Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Vol. 4

Because I was so late on the previous volume, this one felt like it came so suddenly! My physical copy came in and I sped through this one as well.

To my surprise, although the plot so far has been high stakes where lots of events happen, this one felt more like an “interlude” between arcs since it takes place between two scenarios. That’s not to say that there isn’t plot development, but it was definitely a slower paced book.

Dokja’s entire party gets separated after the destruction of the throne, and Dokja is warped to his old office, where he meets some of his former coworkers and bullies. We got quite a bit of backstory on how Dokja lived his life prior to the apocalypse and there’s a scene where he has to “overcome” his trauma by fighting against a former bully. I’m glad the story makes it clear that even if Dokja wins, the mental scars will never really disappear so easily.

There’s also several side-quests/sub-scenarios introduced in this book that get Dokja closer to dealing with whatever is coming in the 5th scenario. I was honestly surprised at how Han Suyeong ends up becoming an ally since she’s Dokja’s biggest enemy being a plagiarizer of the original TWSA webnovel. I’m kind of spoiled on this point however, as I know that she’s not simply a temporary ally (from the many fanarts that feature her as part of the group). Honestly, I’m glad she joined since she really is an important counterbalance to Dokja’s bullshit (trying to solve everything on his own). She’s hilarious!

​There were so very many moments in this volume that teased the Junghyeok/Dokja ship that had me cackling. Dokja nursing him back to health by feeding him a potion was undeniably cute. Even though this is the same volume where we found out that Junghyeok actually has a girlfriend, the author makes it clear that those two don’t have the same relationship as in previous loops.

Circumstances crop up where Dokja ends up having to fight against the girlfriend, and it’s touching to see how much he cares about Junghyeok’s mental health. He claims it’s for practical purposes, but is it possible for any reader of a story not to care deeply for a main character? (Well, unless they liked the side characters and hated the MC lmao). These two are still very tsundere towards each other, and it’s peak entertainment.

Another thing I appreciate about this story is that it’s not centered on only the location of the main character. In other “apocalypse” stories, it’s common for it to be implied that the problems occurring are only affecting the country the story is set in, in order for the author to avoid having to think about developments in other regions, even when it doesn’t make logical sense. The setup of this story however makes it very clear that Seoul is only one portion of the apocalypse being televised, and that events on other sides of the planet can end up having an impact here. It makes ORV feel very global, and being someone who’s not Korean, it’s kind of fresh to have a story with this perspective.

I guess I’m just too used to Japanese and U.S. American stories that completely ignore other places.

Anyways, the next volume is out in November. I can’t wait to see how the 5th Scenario develops!