The Gamer

[Anteros]

Maybe? Eventually? Who knows, writer seems to be kind of all over the place in what directions he wants the powers to go.

Anyone else getting some kind of plot whiplash? Feels a bit like he's running all over the place, tying up random loose ends for no reason.

It's probably for the best. It's way more interesting when we're focusing on the lighthearted "gamer in the real world" stuff. Most of the characters and plotlines have been pretty boring so far.

[Lethologica]

It's probably for the best. It's way more interesting when we're focusing on the lighthearted "gamer in the real world" stuff. Most of the characters and plotlines have been pretty boring so far.

Good luck getting back there. We're primed for a headlong dash out of the real world into the world of the abyss.

[Pronounceable]

I dunno where plot is going but the class rep had better be in it in large amounts. She's the best secondary character we've been introduced, like a mirror of our protag except still a real person due to not having Gamer Mind. It'll be a criminal offense to sweep her under the rug for random high level epic showdown crap.

Also they should have another dating sim parody sometime. There's enough characters now, maybe conquer will not fail this time*.

(*It totally will.)

[Anteros]

I dunno where plot is going but the class rep had better be in it in large amounts. She's the best secondary character we've been introduced, like a mirror of our protag except still a real person due to not having Gamer Mind. It'll be a criminal offense to sweep her under the rug for random high level epic showdown crap.

Also they should have another dating sim parody sometime. There's enough characters now, maybe conquer will not fail this time*.

(*It totally will.)

Seriously? I consider her to be (by far) the least interesting character in a cast of not very interesting characters. She's there for no reason except to add to the main character's harem.

[Pronounceable]

She's there to give a nonmurderhobo perspective on Abyss stuff, a thing that nobody has never had before. Also JH trying to steer her away from becoming him is amusing.

[Anteros]

This is just my personal opinion, but I feel that perspective is provided by the reader. You don't need a character to tell you "wow this is really strange!" every 3 pages. Especially when they serve no other purpose.

Still, if you like the character more power to you. Tastes vary and all that. I just hate the creepy harem fantasy that most manga seem to devolve into.

[eschmenk]

It seems as if quite a few of the characters keep saying "That's really strange" or "You're really strange" over and over again. At least Yoo-Jin comes from a different perspective.

I don't understand why you would think that she was so much worse than Sung-Ah, for example.

[Anteros]

It seems as if quite a few of the characters keep saying "That's really strange" or "You're really strange" over and over again. At least Yoo-Jin comes from a different perspective.

I don't understand why you would think that she was so much worse than Sung-Ah, for example.

Two reasons. First, Sung-Ah is actually plot relevant. In fact she's central to the plot. She doesn't exist for the sole purpose of expanding the harem. She also doesn't have a ton of screen time devoted just to her pointless reactions like we've had multiple chapters in a row of with the Class President girl.

Second, she was introduced much earlier. I would probably like the President if she came along earlier, but at this point we don't really need another character telling us how weird and special the protagonist is constantly. We have like 7 of those already, but at least the others all serve some plot purpose outside of stroking Jee-Han's ego.

[eschmenk]

Two reasons. First, Sung-Ah is actually plot relevant. In fact she's central to the plot.

She is? That wasn't my impression. As far as I know, she is just raising a cat and trying to integrate into society and stroking Jee-Han's ego. Her relationship with Jee-Han was the one that came across as the most creepy to me, actually.

I think Sae-Young is the harem member most likely to become plot-relevant next. If not her, then Shi-Yun. Eventually, it might come back around to Sung-Ah, but I don't remember anything to indicate that would happen soon.

[Anteros]

What are you talking about? We literally had a giant arc about the black soul blahblahblah. It was by far the closest thing to an actual plot line in the entire story.

I also don't see how their relationship is remotely creepy. He asked her on a date, and they held hands for a bit until her dad scared him off. That's pretty tame compared to the pedo witch or Yoo "I barely know you but I want to sleep in your bed" Jin.

[eschmenk]

What are you talking about? We literally had a giant arc about the black soul blahblahblah. It was by far the closest thing to an actual plot line in the entire story.

Note that you used past tense. Yes, there was an arc in which Sung-Ah served as a MacGuffin. That ended with her father acknowledging a debt to Jee-Han, but now that that's established, Sung-Ah doesn't seem to have an particular purpose plot-wise. You seem to have conflated a relatively short arc with the main plot.

Granted, the arc that revolved around Yoo-Jin was a simpler arc, but at least Yoo-Jin was more of a participant in her arc than Sung-Ah was in the one that revolved around her. Another nice thing about Yoo-Jin's arc was that Jee-Han was showing some maturity by trying to take Yoo-Jin under his wing; that's something that was missing from the previous arc.

