Arena

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A 29 year old civil employment exam student wakes up in a blank white room and meets a baby angel. This baby angel informs him that he died in his sleep due to heart disease like his father and grandfather. Remembering his mom and their last conversation he says that he will take on a series of life and death tests that the baby angel offers him. From this point on he must put his life on the line and fight in the stage called ‘Arena’. And Every time he clears a test he will gain abilities and weapons to increase his strength. All to clear the tests and get his life back. This is his story of his fights in the ‘Arena’.

Associated Names
One entry per line
아레나
이계사냥기
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Seoul Station’s Necromancer (13)
Life Mission (12)
The Second Coming of Gluttony (8)
Master Hunter K (8)
Reincarnator (8)
Sevens (7)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Alt. world affects Real world
  2. Spirits | Espiritos
  3. KR Novels I'll Read When They Finish (and some CN)...
  4. pls remeber ''
  5. Stuff I've read

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/25/20 Asian Hobbyist c187
02/25/20 Asian Hobbyist c186
02/23/20 Asian Hobbyist c185
02/22/20 Asian Hobbyist c184
02/21/20 Asian Hobbyist c183
10/26/19 Asian Hobbyist c182
04/29/19 Kokuma Translations c181
04/10/19 Kokuma Translations c180
04/10/19 Kokuma Translations c179
04/10/19 Kokuma Translations c178
03/12/19 Kokuma Translations c177
03/11/19 Kokuma Translations c176
03/11/19 Kokuma Translations c175
02/15/19 Kokuma Translations c174
02/15/19 Kokuma Translations c173
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78 Reviews sorted by


Pixeldrum
Pixeldrum rated it
January 17, 2021
Status: c125
What a shock. I read this novel in 2018 and thought it was good! Crazy, since looking at it now, and reading 40 more chapters from where I left off, it's safe to say that this novel is tr*sh. It's surprising to see how I changed my standards over just a mere two years.

Arena uses basically all the tropes of what a normal KR dungeon novel has and them some. I'd say that the thing that I have the most problems with is definitely the story progression. What kind of... more>> jumbled mess is this garbage? Of course, we have the obligatory "MC is OP for his current level" idea, and ridiculous plot armor and OP abilities. I think that the thing that kills this novel is the versatility of his cheat skill. It's so broken that it makes any challenge he faces seem obsolete, and as a result, makes the story feel dull. That's one of the biggest mistakes, but the second biggest is definitely his plot armor. Despite the fact that this guy got "exposed" at an early level, he basically escapes scot free, and allies himself with frankly, weak powers that can't properly defend against powerhouse organizations and countries. With all these circumstances, you would basically believe him to be dead extremely quickly, but don't worry! That doesn't happen. Instead, they send progressively harder people to face so that he can grow stronger. Plus, his family isn't in danger even though they could have easily been kidnapped. The novel focuses a lot of it's time on protecting his family members, but the protection that ends up in their care is minimal, and not something that his ally, Denmark or whatever can really handle. When he's weak and vulnerable, and a clear target, you're telling me that high level organizations aren't going to threaten him and cooperate him as if he's on the same level. That's a load of BS. I really don't care that the countries he's dealing with are racist caricatures of their culture, but it's a matter of believability: the MC is able to survive for a long time even though he's weak, and his allies are clearly not enough of a leverage against the powers that want him dead. This "political" game that this novel has is a joke, and it's upsetting to think that this becomes one of the focal points of the plot.

I talked about his versatility of his cheat ability, but that's just one part of why his skills are OP. He apparently has the best class in the game. Long distance, recon, and close combat is all covered by his spirit summon class. Really balanced. Aura master, a close combat specialist class basically becomes obsolete. In fact, every single class is obsolete in face of spirit summoning, apparently. There are also just some s*upidly busted abilities in this game that's available to everyone that clearly gets abused: guider skill. Jesus Christ, that's such a busted ability, yet the fact that only the MC and his allies use the ability, and not his opponents, make it another convenient skill. This guy has absolutely no weaknesses to speak of.

