Just calling it Followup, since I once commented something with the same title and I don't want people to think I'm demented or something, in case someone saw it and remembers. I just gotta add something here and no, I don't expect anyone to find and read the earlier post. With that out of the way:
So I was already bitching about Soel's Family and his ex-girlfriend Yoo Seonwha before, because they acted like absolute buttsnacks toward him. Not everyone had the same opinion, which I can understand, but in my view, their behaviour was simply infuriating. Like, they didn't give him a chance at all. And no, a chance does not entail to give him money or goods of some sort, it simply means to let him say something without yelling death threats at his face or making brainless assumptions about him being an organ donor, despite him also looking as healthy as he probably never looked before.
I come back to bitch a second time, eventhough his family didn't show up again as of now, because I started to read the webnovel just a few days ago. And how do I put? I simply love it. I have never read a webnovel or lightnovel that was written this decently. It still has a few things which are quite common and irritate me - for example: Writing down SFX-remarks, even though there's no illustrated panel and the next sentence is a normal novel-esque description of the sound, so it's obsolete anyway. But despite little flaws, the writing is pretty great and the story is absolute awesome. Why do I say that so specifically about the novel and what does it have to do with his family? Easy answer:
The Scene with his family is like 95 % different and a 1000 times compared to the webtoon version. In the novel - and no, that's not a spoiler if you care, because we already read that, they just decided to change up the scene a huge lot - he also meets his family. Of course you understand a lot more of his former mistakes, since he also spends time on explaining who he ows money and how much, even his ex-girlfriend. He then mentiones the sold off laptop he stole his sister, as well as her car he pawned and how he got at least the latter back and bought a new laptop from the stores (an expensive gaming laptop, to boot). So he gets there and gives it to them, he even enters the house. The house, pretty normal for korean houses of middle- and upper-class citizens, has an electronic lock, but the code wasn't changed, eventhough Jihoo knew that code, too. So, they didn't think of him as someone who should never come back, at least that seems to be a thought to me. But aside from that: It's exactly what I would have wished for. The sister, being almost a teenager and enraged, is angry as fuck. But when his brother hears he quit the casino, he even went there and blocked his own entry, they become a little taken aback. And he does the right thing by simply calling said casino ON THE SPOT, checking that information and hearing that it was true. He even asked when he last went there. And they both became a little quieter after that call. Jinhee still bitched around, but his older brother seemed to be a little more willing to talk to him. Soel flees then, saying he didn't have much time, but that's enough for a first. That's what I mean if I say »chance«. Not welcoming him back on the spot or accepting all of his apologies, but simply giving him the chance of proving himself to them, be it by checking every statement he makes about his changes. He did a lot of things wrong, he fucked up more than once or twice, he will have to put up with their questions and scepticism, but he will endure that. In the webtoon though, they didn't even try to listen and they didn't check the information.
But that's not all. In the novel, he also runs to his ex, this time, in the cafe she works at. They meet outside, talk a little, he says sorry. Here, we even get an explanation why his phone was actually left behind and of course he doesn't magically get it back, like he does in the webtoon. He has to take it back from her, when he meets her and she's even angry about it, because she thought he left those (he also left his bankaccount card behind, because it fell with his phone) with her to have an excuse to come back to her. But he actually came to give her all the money back she lend him over the past four years. So he could cut ties with her, apologies and leave her to her life without regrets. But he doesn't get there first, since she hands him the envelope with the 2 Mio Won he gave back the other day with the message of taking the money after all and then leaving for good. If I remember right, he gets that message and takes the money, but he also gives her the envelope he brought himself, with a lot more money in it, with just the same message. When he runs away, she calls his older brother (she also called the casino during their talk and confirmed what he said, btw, instead of simply dismissing his words. Way to go!). At that moment, when he reveals a few other details, she thinks about it and realises, it might have been a mistake to simply cut him off yet, so the money falls out of her hand and she runs after him, but he's long gone.