I also don't see how their relationship is remotely creepy. He asked her on a date, and they held hands for a bit until her dad scared him off. That's pretty tame compared to the pedo witch or Yoo "I barely know you but I want to sleep in your bed" Jin.

In Chapter 93 she was saying that she owed him for her life and that she would stay by his side in order to repay him. That was what came across as creepy to me. Then as part of the repayment she took him to her house. It was completely innocent; she was too naive to know it could be taken any other way, but having her act like such an innocent waif who felt so in debt seemed creepy to me. Yoo-Jin at least got Jee-Han to promise to not take advantage of her before she started trusting him so much.

[Anteros]

Note that you used past tense. Yes, there was an arc in which Sung-Ah served as a MacGuffin. That ended with her father acknowledging a debt to Jee-Han, but now that that's established, Sung-Ah doesn't seem to have an particular purpose plot-wise. You seem to have conflated a relatively short arc with the main plot.

Assuming it never comes back, the black soul arc lasted for 86 chapters out of a manga that has a little more than 100 total. It's also kinda silly to assume it won't come back.

Granted, the arc that revolved around Yoo-Jin was a simpler arc, but at least Yoo-Jin was more of a participant in her arc than Sung-Ah was in the one that revolved around her.

That's because harem authors tend to treat women as objects to be collected for one's harem rather than actual people. At least it was less blatant in her arc than Yoo-Jin's. Yoo-Jin might be more of a participant, but her only actual role is to be protected by the protagonist and gush over how amazing he is. That's not a good character.

Another nice thing about Yoo-Jin's arc was that Jee-Han was showing some maturity by trying to take Yoo-Jin under his wing; that's something that was missing from the previous arc.

Literally the entirety of that arc was Jee-Han wanting to care for, and help her. She just wasn't entirely dependent on him for support, which I would argue is better.

In Chapter 93 she was saying that she owed him for her life and that she would stay by his side in order to repay him. That was what came across as creepy to me. Then as part of the repayment she took him to her house. It was completely innocent; she was too naive to know it could be taken any other way, but having her act like such an innocent waif who felt so in debt seemed creepy to me. Yoo-Jin at least got Jee-Han to promise to not take advantage of her before she started trusting him so much.

She made him promise, and then we follow it up with chapters full of her climbing on top of him in bed, and on her knees with her head in front of his crotch. The subplot has "this girl is vulnerable, so let's put her in a compromising situation" all over it. It's creepy.

This is actually one of the reasons I hate the harem trope so much. That fact that we even have to argue about which relationship is the least creepy is a bad sign.

[Aquillion]

She made him promise, and then we follow it up with chapters full of her climbing on top of him in bed, and on her knees with her head in front of his crotch. The subplot has "this girl is vulnerable, so let's put her in a compromising situation" all over it. It's creepy.

This is actually one of the reasons I hate the harem trope so much. That fact that we even have to argue about which relationship is the least creepy is a bad sign.

Someone should make The Gamer for dating sims, but focus on deconstructing what's creepy about a lot of them.

(I suppose The World God Only Knows sort of counts, but it vacillated between deconstructing things and playing them straight, and last I saw it was just playing it straight.)

[eschmenk]

She made him promise, and then we follow it up with chapters full of her climbing on top of him in bed, and on her knees with her head in front of his crotch. The subplot has "this girl is vulnerable, so let's put her in a compromising situation" all over it. It's creepy.

This is actually one of the reasons I hate the harem trope so much. That fact that we even have to argue about which relationship is the least creepy is a bad sign.

I don't know why you thought that we had to argue. I never said that you shouldn't think Yoo-Jin's scenes were creepy. You just acted as though it was unreasonable for Sung-Ah's scenes to seem creepy to me, so I told you why they did. It's just an personal reaction. It's not something to argue about.

Having said that, I would agree that the fact that we both ran into scenes that we thought were creepy is a bad sign.

[Dragoa]

New Chapter!

Intrigue! Drama! And...a break?

This kind of seems out of nowhere, they haven't really wrapped up anything, so I'm not really sure why this qualifies as a full part(especially compared with the epic of part 1).

That said, Harem King makes an appearance, and he does seem to have some soft spot for Jee-Han, and I think they look similar? At least agewise.

[eschmenk]

I think this is may be something like the early foreshadowing in Chapter 86. In that case, nothing seemed to come out of it for several chapters.

I also agree that the Harem King and Jee-Han look very much alike. I don't know if they are supposed to, though. Except for his eyeglasses, Honsaedorae also looked very similar.

[Olinser]

New Chapter!

Intrigue! Drama! And...a break?

