Second Life Ranker

Description

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Yeon-woo had a twin brother who disappeared five years ago. One day, a pocket watch left by his brother returned to his possession. Inside, he found a hidden diary in which was recorded “By the time you hear this, I guess I will be already dead….”

Obelisk, the Tower of the Sun God, a world where several universes and dimensions intersect. In this world, his brother had fallen victim to betrayal while climbing up the tower. After learning the truth, Yeon-woo decided to climb the tower along with his brother’s diary.

“From now on, I am Cha Jeong-woo.”

Associated Names
One entry per line
Ranker Who Lives a Second Time
SLR
The Ranker Who Lives Twice
두 번 사는 랭커
Related Series
Return of the Shattered Constellation (Sequel)
Recommendations
The Second Coming of Gluttony (10)
The Tutorial Is Too Hard (8)
Boundless Necromancer (7)
SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter (6)
Fallen Monarch (5)
Kill the Hero (5)
Recommendation Lists
  1. MY NOVEL LIST
  2. Really Nice
  3. Damn good novels
  4. Hunter/Player/Awakener-Gate/Tower/Dungeon/etc.
  5. GOAT's

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c20
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c19
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c18
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c17
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c16
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c15
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c14
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c13
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c12
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c11
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c10
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c9
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c8
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c7
02/09/21 Wuxiaworld c6
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136 Reviews sorted by


simianpower
simianpower rated it
November 2, 2021
Status: c282
OK, I spent the time. I tried. I gave it serious chances. MANY of them. But this story is just badly written. Others have already covered most of the reasons, and in more detail than I care to, but here are my top few:

1) If you think about the world as it's portrayed, it makes no sense. Rankers can go to any floor, and kill anyone. And many of them have powers like clairvoyance or god-given prophecy powers, so they'd know about up-and-coming people beforehand; any malicious one could just... more>> go and kill any threat before they fully develop... but they don't. Similarly, people can go back to their own homeworlds, but instead once they reach their limits they just stay living in the tower rather than go back home and live like gods with their insane powers among normals. Why? And finally, the MC's big "cheat" is a "diary" written by his brother (that somehow lets him see/feel/know everything his brother ever did) that gives him a massive leg up on "hidden pieces" throughout the tower. It makes sense that this would help during the tutorial phase, but since after the tutorial people can descend to any level below their own, why doesn't everyone have this advantage? Why aren't there "secret merchants" selling this information everywhere? Sure, it would nullify the MC's main cheat power, but at least give a reason why this isn't a thing!

2) The MC is boring. He's your typical Korean edgelord MC. He's mean and "coldblooded"... except when he's not. He's incredibly inconsistent.

3) This story, other than the world, is basically the same as so many others. MC starts out with a dagger, then two daggers, then suddenly becomes a necromancer, then an OP martial artist. And so on.

4) When the chips are down, the MC always forgets about the insane cheat powers he's been stacking up, as if the author either forgot about how OP the character was (i.e. he was just wanking and never wrote down the powers) or needed the MC to act s*upid for his plot to happen, both of which are story-killers.

I got nearly 300 chapters in before I realized that I don't really care what's happening any more. I don't like the MC. He has no friends to care about. The worldbuilding is full of holes, as is the plot. The bad guys, such as they are, are boring. And deus ex machinae abound. The MC will never die, even if he's artificially s*upid when plot requires it, because plot will also save him as needed. You can almost feel the hand of the author moving the characters around like chess pieces who have no motivations of their own since he forgot to write personalities for any of them.

I gave this three stars because I did get this far. It wasn't bad enough for me to rage-quit after just a few chapters. But it ONLY got three stars because it just isn't good enough to invest more of my time into. <<less
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devoid
devoid rated it
February 2, 2021
Status: c370
I started reading this novel because I was so tired of waiting for the manga to update. Leisurely reading this is worthwhile if you don’t mind reading profanities, gore, and morality (duh it’s an action/fantasy/martial arts theme and so on.)

