reading Omniscient Reader is like a magic trick.
At the start, you are a confused audience member who is staring at awe as something that shouldn't be possible. As the story/act progresses, information is given in small crumbs until the whole magic trick unravels. Once you finish the book, you see the whole trick, but you can't recall how it's done after a while.
When you reread, you see all the plants for the trick and it begins to click in your head, and you begin to recollect more and more as the magic goes on. You catch the foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the manhwa. For the information that passed right over your head on first read through, you now see the crucial importance of it all and understand the actions and decisions of certain characters more. Whilst knowing how the trick is done, you are enjoying watching the magician do it. You lose no enjoyment just because you know how it works, and you're still entertained to see it unravel slowly.
By the end of my second read through, I'm left with one question: how tf do you even pull off a story like this?
story 10/10
I imagine the authors when writing this were like.....hmmm I like this aspect of this story, but wouldn't it be cool if there was a character with this ability as well? Oh sh*t, I also wanna add a little bit of time travel cause that stuff’s spicy. Damn, but I really like Greek Mythology, but also Korean Mythology. We definitely need to add like stars and universes and celestial beings and all that jazz. For that matter, I like twitch streams and video games too. What about like monsters and floating fairy demons that look like furry pacman ghosts with horns and stuff?
F*ck it, we're using EVERYTHING (I mean literally everything) and we're gonna make it work
.....And it works.
Characters 11/10 -
I didn't expect the main character, Dokja, to be so...interesting? During the introduction of his character, you think he's your typical loser loner weeb, who reads web novels all day, and he is! but he's also...not? As the events of the story begin to unfold and the web novel Dokja has been reading for the past 10 years becomes a reality, Dokja does a 180. He becomes cold, calculating, scheming, and sometimes I question whether I should even be rooting for him (at least in the beginning chapters). Also the character development and backstories we get on Dokja are genuinely shocking and add a lot of depth to his character. His character development through out the series is beautiful and I found myself rooting so hard for this guy to the point every arc drove over my heart with a 10 ton semitruck.
And it's not just him. Yu Junghyeok, the protagonist of the novel Dokja was reading, is also a fascinating character who gets a lot of development. I won't go much into his character since I don't want to spoil anything, but just know that his dynamic with Dokja had my eyes glued to the page, consuming each chapter like popcorn. Han Sooyoung is probably one of the best written female characters in a action/fantasy story that I've come across in general. Again, it is so hard not to spoil anything, but just know that she is a delightful addition to the chaotic trio of Omniscient Reader.
And it's not just the main characters! Even the side characters play a large role in the actual story and are genuinely well written and complex. Characters that you don't even think are essential to the story get care and time provided to flush out their inner workings, flaws, strengths, and ideals.
Enjoyment 11/10
This series had my brain in a knot and my eyes glued to the page throughout all 551 chapters of the novel as well as the chapters of the manhwa that are released weekly (currently there are about 117 chapters of the manhwa). A warning for the faint of heart, this series will probably emotionally scar you. I can still feel the ORV angst even after several months from finishing the epologue. It is both my comfort series and the series that causes me the most depression. I hope this series will get the appreciation and love it deserves and I hope that you will also have as much of a blast as I did while reading it!
I recommend starting with the manhwa and then switching over to the novel if you are hooked (that's what I did). The start is good, but the arcs only keep getting better and better as the series goes on until you reach masterpiece level. Have fun reading!
P.S. I wrote this review of the ORV manhwa's page before the novel was added to the sight
