My Favourites!
My Favourites!
Stories I genuinely really reeeeally love. I tried to order them but some of the stories I like for very different reasons so take the order with a grain of salt! There are also a lot of stories with my favourite tropes but not as high a quality of writing or TL. It should be able to make me feel a holistic array of human emotions and especially must make me feel that excitement of wanting to know what will happen next! So cannot be a one note pure faceslapping story or just a sweet romance story. However, since there are so few of these, I put stories I enjoyed but isn't quite a favourite too lol Maybe I'll remove the not quite favourites later haha
7 Followers
Created: Aug 7th, 2022, Updated: Sep 30th, 2023
Created Aug 7th, 2022
Updated Sep 30th, 2023
KR (4.6)
0 Chapters Every 2118 Day(s) 21342 Readers 438 Reviews 07-03-2018
5 Stars... more>>
Hot damn, this story T.T Ahh, I cried so many times. The MC is too easy to cry for. Man, this was such a good story? There is a very obvious amount of love and care that went into it. All the foreshadowing and circular plot points felt very airtight? At least as far as I can tell. And I can understand it? Normally, when these types of tropes are used, it gets super complicated or there are plot holes everywhere. But it was very easy to understand! Even when the scale gets super huge. Also, all the themes in the story are super heavy! And they were handled very well! Depression, loneliness, abuse wow Also, I love the themes and how they all connect to each other, even to the medium of the story! I love almost everything about this haha. The found family, the adventure, the plot twists, all the feels man. And I especially grew to adore these characters so much.
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JP (4.2)
115 Chapters Every 123.8 Day(s) 13200 Readers 160 Reviews 08-15-2023
5 Stars!... more>>
I love this series! It's ongoing, so ugh but the official translations + extra comics + art are so worth the wait! This series has awesome worldbuilding and cool magic when it gets there, it feels like an actual fantasy series with real characters and feelings and plot and love and care in its crafting! I adore all the characters introduced with my favourites being Rozamyne and Ferdinand! I've read some minor spoilers(in that after I don't know how many books, we still don't get many hints of it) for the Ferdinand and Rosamyne romance! I'm not squick about the age difference because Rosamyne's age is too obviously mature enough for it haha. I adore all the building up from scratch knowledge and info that goes into introducing future advanced knowledge into a medievalish setting by Rosamyne and of course, profiting from it haha. I just love this type of stuff. Add in all this lore, character relationships, super likeable and fascinating characters, fantasy setting and all that ahhh I love it! Not to mention the humour all over. The vibe is wholesome-ness with an ambitious and likeable heroine and her friends and family. I adore this series.
Part 2 Vol 4
Dayum, I'm more and more impressed by these books as I go along. I even look forward to reading the short stories in other characters' POVs when I normally hate reading those because short stories usually are very boring and lacklustre compared to the main story but the books really hyper focusses on Myne's pov and there are surprisingly a lot of things she is not involved in that when you read these short stories you get so much new information, worldbuilding and scheming by everyone that it's so interesting! Plus, you really feel the love Myne and the people she cares about feel for her. The ending of this book was so sad I was a sobbing mess T.T
Part 3 Vol 1
Hahahahaha, the whole thing with Ferdinand was hilarious! I actually laughed out loud so many times! And the whole bringing the idol thing from modern times into these ancient fantasy setting is brilliant hahaha
Part 3 Vol 2
Oh wow!! This was the best book yet! Mostly because of all the family drama part with the archduke! Pheww, Rozemyne was so very cool there hehehe. The only thing I was disappointed in was that there was no pov about the whole scene in the short stories :( I wanted someone, Karstedt, to actually narrate what happened when all this was going down. I wanted to see what he thought from an outside perspective of Ferdinand, Rozemyne and Sylvester discussing Willfried hehe. Especially when Ferdinand was displaying how bitter and furious he was when he came in! Speaking off, we have learnt a bit more about Ferdinand and Rozemyne also finding out about how all that made him who he is today. And I also loved how she's helping him stop piling on unnecessary work on himself even if it's for her own selfish intentions haha.
Part 3 Vol 3
8/10
Still good but not as satisfying as the previous volume, only because that one had such a cool scene of Rozemyne being super capable and informing the archduke family what's what and also helping out Ferdinand all the way. I wanted more in regards to the Winter debut but I now realise that would have been too naive because these are just seven-year-old kids who barely know how to read and write and play compared to Rozemyne who is basically in all ways an adult, not in any way shape or form their equal lol. I love reading about people close to Ferdinand observing how he has changed and come to like Rozemyne in the Prologue and Epilogue haha. But I didn't really like Ingo's pov, I sympathised but didn't like feeling all of his feelings just because they were all negative feelings lol. And of course, the bonus comic scenes were very nice as usual.
Part 4 Vol 9
Nghhhh, Ferdinand's departure kinda unnoticeably broke the distance between MC and himself and all the feels is glorious. And guh, the art has a dramatic upgrade in displaying the sadness that is happening and the depth of the emotions involved. And ahhh, you can see more character development for Ferdinand because of all this! He asks for help and especially from Rozemyne! In fact, he asks her for help so naturally that it isn't until the end or when you are reading all the POV from the other side characters that you see the breaking of barriers hehehehe Ahhh, why aren't the translations complete so I can just binge and stay in this world until the end T.T
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KR (4.4)
732 Chapters Every 3.8 Day(s) 18260 Readers 210 Reviews 04-14-2024
4.62 Stars On-Hold: C263... more>>
I read the Manhwa up to c84. Then I read the light novel from the start again until here hehe.
Writing/Translation: 5/5
The translation I read is from woopread translations. Pretty good, zero complaints whatsoever. Now I want to talk about the prose. Yes, this is light novel prose. So not that dense or detailed. But wow, does the author have a way to convey what is happening. When things get intense, how the author writes the events is so vivid and kinda emotional. The further you read, the better it gets.
Pacing: 4/5
There are high highs and not quite lows pacing wise. As with all stories that have arcs, some arcs depending on your preferences start out a bit slow or boring. But once you get like 1/4 of the way through, there are so many twists and turns or introduces a surprisingly feelsy connection that you get so invested anyway hahaha. For me, the arc with the developer's past was that. It was confusing and so kind of draggy until you finally get to the climax and all the things at the beginning of the arc really pay off, and you get all emotional *sniff*. Again, the prose <3. But otherwise, very good.
