Praise the Orc!

Description

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Praise the Orc! is about Jung Ian, a cafe owner with a dark past, jumping into the world of virtual reality in order to protect his sister from any predators. However, things may not be as simple as he first believed them to be. Witness as he explores the lands of Elder Lord as an orc, a species labeled as the “game creator’s mistake”, defeating any and all before him!

Associated Names
One entry per line
PTO
You’re an Orc, yet you’re still Praiseworthy!
오크지만 찬양해!
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor (5)
Master Hunter K (4)
Green Skin (3)
Pivot of the Sky (3)
Solo Leveling (2)
Release that Witch (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Probably read when im bored (some of it) [2]
  2. For the chuunibyou guy inside us all: male centric...
  3. Male Protagonist (No CP)
  4. Novels I have read
  5. Novel i like

Latest Release

Date Group Release
05/27/23 noideawhatiamdoing c1
Write a Review
118 Reviews sorted by


Tyizor
Tyizor rated it
November 27, 2017
Status: Completed
4.5/5

This story had flaws. There's a good amount to nitpick, but I continue to stand by my 4.5/5 or even 5/5 purely due to how much I enjoyed this story.

The plot to this story can often be seen as outlandish or ridiculous, but it has that gurren-lagan kind of charm. Several interesting themes are also addressed throughout the story (notably passive (MC) vs active (goddess) nihilism and the importance of staying true to oneself in a world that pushes you to do otherwise).

Most of what needs to be said has... more>> already been said in previous reviews. I wholeheartedly recommend this work. It was a fun ride.

Notable Criticisms/flaws to look out for: unnatural humor, sudden escalation (last arc), users besides MC are largely immoral a**holes (I find this unrealistic irl due to the degree of realism in the game), plotholes (such as why the researchers are running a computer that they don't understand in the first place) <<less
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Mi_rei0
Mi_rei0 rated it
October 10, 2017
Status: Completed
Too many novels these days are either about the protagonist levelling up with no end in sight, earning side incomes from their adventures, getting cheats earlier on and using it, dragging on the story for the sake of it. It's different from all the dungeon raids, or stuck in mmorpg story.

Some parts of the story were needlessly draggy, but nevertheless it's still an awesome story. Would have given it a 4-star because the pacing isn't quite there, but it feels like a pity to penalize this story just because of... more>> it.

I felt genuinely touched at some points, I loved how the author wrote about his characters, especially about the orcs.

10/10 would recommend. <<less
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Horoscope
Horoscope rated it
October 6, 2017
Status: c228
This novel is riveting. I can guarantee it will meet your expectations. This review contains minor spoilers.

Honestly, the synopsis for the story does not do it justice at all, making people think the story is headed towards a bunch of half assed tropes and hastily written comedy about finding a bug in a game and becoming OP, or having a romance with his sister. It kind of makes me mad, hence this review.

OK. So. The story is good because the MC is well done. The setting is a 'Virtual... more>> reality online game' where you can be one of many races, and the MC chooses Orc as his race. He gets a slight boost from being a military man, but all that really does is give him a bit of combat 'seriousness', making him more careful than the average player in the game. The MC's growth is mainly attributed to his avoidance of dying, even though he has extra lives, causing him to view the game more seriously than other people. The story is characterized by the fact that all players have an "Assimilation Rate'' that determines how connected they are to the game. The MC's natural self starts him out at 50%, which is considered high for most, but it isn't like a cheat at all. As the story progresses, the MC is changed by the world, and he becomes more attuned to his character, becoming much more well rounded and complete. His Assimilation rate that increases bit by bit whenever his beliefs are challenged or solidified are proof of this.

Spoiler

At 80% assimilation, he is so in-character that alot of people mistake him for an NPC.

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He is more like Conan the Barbarian, an honorable bad-ass that is strong and overwhelming but certainly not invulnerable. The MC's overall character is centered around honor, in a way that makes him a complete and utter badass, physically and mentally. Every one of his actions are justified in a satisfying way. It is good to see an MC that is, frankly, completely selfless but still driven.

Overall, the MC is much less like any other strength building character in a world with a 'status' setup (everyone else is a returnee, kumo desu nagi ka, The tutorial is too hard, etc). He doesn't acquire any skills unrelated to his class for any weak reasons. He has 'magic' towards the end, but he doesn't cast a single spell, rather he gets the typical 'aura sensing' thing that most martial artist in stories like these get. Distracting and unrealistic health/stamina bars are also cut out, overall leaving the status page simplistic and refreshing.

There are also many changes on themes, namely regarding the protagonists role.
Spoiler

This story completely rewrites the definition of what a hero should be like. Most characters would rather sacrifice themselves so that others could live. However, early on in the story, when he tries to use his 'extra lives' to justify throwing his life away, his master says he cannot be allowed to become a warrior, because one must live their days with the intent to live to truly be alive.

