The basic premise of the show is Jiwoo discovered his power really late, when the more competent among his peers are almost always trained and raised in an environment tailor made for growth. This coupled with Jiwoo's teacher, who is infamous for both being sought after but refusing to take any pupils, got him into all sorts of trouble. Jiwoo grows remarkably fast and gains prestige as he fights his way out of whatever he got himself into, with Kayden cameoing in fight scenes pretty frequently.
Jiwoo's a people magnet who accumulates prestigious people by existing. At first they make characters monologue about it, but eventually it just becomes a Jiwoo thing and the narrative stops trying its darnest to convince readers of it. So at this point you either buy it, or you don't. Personally...I think he's vague magnetism is being a bit too convenient as he collects the life long knowledge of goated power users like they're pokemons, but will I trade this for found family dynamics? Absolutely.
Regarding his friend group: They're very fun to watch and behaves just like teenagers. If you're waiting for them to interact meaningfully about their trauma...unfortunately that's gonna have to wait until they are graced with their own arc, since Jiwoo is the only one afforded screentime for mental turmoil consistently. Other than that, they're really just chilling. Like sharing food, petting cats, etc.
Jiwoo's powers: so this is something I really loved about this series. I think it was tacitly shown that Jiwoo's power is kinda sad next to stuff like literal gravity manipulation or elemental powers that can be made into weapons/shields/mobility tool/etc. I've encountered this 'protag's power's kinda disappointing' trope all too often but I think eleceed did it the best. Although Jiwoo accumulates powers, it's clear that they're all based on extremely intelligent use of his speed instead of him just 'getting' other stuff. It's even specifically said that kayden's really good at these sort of battle stuff, which is why Jiwoo got to be 'made' into whatever he had become. (As a comparison, black clover started with Asta basically just having a 'bonk' weapon that slowly involved into what was essentially dark magic manipulation, when the whole premise was how just having physical powers was a problem for him.) So: I think the power scaling here is pretty solid, though Jiwoo's tearing through the ranks a bit TOO quickly for the longevity of the series.
Some criticisms: if you're a fan of ANYONE that's not Jiwoo's immediate friend group/his parental figures, then that kinda sucks for you. They disappear and occasionally cameos. And I don't just mean they don't show up often, cos minor characters barely appearing is 100% normal. I mean they get set up for obvious arcs that just don't. pay. off. Like Sucheon had his whole life uprooted and...idk, he's just back to normal? kind of? but just less of a threat but more like Jiwoo outgrew him? And Arthur had that whole thing with Duke (no spoilers) but he's just...kind of gone. I hope he comes back but who knows? I can live with minor characters getting crumbs but they are weirdly inconclusive.
I don't think the characters really evolve with Jiwoo. They do improve but he outpaces them rapidly. Literally outgrew them like a game character levelling up & the opponents from earlier not even being a threat anymore. Which is...kind of boring in some ways.
Anyway, do give this a try. It's a very fun read.