After that, he lies on the floor of his dirty flat, crying his eyes out (I btw expected he would clean his shit up, but was disappointed when he didn't - in the webnovel, it happens, even if it happens in unexpected ways). Since Kim Hannah can't reach him on his phone, she gets angry and visits his flat, just to find him there, barely alive looking and actually sick. She retches a few times, rolls up her sleeves and tidies out his pigsty of a room, as well as takes care of him. His wish to go back to paradise right away is not granted, as she voices her worries over him getting addicted to the thrill of the other world, as others have been this way before. He needs to have a stable life here and there to be a good asset to paradise and to live healthily. All of that, even that abolute important talk about him being addicted to paradise, forgetting where he actually belongs to, which comes up time and time again in this story, is being all forgotten about in the webtoon.
The problem with this is, while I do understand that writing a novel and illustrating a story as a webtoon are totally different in the way those stories need to be conveyed, this doesn't have to do with anything. You can cut out stuff to make it shorter and more palatable as drawings, others did it before and it worked just fine. But you can't cut out something THIS vital to the plot and fuck it up in the process. That's just not okay. The story is so much better in the novel and I'm not saying this, just because it's told differently. I love illustrated stories, I read Solo Leveling as a novel and still read it as a webtoon (I even buy both, since they started publishing them in my country a while ago, not even minding the higher price compared to regular novels and manga). They both have scenes that I like more compared to the other, but overall, they tell the same story. Here, there are crucial differencies that change up the meaning of scenes so much, they actually seem to tell a different story at times and I hate that.
It's so sad, because of course I will still read the webtoon, but it irks me to no end. And no, it doesn't simply irk me, because I know there's a better version - there's so much I ranted about (not here, though, I just bitched about the family because that was simply too much of a shitpile) long before I even started reading the novel. I just now realized how much better the story is, this webtoon tries to adapt and that makes me kinda sad, as a fan of it.
Well, whatever, that's about as much as I wanted to say to that. Goddamit.
But first: His »new« style.
Wasn't that actually the same look he was already rocking in those headpages from every chapter since page one tho? Not only his black hair and haircut, but you can even see a little bit of that fancy earring on his left ear, which he doesn't wear currently, but has it on those new headpages since season two. You can clearly see it. So, I guess it was planned from the beginning? Maybe a stylechoice from the character, rather than simply changing the art and pretending nothing changed within the story. Maybe because of how his relatives and acquaintances have acted towards him in chapter 46. I totally digged that old hairstyle tho, especially the color. Had this Claire Stanfield vibe to it.
But for the main topic matter: I had to reread the last to chapters, so I could psych myself up to reading two new chapters and knowing I wouldn't get to read another for a while yet again. That also meant, I had to see him go through that shit with those people from his previous life again. Like, really? They see him all dressed up and with money, absolutely healthy and with some new aura around him and all they can do is yell at him?! I mean, I know it takes time to forgive things, but what is it he did to them that they hate him this much? Because of money? Well, problem solved. What else? He ruined his own life? His own health? Then maybe they should have helped him, not with money, but with actual medical help. Now that he's there and simply wants to try and make amends, they won't even listen, eventhough you would normally assume he may have gone through some kind of rehab since the last time they saw him. Then again: Why didn't he tell them he worked for that Corporation? It's big, isn't it? He could tell them, he's not allowed to talk about it, but it's perfectly legal. As far as it sounded as of now, it would be in Kim Hanna's interest too, if no one questioned his new persona. He could even say it's something outside of the country, like businesstrips. Sounds respectable and coming from someone from the Corp. itself, it should sound good enough. But he just stumbles on his words there. Then that other chick, seriously? That takes the cake! Ever seen someone who donated a fucking organ, bitch?! Obviously not, but she still jumped to conclusions without a second thought. He looks WAY too healthy to be doing anything she could suggest and if she once liked him, even if he strayed from the right path, wouldn't she at least try to believe him?! WTF, woman?
