Lout of the Count's Family Vol. 1
Lout of the Count's Family Vol 1 by Yu Ryeo-Han, Cover by LOKOnity. Translation by Henry Shin and Lauren Na. Published by Seven Seas.
This is my first Korean webnovel series that I've read since I've started this blog, but oddly enough it wasn't the first that I've heard of (I've been waiting for the official release of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint). I've heard this one mentioned with high praise in the usual online circles, so I decided to give it a go.Â
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Official Synopsis:
A man who wants nothing more than to kick back and relax must use his wit and wiles to survive the fantasy novel he's fallen into.Ever dreamt of waking up inside a novel? For Kim Roksu, this dream becomes reality when he finds himself in the shoes of Cale Henituse, the lazy, wine-loving son of a count--and punching bag for the novel's destined hero. Determined to dodge his grim fate, this new Cale Henituse vows to rewrite his story, aiming for a life of leisure far from heroic deeds and inevitable beatdowns. But the path to a peaceful life is twisted by irony. As Cale plots his escape from destiny, he inadvertently gathers a motley crew of magical allies--including a haughty baby dragon and two mischievous kitten shapeshifters. Every attempt to avoid heroism entangles him further in a whirlwind of unforeseen adventures, proving that sometimes the best heroes are the ones who resist the call.
Normally it takes me some time to ease into new series, since I don't always find them gripping right away. Luckily, I was drawn into Cale/Roksu's antics from the start. Roksu was an orphan with a crappy life in his previous world, so he's determined to live his best life in this one as Cale Henituse, the eponymous Lout of the Henituse family. I don't think the real Cale would be as engaging, but it's fun to watch Roksu walk a fine balance of not actually being a terrible person, but putting on a show so that he can get what he wants.Â
To be fair, I don't think he's particularly good at that anyways. The people around him figure out pretty quickly that "Cale" has changed, and is someone to watch out for now. He manages to accomplish a lot in this first book, gathering a crew of the novel's Hero, and other assorted compatriots.
There's a lot of events that happen, including saving a small dragon (it's on the cover!) and interfering with many of the original novel's story events. This was a pretty fast paced book, and there's some decent setup for the overall story.
The "first part" of the webnovel is 776 chapters, and this volume covered 42 of them. At this pace, there are already 18 books worth of content in just the first part (there's a second part too!). If the books continue to be as engaging as this was, I'll be sure to continue the series.
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