There were so many negative comments here about that. I just don’t understand why you place morality in terms of life and death in war. If you read history books, tales of war and real stories about them, you won’t really find behaviors as such out of place.

In the end,... more>> TO EACH HIS OWN. ❤️✌️ <<less
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sulili
sulili rated it
November 12, 2020
Status: c133
This book is plainly speaking not great. It is like a long and kind of pointless levelling up mission for the MC. The manhwa of Ranker is better than the book since at least the manhwa version has nice art.

This book is like a cross of 'tower of god' and 'solo levelling', neither of which has a good plot to begin with. But it comes out weaker than the other two. The characters are very 2d, even the MC doesn't seem to ever have deep thoughts. He has questionable morals... more>> for someone who is supposed to be very caring about his brother and very intelligent. For example,
Spoiler

he seems to enjoy killing a whole bunch of people literally every day to show them who is boss. He resurrects his enemies and forces them to be undead soldiers. He treats his companions e.g. Eldora as followers to help himself gain benefits.

[collapse]

However, the supporting characters and the shoddy plot supports the MC to become powerful and successful no matter what he does. And he literally finds gadgets and treasure everywhere. I want to say to the FL, you can do better. I was hoping it wouldn't go this way as the first couple chapters seemed interesting, but alas. <<less
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dosithee
dosithee rated it
October 6, 2019
Status: c88
Better than most. Mc's brother sounds like a more interesting person though... But I like how bad ass MC is, though I agree with other reviewer that references to mc's past in Africa seem lame when compared to the thousands of other worriors that are also in the tower and must have more badass backgrounds than just some special forces warfare in Africa. but action is good, and story moves quickly. I like how clever MC is too.
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rhianirory
rhianirory rated it
September 15, 2019
Status: c350
so far (c299) it's one of the better Korean tower novels (though that's not saying much since there are very few tower climbing novels in general). Some people will have a hard time with the cold, calculating MC at the start but there is character growth for those who don't like or find that type of MC too boring. I personally preferred it when this was a pure revenge story without all the extra baggage, but I do realize most people prefer their MC to be a little soft, have... more>> their own Scooby Gang/guild/clan, and develop goals beyond revenge. That character growth started around c250 (plus or minus a few chapters). Honestly, I'm disappointed that he lost his single-minded focus.
Spoiler

to me, a good revenge story is one where the MC is obsessively focused on one goal (revenge) until it's carried out to completion, after which they either move on with their life or die with their enemy depending on the MC psychological profile and whether or not they can live with the person they've become. Our MC starts out that way but when the little girl comes into the picture he loses a lot of his obsessive focus, becomes soft and squishy and he decides to trust people, despite his own life experiences and the experiences his brother went through. I was rooting for a pure revenge story, but I suppose it was too much to hope for.

[collapse]

edit as of c350: wow, I could handle the absurd power ups and plot armor (I expect god levels in novels like this), but the author really starts getting a bit ridiculous. Man, I just wanted to see him get revenge for his brother. This drops from a 4 to a 3 and it hasn't even reached the halfway point in this 800+ chapter story. <<less
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Liya
Liya rated it
December 4, 2021
Status: --
You have been inflicted by a curse [Brain Fry]!

Your mental power went down!

You have made an achievement that is not easily accomplished. You have received Confusion as Karma for reading the novel.

I don't know where to begin. There are too many inconsistencies in this novel, spanning over several paragraphs, chapters, even the plot itself. It's exhausting. I can understand why MC is portrayed as someone who doesn't like to study. The story isn't bad, but the author needs to read his own work before publishing it.
My stars ***** are... more>> dedicated to the hard work of translating this novel. You guys are M. <<less
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Nicolette
Nicolette rated it
November 18, 2020
Status: c328
I don't know why some people hate this novel just because it looks like solo leveling or other stories, but today most of the stories looks alike now... like the CEO. Virtual reality.. and many more..