Plot: 4.7/5
This story is more of a character development story focused on creating deep, meaningful relationships, wholesomeness and doing one's best to help everyone and all the harsh obstacles along the way. It's not really about fighting, even though it's there in every arc. But it's kind of philosophical too. As the Tower says to our MC, [You existence becomes more defined]. We follow our MC as he encounters new and desperate challenges for him and also strangers, and we see how he chooses to live a life that he would be satisfied with and grows strong enough to make it a reality. There is so much depth haha. Stick to like chapter 3 to see the first "twist" and then read until the 10th floor to get the first hint of the depth this story can produce. This would be just the start so stick with it! I can't say whether you read the manhwa or novel first but perhaps both together. The manhwa is a teeny bit more engaging but I feel like the novel makes the inciting incident of the whole thing more impactful because it was described more clearly how cruel the thing was. In the manhwa, I couldn't really feel it at the beginning. So yeah, it might be best to read them both side by side. My one complaint is that the MC sometimes gets really close to people a bit too fast for me haha. The prose and writing somewhat make up for things and still made me get the feels in spite of this but it could be better if the author made them bond a bit longer.
The execution of the overall plot isn't as tight as ORV but it is definitely close in terms of ambition and the execution of it is close enough hahaha. Also, I haven't read to the end yet and who knows, it might reach that level. But anyway, in terms of layers and depth, this might be better if only because the side characters are also explored.
Romance: 3.9/5
The romance is very interesting lol. But I still feel weird because, yes, the chemistry the meeting and all that was very very good. It still felt a bit off how fast they got to this die for each other level haha.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.8/5
So good! It's a climb the Tower type of setting, and the author uses the numerous floors to great effect!
Characters: 5/5
The best part of this whole thing! They are just so fascinating. I love our MC! You need to wait a few small arcs before you fall in love with him. He needs to show his good points first haha. And then his relationships with all the other people. That is like the main point of the whole story. Random npcs, will suddenly gain so much depth and meaning when meeting him. Noiceee.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
I adored this story. I love how different it is from other epic type stories. This is more introspective and profound kinda. And the author just writes so beautifully to bring the world, the relationships, the events to life.The MC just keep dropping these gems ahhh.
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CN (4.5)
315 Chapters Every 117.9 Day(s) 11414 Readers 164 Reviews 08-16-2019
4.55 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
The translation I read is from C1 to C265~ is by lesyt. It was pretty good. Very readable with some errors that are not really noticeable. However, after 265 ish, the translator is FangMama and it's such a whiplash from the previous translator. Some names and important terminology were changed. Some snippets of the story were also removed. Also, there are more errors. In the end, I also read from the novelhi website. The names and terms are more consistent with the previous translator and have the missing tiny bits of text. Less errors too. Not the same or as good but much better than the new translator. It was weird. It was like reading two different descriptions of the same event. The WangMama one is missing so many details and even has different meanings. Like Gui Ze was peeking at our MC having trouble tying knots and wondering what happened in the novelhi website translation. But the WangMaama one skipped all the lead up to this scene and then translated as the MC was staring at his knotted hands and wondering if he is s*upid for not being able to tie knots. Two different meanings here. However, I also basically read the two translations side by side because of some slightly awkward new terminology.
At C286~, the quality of both translations kinda fluctuates. Some parts are better than others. So, again, highly recommend reading both side by side. If when reading one translation something feels off, it is highly likely the other translation is a bit better. And vice versa from this chapter on.
Ahh, I’m too lazy to note down all the details anymore lol. Basically the first TL was the more easily readable and enjoyable one while the rest had all their own little issues. So it's best to read the other for more info when the current scene or whatnot is confusing or seems off somehow. You won't regret the extra work because it clears things up. But anyway, please read the story! The different TLs aren't a deal-breaker! Most of the details are kept, so it's still quite enjoyable!
Pacing: 4.6/5
The pacing is pretty smooth, except for the last 40 chapters and especially the last like 5 chapters. The ending was kind of perfunctory and things weren't as detailed or explained as much as expected based on the previous parts of the story.
Plot: 4.8/5
The setup is pretty good! I like how we are thrown right into the story after the MC is transmigrated in. I also liked how we followed the MC 6 months after he arrived in the new world because we immediately got into the juicy details of this new place haha. This was my favourite part because we saw things through his eyes as a 6-year-old child. So he's basically at rock bottom lol. He has to learn everything from scratch. This intimacy gets less after the tribe achieves one of its major goals. Then more characters appear, so it's less just him and his mind haha. This part just sets up so many mysteries to learn about and explore! I love the anticipation of it all.
After that, in the middle, it was more about setting up their base and foothold. They are kind of an underdog because everyone else has progressed more than they have. This section also had a lot of group and togetherness feels.
The last third of the story was a bit more tribal politics with their various tribe mysteries in this vast ancient world as the Flaming Horns really builds up their tribe and deals with tribal politics which wasn't quite my thing but still very enjoyable just because of the setting, their unique thing and all the worldbuilding along the way haha.
Sadly, the ending was too lukewarm for me. I also don't understand how that thing is somehow the cause of the MC landing in this world. How did that thing appear in the modern world? Does it mean the MC was transferred to the ancient past then? Why would this thing have the function of transferring people to that era? Also, that last scene with the MC flying over the "edgeless" river. Isn't it just the Flaming River? Why suddenly call it edgeless? Since the disaster had already happened and the river shrank? It felt a bit like the author really wanted to include this thing in the story but it was already ending, so they had to slot it in willy-nilly at the end lol. Also, the final big bad. I just don't really get him as a villain. What was his goal anyway? He planned many things over so many years and did all this stuff supposedly for revenge, but then we see that he actually doesn't really care about it and treats the targets as tr*sh that is so useless that they might as well not clutter up the world? Then why did he go through all that 1000 years of effort?? Also, I feel like there were one or two plot threads that didn't get used? For example, Sapphire’s last shackle and its cult. I thought they were going to have some important role in the final battle but nope.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.9/5
So good! The worldbuilding is fantastic! So far, the best worldbuilding in a CN novel I've read! Mostly because it hit the spot for me, ancient world, mysteries, adventure, wonder and unexplainable awe over nature everywhere! I love the feeling of not knowing what is beyond! Most of this was focused on the first 300 ish chapters but there are all kinds of new things to discover in all the later chapters too!