Additionally, heroes in most of these Asian stories generally have to make the choice to kill someone to prevent them from causing huge trouble later. However, this MC never does anything like that. Influenced by his code of honor (literal laws he lives by), he does not cut down his enemies if they genuinely surrender. It is not out of pity; to me, it is a harder decision to make to let a troublesome enemy live. (He does kill enemies though, mostly people who are douchebags through and through, or people who have extra lives.)

He doesn't get power to do good deeds, rather he does good deeds and receives power. This upends the current standard of 'cultivation' related heroes, going back to the traditional definition of a hero. That being said, it was done in a way where the MC still needed to put in a huge amount of effort, not intentionally relying on a fate of any kind.

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There is no romance active in the story line. There WAS someone in his past, but he put that far behind him. He VERY flatly refuses women who do approach him in the game and in reality, as it infringes on his credo that he inherited from his trainer.

And no, there are absolutely no hints of romance towards his sister. There IS some romantic action happening outside in reality, but this is completely unrelated to what he does in the game. If you REALLY want to know...

Spoiler

... he does meet someone in reality, but he is still only going on 'first date' level dates at the end of the story.

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Fun fact on MC's sister for those who are at around chapter 30:
Spoiler

The sister quit the game early, having a measly 10% assimilation rate, meaning she was not into the game from the start. This happens around half way through the story, and the MC realizes that he is really enjoying his time in the game, and continues on regardless.

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Overall, I highly recommend this masterpiece of a story

PS The following spoiler is ONLY for those who have given up because it is to "predictable".

Spoiler

The theme of the story is Virtual reality, but...

Check chapter 99 -102.

Game changing plot twist. Looking back, the foreshadowing and events leading up to it are perfect.

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nathany
nathany rated it
October 5, 2017
Status: c25
I have been oversaturated with online reading; however, c25 was like a light in the dark in this novel. I started crying and cursing at the twist. If you are undecided on this novel, then read c1-25 before dismissing it. Great job to the Turtle translator as always!
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Fiftyshadesofsucku
Fiftyshadesofsucku
September 17, 2017
Status: c4
Fun. So much fun. It takes many turns in this virtual reality, probably one of the best virtual reality novels. In my list I'd rate it second only to weed's legendary moonlight sculptor!
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Justrem
Justrem rated it
September 17, 2017
Status: c186
Praise the orc is an excellent novel for struggle and achievement and doesnt even have the useless rpg sh*t that most vr/mmo novels have.

Its not about skills or leveling up its basically pure hard story and action scenes without the cringey "oh let me use this buff and stack it and break the game and get some of that robot like character harem member who hits on you puss"

Praise the Orc is story driven and has awesome characters that grow as they journey. Thos well written characters and their occasional... more>> humour makes you like them even more or nake you want o strangle them due to their lack of understanding of the world of Elder Lord.

This is one of the novels that actually make me feel excited to read.

Note: if you are expecting game elemnts like vr/mmo/rpg game elements in this novel then this novel is not that

All in all: dis prety noice

Grab some manly meat and read the novel

BÙLTAR <<less
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rdawv
rdawv rated it
July 9, 2017
Status: c50
Interesting, still finding its feet.

A Korean VRMMO novel that focuses more on the virtual aspects instead of real life? Hardly unique. If you have read one that features a cool and calm MC, you'll find one more here. Though the twist is that in the game, the MC's character is burning with pent-up emotions. He is not OP like many other stories either: so far in the 50 chapters he plays and levels normally.

There are two twist in the setting: Firstly the game: It's not just a typical 'fetch quest'... more>> 'kill xx monsters' type of gaming environment. For all intents and purposes, the NPCs are 'alive' and all but sentient. Even the comings and goings of the player characters (logging on and off) are described as a curse.

Secondly: the player characters themselves. Virtually all of the players the MC encountered in the first 50 chapters were demented in some way. Which is understandable when much of the novel focuses on the MC's interactions with the NPCs rather than other fellow human players. But other than a handful of exceptions, the other players are described as blood-thirsty, greedy, selfish and deceitful backstabbers. Remember those novels featuring characters with a 'trapped in a game' type setting? Yeah, something like that.

The comparisons with World of Warcraft and the toxic players that can be found there are obvious.

Will read more. <<less
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LehmD
LehmD rated it
September 5, 2023
Status: Completed
Pretty average vr game novel with nothing much to say about it. Except for the logic gaps towards the end of the story which made me want to quit.

... more>>
Spoiler

MC didn't expect the whole City to be wiped out because the emperor promised peace when he has an ability that tells him the exact death date of people he is looking at. You are telling me he never bothered to check if their death date changed after he was promised peace?