To be honest this story is good.. the MC is OP, but it's still good. The characters are also developing

So I advice you to take a risk and read it to see if it's on your liking....
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moneng85
moneng85 rated it
September 10, 2020
Status: c100
too much deus ex machina or plot armor on his side

why would you equip all the skills in the world for MC and leave none for the rest? How is he on par with veterans, keep on improving with the so called 'world changing skills' and still have crisis all over the place?

enjoyable but those small things kept me non emersed

3/5
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Xinneth
Xinneth rated it
July 15, 2020
Status: c175
I am keeping up with the latest everyday updates and I have to say that I love this.

To those people out there that say that it's boring, IT IS NOT. The plot is super interesting, of course we know the MC is going to be all mighty powerful in the easy way. But the author constructed him very well. He has his pains and shadows, pun not intended, to fight against and his making great development. I won't go into it but he has changed his ways. I just can't... more>> wait to see what new things the author will add to make him more OP I like it. FL is also great, of course this doesn't really have romance but there is a woman out there and she's hella cute and badass. <<less
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junanto
junanto rated it
November 14, 2019
Status: c30
I dropped it sometime after he finished the tutorial.

Here is why?
MC meet some strong enemy that he need to borrow the power of corrupted legendary sword to defeat during the tutorial final stage.

Several chap later after tutorial ended

... more>> MC goes and visit some blacksmith than proceed to do nothing that give him any sort of strength increase.

And here is what killed it for me

MC literally done nothing except visit a black smith then he can easily crush that tutorial final enemy easily without any effort. Does not even break a sweat.

Come on, what kind of sudden power creep is this????

Wakanda bs is this?

Does visiting some blacksmith, doing some smithing give you str +999???

But, this is not a bad novel, it got some interesting stuff. But some part of it killed my interest.

Alrite thats enuf, omw to visit that black smith for bs power increase. <<less
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Krystaize
Krystaize rated it
July 31, 2019
Status: v3c13
To all the books I've read, I've always subconsciously looked for flaws within the characters and the plot development.

No matter what I've always found it.

However this book piece things together greatly. Although I'm still in the early stage of the book, I can confidently say that the author and the translator (s) did great patching things together.

I've read/studied a lot of psychology, sociology, etc. Books and I tend to apply what I've learned into finding faults within stories and characters. And this book does explain why he acts a certain... more>> way and which skills allows him to do so.

But one problem in the early stage is that he often compares his experiences in africa to his current situation; albeit being a great background info, it can be too much.

Also, I have yet to find major differences between this novel and the others in the same category. I mean the protagonist is unique and that elevates the story by a lot. I'll probably update it when I reach the later chapters. <<less
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AndyDarren
AndyDarren rated it
April 12, 2019
Status: v1c5
An interesting read so far. I was really worried when I thought he was gonna inherit his brother's power, because if it's one thing I hate in 'weak to strong' novels it's handouts. However besides his memories, the only other thing he inherited from his brother is his unique ability which he still has to slowly unlock from scratch. Nothing much to say about the mc's character so far as he shares many of the qualities of good KR mc's, a lone wolf focussed on his goal, which I appreciate.... more>> If there's one complaint I can make, it's the author's use of one of the most common tropes that seen to appear in KR novels, a sick mother who is in desperate need of a cure-all elixir to cure her incurable disease and so far I don't think there's been mention of a father being present either. <<less
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LehmD
LehmD rated it
August 12, 2022
Status: ss62
Started out as your typical korean novel with a system but somehow became a Chinese cultivation novel 300 or so chapters in. I dont really like all the way too long skill names and all the chapter long descriptions about creating New techniques and what not.

This novel could have easily been 200 chapters less and you wouldnt have missed much because everything gets dragged out after MC achieves most of his goals.
Spoiler

MC kills a god the other gods cant even think about fighting in like chapter 450 or so but somehow there are like 400 more chapters. The only ones who should be able to oppose MC at this point are the other world gods and the black king but we somehow spend hundreds of chapters dealing with the weak normal gods. MC could also become the main ego of the black king basically anytime after that but he somehow doesnt and everything just gets dragged out way too much.