Characters: 4.5/5
The MC is a quiet, smart, calm and silently adventurous guy haha. He's older than his physical appearance so he's more mature. I liked following him around :) The cast of characters is quite big, all have their own quirks and feel real. Especially the various tribes. They all have their own distinct beliefs, traditions, oddities and what have you. The only issue I have is that the longer the story is, the less quality time we spend with any character.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Sooo much fun XD. I read a good chunk of this during my first and so far only, COVID experience XP. So there was a lot of time alone that I willed away in this world, exploring things bigger than myself. And it's so deliciously long too! I think I spent two good weeks on this, so fun! This is my second tribal story I’ve read (I think lol). The Stone Age Husband Raising Journal was the previous one. That one, the world was super vibrant and I loved the whole setting. Their special characteristic was the dinosaurs as the animals haha. I love nature-focused stories so XD This. This is like an upgraded "real" tribal story hahaha. Just about every aspect is at least a little bit better than that. Except for the romance lol. Here, it is non-existent, while the previous one was a BL novel. This one is so much longer with so much more content; the MC has actual drive and is an active main character; the focus is on clan building which is executed far better; and the world is more vast, unfathomable and rich. I would like more deep character development too though ahaha.
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CN (4.4)
261 Chapters Every 107.2 Day(s) 11659 Readers 183 Reviews 01-12-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
Overall
The beginning, when meeting with the neighbours and the ML made me a bit hesitant because I felt it was too fast. Because I just read the other zombie story by this author before this one. The previous story was very self vs others until like 3/4th of the way through while in this story the MC is open for a companion and other people right from the start. Anyway, I love it! It has all the things I love, heartwarming scenes with friends and family, amazing resource gathering, varied and distinct characters, and a MC that isn't dumb but instead is the meticulous planner and leader of the group, building a life they can thrive in an apocalyptic world. Eventually, there is a kid, then a baby, and then lots of adorable pets near the end! Unlike other zombie works, there is no magical space or golden finger, so everything is somewhat realistic, and wealth growth is smooth and believable. One thing to note is that there is no golden finger so the scale of growth is small! So whatever they do or whatever happens, it will have more weight on the lives of the MC and the team. This makes the story more enjoyable instead of no matter what happens, they will be fine anyway because of [insert golden finger here]. It's a slice of life, farming, resource gathering story with lots of zombie action haha. They level up quite smoothly too. It's only I really wish they didn't include the timeskips in the last couple of chapters. I would have loved to read about all the things they did before those points! Ahh, I already want to reread this!
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from WhiteMoon x BlackSun. The translation is not as good as it could be. I felt that some details in the setting up/planning by the MC such as how the locations of the planting spaces were set up or how the space is organized were lost because of the translation. Mostly because I don't know if the words chosen for the place are correct. For example, "Plants grown on the terrace." From what I googled, "terrace" means floor to ceiling windows, how can plants be grown on them? If compared to the author's other work, that one was translated beautifully, I got all the nuance. But this one, not as much. Maybe 10% is lost? However, don't let that stop you! It's far more readable than MTL and the detail lost is regrettable but not a dealbreaker. You can get the gist of the space organisation more or less. Other than those, all the other happenings are very readable! I seriously enjoyed it haha. I also think the translator got more experienced later on.
Pacing
The pacing is pretty consistent throughout the entire story except for the last couple of chapters for some people. Before then, you can assume it's already a happy ending if you want actually. The last 2 chapters have a couple of longer time skips because they want to wrap it up.
Plot
We follow our MC strive to live the life he envied and dreamt of when he lived in the bas**ent for years in his previous life. To survive without as much hardship with a companion(a dog haha) to alleviate loneliness in a post apocalyptic world as an ordinary nosuper abilities person. We see him slowly gain companions on this dream along the way until this dream isn't feasible anymore and they have to make a big decision to rely on themselves in the outside world! That happens like 50+ chapters before the end of the story. A lot of the cool lifestyle design happens there haha.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This is a slice-of-life, farming, resource gathering and a mass fighting zombies for their nuclei type of story. It is super heartwarming halfway through when the team gets closer and feels like family later on. There is lots of delicious food and bonding through meals that happens. I also love all the thinking and planning that happens in a zombie infested world. How to obtain stuff without dying? I also love all the action! It really spices things up very nicely from all the calm, soothing farming scenes haha. The excitement and anticipation throughout the novel, XD. Man, I loved it! I also love how all the things they do feel like they have actual impact! This is because the scale is small, so any of the actions by the MC and the team has a lot of impact on their lives. Because the plants produced are small, they have weight. If there was a magical space, there would be hardly any weight because it would be too easy! The author's other zombie story was like that. There wasn't as much weight as here because the couple could just live in their space indefinitely if they needed to. Here, there is just enough weight that you really root for them! If something bad happens, you feel angry and a bit anxious, if there was an unexpected harvest during their missions, you feel excited for them! Ahh, how the scaling was done. Reading all this, I hope the author will write more stories like this! Wealth building, poor to rich style with close friends haha.
For the romance part, eh, I feel like it's just as a backdrop to the rest of the story. I don't feel the love. I just assume this is an MC ML love thing and move on to the other parts of the story that interest me.
Characters
I love the MC. He's actually a shou but a smart and capable one! He was lonely but a practical survivor. He is very good at planning and leading people. The ML is okay, I feel like he's an afterthought in terms of romance as in I don't feel much as a romantic lead. But he's a cool and strong ability user for the MC and the team in this apocalyptic world! I like him much more as that than the romantic lead lol. The side characters are good people that really help lighten up the atmosphere especially since they are so prominent in the story. I love their presence here. There is a group bond that creates the feels. The you are my people, so I will fight everyone else for you together with you haha. Love that. Then, there are the cute kids in the latter part of the story haha. As for the bad guys, well, this isn't a revenge or faceslapping story so the villains kinda fizzle out or have anticlimactic ends. Not really the focus of the story.
Why 0.5 Star was Deducted:
- I'm still curious about some things that weren't explained. Maybe the author just didn't think it was important for the story. Eg,
1) How the zombies came about, why they were travelling in groups, how were they coordinating like they had intelligence, were they being directed by a leader?