Alright, let's talk characters. Every character in this story is a foil to the MC. They either are weak people that want to kill him, a convenient plot device to make him get more allies, or to make the story progress. He's just able to amass many reliable allies in the blink of an eye, despite half or more of them being stronger than him. None of them have any depth, and it's pretty clear that the only reason they're there is to make sure that the MC has more war potential. Their dialogue and personalities are one dimensional and aren't explored at all. Rather, they're just there to make sure that the MC comes off unscathed.

Romance. Another joke subplot that the novel tries to cram in with many hot girls that apparently want to be with him. It's all so fast paced and lacks and sort of substance. It's only there as a means of fan service and an excuse for there to be hot girl companions that compete for his attention.

I really can't think much of a good point for this novel other than the fact that the idea behind there being exclusive objectives for each person is a pretty neat idea. This really doesn't make the novel good, though. <<less
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Thousandswords
Thousandswords rated it
November 4, 2018
Status: c52
I have read a lot of novels in my life but none of them had a Protagonist as crappy and self-centered as this one. I highly doubt his identity as a human being. Why?

He is a person who is capable of joking and flirting with girls immediately after all of his teammates were killed. After his entire team was wiped out, his first thought was to ask if he would be able to stay and get benefits from the organization or not. We see him sorting out his skills, flirting... more>> and joking with his sister's friend. He forgot about his teammates and their death like they didn't exist in the first place. This Protagonist is the worst kind of person there can be. A total hypocrite.

If this was a novel about an antihero, then his inhuman personality would have been logical. But, this Protagonist was a normal person not even a month ago. Although, we get a glimpse of his selfishness from the very beginning of this novel, but as the novel progressed this selfishness reached an inhuman level. He becomes too disgusting to fast. <<less
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Hussey274
Hussey274 rated it
July 10, 2016
Status: c38
Arena is vastly different from all the other novels I've read so far. Why? Because rather than reincarnating after death, some of the chosen dead are given an extension in life. It feels more like a death RPG but in real life. What makes this story good is it's concept. It's pretty cool and has loads of potential to become a great novel. It has many fantasy elements and like a game, rewards are given based on the completion of the game.

There are some negative points in the story for... more>> me, as the MC too heavily relies on his spirit as he completely allows it to handle his ranged shooting abilities. He however is a good leader and great at handling adverse situations. There are also some parts of the story, where it is needlessly dragged with trying to add daily life action and hitting on girls, useless chatter and trying to be funny scenes. But still this is a great novel, and a recommended read!

Rating
Concept: 9.8/10
Plot: 8.9/10
Characters: 8/10
Action: 7/10
Translation: 9.7/10
Overall: 9/10 <<less
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ladyartemis
ladyartemis rated it
June 28, 2016
Status: c37
Amazing! Awesome! Fantastic!!! I was thrilled to read this since it's my first time to encounter a unique setting combined with my fave "reincarnation-type" genre. The story flow is also very good. The MC is not a pushover, so I am so happy. Please continue to translate this! Thanks
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Reputation
Reputation rated it
January 13, 2019
Status: c165
Arena sprints out of the gate with an interesting story, fun characters, and good worldbuilding. Unfortunately, this novel loses steam around chapter 90 due to terrible writing. The protagonist and everyone around him devolves into a dimwitted dunce. On the same note, every conflict resolves predictably without any tension because otherwise, how would our peabrained protagonist progress the plot?
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Orororos
Orororos rated it
March 22, 2018
Status: Completed
I finished this book on comrademao site roughly understand 70% of story.

This one got nice ending and romance is fluffy my only complaint is last battle... bit too easy but nice novel overall.
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Ginko
Ginko
December 13, 2017
Status: --
This should be rated higher.

4.3

It is GANTZ in nature at first with fantasy elements. However, quickly deviates and is much brighter.

Try to ignore the s*upid baby angel intro just once, and I'm sure one can find slight plot holes if they look. But the world is creative and draws you in. It's a Life Mission + Master Hunter K sort of mix. Personally, I enjoy this novel over the two.