[collapse]
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Rea_Lovey
Rea_Lovey rated it
March 20, 2022
Status: v31c760
Broke: This story is about Revenge, Love, and slowly becoming an OP God

Woke: This story is about a brocon that will do anything to "protect" His little brother, all the while chasing after him and got turned into a Yandere in the process. Also, family reunion at some point.

Seriously, for those that complain about plotholes, I tell you now, it's just because you haven't read enough chapters....

Like, got some big questions that didn't get answered in the first 10-20 chapters? You bet it'll show up in some big reveal 100-200... more>> chapters later.

On that note, one of the drawback of this novel is being extremely slow. Some chapters are literary just full of description of some abilities/items the MC got on previous chapter, littered with some shocked reaction form MC or whomever nearby. Fight scenes raging from 1/2 chapter to 5 chapters, and backstory/flashback is around 5-15 chapters.

If you wanna go forward with the plot without wasting too much of your time, start to look about anything Greek Gods or chapters that mentions the twin, Cha Jeong-woo, because, like I said, the only thing moving that Yandere brocon is his lil'bro.

Spoiler

tho if you already got into chapters where he awoken the "memory" Of Jeong-woo, then you don't have to worry much, since after that the pace got quicker and the plot got waaay better.

[collapse]
<<less
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MrTurtleMan
MrTurtleMan rated it
March 13, 2022
Status: c752
3/5

One of the first novels I read cliche but decent time waster.

Basically just an overpowered protagonist steamrolling all enemies.

If you don't have anything else to read you could waste some time reading this but I dont rlly recommend it
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Zoronstorm
Zoronstorm
September 19, 2021
Status: c370
For people who don't like to read reviews:

Do you want a cold-blooded, warm-hearted, joking, yet tight-lipped and calculatingly careful protagonist, who cherishes those few he considers his family or friends and definitely likes to battle with swords and magic?

Well, you are in the right place then.

... more>> There's romance, but you will have to wait until the protagonist makes his hands free. And no harem, at least, yet (I am at ch. 370).

The fights are intense and well-written. The skillset keeps growing and later on, becomes too varied and a bit blurred, but doesn't affect the battles in a negative way.

Still a nice read as of ch. 370 (currently, the latest translated chap).

---

For people who would like a slightly clearer picture of what this novel has to offer:

There is a solid foundation for the world inside the book. This foundation has been used a lot in the past decade: A Tower which connects many worlds, where one can climb the levels, become stronger and even obtain godhood, upon reaching the very top.

Yet this foundation is not boringly implemented here.

The storyline definitely includes a lot of references to the deities from "Earth", some characters, or well-known beings. But it doesn't make them the whole point of the book. There are a lot of beings who try to remain unknown and readers can keep playing many rounds of guessing games about who they are.

There's also a solid explanation as to why the protagonist knows where to find the "right stuff" for himself. It is nicely justified at the very start of the book, where he receives a very special diary of his long-missing brother. And even the *slightly* bothering things (around chap 250) will become well-grounded around chapter 360 (so don't start unjustly blaming the plot armor here: there's an explanation for it, and... It is a hard-earned armor of bloody tears, which become even bloodier once explained...).

All in all - a nice read.

Those who enjoy Solo Leveling, ATG, and like the logical approach of Leylin from the WMW, might find this book to their liking.

Show Less <<less
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Chaser_71
Chaser_71 rated it
June 11, 2021
Status: c461
Actually my first time reviewing a novel here on novelupdates, so yeh, don't judge.

Okay, first of all, I decided to post a review here so that I can say my thoughts about how other people reviewed the novel.

All I can say is that, you shouldn't judge a book when you only read it below chapter 300. To the new readers of the novel and are reading the reviews and are getting discouraged to reading it because of the bad reviews, I just want to say to never let it get... more>> to you. Give it a chance and read it and you may find it interesting and to your liking.

