From the start up to the Tower of Wish, the novel was great. I will absolutely commend the author on doing something most other authors would be too afraid to do.

Chae Nayun's conflict with Kim Hajin feels realistic and dramatic. I guess Hajin could have just explained it to her, but she'd probably have been too stubborn to listen and he too caught up in his guilt. However, as good as it was, at some point Hajin really should have just resolved the problem and told her why he did it. It didn't make sense to leave her to chase him the entire time, never getting resolved. That was bad.

Now, we come to the fall. It's unavoidable, too horrible to continue looking at and yet at the same time too horrifying to look away. What happened? It's been over a year since I read this novel, and that's still the only thing I can think about when I remember The Novel's Extra. How did it all go so wrong? It's as if the author was replaced with a caricature of themselves, writing a caricature of their own novel. I barely have words for how badly it fell apart. The novel just immediately implodes on itself and things just happen. The writing plummets, the events become nonsensical, and then it ends. It terminates itself, forcing all the characters to forget about the MC Kim Hajin, like a dying memory wishing only to disappear and be seen no more.

I read this novel before the side stories came around and reanimated the desecrated corpse of a once great work. I haven't read them, but I imagine they're not amazing. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.

I've always seen this on several recommendations page many times yet I just couldn't muster enough interest to start reading it. That was until I found the manhwa adaptation and fell absolutely intrigued with it but since the manhwa has so few chapters I started reading the novel to satisfy my curiosity and I'm so happy I made that choice.

The novel has so intriguing plot points and twists that you just can't help but be immersed in the story wholeheartedly and long story short I ended up spending 2 whole... more>> days straight completing the novel.

Kim Hajin is a very likeable MC tho a bit dense and does things a bit questionably? He makes concise decisions but sometimes I just can't agree with the things he chooses to do,

like choosing to kill chae nayun's brother himself bcs he feels that he needs too and concealing the reasons as to why he did so from chae nayun which led to many years of heartache, misunderstandings & resentment and permanently changed his relationship with chae nayun

I also find his decision to use rachel's blood to create evandel a bit rash and neglectful of other's rights. Bcs knowing that rachel wanted to have a daughter of her own (as in dreamt of being pregnant and having a family) and by creating evandel kim hajin just kinda shatters that hope? Its a bit sad too that kim hajin only decided to reveal evandel to rachel like 5 years later and robbed evandel the time that she could've spent with rachel

Like just bcs I understand why he made those decisions doesn't mean I agree with them.

I guess I just wished that those plot points could've been more logically thought of and not feel rushed?

I probably would've liked the novel a bit more if there wasn't so many ambiguous scenes and atmosphere between kim hajin and the other female characters. Hmm basically he gives off the players vibe.

It does sound like I'm venting and making a bad review on the novel but trust me these are like only a few cons amongst the many hundreds of amazing plot points that you're gonna find in the novel so don't feel discouraged. <<less

EDIT-- after finishing all chapters, I am changing to 3/5 starts: *dashed line to separate original review and now review**

My updated review of this novel is that it started very well, but got lost about 50-60%% of the way through. I think the author jam-packed too many arcs/people in it for the latter half of the novel. Complex settings are awesome, but the recurrent POV shifts with each person having totally different goals and complicated backstories over the last 100 chapters turned into whiplash (there was barely any POV shifting... more>> in the beginning and then there were at least 2 POV's each chapter in the final 25% of the novel with Kim Hajin rarely showing up). The amount of other universes/dimensions/timeline was crazy. I'm all for novels tying up loose ends, having diverse settings, and having a deep character cast, but it honestly got so ridiculous. This novel started out so good. Read my original review below to see how wowed I was. The Tower arc was a honestly a little boring, which I pointed out in my original review, but I didn't think too deeply on it. But, the Tower arc was the start of a steep downhill ride.

I found the end to be satisfying, which was:

Spoiler

Kim Hajin losing his OP-level skills and living a happy life in his novel world with Yi Byul, aka Boss, was beautiful.

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Pretty much all the side stories have the women ending up with Kim Hajin in other timelines/what-if scenarios, instead of the author actually concluding the characters in meaningful ways. The side stories made a harem-esque move in a novel that was never that way before.

The woman he ends up with was the obvious choice given the writing of chapters 200+. It was cute.

I still would suggest reading this novel because it's undoubtedly still a beautiful story, but be aware that past chapter 200, your head might hurt. And your heart might too.

-------------------------------------------

As of 256 Chapters:

I am stunned at how great this web novel is. If this were published in Western-book for & marketed, it would undoubtedly be #1 on NYT Bestseller's and even non-fantasy readers would enjoy this.