Also the gods power system doesnt make any sense. Dozens of gods can bearly keep one Planet Alive and the grey god doesnt have the Power to cross dimensions but can literally turn back the time of the whole universe by billions of years?!?!?!

the only reason the empires people fight is because of the emperor even the nobles dont want it. MC is also the strongest person on the continent. So what does he do? He fights an entire army and fails to protect his allies instead of just killing the emperor.

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Also the MC is a hypocrite. He will kill thousands of innocent foot soldiers that get forced into the war to protect the innocent but will spare the enemy commander that committed multiple war Crimes just because he is a strong swordsmen. Which means the guy will keep slaughtering innocent people until they meet the next time so MC can spare him again. <<less
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EchoSmith
EchoSmith rated it
August 18, 2023
Status: Completed
Personally not my cup of tea, but it was an ok experience overall. Praise the Orc is not like the typical "game/mmorpg" novels, and it has an interesting twist. Characters had consistent and understandable character actions; they were not completely braindead. You can feel the passion and hot-blooded emotions of characters. The author tied up the loose-ends and didn't leave us hanging.

The book just felt weird to me and wasn't satisfying enough, not to mention that the ending was a bit rushed. There was so much that could've been explored... more>> more.
Spoiler

Like the concept of the gods could've been explained more and fleshed out.

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JhonnyF
JhonnyF rated it
July 21, 2023
Status: --
I finished the novel and I love it.

The people not liking it didn't actually go too deep into it.

But if you like a slow-paced adventure that is more about what you learned in the way and not about what it is in the end, then stay.

People are saying that the novel is boring because it's inconsequential, but it's because they were not paying attention to the story that was giving you hints about your actions actually having importance, they just shrug it off because they think "Oh well it's just... more>> a game, nothing matters"

Spoiler

It is not, it's an actual world, I cant believe how the people who downvoted this novel were so blind they couldn't even begin to suspect it, but even if you know all of this it doesn't take anything off the story because it leaves you wondering "why" and "how" when it is revealed and all of the consequences of the actions of everyone

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erynalu
erynalu rated it
March 13, 2022
Status: c144
Pros:

  • Characters are vivid, each motivation is rather clear, their personality also interesting.
  • Comedy is funny whenever it's present.
  • Friendship and camaraderie (which usually kind hard to find with supporting characters become more like assistant, or MC is a lone wolf). In here they actually go around together adventuring.
  • World-building is interesting. The backgrounds, values, and cultural difference between species, users etc felt vivid.
Cons:

  • War strategy kinda weak despite being a war novel. MC especially felt meathead with how weak he is in battle tactics. I know he is an orc, but he was also a veteran and I was expecting he would be a bit smarter.
  • Things felt super bleak, and MC felt almost like the only light and the right one.
    Spoiler

    I mean, if you get to play a realistic VR game, and there is no law there, would you be a criminal that do scams, provoke war, do things like r*pe, plunder, etc? I am also sure there are plenty chill good people, and some of them are strong (like the user that gathered in Chesswood). It's just the author always put the focus on these bad users and MC barely interacted with other good users even though he could. He could have formed an alliance for the battle to the north but he didn't (if he had partied up earlier, they all could go to the north with him). Instead he prefers to have those who can only live once to risk their life instead of users who can revive. I seriously doubt MC's brain sometimes.

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  • MC powers up rather quickly, typical the blessed one script.
  • Lacking small details here and there that could take it to the next level (including plot holes), while some things are dragged out with repetition. This also reflected in the total chapters because if expanded and the details are not lacking, I think it could easily reach 300+.
    Spoiler

    Ex. His sister playing the game as an elf, and he wanted to protect his sister. But he picked an orc that has a starting point pretty much halfway across the continent. If he really wanted to take care of his sister in the game, wouldn't it make more sense to also pick elf and spawn in the same town so he could help her ASAP? Another one is when he was trying to chase the Thawing Balhae Clan. I just thought it wasn't a logical decision to just leave as is instead of chasing them first. Lo and behold, they made a comeback and this time stronger as they merged with a stronger clan.... How does it make sense to be around the locals during north continent when he need to disconnect every few days, and it was during critical time like the war?

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Overall, it was a rather fun read but felt lacking at the same time. The tone is rather dark and bleak view towards humanity.

Compared to similar ones that I read before:

Praise the Orc is a bit better than Seoul Station Necromancer, but lacking compared to Chronicles of Primordial War and Regressed Demon Lord is Kind.

Spoiler

SSN was also about war, game, and bleak situation, but that was even more compacted. Not to mention some of that was taken for romance development.

CoPW is just simply good, with complete details (though translation kinda failed in later stage) and imaginative world. It also has wars and rather similar with tribes, shaman, etc. I think it was better because the MC was smarter and unlike Ian, really used his modern knowledge to help and use the abilities he have at his disposal depending on the situation. The world law is more logical too.

