dokja is currently working his brain in overtime.

Truly, he is shocked because this would be the first time he has ever heard that sentiment directed towards him.

(Did his own mother ever say that to Kim Dokja?)

The concept of someone actually missing Kim Dokja has never occurred to him. It is a genuine surprise to a person lonely and new to friendships. It’s a strange detachment to reality for the reader, especially since he techniqually ‘died’ before them all.

So not only do they miss him, they have grieved for Kim Dokja.

It really is a strange idea to think about, especially since it’s Yoo Jonghyuk presenting all these facts.

Kim Dokja know that Yoo Jonghyuk can’t ever know if anyone has ever grieved for him because the moment he dies, it’s a new timeline. Meaning his friends forget all about the scenarios and sufferings, they all endured. Besides, they usually die before Yoo Jonghuk.

It’s harsh to suggest that maybe Yoo Jonghyuk and the others should get used to Kim Dokja’s death. However, Kim Dokja doesn’t think like that. Instead, he still trying to comprehend the idea that people miss him.

He who is out casted and unremarkable. He who prefers the words of a lonely book. He who has made friends in the first time in his life.

Kim Dokja died for them multiple times already with no regret… well except for this new one.

A ringing ache settles onto his heart, still struggling against these new feelings of something soft and precious.

“I’m going to see them again.” He swallows down a lump of that weird feeling, “I promised them.”

“I know,” Yoo Jonghyuk glares, “You better keep your promise.”

Kim Dokja forces a smile, ignoring the present jumble of emotions trapped inside, “Did you miss me too?”

“You bastard.” Yoo Jonghyuk’s glare is harsher than ever.

The man’s insult is a relief to Kim Dokja. This blunt rudeness is more familiar to him than the warm guilt-ridden idea that his friends miss him.

He orchestrated them to kill him. It’s a bit difficult to remember it.

Kim Dokja will die by the one he loves most.

In the end, Yoo Jonghyuk did the last blow.

Kim Dokja thinks Han Sooyoung will tease him about this ‘poetic’ event.

“I miss them too,” he finally says.

Yoo Jonghyuk stops glaring and nods.

Under his breath, Kim Dokja adds, “That includes you.’

He stuffs another dumpling in his mouth.

It took a lot of boldness to breathe that out. Kim Dokja can’t look at Yoo Jonghyuk.

Yet over Omniscient Viewpoint…

[He missed me?]

If Kim Dokja looked up from his food, he would’ve seen the smallest of smiles on Yoo Jonghyuk.

[…that bastard.]

Eventually the rest of the dumplings are gone but that warm feeling remains inside Kim Dokja.

[foolish-watcher-of-readers]

Here's me to motivate you to read ORV

ORV is about enduring the horrors in real time.

(for @everyonesfavoritebastard)