Jan 1, 2025
As someone who has read the entire light novel, and who has Reading Power on a scale untold, this series is an absolute masterpiece. The premise is a red herring; the climb of the towers called Nightmare Towers in the beginning is effectively inconsequential, merely serving as a backdrop for the characters in the world. This story is more about finding out and understanding the reason for the existence of the Nightmare Towers, and the nature of the world they live in: The Tree of Imagery.
There are two main power systems: Adapters and Awakeners. An Adapter is someone who uses the System and the mechanics
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therein to gain power; think of this as someone using isekai-type game interfaces to use special skills. Awakeners instead gain power by unlocking knowledge of how the world works through some repetitive action. Effectively, they gain understanding of and reject the System, gaining the power to enforce their own will upon the world itself; though this also comes with the trauma of becoming disillusioned with reality. Many of the mechanics within the world are left largely unexplained, relying on the Reader's intrinsic knowledge of similar concepts (assuming they've read texts that are similar), or on subtext that was delivered throughout the story.
Jaehwan, someone who has become an Awakener while trying to climb Earth's Nightmare Tower, seeks to destroy Big Brother, the nebulously extant being who watches everyone from the top of the Tree of Imagery. Any successes he reaps, any accolades he collects, are all stepping stones on his climb to Big Brother. He exists to bring the world to its fall.
Detractors and fools who are incapable of reading into subtext will reject my claims; they'll call the story convoluted and lame. To them I say that they must simply read closer, or to read other books and come back once they've brushed up on their literacy skills. Morons will insinuate that the main character is boring, emotionless, or uninteresting. I ask them how they'd process losing everyone they've ever cared about because someone viewed you as nothing but a Product to increase their own wealth, if they've ever had a goal that they felt single-mindedly driven to achieve. Others yet will lament that characters are introduced, and then after a time you no longer really see them; isn't that a waste of character development? To them, I ask if they've ever lived in the real world, where human connection comes and goes with the seasons, as people with different goals say goodbye, their journeys leading them down different roads.
This is a deeply philosophical work, a testament to how web novels can serve as a vehicle for commentary. As someone who loves this work so much, I'm inclined to even call it a new age epic. The work serves to subvert, reflect upon, and deconstruct fiction as a genre, and it does so in a way that can go completely over your head if you don't know what you're looking for. Read the manhwa, read the light novel, go over to Omniscient Reader and read that too.
Ouroboros.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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