So what inside her actually? Is that kind of worm or what that hatching
Spoiler
It's the new locust queen (from the world of the locust dungeon she was abandoned in) that is supposed to succeed the old queen. In every world the strongest individual is considered to be a God so she's kind of a god but not really.
She's also (BIG SPOILERS from the final part of the novel, STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT THE ENDING SPOILED) the final (but first...) calamity their world is supposed to face.
The dungeons are actually fragments of other worlds that were destroyed by dungeons (or better by this final calamity) themselves. It's a vicious cycle: a world gets destroyed by the appearance of the final EX-ranked dungeon, fragments of that destroyed world become dungeons in another world and the 'god' (strongest individual of that world) becomes the final boss of the new EX-ranked dungeon, the new world is destroyed by these new dungeons and becomes fragments itself... and so on. And the one destined to become Earth's calamity and destroy it is the new locust queen.
At the end of the story, when the hatching finally happens, Choi fuses with the locust queen inside herself and becomes a monster half human half mantis, a bunch of tragic stuff happens and then she gets out of its body with Nara's help () and wins against it, becoming the new queen and the strongest hunter in the world (SSS Rank).
So is it best to read the novel or the manhwa? bc tbh when I read the manhwa I yk didn’t really like how Choi treated Nara like sht bc I get that she just returned from hell and suffering but Nara really did cared for Choi and tried to help when she got pushed in by herself to die and when she returned she obv got rid of her horrible ahh team but tbh lowkey treated Nara like trash and forcing her to do stuff or let her have whatever she wanted bc she knew she had the power to easily kill her and also since the team had treated her like crap for a long time and Nara remained as a bystander which I completely understand since fmc now dead ex was probably powerful and influential and could possibly make her life hell if she tried to stepped in and helped Choi (idk if he’s actually influential I kinda stopped reading after ch 10 ) but good to know she was a love interest as well lol
Well she's not really an official love interest, but I think she might as well have been because she's more important to Choi than the actual male leads
As for what is better, I think it depends on what you personally like: in the manhwa I think Choi comes off as colder and more revenge-hungry (I don't know if it was simply lost in translation or the manhwa artist's choice), and the interactions with other characters so far seem to be more aggressive, but on the other hand the manhwa is adding more depth to the characters compared to the novel (like adding a backstory to the siblings, making Nara more explicitly regretful when hearing about Choi's experience, and such). In the novel Choi seems to be equally crazy but a bit more cheerful (not to say that she's not traumatized, like "foolish crazy" more than "bloodthirsty crazy"), and the interactions with the characters (only those that appeared in the manhwa so far, there will be a lot of blood in the novel as well) are more peaceful. Maybe somebody that prefers the typical cold and bloodthirsty male leads in hunter novels might prefer the manhwa, while somebody that's more interested in more positive interactions with other characters and Choi being foolishly crazy (in a good way) might prefer the novel.
NOTE THAT this is only based on the very first part adapted, the story itself is quite long (180 chapters of main story and 6 of side story for the novel, and the adaptation covered like maybe 40 chapters or less) so the manhwa might unexpectedly change direction from my current impression.
I think both are good honestly, I'm only VERY mad at how they portrayed Kim Yeonyeon in the manhwa
And yes if you're bothered by how Choi treats Nara then the novel might be better
Very happy to hear ab the romance, I will read this after all. Thank you!
You're welcome :) although again, don't expect much of it because it's a very small part of the plot
Imma consider nara as love interest
Ok I see I see I just merely have a pet peeve for when mcs treat side characters like shit without any proper reason and yk Choi could’ve at least interacted with Nara a bit more passive aggressive instead of full on bloodthirsty crazy aggressive bc of her experience in the dungeon and immediately threatening her with the sword so she can have her listen to what she says right after she easily murders everyone in the team which I felt like was a much too heavy opening look on Choi to me in my opinion since I don’t get why she treats Nara really harshly even having Nara to give up her bed and drive her around while nara is just following around like a puppy having no choice but to obey and follow bc she doesn’t wanna die
Well apart from the fact that Choi is less aggressive compared to the manhwa it's actually pretty similar: she does threaten her in the beginning not to tell anything (which is fair) and she still does take Nara's bed and everything, but it's more like annoyed compliance from Nara than done out of fear I mean Nara isn't really careful with her words around Choi, she's a big tsundere. The shared space problem is solved anyway, they even move out together in a bigger home after a while.
But yes I agree, I also hate when main characters act like assholes to side characters that don't deserve it. I can handle merciless protagonists that take revenge but NOT unreasonably asshole protagonists
Tbh thats why I like it lol I hate action and romance mixing plus nice to see a FMC without recripocal romance, its pre rare
LOLL I see do u happen to know where to read the novel? Or is it all in Korean cuz then I’m cooked but hey at least to the Nara and Choi shippers it’s a win win situation at the end since they end up living together and not with any of the mls (I stand with this as a proud wlw)
I bought the raws from N*ver, it hasn't been translated unfortunately you can mtl it although it's a bit tedious
And yes it's pretty easy to ship them lmao
At this point it’s not even the same lol, I wouldn’t be surprised if the love story is different now to
This will be VERY long.
I just finished the novel raws and... it's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the manhwa?!? (based on what has already been covered) The manhwa adaptation has added a lot of scenes that weren't actually in the novel, be it subtle moments or even whole incidents that never happened.