Regressed Demon Lord is about adventuring and has rather fun character too. I think it did a better job at balancing the good and evil.

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Master10K
Master10K rated it
July 5, 2020
Status: Completed
A VRMMO where one's real life real life abilities, can affect one's level of assimilation with their avatar, is an interesting concept. So it obviously can't get away with having an unhealthy otaku becoming the OP chick magnet, within the game, trope. Instead we have a working adult, becoming what feels like the Orc "Punisher", within a fleshed out fantasy world. Until the convoluted plot twist that adds a confusing layer to it all and the story continues to escalate, which unsurprisingly leads to a rather lacklustre ending. But before... more>> all that crap, the tale of "Jung Ian" gradually becoming "Crockta" was enthralling, never feeling the need to flood the reader with stat sheets. Plus it has a fascinating Epilogue. "Bul'tar!" <<less
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Lazy Lord
Lazy Lord rated it
October 7, 2019
Status: c164
I can say that it is not a bad novel. At least the action was decent enough, and that's the only thing I can praise about this novel.

The thing that irritates me about this novel is it's tr*sh dialogue. The characters conversation does not connect and hardly have any meaning. Even the MC does not know how to properly talk, saying only manly (lol) things in the whole novel. I don't know if it's the translator or the author's fault, but the dialogue of the characters seriously need some improvements.
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deniya
deniya
June 9, 2019
Status: c100
So far that's a pretty great story. But there's some really strange thing - if the best rankers means that the people accept the gameworld as a close to real one (having high assimilation rating) then if they wipe out villages and towns... what does that mean? Shouldn't they be listed as untrustworthy and psychopatic people at the very least? Thus by showing oneself as the great player in-game means that they're just being exposed as villains who wouldn't care about people in real life. Like when one guy told... more>> about him always accepting it all as a game and thus having really low assimilation rating and then that should mean that he's bad at playing it just cuz the body's performance is so much limited while not believing in the world. <<less
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AIm21
AIm21 rated it
December 30, 2017
Status: c124
The story is good at the beginning for about 50 chapters, but afterwards the story kind of feel rush and there are more pointless scenes that may seem like it will go somewhere only to lead to nowhere. But the biggest problem I had with this story is plot armor and the attempt to disguise it by the Author.

He delay good moments too long and kill character that may seem interesting to see for the future.

He also set up hopeless situation for the Main Character to face, but he suddenly... more>> break out of it because plot armor instead of a malfunction of the enemy beforehand or make it seem like a coincidence.

This could had been easily mask if the Author did not used the same trick more than three times and allow his MC to escape danger every time he was about to be killed. The novel feel like it is trying to imitate one of those Against the Heaven Chinese story and not a Korean one with many of their original twist that effectively use their well written characters.

Also the world building and transition is also kind of difficult to follow. <<less
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LordMars
LordMars rated it
October 9, 2017
Status: c170
This is my first ever review of a novel on this site. I have read plenty of novels from it however, this novel stands above all. The novel had so many good points it is hard to cover. The most important I would say is the themes. Most novels on this site create interesting worlds with lots of action occurring but it seems to exist for its own sake. There is no intrigue or discussion of why they do what they do in world besides get stronger or defend something.... more>> This novel has that still but more. It discusses Honor, what is life, and the purpose of strength. The philosophy is challenged and the world of elder lord becomes more real than one thought possible. If it were possible for me to give this novel a 6 stars I would it is just so far above all others. I have started reading this yesterday and could not stop. This is a must read. <<less
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Xiao x2
Xiao x2 rated it
October 2, 2017
Status: c227
I dont know why, but it feels rushed......... God even the manhwa's I read got all their ending rushed... Ahh how hard is it to find a good story whose ending makes you want to say it's worth it.

PS All in all it's really worth your time to read this novel, it mostly talks about the person himself and how he will be able to change the fate of the world. Sadly the ending feels rushed but it's a good read so you should try reading it.
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Talmara
Talmara rated it
August 20, 2017
Status: c26
So, this is my first time writing a review. This novel just deserved all of the time I spent on this.

I've currently read 26 chapters (I know, it's a bit too little), but I just thought that every little praise for the orc is worth it. This novel has almost everything I need from it. Characters whitch actually have some character, orcs, world building, orcs, parts where I will laught, orcs, parts where I will just smile like an idiot (you know, that kind of -Its just sooooo nice and cute and....- feeling), parts where I feel like an unstoppable orc who will just charge ito hordes of enemies... Ok, maybe thats just my little bias towards orcs... Anyway, to put it simply, I would definitely recommend it to you... more>> guys! Bul'tar! <<less
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