Not a masterpiece but definitely a good time.
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Xanomorph
Xanomorph rated it
June 2, 2017
Status: c82
Ok my first ever novel review. I had to do this as I feel Arena does not get nearly the credit it deserves. Great novel! I bet if you are more then 12 years old you will find it the most intelligent storyline in the genre. The concept is the same as in most other lvl-up-to-get-strong novels but how the character survives, interacts with his environment, and improves is a 1000 times better thought-through than say "Evolution Theory of the Hunter" and "Seoul Station's Necromancer". This makes the novel way... more>> less generic, less "what-if-life-was-a-computer-game" andthe fundamental premises of the novel universe a lot more coherent (Great example of this not being the case is terror infinity where the characters can get scifi-weapons and fantasy weapons - but to make it work the author has to make the scifi-weapons simply not function half the missions)

Reasons to read it:

Intelligent non-generic storyline.

Reasons not to:

Translation rate is slow (But is goes up and down - 02/06-17)

Too much time is spend on his love life/ family life (Which feels a bit more like a filler rather than something that drives the story forward - Not completely useless but not up to standard with the rest) <<less
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smite2001
smite2001 rated it
February 17, 2017
Status: c67
I like it a lot. And I gave many Korean novels a chance and ended up seriously disliking them for a number of reasons (incl. LMS and other popular ones). If you feel in a similar way, here are some things this novel makes better:

The protagonist does not reject teaming up with others for no apparent reasons.
The protagonist is not a money grubber for no apparent reason.
The protagonist is not dense/follows a weird moral code to the point that it prevents any sort of romance.
Not all foreigners... more>> are arrogant, evil people for no reason, and the author does not really show any obvious personal hostilty towards other nations.
The comedy is actually OK (sometimes).

I am not saying everything is great, but there are no negative points that I feel obliged to point out specifically. It is just sad that it seems to have been abandoned translation-wise for some time now, and I hope it gets picked up again by someone soon. <<less
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newbage
newbage rated it
January 20, 2017
Status: c67
Some Reviews have compared Arena to Gantz. That's only true on a superficial level. The protagonist is selected to participate in a series of "examinations" in a parallel dimensions after he dies. There's a point based item/skill acquisition system where the points you get depend on your performance in a mission. Characters return to the normal world between missions. That's about all there is in terms of similarity. IMO Arena is even better than Gantz

Difference 1: Unlike gantz, there isn't gratuitous violence or s*x. There is violence and it can... more>> be graphic. But it's not a full-throttle sadistic gore fest. Rather, it's realistic and potentially brutal -- which means it's far less psychologically exhausting to take in large doses. Major characters do die and it's made all the more impactful by the next point of difference. There is also s*x, but it's realistically motivated and mature rather than exploitative. Difference 2: The characters, world building, and character interactions are thoughtful and well-rounded. I it's better than in than Gantz and way way way better than the standard for web and light novels. All of the characters are 3 dimensional. The author actually takes time to describe settings and people. Motivations are realistic. The main character has depth and an actual (likable) personality. He's also genuinely intelligent. This isn't like other web/light novels where the author merely tells us "the MC is intelligent" and makes other characters act s*upidly so that the MC can stand out. Most importantly he UNDERGOES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT (hallelujah!). Government, other institutions, and non-examinees in the real world behave in a realistic fashion as well with regard to the existence of the 'Arena'.

Difference 3: This is not a sadistic "death game". The mysterious power responsible for sending the examinees to the exams have a mysterious goal and are offering the examineese a second lease on life in exchange for undertaking significant personal risk in helping them achieve it. The 'exams' are NOT meant to torment or weed out the participants, but are rather missions that will somehow further the divine beings' overall (mysterious) goal. As of chapter 67, it seems as if whatever higher being (s) is/are running the exams is/are either benign or outright benevolent.
Spoiler

The most recent test involves zero combat and zero death. The MC comments on how peaceful it was and than that the examiners were probably compensating him for his suffering from the previous exam

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Difference 4: The 'Arena' where the exams happen is in an alternate, medieval fantasy parallel universe. It's not a an arena like a coliseum or anything. The examinees are gated into this alternate world and an "exam" is basically a quest with a time limit. It isn't like in gantz where the participants were basically anti-alien pest control being telported to different places on earth to kill alien refugees/infiltrators/invaders. In arena, a mission can last days or months in the other world. The objective of each mission is related to prior (and probably future) missions and tend to be more than just "kill x monsters in area y." When they return to earth, it is 11am still the morning after they left.

