Non Zero Sum

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

“I thought we liked each other.”

*This work contains a significant amount of elements related to sexual, physical, and psychological ab*se by multiple people. Please be cautious when reading.

The only light in Yoon Haewon’s life, who has no money, family, or future, is Seo Haeyoung.

Haewon, who has been hovering around Haeyoung for a long time, can’t hide his feelings and gets caught by his friend Ko Taegyeom.

With Taegyeom demanding a relationship with Haewon using that as an excuse and the addition of another friend, Ju Hyunwoo, who coveted Haewon,

Haeyoung’s suspicions arise…

The three people who watch and condone the violence and ab*se towards Haewon.

There is no one to help him.

The broken relationship between the four people,

And the memories of the past that have now faded.

Who will be the winner in this irreversible game?

Associated Names
One entry per line
Non-Zero-Sum
NZS
논 제로섬
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Bad Life (1)
Sickly Tyrannical (1)
I Became a S*ave to the Man I Abandoned (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Dark recommendations
  2. Now reading
  3. Bl novels 7
  4. (BL) Korean modern novels
  5. the villain gets the boy.

Latest Release

1 group(s) hidden due to dead links. Click here to show all releases.
Review
4 Reviews


ririrei._
ririrei._
May 27, 2024
Status: Completed
Phew... where do I start? This was one of if not my most disturbing and disgusting reads out there but it left a deep impression on me thus the rating.

To start off, if you’re looking for some sweet and cute plotted novel LEAVE this novel has one of the most traumatising contents I’ve ever read. PLEASE READ THE TWs I’m pretty damn sure the TWs can easily fill in 2 pages.

It depicts ab*se (done by 2 or more people) and trauma vividly, the ending for this novel can be disappointing... more>> for a-lot of readers (including me) because seriously. The MC doesn’t deserve to even be with the ML after the sh*t he’s put him through, there are no redeemable traits about the ML only until the end.

Although the disturbing plot at the end of the novel, it all links back to the title itself, whereby no-one wins and no-one loses. I read a lot of psychological manhwa and novels but I think this one did a decent job at linking it back to the title.

Overall a really heavy novel to stomach, but I can appreciate the author’s ability to deliver how a toxic relationship is established and how stockholm syndrome can be very bad into someone’s decision making.

So I give this a 2.7/5 <<less
9 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Grannad
Grannad
Feb 26, 2024
Status: Completed
The story is actually semi decent almost till the end, it shows the complexity of people with trauma and their willingness to stay in abusive relationships, but the ending was just straight up dissapointing. I think even the author acknowledges that its not realy a happy ending when YH and SH end up together. So a 3.8 is the best I can give this
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
sofourmore
sofourmore
Oct 05, 2024
Status: v1
This review is only about volume 1, even as someone who knows some bits of the rest of the content from the manhwa. I'll give my opinion about the first one and hopefully I'll be able to read it fully one day.

If it isn't done already, I'd classify this as a psychological horror. It is chilling as f*ck from beginning to end. There are many scenes that made me question if the MC would be able to keep his sanity. Just when you think it cannot get worst, it does.

The... more>> story follows Haewon, a student with financial issues that has many part time jobs to be able to keep living. His best friend is Haeyoung, a rich guy from the same school, who has another friend called Taegyeom. This guy discovers Haewon has had a crush on Haeyoung for years, so he blackmails Haewon into sleeping with him to keep his secret. Haewon makes it clear he doesn't want to, but cannot do anything to stop him. This will get more awful when Hyunwoo, another friend, gets involved with these three. This is how Haewon's torment starts.

Many scenes from this first volume gutted me, and that's saying a lot when I know damn well the villa arc is 10x sicker. The desperation Haewon feels because he wants to go back in time where things were better is devastating. I think his character is well constructed because his reactions go according to his past experiences. Unfortunately, he is surrounded by depraved people that take advantage of how he is used to receiving beatings, his fear of abandonement, his struggles with money and lack of support.

It all comes down with the worst revelation from this volume, which is about
Spoiler

Haeyoung already knowing his friend was raping Haewon (and his feelings), but not doing anything to stop it AND even encouraging it. It is sick, it is depraved, it is the worst thing for Haewon because of how betrayed he feels. His vision of Haeyoung collapses, as he isn't the guy he idolized.

[collapse]

I usually enjoy challenging plots like this. As someone who usually reads books that explore such themes, I think what makes it one of the most insane stories out there (not in a bad way) is that it starts with MC trusting the people he is close with but that falls apart the minute they have him vulnerable, and it finishes with his world being shattered. Looking forward to the manhwa adapting the rest, this is the type of work that stays in my mind for a long time. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
GojosLove
GojosLove
Mar 21, 2024
Status: v1
I hate this story, I’ve only read the manhwa and I was rooting so hard for the friend (even though deep down I knew he wasn’t better either) this sh*t is astronomically ridiculous, scary, and traumatizing (and I say ridiculous cause of the ending, and honestly how bad MC’s life is) The childhood friend is a f*cking freak, his brother is an evil a**hole, their friend is a sly bastard and they’re all rapists.. Not surprising.. Anyway I’ll be reading the novel and updating my review, don’t think it’ll change... more>> but I’ve been so curious about everything in this novel for about a month and a half. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Leave a Review (Guidelines)
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.