First of all, the translator is doing an amazing job with this novel, even as the author twiddles his thumbs and churns out filler after filler. The updates are consistent, but even the rapid releases aren't able to distract you from this story's failures.
Let's descend in order of ratings. The character design is well done- for the main character, that is. It's really endearing to see him grow and steadily exercise more power, considering his *****, pitiful origins. However, his arrogance- or perhaps chuunibyo- is used to awe and inspire those around him, but it most frequently turns into a joke, a poor attempt at comedic relief.
Speaking of chuunibyo, there's a heavy Japanese influence in this novel. There's nothing wrong with that, but directly plagiarizing characters from other anime, such as Saber, One-Punch Man and Hellscythe is a sad substitution for actual character development, and really demonstrates the author's lack of originality, which is further exacerbated by his terrible pacing, the overarching flaw that neuters this story's potential for growth.
I mentioned that I would descend in order of ratings, but I merely gave character design 2 stars. Why is that? That's because the story doesn't consist of only the main character. The main character has a few potential love interests, and anyone caught up on translated releases will be very familiar with them.
Unfortunately, the fatal flaw strikes again. I ask you, readers, after the tower arc, how many of you are still conscious of the supporting characters that were introduced in the first "half" of the novel? Perhaps if you binge read, you might have some semblance of their personalities, but the tower arc, as a means of isolating the elites from the rest of the world, has utterly disconnected the reader from the rest of the world. We're not talking a quick arc either- we're speaking about hundreds of chapters, with maybe 50% of it filler and the author simply bloviating about whatever he wants to extend the word count.
Is it strange to consider character interactions as part of the character design category? Honestly, the interactions are consistent, but of course they would be- the author has simply stole premade characters and dropped them into his story. The characters he designed himself are your typical wuxia cultivators.
He hasn't just stolen characters either. There's an implicit ridiculousness to this story- if you really think about it, you might become dizzy. For example, don't let it bother you that the main character wields Shu's ability from Guilty Crown, as well as something akin to the eyes of death from Tsukihime, as well as Excalibur from Fate, with another recent addition being the Hulk's physical power up. That our mutated chimera of a character is driven by a ***** personality of straightforward foolhardiness of nigh idiocy is no comfort- his transfer to this world might have neglected parts of his brain.
There's not much to say about development- there is practically none after he enters the tower, and what was established before will quickly be forgotten. The author provides random tidbits of history to pad his word count, but instead of explaining the rest of the world besides China, he'll focus on something inconsequential to churn out another filler.
Oh? Did I not mention the origin of the title? Don't worry, you won't see much of the "absolute choice" system anyway- it simply acted as a method to introduce comedic relief, but its output was cringe and a prelude to the author's questionable state of mind- honestly, we should've recognized his insensitivity before reading this far.
The author alludes to the fact that he recognizes his pacing is messed up, personifying himself into his characters and speaking dialogue that's essentially throwing shade at our "impatience". He has deluded both the readers and himself into believing that his chapters of full of substance and vibrant with content, a false sentiment borne of his arrogance. If you read the comments, you'll get the information you need in 1-3 sentences, as opposed to the author's long winded rambling.
Don't have any high hopes for this story- the 4 and 5 star ratings are from an era long past. How can a story reform when the author won't? It is pure idiocy to expect anything from this fool. For the brothers stuck in a limbo of anticipation and then deflation upon seeing a chapter of nonsense, I feel you, and I beseech the newer readers, on the fence- don't read this story.