2) What happened to the ML's father and the mother's lover in the end?
3) What happened to Captain Guo in the end?
4) Also, what exactly happened in the leadership shakeup?
- I felt that the story could have been even longer with no issues.
1) The last chapter timeskiped 3 years to a very interesting small bases alliance nearby that they sell things at the market (so interesting! Why didn't the author include these parts in the story?? So many potentially new and interesting characters!)
2) I wanted to know the progression of the pairing up that happened within the team!
3) I would have liked to read how the final nationwide battle 8 years later actually went XP.
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CN (4.5)
0 Chapters Every 1316 Day(s) 4681 Readers 94 Reviews 09-12-2020
4.5 Stars... more>>
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by TheIronTreeBlooms. The translation is pretty good, there were zero awkwardly translated bits or wrong pronouns. But there are a few typos but it's easy to dismiss. The writing is pretty detailed compared to regular web novels. You can visualise everything, the setting, the mood, the people easily without it being dense.
Plot
Wow, it went on such an amazing journey. We travel from a farm to the best emperor of ancient China. It was epic and the scale of problem solving went from how to set up a safe place for his family in the country to how to give all the common people in China a better life. We watch Lin Yuan grow so much and all the different decisions he has to make until he becomes such a powerful and rational emperor. So epic haha.
Pacing
The beginning was farming and small scale development but from 1/3rd onwards it gets more military and espionage focused, in between exploring law making, researching, kingdom building and the execution there off. I only liked the military fighting parts the least, so that part was a bit slow for me but I just couldn't help being drawn to the story no matter what was happening.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The main thing here is kingdom building and man, did it succeed. I've read a few other kingdom building stories, not many, but the breadth and width of the details written is amazing. I actually wish there were more details included even though it is impossible to put in everything. Once the provinces were conquered and then the capital, there were just too many things being introduced and implemented that I wanted to know! The author cherry picked some stuff to explain in detail but ahhh I wanted more! It felt super realistic and the setting is really apparently here. It was such a joy to explore ancient China. The only slight con is that there are lots of mentions of apparently famous people in ancient Chinese history? They are now important side characters in the story but I don't have any familiarity with them at all haha But it's still fine, you can get the gist.
Other than kingdom building, the characters are all super developed and with so much variety that the world feels alive, you can really see what is going on with all these small povs scattered everywhere. I feel in other kingdom building stories, either the kingdom building is the focus and the characters get the short end of the stick or the kingdom building is very light and happens too easily. For this story, both the kingdom building and the characters were fantastic. So the whole story had no major point that was bad.
Characters
We follow all kinds of characters in the story, many of them only appear once to represent part of the population to showcase how people who are not the MC are reacting to the changes the MC made. I normally don't like reading about other povs than the MC but here it happens so smoothly and was so interesting I didn't notice haha.
It was such a journey to watch our MC grow and develop into what he finally became. He's so level-headed, with compassion and yet the ruthlessness to achieve what he wants. His close officials came up with a good sentence, the MC is harsh to his officials but indulgent to the common people. I only wish there were more heartwarming scenes but alas, he's way too busy for that. And also, he's at the top now, so it's hard to have anyone close. For the ML, he really doesn't appear much so I don't have any opinion on him in particular. I do like that the MC has someone to be close to though. T.T Ahhh, the ending was so bittersweet! They were alrd past middle aged and they were alrd lovers for a long time by then, the MC said that he wants them to be in the same coffin after they die. That's the final pov we get from the main couple T.T Wahhh, I wanted an extra of them reincarnating in modern times where the MC doesn't have to work so hard and just focus on living happily with his BF T.T
All the side characters were just great. Mister Song, sniff, that ending for him was so freaking emotional gah. If you minus 30 years of his age, all his scenes with the MC can be considered romantic in a different perspective hahaha He has more screen time than the ML lol I loved the Big Brother, he was almost the only source of lightheartedness in the story. It's a bit sad that the generals all lived at the border for so many years. I wished the MC could have kept more brotherhood with them later on in life without worrying about power.
Overall
This story isn't just a simple one-note web novel but a real book haha There were all kinds of emotions from me reading this. The MC is a pretty rare character, there were no major or s*upid mistakes from him, but you don't feel that he is a Gary Stu. He's not a cold-blooded person to reach the status of Emperor but he doesn't let his compassion hinder him. I admire him very much! I do wish we got to see what happened to all the major side characters at the end though.
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CN (4.6)
109 Chapters Every 92.3 Day(s) 9121 Readers 123 Reviews 08-24-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
I really liked it! It was heartwarming, with high achievers tutoring the delinquents and becoming friends along the way and the butterfly effects from that, the cute romance that made me go aww and the humour that made me smile and laugh the entire way.
Translation/Writing
This was done by Chrysanthemum Garden, a group of translators and editors so the translation is very polished! There was, I think, only one error that appeared right at the end ish. The flow is very good, all the idioms the translator worked hard to make them understandable in English and also fit the flow of the sentences XD The format of the writing also fit the comedic timing of the story very effectively too haha. Basically, if I didn't know this was fan translated, I would have thought it was an official one.
Plot
We follow a 30-year old established couple reborn back to their last year of high school when everything went wrong in their lives and everyone close to them. They basically just want to be sticky with each other since the day they were reborn was the day they were to be married. Along the way, they also want to avoid all the bad decisions back then to make sure all the people they love are on the right track instead. It ends with the college exams and coming out about their relationship to the close family and friends casually lolol. The extras are a direct sequel to the main story plus an additional pov of the MC's badass older sister haha. And a wedding for the cp at the last chapter <3
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Ahhh, this story basically did everything right, I feel moved. This is a high school to college story so there is high school drama with studying and exams and crushes and stuff. Also, this story is the first web novel I've read that has comedy in it! I basically laughed at every chapter. Most of it, if I didn't laugh, I at least quirked a smile with humour. This was a joy to read because it gave such warm and positive feelings the entire time.
