Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Volumes 2 and 3 Review

After having supported the release of the web novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (TWSA for short), Dokja’s life is turned upside down when his world transforms into the one from the dystopian novel. Now as a reader, he needs to survive and reach the end.

The novel is divided into scenarios where humans need to participate and complete the mission assigned to them if they want a chance to survive. Dokja is able to clear the first scenario with a group of people: his co-workers Sangah and Myeongoh, military officer Hyeinseong and a kid, Gilyeong. But on their way to the second scenario, Dokja encounters the protagonist of TWSA, Junghyeok Yu! One would expect that the protagonist—the hero—would be virtuous and willing to save every person in need that he encounters… it’s not true for Junghyeok. In fact, his title of regressor identifies him as a person who went back in time to overcome the scenarios, over and over again! As the memories remain, he’s slowly lost his humanity, so he doesn’t hesitate to get rid of people in his way, people like Dokja.

Thankfully, Dokja knows how to survive against Junghyeok and the monsters, including the goblin. Due to his knowledge of the events in the novel, Dokja can develop his skills much faster, and he ends up being recognised by the constellations and the goblin itself. It’s now easy for him to strike up a deal with the goblin in exchange for some privileges that will help him survive the upcoming scenarios.

Defeating the odds once again, Dokja is ready to move on to the next scenario, but when he encounters a human in need of help, he doesn’t hesitate to rescue her. Dokja’s character is complex; he’s not a hero but neither is he a villain. He uses people who can be of help to him and his decisions are based on survival.

But this is what happens with Huiwon, who with a little push turns out to become a formidable ally. And Dokja will need strong allies if he wants to survive the upcoming scenarios and Junghyeok himself.

We are still at the beginning of Dokja’s journey. The author is laying the foundations of his story; he finally meets TSWA’s hero and is starting to gain allies. However, enemies are also starting to show up. The dystopian world he finds himself in is one where killing has become a necessity, and many humans don’t hesitate to shed blood to start climbing to the top. Coins and power are all that matters to them as that’s what they need to survive, and many of them don’t like how Dokja is not falling under their control. Dokja just wants to do his thing without being either a leader or a follower—although I have suspicions that it won’t take long for him to become the former. The people surrounding him, whether because he already knows them from the novel or thanks to the constellations sponsoring them, are strong and don’t hesitate to fight for him.

While most of the characters are adults, the author does a great job in portraying the reality of how the world changed, which includes the presence of children as well. They too have to fight to survive, and there is no point in leaving them behind in a ‘safe’ place; if they don’t get strong, they die. It’s as simple as that. And the same mentality applies to the belief that women are the weaker sex. Everyone needs to level up.

The illustrations can be slightly gory, and they don’t shy away from showing blood and missing limbs, which I believe clashes against the ‘Teen’ age rating of the series. The illustrator also does a great job in keeping the colour palette in theme with the scenarios—the second scenario happens underground in tube stations, so dark colours are used to represent that.

While Dokja knows everything about the world he finds himself in, the readers are left clueless until Dokja  takes action. Every time something new in regard to the story is mentioned (e.g. constellation, star stream system, etc) the author and illustrator make sure to include a description in the story itself. At the end of the volumes, there is also a glossary that references the words mentioned related to Korean mythology. But there is still a lot the readers don’t know and will need to find out in the next volumes.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint started as a web novel and the anime adaptation was announced at Anime Expo 2024, with its release date still to be confirmed. The manhwa is written by singNsong, illustrated by UMI (REDICE STUTIO) and adapted by Sleepy-C, and it’s published in print format in the English language by Ize Press. Volume 4 is slated for release in September 2024.

Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.