I am only on chapter 256 out of about 400 chapters. From what I have read so far, this web novel was masterfully crafted by the author. Many web novels are very one-dimensional and lack complex settings, elements and most importantly, a diverse cast of developed characters. This one is the opposite, it is a complex world with deep characters who each have personalities. Other reviewers have commented that they fall under common tropes, but I argue that though the common tropes are there, these characters are so deeply explored that the audience truly feels like they get to know them. These characters are very memorable to me & I believe their common tropes highlight them rather than hinders them.

The story has a beginning and an end. The author keeps this in mind through their storytelling. This may seem like an obvious statement, but with the money of web novels, this often gets lost in translation to pump out lower quality chapters in higher quantity. This is super detailed writing that is reminiscent of my experiences with very-well-laid-out, super-long Western Fantasy. Except this web novel does it in less length (aka less chapters), and more compellingly. It skips boring stuff (aka filler), and just tells a story. Think Attack on Titan or Full Metal Alchemist type storytelling (I will admit this obviously is not AOT or FMAB level stuff, but it's really good for a web novel & I've comparing it to those two manga's storytelling in terms of how there is no filler and only story).

One thing I have disliked at points is the Tower Arc. It has taken so many chapters. I felt like there were many misunderstandings piling up, and I hate the misunderstandings/lack of exchanging information trope. Now, 256 chapters in, all major misunderstandings have been resolved in rather wonderful ways. It was worth the wait.

The Tower Arc is drawing to a close and the story is heating up. The next 100 or so chapters will most likely be intense stuff. I will be editing my review as I get closer to the end of this story. I hope I'm not disappointed, but these 256 chapters have already been great enough for me to complete this story no matter where it goes. <<less

Let me just say this I have read over all kinds of novels throughout my life but this one I can say with confidence was one of the best well written so far. Now the ending made me hit depression for some aspects like

Overall I'm happy with who he ended up with and mostly everyone had a happy ending. I'm sad that the journey ends here : (

Was a good experience, not going to lie and say it’s a masterpiece. The last third of it felt a bit bloated and was quite a slog to read through, but I enjoyed the ending. It ties most loose plot points into a nice knot. As someone who 40% of my enjoyment of a book hinges on the ending this is definitely a good read and it feel as though the author already had an ending in mind at least by the halfway point and ended it in a aceptable... more>> way.

Definitelya good read if your willing to slog through the slow chapters. <<less

Started well, but goes into a weird silly loop. Would skip.

The translation is good.

At first, we have non overpowered character struggling in an interesting enough world, but after about a third way in things start getting pointless and boring.

... more>> Roughly 100 chapters in the MC is increasingly OP and often in the dumbest way due to his “incredible luck”, the fact this is a plot point doesn’t make it any less of a cop out and lazy writing.

The story is incredibly repetitive and has the MC go through weak to strong progressions at least 3 times due to “reasons” collecting points of some form, boring. Sometimes the story is hilariously meta, the MC is in a book world, goes into a pocket universe inside which he plays in a VR.... just stop.

There is a time skip at some point, but none of the characters feel like actual adults. The drama also feels poorly manufactured. There is a large vapid harem. What is the point of having a harem if nothing happens? Why is this wish fulfillment and for who ? Is it an Asian thing to want to be popular but alone ? <<less

A decent read, especially for the first few arcs. As with many web novels, the setting slowly falls apart as time goes on. This can be seen in the reviews as many people who reviewed after 30-100 chapters seem to really enjoy it, whereas those who read further were more likely to be disappointed.

I would recommend reading up until the Tower arc, which is where the setting falls apart IMO. The author even points this out, blaming the MC because the MC is the author of the original story. The... more>> reason that I don't recommend reading further is because the Tower feels thrown in. It takes the popular Korean trope of Towers where you get prizes for completing stuff. All of a sudden the novel becomes a videogame with almost no warning and you just have to go along with it for what may be 100 chapters or so, iirc.

The character development isn't too bad, but by the end of the novel the author has added too much stuff and some of it they end up forgetting about

Spoiler

(like a certain Tower seed)

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. That said, it's good enough to read to completion, despite it's flaws. It's a bit of an author circle jerk, but it's not too egregious about it. <<less

It does the job. It has great worldbuilding, the character have depth and evole, the main character evolves (although he is ret*rded), there is tension, there are a lot of pretty cool characters, the magic of the characters and how this also evolves thrughout the stroy, and the story itself is also pretty ok. It's not a masterpiece, but it really does the job.

The build the MC chooses is garbage, in the position he is in, and with the absurd cheat he has, he could be the god of the... more>> world in a couple of years if he did things right, but oh well, I guess it's more interesting have him be ret*rded and maintain the tension.