The tutoring, studying, and exams part was one of the better executed in these types of stories I've read. There was gradual improvement, believable steps were taken to improve and the details of the subjects were even expanded on! For example, one of the side characters had to declare and explain the problem they still couldn't solve more than five times on the broadcast system in school in detail. It blended into the flow of the story, was in character for that side character and also added comedic effect to the story. With this detailed example of a subject being studied, I was made to believe in the realness of them studying subjects with the knowledge that exists in the story. In lots of these types of CN novels I've read, they just say the MC studied every free time, improved on their weak subjects from morning till night in between working part-time and romance but we never got any content on the subjects at all. So the whole learning part didn't quite sink in for me. Here it very much did, even if that was the only time it gave some content for the characters to learn. With that example, I know the author did some research or thought hard about this aspect of the story and so I had faith in the world they created.
Friendship. Ahh, the brotherhood and juvenile friendship between high schoolers was definitely one of the main stars of this story. The comedic scenes derive from the friendship and the helping actions of the main cp also majorly came from this friendship. And the heartwarming scenes all also came from this friendship haha.
The family drama and angst were not heavy at all! But still gave enough depth to the main couple and also helped me empathise with them which made me invested in them as characters more.
As for the romance, I'll leave it for the Characters section because it is so integral to the characters themselves haha.
Pacing
The pacing was pretty dang smooth the entire way. Nothing felt rushed even at the end when other CN novels can't get the climax and the ending of the novel quite right. The only issue I had was at the very beginning, like 15 chapters in, when I was getting to know the characters and the premise of the story. It was almost pure humour and comedic misunderstandings. I'm not a fan of misunderstandings as a plot device and I wasn't quite into the story or any of the characters yet, so while the humour was funny, it wasn't quite laugh out loud funny yet. So the beginning was a bit slow for me but I believe it's just my personal taste haha. The rest of the story got good.
Characters
Ahhh, the main cp is quite refreshing! There isn't really a shou that I can see in both attitude and actions. Both are mature and confident that they are ALREADY in a relationship together. And they were from an enemies-to-lovers type of couple haha. They spent a decade figuring things out, mending old hurts and injuries already. But now they are back, they can figure out more things they didn't realise as kids that were happening and then healing from it all together. Ahh, it's very nice to read about a couple who have long had each other's backs, know of the love each has for the other and shamelessly show their love to each other! When I read at the beginning during the before plane takeoff, how the MC noticed that the tough ML's hands were trembling because he was still nervous about finally getting married, ahh, I was totally sold on them as characters and their romance hahaha.
All the side characters are the other half of the whole story! Without them, this would be a completely different story, that's how prominent and important they all are. The interactions they all have are the source of all the humour and the warmth in this plot! They feel unique, real and have so much character hahaha. I also really really love that the MC and ML care about them very much and it is straight up mentioned in the story. In other novels, the only people in the CP's line of sight are each other. Like, the MC cares about the family of the ML but really only because the ML cares about the family. Here, they have family and friends of each other that they have honestly taken into their hearts. This is nice haha
As for the villains, good! They are very good villains, when they appear, their small mindedness, self entitlement and small minded selfish plans to raise themselves up by putting others down was so annoying. I love reading how their meticulous plans all got dashed and then they got karma. And they were all handled by the cp haha. I also like how the author loves to torture them lolol They could have gotten the big faceslapping at the end with the cp all present for maximum gloating....but eh, I didn't really mind not having it because the smaller faceslapping that occurs for a longer length of time was satisfying haha
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CN (4.2)
297 Chapters Every 45.9 Day(s) 9147 Readers 137 Reviews 07-12-2022
4.5 Stars... more>>
Overall Comments
This family building trope really hit the spot for me for the slice of life part! I love the romance, the MC takes the ML along on his work instead of them doing separate actions and then spending time together when they go back home. But I minused the half star because I didn't like the last 1/4th with them having to abandon all their land and hard work to another country sigh. By that point, it was all rushed until the happy ending. I didn't mind because those parts weren't interesting since by then, I felt they were in a good place alrd anyhow.
Writing/Translation
I read the translation by Ontimestory. In the beginning tens of chapters, there were a few mistakes but they were pretty small and infrequent. I think the translator got an editor later on so it got better. However, a couple of chapters at the end felt very unedited but otherwise, it is pretty good. Everything flowed well and was consistent and easily understood. The writing this time is 3rd person pov and you basically read the characters' thoughts on the page so it's pretty immersive. The way it's written, all the bad guys make you really feel so much anger! Very nice haha.
Plot
The first, like 30ish chapters, things were kinda bad for the MC and the things being told in those chapters don't really give you any happy warm feelings. The MC's body's family are seriously self-entitled to him and it really makes you want to slap their delusional faces. The good on the other hand, is how the MC straight up commits violence lol. How he treats them is super satisfying! However, since you as a reader are only just getting to know the MC, he doesn't come off as likeable in any way in these few chapters.
However, as the story goes on and the family is mostly dealt with, we proceed to the improve-the-quality-of-life of himself and his beloved ML part! This part is more interesting and you can see him being nice to people now. For the majority of the book, it is a slice of life, slowly accumulating money, business making and being happy with his ML. However, near the end, like from 120–160, it became obvious that people were making countless trouble for his success, so he had to go out and fight. Then, in 160+, they became fugitives invading another country and setting up modern China... The extras are all very nice though. Needless to say, my favourite parts were all when the scale was still village and county sized. All the heartwarming, working hard to improve their family's quality of life through honest means takes place there. The rest became quality of life preservation almost which wasn't as nice.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The family/village/kingdom building. What I consider in this category to me is specifically the MC's actions in working hard to improve the MC's lover, family and friend's quality of life. So, for the first 3/4th, I absolutely loved it! It was so fulfilling and satisfying to read how the MC slowly made more and more money to give good things to his wife and in-laws XD. And then, as we got more and more side characters, he took them as his own and gave them a good life too! It was also nice to read how he improved his village as well.
But then, the story started to scale even higher which, of course, comes with its own troubles when you get too successful. People higher up get wary and want to hammer this nail for fear of the nail overpowering them. And all the other bigshot peers want to take down the competition. So I normally do not like it when the hard work gets to this level where it's more about preservation instead of building and growth. So, yes, while this does fit the theme and the characters, it wasn't enjoyable to read. Also, the last part was kinda rushed too.