1) First of all Choi and Nara's relationship is much better in the beginning compared to the manhwa. Choi is not cold at all to her, she clearly does resent her a bit for running away with the others before she was left in the dungeon BUT there are no particular moments of conflict, unlike in the manhwa with the underground fighting incident that in the novel is in fact solved very peacefully, or where they kind of fought before Choi told Nara the truth about her dying in the hidden dungeon (Nara just directly asked her what happened and she answered). They rather act more like bickering siblings (or a bickering married couple ).
2) Kim Dojoon, the red haired dude, isn't hostile to her AT ALL in the novel. In the manhwa he is much more confrontational (like when he found out about her rank or about her going in a hidden dungeon, etc.) while in the novel they peacefully and politely conversed since the beginning. I think the manhwa is also making him more important as a character than he actually is by adding depth to his (nonexistant) backstory.
3) Kim Yeonyeon, Kim Dojoon's older sister, met Choi earlier compared to the novel and the big conflict where she tried to kill Choi NEVER HAPPENED! The scenes in the manhwa with Choi and Dojoon going to the dungeons together in fact happened with Choi and HER.
She's not the crazy bitch they made her out to be, I'm so mad!!! She's actually closer to Choi than her brother is. And the whole thing with her being obsessively protective but also abusive of her brother also didn't happen.
Also: she's actually pretty chill with Choi killing people so whatever happened in her past in the manhwa that triggered her never happened in the novel.
4) They actually managed to convince Choi to be recruited in the guild very quickly. There is in fact a whole arc dedicated to Choi taking the test to enter the guild with other team members (instead of the chapters with the stuff about Dojoon and his sister), and the dungeon with the biblically accurate angels was involved in the test (and after that) instead of everything that happened in the manhwa in the latest chapters.
5) A LOT of other less important details were removed (e.g. Choi and Dojoon escaping the police at the underground arena by pretending to be a couple going to the sex shop, which I assume was removed to make the manhwa more... family friendly?? They did show her getting eaten alive in the very first chapter though so it wouldn't make much sense lmao) or added (e.g. Choi and Nara confronting their guild leader after getting out of the hidden dungeon, or Dojoon lying to his sister about Choi being his girlfriend...) in the manhwa
So apart from the very first chapters, from the conflict with Kim Yeonyeon it's basically a whole different story. I don't know how it's going to be in the future but that's it for now.
This is all to say that you SHOULDN'T EXPECT THE NOVEL TO BE THE SAME AS THE ADAPTATION if you ever want to read it yourself. I suggest reading the manhwa as if it was an original, and considering the novel to be a separate story.
NOW, AS FOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE ROMANCE (for those worried or curious about it)
If you want to know who the male lead is...
... do you really want to know? It's fun to guess while you read. But if you really do:
There is little to no romance (in the main story at least, cough) BUT it's also a reverse harem. Meaning that: there are a lot of potential love interests, but NO actual explicit endgame, especially considering that basically all of the romance aspect is the potential male leads being unilaterally obsessed with her (some have a lot of character development, some not much). It might happen in the future but Choi explicitly thinks at the end that although she has an ambiguous relationship with all of them she has no will at all to settle down as she wants to live as herself (nothing much happens, she just unseriously flirts around until the end )
The love interests that appear are, in order of appearance (and NOT of relevance):
1) Kim Dojun, S Rank, the red haired dude. In the manhwa he seems to be the male lead but in the novel he's actually not that relevant as a love interest (I didn't even know he was an option before the side story)
2) Sa Taehyeok, SS Rank, Paehyeok guild (Choi's guild)'s master.
3) Kim Soo-ui, A+ Rank, one of the dealers she fought together with around the time of her test to enter her guild.
4) Park Kihyun, S Rank, Hwayeon guild's leader.
5) Zhu Xuan, SS Rank, a leader of the chinese underworld. I wouldn't consider him as a real love interest because he only wants Choi's blood and doesn't really like her (which Choi already knows)
6) Kang Taeyang, SS Rank, independent hunter with a HUGE crush on Choi (THE ABSOLUTE BEST)
*Honorable mention: Sim Nara
At the end she's still living with Nara and they probably have the best chemistry, I'M NOT JOKING. Their relationship is like that of bickering siblings but also an old married couple and that of a crazy individual and their pet cat (which would be Nara, an absolute tsundere) at the same time. She's hands down the character most connected to Choi on an emotional level and the only one Choi always chose to spend time with of her own choice. This could very well be GL and I wouldn't find it strange honestly.
They both obviously love each other so much by the end of the story.
While there's no explicit endgame Kang Taeyang, although he was the last one to appear, is probably the one with the best chance. He's the character Choi cares about the most after Sim Nara, the only one she always saw in a positive light AND who she actually considered dating and also undoubtedly the one who loves her the most (Sa Taehyuk also cares a lot after his character development but it's more obsession than pure love). He and Kim Soo-ui are the only ones that have never done her wrong in any way, but Kim Soo-ui has sort of been "first-comrade-she-can-actually-trust-her-back-to"-zoned.
So basically everybody can be happy with the romance/action ratio I think: those that want romance can focus on the fact that there are a lot of options and one of them MIGHT work out in the future, while those that DON'T want romance can still be happy knowing that romance isn't a focus at all in the (main) story. 90% of the story is about Choi being a hunter/being her crazy self, 10% are interactions with the love interests that don't really go anywhere due to Choi's personality.
All in all I recommend it, although there were some aspects I didn't like it was a breath of fresh air and I really loved it