Overall, Arena is definitely worth a read. I highly recommend it. <<less
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ScotlandForsythe
ScotlandForsythe rated it
November 8, 2016
Status: c67
EdIT: 2023, I honestly forgot about this novel because I dropped it lol. I really liked it at first but after

... more>>
Spoiler

he ended up with two hot girls weirdly liking him (one of them I could understand, she went though crap but the other...) after he broke up with his girlfriend (who I actuallyended up really liking despite hating her at first... TT but oh well). And I couldn'tget over his team dying after a while because it was so unexpected. The hot girls interested in him were weird and I lost interest the more his plot armor saved him rather than anything he did particularly

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It's been literally years since I read this and it's probably not as bad I remember leaving it off on. But I'm just disappointed I guess. Great premise but ruined by the almost harem aspect of it (i will say yhat the harem tag is not true. He only ends up with one girl at the end thank goodness. Hence almost harem but not) and the weird use of plot armor. I think I dropped sometime in the 100s my original review I was at c67.

I will probably pick it up again someday

EDIT: please update.... *Cries*

I love this novel. It might not be others cup of tea because it isn't exactly as thriller as say, Terror Infiniity, and it isn't as technical as some stories like Life Mission. But I believe it has its own charm.

I personally like his personality and the humor of the other characters. It is light-hearted and dark interchangeably. There are some really cute moments, but a huge mysterious factor surrounding the arena, and I believe that even though it might not be another's cup of tea, it is still a great read. (Especially if you are binge reading it).

The main character isn't the ruthless type, but he is a good thinker and strategist and he is a naturally kind-hearted person. The side characters are often humorous and have certain traits that make them more than two dimensional (fortunately).

Story wise you may feel it is over done, but it is different than others. It can be slow, but everything comes together nicely.

Hope you give it a chance. I also hope it updates soon. TT-TT <<less
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yamikage
yamikage rated it
August 4, 2016
Status: c45
Read this! It's good! The characters are interesting, there's no plot armor for villains, the story can still be digged deeper with lots of potential.

The choice of the character main skill is most likely an insult to the same genre type of character that all of a sudden choose melee combat. It's a definite good read.
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thirst
thirst rated it
May 24, 2016
Status: c24
Recent chapters an improvement over early ones, so if you're just starting the series, it gets better. The MC putting in a lot of hard work to make the most of his second chance, although still makes mistakes. The two worlds in parallel interesting & well done, with actions in one impacting on the other in a satisfying way
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Ner0
Ner0 rated it
February 8, 2020
Status: --
This isn't a fantasy story, it is only a sub theme.
Action, adventure, all that stuff has to wait on the backseat. The main focus of the author is describing the Korean culture and how it affects their psychology.
That in itself would have been a good novel if the author had a good grasp of psychology. However, it's disappointing that all the characters are only there to fill the void in the MC's identity.