I do want to put in a comment, I really did not like the last part where the MC had dealings with foreigners and straight up invaded their country, destroyed their culture and brainwashed them to become his vision of modern China. The whole deal with the Japanese ronin and their original country felt so icky and uncomfortable. He treats the Europeans with respect for their technology but treats this Japanese imitation so callously. I really wish the author had just made up a country that has no culture or foreign language that was being controlled by a cruel dictator so he could save them instead. And that the citizens gave their country to him in gratitude or something instead of doing this.
The romance. I actually love them as a couple! I find their dynamic really refreshing from the current CN novels I've read. The MC is the confident "seme" while the ML is the shy, uncertain "uke" haha. Normally, I read the opposite. I also really really like how the MC takes the ML along to be involved with all his endeavours! Usually, we get them doing separate things and then some romance or s*x scenes to progress the romance. But here, Jiang Zhen brings Jinge with him everywhere! I really like that. So much of the work the MC does, the ML is present! For most of the long trips, the ML follows. This way, all the time spent together, the couple is able to have all these different experiences with each other, which really made me believe in their care for each other. How could they not? There are so many events whose situations made their love (especially from the relatively sheltered frog in the well ML) grow in the same direction. I really like them together haha. Also, a great pro for me for the romance, is the lack of explicit smut! And any romps are all in euphemisms and relatively short haha. I normally find all CN novels' s*x scenes either very in-your-face explicit or so cringy. And usually, a lot of words kinda demeaning women and the men or the seme being, they got so excited they couldn't control themselves! And then the women or the uke who's the MC will be like ... ahh, so tired the next day, ahh the bottoms hurt hmm. The subtext is that their man is extremely powerful! *rolls eyes* But this story, since it's all euphemism and kinda short fade to black ish, it wasn't too bad haha The only part that seemed a bit iffy to me was the beginning of the romance. I felt that the MC was coming on rather strongly and that the ML kept being stiff when the MC behaved inappropriately. I felt a wee bit uncomfortable seeing that. But eventually, the ML started to have feelings and became more proactive so at least I was more clear that the feelings were mutual.
Pacing
The pacing overall was decent for 3/4ths of the story and then rushed at the last 1/4th. The first 3 quarters were consistent. Lots of things were happening but we were following the MC all the time in his head. The romance-building was present throughout too. But in the last quarter and especially the last chapter, a lot of things were just narratively told to us. To be fair, I didn't mind that it wasn't too involved because I wasn't interested in the power building and the fighting. There wasn't really much romance here either. The extras were a very nice epilogue though.
Characters
The MC isn't all that likeable in the beginning before you get to know him. He's violent on the first infraction by other people. And he took food from his baby nephew. I mean, yes he's starving but he alrd took the food from his family, did he need to take from the baby too? But as you read more, you slowly see him being nice to other people too so I slowly got used to him. Then, I got to see how he adored his family so I got sold on him haha For the ML, I found him rather cute? He's a strong, manly figure but he's actually a ger, kinda like an omega. I love his backstory and how he grows. His challenges in life and his s*x and how they interact. It makes him pretty refreshing to read about haha. He's actually uncertain and quiet but he loves the MC so he quietly works hard to be as good as he can for him.
The side characters are all good and likeable! Nobody feels like a caricature. The MC made a lot of good relationships here so that is just nice to read about. My only issue is that a lot of the underlings who are there a lot in the beginning and have some character development aren't followed up closely after their quality of life improves. I wish they were present more often alongside the new characters that get introduced too. It's like once their conflict is settled, we don't really see them anymore in favour of new characters with their newer conflict. However, I am sad we don't really see how the children grow or get to know more about their personalities. The daughter was okay but the son felt a bit bland since he's the kid that just follows whatever the elder sibling does. And the last kid is only a baby in the extras.
For the bad guys, nice! I love all the bad guys! Whenever I read about the new thing they are doing to fight with the MC, I always feel so angry! And then they get face slapped so satisfyingly by the MC directly! The MC will actively do something so you can feel his agency and his character. It's all very nice haha. I've read a lot of other CN novels where the villains get faceslapped by their own actions while the MC was just passively living their life doing nothing, or the faceslapping happened off screen which was unsatisfying, or it just took too long to happen. The faceslapping here is just right in every way haha.
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CN (4.5)
701 Chapters Every 51.6 Day(s) 7988 Readers 191 Reviews 03-22-2022
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
Ahh, such a journey. We follow the MC for so many years, for 700 chapters T^T It has basically almost everything I want in this type of genre. Some of the endeavours were detailed, some weren't, but so many were done that I couldn't stop reading. It is truly slice of life, getting rich with family and friends haha Yes, it's definitely not perfect and there were some forgotten people and foreshadowing that resolved quite fast at the end but I enjoyed myself so much binge reading everything. It was very satisfying to read them set up all the pieces to be wealthy in the future. I only wish they wrote more detail of them just enjoying themselves and more people exclaiming how rich they are to make it more satisfying haha I also wish the 3 sons were main characters in the 2nd half of the story, like they were back in the village. The further along the story, the more characters are introduced and the older the kids got, the less they appear. Really, it was only the third that kinda stayed until the very end lol. But ahhh, we followed until the end of the life of the main cp so now I'm super sad and need to read a fluffy story lolol
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by Explore, Maggie. It sounds like she only did it because of COVID isolation and made daily updates, so the translation isn't perfect or polished. There are careless mistakes littered throughout. But it is much better than mtl, they included pictures whenever needed and it was perfectly understandable all the way through. There are some name mistakes and a couple of missing words/plural to non plural/gender mistakes and so on but honestly, it's very readable. The flow was uninterrupted for me.
Plot
This is a slice of life story from MC at 20+ to 40 at the end. Then a summary of everyone's lives until 90 and their peaceful death. It really follows the title of the story, raise the kids at the beginning, then develop their families in the capital and/or other cities.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Truly a properly realistic development from poor village level to mega-rich story. With so many chapters, the author can really detail step-by-step how the cp can go from a to b and didn't skimp on the variety. At the beginning, there is a raising the family with good food arc. In between that, how to actually get the food via the black market with all the coupon restrictions in the 60s. Then there is the studying part to get to university. Then comes the capital part, where they really start doing business and really get wealthy. In between, all the family connections are being deepened and helping the others raise themselves up too. And matchmaking in the last parts.