The main problem I have woth the novel it's its protagonsit, everyone else does their thing and end up becoming pretty lovable characters, but the MC is autistic, he has a lot of problem throughout the novel because of being a f*cking wheaselly liar, if he came of front most of the times and. Was. Just. Honest., then a lot of problems and missunderstanding that would have been prevented. (I obviously no refering to him being the novel writter but all the other f*ckups).

It really is a 3/5, but in the end I grew fond of many of the side characters, so I have go give it a 4/5. <<less

This novel follows a pretty generic path of the weak-to-strong power fantasy novels. Don't expect a deep story line or exceptionally executed world building. The real strength of this novel is in the descriptions, specifically the descriptions of sentiments; the emotions and relationships of the characters are done realistically, which is EXTREMELY rare for a fantasy web novel. That alone was enough to win me over, and I would give this a solid 4.8/5.

It is one of the few novels that actually lives up to its initial premise and really expand on it. The worldbuilding is top notch, the cast of characters is huge, but most are distinctive and the main cast actually has char. Developement, wich is something much appreciated and not really usual in these kind of novels. The pacing is pretty good up to the last few arcs where the transitions feel a bit jaded and the quality of the writing drops a bit after the first arc, but the... more>> author knows where he's going most of the time and really planned things out, so the story manages to be expansive and huge while still having some personal stakes for the main cast. All in all, it's a pretty damn interesting story and the quality of the writing (and the flawless tranlsation by FudgeNouget) make it a pleasure to read.

With all of that said, I'd say the best way to describe this is a 3, 5 star novel with lots of 5 star moments. The author likes to drag character arcs and postpone waited reunions just for the sake of having another hook to keep readers on their toes. The amount of cliffhangers is huge, as well as the amount of missunderstandigs, and some of the main cast are hugely underdeveloped or have little to no relevance to the plot for a lengthy amount of chapters so it's not that this novel its without flaws. But still, it was a pleasure to read and I hope it does keep a good quality until the end. <<less

Everyone has it right. This is above your average webnovel. It still hits those tropes, transmigration, cheat system, etc, but the character development, plot arcs, side-stories, overarching themes... they're all at a quality high enough to adapt to manga or anime and not be tr*sh.

5/5 for webnovel standards.

7.5/10 for legitimate production standards.

______________________________________________________________________

Ugh. The Tower of Wish is the worst. It just drags on and on. It is practically enough for me to want to knock off a star.

I personaly very much like this story, and currenty am totaly hooked up with it.

As for the authors previus work I have not read it, but its comments state it was decent except for the end, which seams to have been a total let down.

As for the distictives of this story I think can differentiete it from other works:

... more>> (you can think of both as good or bad)

-simple writing

-MC takes suboptimal decisions and has sometimes irresponsible actitudes.

-side characters are adorable and, personaly, my most liked part of the story. There are a lot, therfore they are not build very deeply, but each one has his own personality which they do not betray, some do mature or change.

-no ridiculus dangerous moments.

-worlds system, stats etz.. Are not fully described.

-the story is varied, and has no set mold, this leads to unexpected decision of MC, some may be even disapointing to the reader.

-well translated and edited.

I don t think this novel is very deep, nor is it fully action packed or a drama or a romace story. It has a bit of everythink. Therefor don t expect any kind of extreme emotions. Thats my opinion on it at least

I realy liked this novel, and do recommend giving it a try.

Edit: MC doesn t change, just keeps on taking random desicion, so much it becomes frustraiting <<less

This is the best korean novel I've read here, I think. I've read some korean "modern world turned to fantasy" stories that are just as creative, but The Novel's Extra's greatest strength I think is in the characters and their relationships that keeps evolving and never feels static.

Add a fast moving story in easy-t0-read chunks, MC's creative and constantly evolving arsenal and a dash of charm and humor, and I was hooked and couldn't stop reading.

Mirroring a lot of comments, this novel is spectacular. Some of the important things for me are

It is well written, has an engaging protagonist, there’s just enough humor to make it a light hearted read, and there is plot.

It’s a story with many interconnecting pieces and sub-stories, and the occasional multiple POV and thoughts into side characters is amazing. To top it off the side characters aren’t all useless and just to prove the value of the MC.

This review mainly focuses on the MC's love interests.

As some one who usually dislike romance in transmigration novels because of annoying female love interests, I decided to give this novel a try due to its high rating and popularity.

And it seems like I made a mistake. This novel have a lot of annoying love interests, too much for me to stomach. I thought I could endure for a few more chapters, but I ultimately gave up because the female love interests were just too damn annoying.