Now I just want to answer and list down the bad reviews made by other people:

    1. Something about how MC became super overpowered and all knowing because of the diary of his brother, which has no logical explanation because it explains everthing about the hidden treasures and whatnot. If you read the novel below chapter 300, you may find it to be a plot hole made by the author, but no, it is not. It actually has a reason why this came to be, actually at some point in time even MC also began to question this point.
      Spoiler

      This can actually be explained because of his brother's skill, his brother has a pretty awful experience because of this skill

      [collapse]
    2. The review about how the tower was never explained on how it came to be. Actually, it will also be explained near the end of the book (I actually read a spoiler about why it came to be), so it is also not a plot hole made by the author.
    3. About the case where MC can be cold as f*ck, a character in the novel will eventually explain that MC was given the nickname Cain because of his ruthlessness in the battlefield, he also has a skill that makes him cold-blooded, so no surprise there.
    4. And something about how his rivals were trained by their parents for the tutorial, many people have been stuck in the lower floors because they can't climb it anymore because of various reasons: they are too weak, no motivation, afraid of death and etc. Which leads them to retire and become civilians, marry, then have a children which has aspirations to also climb the tower and then these children will then enter the tutorial and after passing, they become official players.
    5. And MC being to beat players more stronger than him can also be understandable because he mostly prepares for his battles because he knows he is still too weak, which is why he applies traps and psychological plans against his enemies to help him defeat them. In the later chapters where
      Spoiler

      he kills titans and transcendents, he killed them with the help of a great number of gods and his weapon the Ru Yi Bang which seals these divine beings

      [collapse]
      it can also be understandable because of his connections with, well, you know.
  • The romance is somewhat unexistent, but it is still there. This novel mainly focuses on the familial relationship of MC, which is pretty shocking if you know the truth.
    Spoiler

    Even the truth of his mother's illness and his father's whereabouts will eventually be explained

    [collapse]
    So to the new readers, give the book a chance and read it till you get to the later chapters, its not full of plot holes. It is actually super interesting, you'll surely love it

<<less
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The-Lonely-Daoist
The-Lonely-Daoist rated it
January 26, 2021
Status: c370
It's funny how some people are saying that this novel copies ToG, solo leveling, etc. Even though almost all of the dungeon novels are like this. I've read a lot of novels like this and frankly the good ones still have those arcs/cliches/tropes but what makes it good is that they're able to make use of it in the plot, engaging the readers to see the MCs' growth.

Some say that the MC is a hypocrite when he becomes attached to people even though he promised to himself that he won't... more>> be. But they're forgetting that humans are social animals. Without those relationships, then after completing revenge, what then? The story ends because there's no necessary cringe of protecting "his" people. Sometimes those interactions is what makes the story good maybe even great. I probably would have dropped this already without those side characters. The character development is also what kept me reading this novel. What's different in this novel is that even though the MC seems like a genius but he's quite hard working. However his efforts is not as described in the novel like Sss-class su*cide hunter. The fact that the MC seems overpowered but there's a lot more overpowered people above him (some friends and some enemies) makes it satisfying to see him defeating them. I'd rate it a 4.5 if possible, -.5 because of the romantic subplot which I don't like in any kind of novel.

So just give it a try first before deciding to drop it just because of a couple negative reviews. I stopped reading the manhwa of this because of the grammar errors but go give that a try too since the art is also good. <<less
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Silentkillerbas
Silentkillerbas rated it
January 19, 2021
Status: c370
Idk why many ppl keep saying stuff like "the author is copying from solo leveling or tower of god"

But have you seen most of fantasy/action korean novels most of them be like MC betrayed and dislikes ppl or likes to be alone and many other have the 100 level tower theme and almost all of them have the rpg game like system...

I dont see the problem with this novel, in fact it's not that there are problems here and the story is very good and amazing
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Nao Otosaka
Nao Otosaka rated it
June 8, 2020
Status: Completed
Absolutely loved it...I don't usually read action novels and might be considered an amateur in this field but this is one of the action novels that truly catches one's interests... It is similar to Solo levelling and tower of god... unlike certain action novel tropes the MC isn't provided with any cheats at the initial stages and he makes optimum usage of his surroundings and people to get the desired results and much more... Worth giving a try...
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