I love all the business parts, it really ramped up at the capital. But also, in the capital, was also when the cp started going off by themselves to date or make money. It's just this part where they don't go into as much detail anymore. I would like them to describe the real estate more haha But I guess since then there is a lot of them so no need. I like how the author will periodically tell how much money was saved or how much monthly income was made in total. It really helps visualise the scale up to there.
For the side characters, there are sooo many that were given love. It made things vibrant and heartwarming because they are all family. I liked seeing how they will treat each other to food and how they can ask for help and advice and it is given. We see many of them grow up too so it feels close.
I also want to mention the setting. It is quite vivid. This is China in the olden days so the temperament of the characters matches it. I'm Chinese, though not from China, so I am familiar with the beliefs there. So I have to mention that it does get a bit annoying to read about them giving gifts to each other and then the other saying, "Aiya, no need to bring gifts ma, just yourself is enough!" Then the demurring, etc., happens. Then the other party visits the other person instead, and the exact same thing happens. Gifts, saying no, etc., Sigh, doing this a few times and when done well, like when the relatives set up shops and the MC visited there for the first time, when they gave gifts to the cp and let them stay over, I could feel the joy and sincerity because their success and happiness were due to the MC. It doesn't feel like a poor person giving to a rich person anymore, but truly equals sharing their joy. It was heartwarming. Later on, when this happens with the newer, richer people, it just feels a bit fake, even though they aren't. I guess I just don't like the demurring attitude when accepting gifts in Chinese culture. Just freaking accept the gift and say thank you and pay them back in some other way later. So much unnecessary "no you don't have to pay, no we haven't finished what you gave before, nooo I can't possibly accept this expensive thing, no you don't have to give me this thing that I also have a lot at home." Lol.
The other thing is probably also a cultural thing. This was published in 2014 and was probably written earlier. The romance mindset is kinda a typical macho man in bed, just brute forcing their way through and it is romanticised. This is true with the main cp especially vivid in the earlier chapters and even in the extras for the 2nd's daughter. The attitude in normal life is all more or less okay, just the entitlement the men have to the girl's body.
Pacing
The slice of life tag is definitely warranted. With 700 chapters, you can also read it as part get rich activities and also like those tv dramas with the family drama haha Addicting. Some parts are a little slow, some parts a little fast but overall, very slice of life.
Characters
The MC is quite stubborn and domineering. One is and two is two and nobody can say otherwise. She has a big heart for people who are good and if they are bad, straightforwardly cuts off contact decisively and immediately. She's smart and a planner. As for the ML, I don't know if I like him in particular lol. I love how much he loves his wife, his brothers, his family and how he works hard to support. But in all other aspects, he's a typical male of this period. There are some bad parts, like the s*x attitude and the preference of a daughter over the sons.
For the bad guys, wow they can really rile you up sometimes haha. All of them contribute some nice drama for the MC to conquer haha I do find that for the 2nd sister-in-law though, near the end of the village arc, it seems like she was getting okay? But then, it felt like not enough drama, lets change her to a bad guy again. Lol.
Some things that I found imperfect
- Some characters that feel like they will be a bit more important seem to have been forgotten lol Like Wang Li, the university best friend. They promised for the child to be the MC's godchild, but the character was forgotten until hundreds of chapters later and then, it was only a summary.
- The progression of the godchild relationship when the MC got pregnant was way too fast for me. She was there for like four months only. Also, it felt a bit hypocritical of the MC in how well she treated them. The Jiang family very quickly suggested to each other if they wanted to create a godchild relationship for the kid and the parents were very willing to climb up this capital family. But the MC were also quite willing to let them. It kinda feels weird that this family wants to use the MC to raise up, the MC lets them so fast while others who are worse off does not because of bad character or something. Sure they gave a bad impression first it still feels a too benefit seeking for this Jiang family.
- The transmigration novel's plot didn't have much of an impact in this 700-chapter story. The two leads don't do anything. They don't have any role in the story. They were like only 1/30th of the story lol I wanted more from them. Maybe make them rebirth too and make them bad in character and cause some drama haha
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CN (4.1)
33 Chapters Every 1.9 Day(s) 1221 Readers 13 Reviews 04-13-2024
4.04 Stars... more>>
"Really satisfying poor-to-rich, working, business, to construction with proper safety controls."The Heavens most likely took pity on him and he was reborn back to the year 1994. At that time he had just come of age. He was hungry, and lived beneath a bridge, but the events he regretted had not yet occurred. His beloved person was still alive.
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If only there was a proper TL I might really love this since I MTLed it. The type of story is exactly my favourtie with all the poor to rich tropes I want.
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
I read the MTL version. The translation is the default Google and Safari translation. Both have different parts that are not understandable so I will go to the other to have a slightly better understanding. The MtL is actually quite good. The author uses a lot of names in the text instead of pronouns, so when mtled, there are not as many pronoun mistakes as expected. Even all the technical detailed parts of making money were pretty understandable. I say you won't regret giving it a shot if you like this type of novel.
Pacing: 3.9/5
The beginning, when the MC had nothing and was rock bottom, was my favourite part. Because there was so much detail in describing how he made money and how their lives were slowly yuan by yuan, improving. Later on, the details got a bit more high-level, which was sad. It wasn't as day to day detailed, but week to week and month to month. But still, I didn't lose interest at all.
Plot: 4/5
I love this type of story where the main focus is improving their lives and those of their other poor relatives. The businesses were more detailed than most others. Exactly what I wanted!
Romance: 3.9/5
I did like it. No one was unequal here. Both have their own vulnerabilities that don't feel typical BL, fake or not executed enough. The whole thing was surprisingly mature and real enough.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The setting feels really real to a person who has never been to China.
Characters: 4/5
The characters feel different from other CN web novels of the same type. The side characters are all self-serving, but in a very normal way. It's kinda refreshing. The relatives and family of the MC from a poor rural mountain all want to sincerely improve their lives, so they all work hard to earn money. In the same way, the stepfamily of the MC is always worried that if they take sides, the husband or son will dislike them and kick them out of the family. So whenever something happens, especially for the stepmother, she thinks about whether this person will take care of her when she is old and sick. But this is all not in a bad way; this is their situation and this is that type of era, and anybody with their submissive temperament will think the same. The interesting thing is that they won't do bad things, so although there are many flaws compared to other similar web novels, these characters feel very very real in terms of attitude. I like this glimpse into the culture in China at this era.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Loved it! It almost hit 100% of my ideal poor-to-rich type of story! If the author had used the same type of family connection vibe from their The Only Favourite Ugly Husband story, it would have been utterly perfect.