... more>> Love Interest #1 Chae Nayun

• A typical rich second generation heiress. With a stubborn and arrogant personality, she looks down on others while flaunting her skills in archery, believing that she is the best of the best.
• Loves to hear flattery and praises from people.
• The reason for her obsession with archery is due to a tragic past.
• IQ is low, and EQ is even lower. She fails many of her theory classes and relies on study notes from other classmates. She is ignorant of other people's feelings and doesn't care for social niceties as she rudely insults almost every one she meets, especially the MC (of course).

Love Interest #2 Yoo Yeonha

• Another typical rich second generation heiress; plans to inherit her family's hero guild in the future.
• With a stubborn and arrogant personality, she also looks down on others while flaunting her fighting skills.
• She likes to eat junk food despite maintaining the image of an elegant graceful heiress on the outside.
• Due to her vivid imagination, she creates the idea that the MC is in love with Chae Nayun and that the MC has a tragic past. Because of this, she sends someone to privately investigate the MC's past and continues to make wrong assumptions about the MC.
• She treats almost every one as a tool or pawn to be used for her guild's benefit, keeping those who are useful and throwing away the useless.

Love Interest #3 Rachel

• Another typical rich second generation, but this time, she's a princess.
• A nerd and bookworm, she's the studious straight A type of character.
• With a gentle and mild personality, she's polite and obedient, the complete opposite of all the other love interests out there.

As far as I read, there are three love interests that can be sighted, and for the most part, love interests #1 and #2 are very annoying. Due to their arrogant and scheming nature, the MC suffers through a bunch of bullying and insults before rising like a phoenix to show who's the boss, yet ends up creating misleading scenes by accidentally hugging love interest #1, etc. The MC is supposedly 25-26 years old mentally, but sometimes acts like a teenager going through puberty. The way the MC would flare up and get angry due to someone looking down on him or as the MC puts it "hurts his pride", the MC ends up exposing either his power or knowledge about the characters or future events. Because the MC is so easily triggered by the smallest questions or insults, he doesn't seem like a 25-26 year old who has gone through Korea's mandatory military service or even lived in society for that matter. No 25-26 working adult would act as petty or immature as this MC when it comes to handling a bunch of 16-17 years old teenagers.

Overall, I am honestly just annoyed by the horrible attitudes of the love interests who lack manners and culture. The MC seem to be regressing back to a teen as his emotional outbursts increase, which does not resemble his mindset that's suppose to be 25-26. The MC sometimes accidentally speak without thinking or slip-of-the-tongue incidents are starting to occur more often as the story moves along, which really makes me think that the MC's IQ and EQ is dropping since the main motivator for the MC is to stay alive so he can travel back to his own world, but with how the MC keeps on spilling his own secrets, I'm starting to think the MC just wants someone to kill him off. After reading up to ~70 chapters, I am very disappointed by this novel that had such a high rating, so I'm done. <<less

Hi,

Oh and exuse me for my bad grammar.

I really don't get the negative reviews. This is basicly the best light/web novel I have read so far. No other novel had me so far imersed in it's world.

... more>> Unlike most other w/l-novels this one has a far more complex plot in itself. Different people have diferting and congruenting plots that cross and don't. Characters aren't just forgotten after one arc. People don't grow overpowered in 2 chapters.

Characters are understandable and one can imerse oneself into them.

The MC dosn't get everything without making hard decisions. So the MC must make decision that are not always good and he really is suffering because of them. <<less

This novel is extremely exceptional and intruiging. This novel does have many cliche points, but it holds a special charm, which I really enjoy. It not only is interesting but it is also very hard-warming with many likable characters. The author does not rush the characters and develops them very well, by not creating a harem for our main character. Also the fact that the main character is an anti-hero really sticks out to me. All in all, I would really advise giving this novel a try.

Really good story! I think the most important charm of this novel is that characters actually feel realistic and their interactions are really good. Besides I like the hero in this novel. I mean in most novels when "hero" is basically some dumb a**hole/villain, it's really hard to justify calling them hero.

There are some plot developments that I think are bit odd and I don't agree with, but I think novel still deserves full mark if you compare it to overall selection on the site. Definitely something to read!

This novel is one of the best I've read. Goodness haha this is one of the reason why I wake up early in the morning. Just to read the latest update.

But in this chapter damn you Hajin haha. I prefer Rachel!!

This is one of the best novels I've read. Great story, great translation and engaging characters. It has several things in it that I normally hate. These things are done so poorly in most novels that when I see them in tags I don't bother to read the work. Only reason I tried this one was from it's well deserved rating (4.8 at time of review). And it does deserve 5 star rating as the work is a real joy to read.

I normally stay away from deus ex machina, author... more>> insertion, lucky protagonists, or anything on wuxiaworld site. But this is the exception that shows a truly talented author with the help of a good translator can make all the difference to any story.

I still can't help but think the novel would be better without the above shortcomings, but even with them it is still worth a read. <<less