... more>>
Spoiler

During the second examination, he's part of a group of 5 examinees. Despite having a martial artist, a college student and a gangster, it's the hermit/NEET MC who become a leader since no one is capable of taking decision or do anything without it. Yeah, no one prepared themselves for the second examination (martial artist is useless) apart from the MC.
It's like the author realised his MC was dumb, so he made everyone else dumber to fill the gaps in his plot armor (even the angel is praising the MC <<)

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rhianirory
rhianirory rated it
May 30, 2018
Status: c100
i really don't understand why some people think this is better than SSN (even with its rushed ending), but I'm willing to allow that people have widely different tastes in novels and different expectations. For me, this novel tolerable at best with a few shining moments here and there in the arena and a lot of annoying/ eye-roll inducing moments when he's in the real world.

started out decent and the arena parts are usually interesting but I hate the real world stuff. In fact, I've pretty much given up on... more>> the real world MC after that thing with his party happens. I find it hard to relate to his real world personality/ persona and I've long since lost any respect for him or interest in his situation.

i suppose it says something about my own personality that I find it easier to relate to characters like Kang Woojin (ruthless and bluntly honest) , or that I find characters like Wang Lin (ruthless, chaotic-evil but the reader still wants to like him) to be more appealing and likable than this particular MC. <<less
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Okabe_rintarou
Okabe_rintarou rated it
March 16, 2018
Status: c68
Spoiler

I'll tell you this before you read it... Don't expect anything from the romantic subplot.

The mc's gf used to be a partying who*e and this relationship was strongly opposed by MC's little sister because she knows this.

The plot is flawed emotionally. The MC actually loved a good girl at first. But he barely remembers her these days even though it's his negligence that caused her death.

The story would've been great had it not been the leftover of a leech girlfriend and the dickheaded MC...

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BabaNovac
BabaNovac rated it
August 8, 2017
Status: c86
I really love this novel! It's one of the best Korean novels. Definitely in my top 3 (along with Dungeon Defense and LMS). It has a bit of The librarian (the movie) kind of vibe. Normal guy that even though was a neet when he faces a dangerous situation his natural potential is unlocked. In his case using his head to achieve the best results. Also what I love at this novel is that unlike other's of the same genre where the fantasy world is really interesting the normal world... more>> is boring. But here I enjoy both of them especially his relationship (finally no beta mc). The relationship with his family can get a bit annoying sometimes but it's also pretty funny especially his little sister lol (good luck with your English) In the end this is a really must read Korean novel and I can't wait to read more chapters! Thank you very much for this amazing novel original creator and translation team! <<less
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freakiepoh
freakiepoh rated it
August 27, 2016
Status: c53
By no means is Arena an amazing piece of literature or anything of that sort but it is definitely among the better light novels out there. I have certain gripes with the series but it has been an enjoyable read up to the latest chapter. Death is to be expected and I love how the MC deals with it. He doesn't brush it off and forgets about it the next day. He is constantly contemplating his actions and the deaths of others. Other reincarnation/transported novels often have the MC be... more>> completely fine with death despite previously being a completely regular person which I find f*cking s*upid.

MC personality isn't anything special but he's more interesting than many of the dense Gary Stus out there. I like how he actually has a proper family and there are proper interactions among them. It's too common of a trope to be an orphan/have a family who doesn't care about you. <<less
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Boon
Boon rated it
August 27, 2016
Status: c52
Excellent novel. I had been putting this off because the chapters were so short. Warning to others, the chapters are only about ~1300 words if I remember correctly.

It starts out as your standard 'survival with rpg elements' story, but despite this widely used genre, it manages to be original and in no way formulaic. Characters, story, humor, worldbuilding, so far are all top notch, despite the current low word count.

I rate this somewhere between king of the battlefield and reincarnator, perhaps better than both. I highly recommend this.
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Ironman96
Ironman96 rated it
December 29, 2020
Status: c118
Read the top reviews, they say it all and I agree with them. The novel started off strong with MC being part of a team and growing strong together and the real world and game world was still interesting at this point. Then the whole plot nosedives into a cliff.

Ever since a certain point where there are a lot of deaths and MC meets the elves, the world goes in easy mode and begins to revolve around the MC. He becomes OP and steamrolls through everything, random powerups, and all... more>> the girls flock to him. Don't even get me started on the creepy relationship he has with his sister's friend back in the real world (P.s its really creepy and cringe to read that part). I began to loose all interest in the game world after he meets the elves where it becomes easy mode and couldn't stand the real world relationship so I dropped it.

I'm sad because this truly was interesting in the beginning. <<less
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