The Newbie Is Too Strong

Description

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Kim Jae-ju, from an orphanage background.

While living an ordinary life, he obtains a video about a mysterious tower unknown to the public.

‘Kim Jae-ju clears Tower Floor 1.’ ‘Kim Jae-ju Hidden Reward.’ ‘Kim Jae-ju……’

A video containing everything about the tower. Since he knows everything, he makes his choice without hesitation when selecting to enter the tower.

[You have selected difficulty ‘Hard’.]

A newbie with experience. Kim Jae-ju’s tower climbing saga begins.

Associated Names
One entry per line
뉴비가 너무 강함
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The Tutorial Is Too Hard (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Hunter/Awakener/Gate - Pt. 8

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/11/26 Raei Translations c122
04/10/26 Raei Translations c121
04/09/26 Raei Translations c120
04/08/26 Raei Translations c119
04/07/26 Raei Translations c118
04/06/26 Raei Translations c117
04/04/26 Raei Translations c116
04/03/26 Raei Translations c115
04/02/26 Raei Translations c114
04/01/26 Raei Translations c113
03/31/26 Raei Translations c112
03/30/26 Raei Translations c111
03/28/26 Raei Translations c110
03/27/26 Raei Translations c109
03/26/26 Raei Translations c108
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Uglithug
Uglithug rated it
December 19, 2025
Status: Completed
One sentence to describe this novel: Popoi carried this story.

This is one of the few stories whose comic adaptation does the story much better than its original novel.

I read the novel through MTL back when the manhwa was on a season break several years ago, and I'd say the plot from the halfway point is disappointingly lackluster, the kind that at the end will leave you thinking "... that's it?".

Despite the eyebrow-raising background setting of "climbers coming out of the tower aren't allowed to share what it's like in the... more>> tower" introduced at the beginning (which practically makes you go "so the tower brings no benefit to us?"), it starts off strong with its fresh concept of livestreaming where the viewers and sponsors are fellow climbers instead of some constellations or higher beings, then combined with MC's ingenious thinking of munching on the supposedly inedible mana stone to solve the first floor (how many stories have their human MC eats a literal stone??) and followed with MC's brilliant solution on the Mission-Impossible-level 5th floor that makes your heart pumping hard and you can't help begging for more, and finally the big battle on the 15th floor where his new "Lachanta" title earned him the respect of the "NPCs" there and the VVIP perks on that floor. Unfortunately, after that floor, the plot starts to drag down, albeit slightly and "steadily." You can tell the downward development especially considering all the hype it's amassed from the 5th and 15th floors. And the final plot/arc? Sorry to say, it's anticlimactic. I guess you can call it "unique" in a way because it doesn't involve your usual physical and mental armageddon-esque fights, but let's face it: considering the tension that has been built up until before the climax, it sure feels so flat.

Then again, the novel only has 200 chapters in total (including the extras), so we can't expect some complex plots, mind-blowing twists, and fleshed-out characterization. So many potential plot lines and characters to delve into and develop, but the author cut them short. Well, at least we get to see the real truth about the Tower, which is the backbone of the whole story, but the author could very much explore some supporting characters and side plots more. If the author hadn't made the extra chapters, the novel would've fallen really short and I would've rated this much lower.

Spoiler

That American mage engineer, for example. MC has mentioned him from early on and spent quite an effort to find him, yet after he actually shows up, he fades into the background just as quick.

About the Popoi's original world, which, I believe, is actually the 8th floor. Their world must be interesting to dig deeper into, as they're literally the mascot of the series, but it's brushed aside so easily. Yes, we know Popois are born from the World Tree and later there's a floor whose mission has to do with said World Tree, but there's no Popois there, and nobody brings it up as well.

About MC's life after the Tower collapses. Sure, it's mentioned in the extra, but even that part feels severely lacking, especially considering MC's motivation for entering the Tower is closely tied to his real-world circumstances.

Not very important actually, but I was also hoping the topic about eating mana stones would be brought up again and developed in later chapters since that's one point that sets this story off from many others, but of course that very beginning to "tame" the Popois is the one and only time it shows up.

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I guess I should be glad that while the Tower has 100 floors, the author doesn't push us to go through every floor's mission until the final top floor to see the end of the story. The main story ends when MC reaches the 45th floor; otherwise, we readers will get so bored with it if we have to stick around for another 55 floors. (I believe the author was also out of other plot ideas to add, so they simply put some major plot linked to that particular floor and tied the loose ends roughly, hence once it's solved, the end.)

Also, to manhwa readers who come here after reading the manhwa: you'd better keep in mind that MC in the manhwa has quite a contrasting characteristic compared to the novel. In the manhwa, we can see that MC is pretty expressive: laughing/smiling when he's pleased or when his plans succeed, scrunching his face when he's in a pinch. But in the novel? "Cold, expressionless"—those are the adjectives the author uses to describe their MC from the get-go. See the novel cover on this NU page? That's precisely the kind of expression MC plasters on his face throughout the novel. Which leads to this one opinion of mine I have stated at the beginning of this review: it's lackluster, not only because of the plot lines themselves, but also due to MC's portrayal in the novel, which basically makes him no different from many other OP solo tower climber/hunter/awakener MCs out there.

Heads-up: Sure, our MC Jaeju will have a love interest at the end, but there's absolutely no romance development between them throughout the story; just MC and the female lead being like "let's go out" "ok, " so only a romantic subplot at most. Heck, if it were really up to me, even giving that "romantic subplot" tag is already very generous enough. That's how negligible—and abrupt—the "romance" is that you can practically dismiss it as null.

All those minus points aside, though, there's one thing I very much appreciate:

Spoiler

In the extra chapters, we'll get to see what happens on the 5th floor kingdom after MC "possessed" the prince (yes that 5th floor arc is epic, that's practically what hooked me into this story in the first place) AND how MC and the prince meet face to face. That's one big loose end I never expected the author to tie perfectly well there.

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All in all, it's not the best story, but it's not the worst I've seen either, so 3 stars it is. Just go read the novel if you want and be the judge yourself. I still recommend the manhwa more, though. At least you'll get to see the Popois in flesh and blood (2D). Honestly, I haven't continued reading the manhwa after finishing the novel (the story as a whole is just that disappointing), so I just hope the manhwa team continues to bring the manhwa in a better direction and patches up the shortcomings the novel has. Certainly has a big potential, but only if the author's willing to expand the story by 100 more chapters. <<less
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