This kind of seems out of nowhere, they haven't really wrapped up anything, so I'm not really sure why this qualifies as a full part(especially compared with the epic of part 1).

That said, Harem King makes an appearance, and he does seem to have some soft spot for Jee-Han, and I think they look similar? At least agewise.

What? Everything was wrapped up. It wasn't really as epic as before, but Jee-Han beat the guy responsible for the Labyrinth, presumably removing it for good, and class president is rescued. What else is there for him to do now?

This is a good time for a break, I assume after the break there's going to be another bit of time skip for Jee-han to train and level up in his new 'guild'.

[Dragoa]

What? Everything was wrapped up. It wasn't really as epic as before, but Jee-Han beat the guy responsible for the Labyrinth, presumably removing it for good, and class president is rescued. What else is there for him to do now?

This is a good time for a break, I assume after the break there's going to be another bit of time skip for Jee-han to train and level up in his new 'guild'.

Did he defeat the guy who was responsible for the Labyrinth? I thought it was a group of people behind it, and he just defeated someone who was capturing the class president for her mana, not solving the issue of the evil mobile app that sucks people in.

[eschmenk]

Did he defeat the guy who was responsible for the Labyrinth? I thought it was a group of people behind it, and he just defeated someone who was capturing the class president for her mana, not solving the issue of the evil mobile app that sucks people in.

"Honsaedorae" seemed to be the leader of the group. Chunbumoon got him and freed everyone that he had kidnapped. Yoo-Jin was going to live at Chunbumoon's compound until it was safe for her to go back home. I think Chunbumoon was still working to shut everything down, but it was out of Jee-Han's hands, so it was effectively over as far as he was concerned.

[Olinser]

"Honsaedorae" seemed to be the leader of the group. Chunbumoon got him and freed everyone that he had kidnapped. Yoo-Jin was going to live at Chunbumoon's compound until it was safe for her to go back home. I think Chunbumoon was still working to shut everything down, but it was out of Jee-Han's hands, so it was effectively over as far as he was concerned.

Yes, Honsaedorae was the one who came up with the idea for the Labyrinth in the first place, and was clearly the one running that.

Sure he was working with/for other people, but I assume they are going to be revealed in future seasons.

[Olinser]

All right, so finally the new chapter is due out next week.

Anybody care to make some predictions/hopes for the upcoming season?

It looks like the Company is definitely pissed at Jee-Han, I'm thinking that we're going to see a conflict between the Company and the Irregular Magician/Harem King with Jee-Han as just a pawn.

I'm also kind of hoping that there's a fight involving both Jee-Han and Sun-Il that really showcases how far above Sun-Il Jee-han is at this point.

[Dragoa]

Hoping we get to see the Irregular Magician flex his might a little. Curious to see what sort of power he has if he's able to compel people to do things, when someone like the Black Summoner and his craziness was considered risky but acceptable.

Also thinking the...head family(thinking I'm going to need to do a refresh read before next week...) will show up given how we got a bit of a back story to them, and they've mostly been incognito so far.

[Lethologica]

Predictions? More grinding. Dan-Eui-Moon shows its face. Harem King does a thing. Maybe some shenanigans with Jee-Han being a clan member, though one wonders what Jee-Han would do as a clan member that he isn't already doing.

[Anteros]

I didn't even realize this was on break. I just kinda forgot it existed when people stopped posting in the thread.

[Olinser]

I didn't even realize this was on break. I just kinda forgot it existed when people stopped posting in the thread.

Oh yeah, took a 2 month break. Chapters are due to restart next Thursday.

[Aquillion]

Oh, I forgot to mention! The writer of this comic has two other comics (one of which is pretty similar) with different artists; I assume the delay for this comic is due to the artist.

Life Howling is a bit similar, and Wizardly Tower is him just seeing how ridiculously overpowered of a protagonist he can get away with.

[Ibrinar]

*tries some chapters of both* Yeah that reinforces my opinion that the author isn't a particularly good author. Though I think I would rate life howling higher than the gamer.

[Olinser]

Well, new chapter finally out after the break!

Spoiler: undefined

Show

Initially just filler talking about battle experience.

Then the translation I read must be really crappy because when he's talking about training his summoning skill he literally says, "So to train my elemental spirit technique I have to train my elemental spirit technique!"

Anyway, he sits down and evolves the skill, and now Gnome is evolving!

[Anteros]

I'm probably going to let him build up a few chapters before I check it out again.

[Dragoa]

Pretty sure I read the same one, and ya it was definitely weird. I'm still not sure what was going on with gnome(kind of seems like he needed to attune himself with the ground or something?), or why they switched to a more literal translation, but yay some progression there.