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CN (4.3)
331 Chapters Every 3.3 Day(s) 6080 Readers 27 Reviews 04-17-2024
4.5 Stars at C94 at least... more>>
I read the translation by Rainbow Mushroom Translations. The translation is pretty good.
So far, veeeery interesting! I really love kingdom building elements especially when it is done slowly with thought and proper escalation! The first part was this kingdom building and it is super nice. I love family/village/country building because it's just so satisfying. There is a goal you can support. It cannot be done in one shot. There is a lot of planning and thinking and executing to be done and every time something is accomplished, the feeling of satisfaction is so good! The MC has the power to design the tutorial/beginner mission system for new players so the players won't go crazy and start killing his people to level up as players do haha. And he's basically the designer of the gaming experience for all these players, sooo good!
This story is like a normal CN novel about the MC being reborn as a low-status person, then striving to improve their family's poverty situation to a happy and healthy quality of life. But the scale is multiplied by a hundred because it's not just a few close family members but all his people living on the planet! I love all the characters! They have such a variety of nobles, dead poor, mercenaries, elementals, the army, kids, students, researchers and there are so many just living their lives! Then add in the players XD The large cast of characters really makes the world feel big, alive and breathing. And the MC cares about them so he's working on levelling up the entire planet! It's nice haha. The only con is that I'm not too impressed with the romance and the ML. He's just a typical possessive ML so cue the normal seme uke relationship in bed which I'm not a fan of.
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CN (4.4)
0 Chapters Every 1881 Day(s) 23621 Readers 462 Reviews 05-01-2017
4 Stars... more>>
This is quite a likeable story for me. Its one of the first danmei I liked. The 2 main characters are quite fun and there is so much humour with Shen Qingqiu around. The sad parts were actually sad too. I wish it was more immersive but I think that is just because it had been translated and I wasn't reading the original Chinese. And that the worldbuilding wasn't as big or deep as I wanted it to be but it's forgivable. However, the writing flowed quite well, I understood everything on the first try without having to pause and think haha. I do not like how the ML LBH bulldozes the MC for sexy times whenever something like it happens but I kinda accepted this is just par for the course in danmei and basically skimmed all of that. However, I still like and believe in their romance, even made me have lots of angst haha But still, I like it. And as a gift that keeps on giving, there are tons of wonderful long in character fanfiction on ao3 from this story!
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CN (4.7)
17 Chapters Every 176.3 Day(s) 24980 Readers 545 Reviews 04-01-2024
4.25 Stars... more>>
I quite liked it. Same author as The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System so basic quality is already there. It;s also more polished than the other one. Best danmei I've read so far. It really made me feel things when reading which is rare for web novels for me. Maybe it's because translated web novels make it harder for me to connect to the characters and/or world. But this does not have that problem, oh no. The plot was very good, the romance was so sweet and the characters were the best part, especially Wei Ying. He was just so likeable. And all the sad parts he was in or witnessed were nice and sad which is a good indicator of whether I enjoyed the story or not. I love how detailed the world was. All the monsters and techniques were new and interesting. I only don't like the use of flashbacks no matter how good they are, which they were. I just don't like going from one time to another, I dislike the feeling of being reluctant to part with the current story. I would much prefer it if we had just followed Wei Ying from the flashback to the present.
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CN (4.5)
117 Chapters Every 83.5 Day(s) 11213 Readers 88 Reviews 11-10-2023
4.25 Stars... more>>
Dayum, this was good! The pacing was fantastic. It never got close to being draggy or too fast! The characters pftt. Amazing, hands down. I loved our five main characters and the two masters! Their character development was wonderful to watch. And the plot! I was invested the whole way! The ending events got a bit overt and too big but all the plot twists whoa. A big factor was the truly good writing compared to most other light novels I've read, and the translations were so good! All the sudden feels were so natural I didn't noticed I was crying until I was crying loool It got so long and many things have happened that now, a year or so later, I don't really remember anything hahaha But I did remember that the characters felt so real and I loved them all so when all the bad things happen, ahhh my heart hurts haha
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KR (4.5)
976 Chapters Every 3.3 Day(s) 37699 Readers 583 Reviews 04-19-2024
4.5 Stars... more>>
The translation I've read is by EatApplePies. Ahhh, what a marvellous ride haha. Please stick to the story until at least past chapter 135 ish as that is when the writing gets better and the characters start to get invested in each other. Somewhere here was when I finally felt any connection with Cale the MC lol. Basically, Cale is super dense and he actually really cares for people despite the first 100+ chapters.
After that, all the characters will care for each other and you will find yourself rooting for them. The battles can be hit or miss for me but when Cale is being badass, it is very cool. The parts I most liked were the breaks in between fights where Cale spends time with people bonding and when he gets the ancient powers after the 135+ chapter mark. The intangible characters are hilarious heh. The translation is consistent from the first chapter at a high quality.
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Chapter 98
Hmmm, I do like all the characters and the world. And the writing is detailed enough that I can picture what's happening most of the time, which is usually a huge deterrent for translated light novels where the writing is super vague, direct and simple. Even the plot is pretty good so far, I think. It's just that for every arc/mini-arc, the climax/aftermath feels so normal and anticlimactic. Like the moment an arc finishes and Cale gets the item or achieves his objective, we don't get to enjoy or celebrate it. The author just writes that now it's time for Cale to slack off and do nothing. Then the next chapter will be about how Cale managed to do nothing for 1 month this time. And then the next thing to propel the story happens and we do it all over again. So it's like the tension or plot is constantly at this level and doesn't really rise, so you don't get that rising action, exciting climax, engaging and celebratory aftermath before you hit the next arc...
Chapter 140
Okay, I gave it another go because I read a lot of people saying it was wholesome and stuff which I really like! But I haven't seen anything like what they were praising up to chap 98 so I figured to continue since there are 600+ chapters lol. And as I read more and more, and the plot returned more to the war, it got progressively more engaging! There was more character interaction! And 130+ chapters in with the dragon, I got unexpectedly hit in the feels. And it got more obvious that the healing of these characters haha. The humour was also funny to me then. I kinda feel like the author got an editor to improve the story lol.
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