It's really shitty. Especially if you consider the fact that they would believe he was actually just gone for a month. Even her, who saw how he vanished (maybe not how he was sapped away, but she found his phone, which he left lying on the streets, while he was just typing something akin to a farewell message, after one huge emotional blow). She didn't try to contact his family, eventhough his brother could contact her easily, after Soel showed up on his doorstep first. She still didn't even report him missing - after one whole month! (Btw. how did his cell end up back in his flat after his glorious return anyway?)
So nobody cared where he went, nobody cared about the fact that he went after an emotional breakdown, nobody cared that he left his fucking phone behind (again: in the middle of typing and ALSO in the middle of a street! Simply abandoned and vanished into thin air) ... what's wrong with these people?
And what I originally tried to get at, just a little point aside from all of this: He looks so healthy and good. So what could it have been? Maybe rehab? A job and rehab at the same time? You would have to think about something like this. Rejecting him this much after all the effort he must have been through (since they think he was only gone for a month), could lead to a serious relapse. What a bunch of inconsiderate dickweeds.
Well, there's a limit when it comes to forgiving and forgetting.
From what I understood, our MC already tried to apologize a bunch of times, to his family especially. It doesn't look like it's the first time he's coming back with presents and a positive vibe either.
Sure, this time he's got himself cleaned up and all but I wouldn't fault them for denying someone who keeps making the same mistakes over and over again.
There's also a limit as to how much you can help a person who doesn't want help, especially when it comes to addiction.
I wouldn't call them saints but, I think, it would be more unreasonable for them to accept him right away.
Trust me, you can tell a person that's addicted to something apart from a healthy one. Not only that, but his apperance changed noticably. Clothing, complexion, muscles, his vibe, everything - he looked like a hobo, even shaved and cleaned up, as you remember from what the silverhaired douche said once. But he doesn't look like that anymore. You can clearly see there's a change here. Even if it's just talking quietly or giving him a chance to say something at all would have been a good start.
Appearance is one thing though. You can dress yourself up as much as you want, but it's not gonna help much when you step in front of people who you're saying sorry to, for the 100th time, for the same thing.
Even if his entire aura is different, his family probably needs more than one surprise visit to see him in a new light. God knows how many times his family accepted him back after he showed up in a simular fashion.
I agree that they should try to be more considerate of him, but I know very well that you can't accept a person like that back into your life with just another "I promise this time is different".
Well, in the end whether they're total dicks or not comes down to the perspective anyway, so I agree to disagree, I guess?
It was more skipped in the manhwa, so I suggest reading the novel but just in case its spoilers (I don’t think so but)
He betrayed them multiple times and manipulated them into giving him money by using their trust. They’re disliking of him is fully justified, he put them in debt and continuously betrayed them and asked for more money. because even if he comes looking different and not addicted, he betrayed their trust so many times that they just can’t believe him. (Because you have to remember, the gambling addiction was over the course of several years) If you don’t like the whole family thing, its a long road ahead, so just a warning
Again: It is NOT about what you are wearing. You can NOT dress up as a healthy person, and people who care even in the slightest - or have ever cared in the slightest - would easily spot the difference.
And it is ALSO not about them seeing him in a new light. As I said, giving someone a chance to prove himself doesn't need much. You don't need to invite him in, you don't need to give him money. Just let him explain himself without throwing death threats at his face.
I must say, the only direct experience I have with this was with my older brother. Used to get into one shitty situation after the other, only ever created problems. We let him have a lot of chances, WITHOUT giving him too much. We only stepped in, when he started behaving really strangely, as in, major alarm. Turned out what surfaced was a case of schizophrenia. It runs in the family, we just didn't know, because different father. I know it's not the same, but I feel kind of reminded of that. Of what would have happened if we had simply abandoned him. And as I mentioned above, they really don't seem to care if he vanishes for a month without a trace.
But yeah, seems like that makes the most sense in this case. Since it's about an inherent way of thinking, that won't change - neither for you nor for me. So I guess, to agree on disagreeing on this one sounds fair enough :)
As a matter of fact, I just started reading the book yesterday evening. It does already seem a lot more realistic how they reacted (even the little problems, like the one with his magically wandering cellphone weren't a thing in the Novel xF). I mean, I still kind of see it as a harsh treatment, but I can understand der demeanor more (even if it's a little crazy how ALL OF THIS fit in the small timeframe he had as a gambler - there weren't that many years, actually, and for a while, he wasn't even addicted, as well as he didn't actually lose a lot either - but well, I guess he was really busy ...). I still think they could give him a chance - in which they simply DON'T give him money, for whatever reason it may be, so that can't happen again. They simply need to put themselves in a safe spot, without real trouble, by making it clear that they won't give anything to him. Giving chances isn't easy, I know that, it's still kind of sad to know they act like that.
And yeah, I kinda expected this to be a long way, from the looks of it. The Manwha also doesn't nearly carry any of this information, just a small fraction, which made their behaviour seem even more shitty to me. It's also not like it makes the whole thing unreadable to me, it just irked me a lot.
I do think you're right that them accepting him right away would be weird but their current behavior isn't right too. But you're point about offering help is just wrong. They didn't do enough. I thought It was obvious, they didn't seem to really want to help him
Just remembered a sentence from his newfound critics on the web, when the old fart blew up the building while they tried to escape. I mean, they don't make it very far, but they still tried. So, even if one might argue he didn't blow the the thing up because he wanted to buy time for himself but instead to finally bury the lad once and for all, that would still mean he killed countless lab rats in there. And it would still be nothing but the ends justify the means. So when they were all going on about Tak killing InnOCeNt Soldiers and alike, what were they thinking? He even let people go when they didn't get in his way. One said, he should have just »killed them quietly«? Haven't laughed so hard in a while. So they do still understand how all of this came to happen, but they kind of forgot their parents, who have protected them bitches for YEARS with their power and hid them from him behind the military, or how did that phrase come to exist? Like, if you protect someone, you gotta be prepared to die. If you protect a piece of shit, that is fine if it's your job, but they didn't stand a chance in the first place, so the people who made them stand in his way are obviously at fault. They knew they were nothing but meat shields and so they died - as meat shields.
I fucking love this series, but don't y'all forget a tiny little detail? It's what everyone is getting their head steamin over in these new chapters: Where did he get his powers from?
Of course we know he got them from the sword that landed on his rooftop, but I kinda doubt it just fell off a plane or something. And what was with that imagery at the beginning, this memory-like vision of a medieval war with demonic looking monsters? And what's with the »Irregular Squad«-thingy at the end of each chapter - just a page from the scanlation-team or actually part of the story somehow? There must be more. I enjoy revenge as much as the next guy, but this one came with a little more than that, so I'm still wondering what that was all about. Can't wait to see. I mean, I want him to kill them bitches, but I also want information on that fantasy-part.
I'm still waiting to find out. I mean, it's aliens or a fantasy element, but that sword came fromo someone.
I actually came here for some forgettable vampire-yaoi-indulgence, but I found a very deep, multi-layered story worth more than just a quick read.
When he actually questioned that he might already know he's a male, as if it wasn't obvious, I was like: Yeah, I might be saying too much, but I think there's at least a 60 % chance of him knowing, seeing as he admitted to the doctor that you've been doing it every night until dawn since you came to the palace. But I'm just guessing here. Or in other words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43od7V8RS08
Pfft-
sorry i mean to downvote but my finger is slipped :v
AAHHHH I REPLY TO THE WRONG COMMENT
HOW TO DELETE REPLY??
HALP
Hahahaha to much mistakes
Do orgasms make him angry or something?
That’s what I was thinking