Haereader

The novel is actually pretty good. Translation is fine for the most part. The only thing that will make me drop the novel is the inconsistency of the martial realms. It's so bad. For example, "Constable Wu Qian was at the Body Refining Stage, while most of the rest were at the Blood Refining Stage, with only a few at the Body Refining Stage." "It should be known that a Panic Level Demon, even the weakest, possessed cultivation at the Body Refining Stage, and some even possibly reached the Blood Refining Stage -- they were not something a first-rank Metropolitan Procurator from the Jing Tian Department could contend with." If you've read the first chapter of the novel then you'll know that the realms are completely wrong. It's only 9 chapters in and its this bad already.

I’m at chapter 29 so far, and the story has been pretty boring and generic up to this point. The MC starts off renting a house in a market and farming in the available space to take advantage of his golden finger. Naturally, as time goes on, he becomes richer and upgrades to a better house with more farming space. So far, his powers aren’t shown to be overly OP, and he tries to keep a low profile. For example, he avoids risky things like exploring treasure-filled ruins or hunting demon beasts. Instead, he’s content with patiently planting seeds and harvesting them, knowing that he’ll eventually become powerful if he stays consistent. The MC also doesn’t come across as particularly overpowered in terms of cultivation. In fact, it seems like he might have trash talent, considering that over a year of cultivating with his plants hasn’t noticeably improved his progress. Then again, it’s unclear whether slow progress like this is normal since the author doesn’t clarify whether it’s standard to cultivate for so long with minimal results. As for the translation, it’s passable—not bad enough to make me drop the novel, but nothing exceptional either. Overall, I’d give this a 3.5/5. It’s a decent read if you’ve got nothing else to dive into, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

It’s just another overused concept that’s been done countless times. There’s nothing unique or of higher quality here. The MC gets a game-like power that essentially turns his life into a game simulator. He can see the HP of beings, collect loot drops, and easily grow stronger. For instance, he can kill mutated zombies, obtain a core from them, and presumably use it to power up. The novel itself is bland and completely predictable. Of course, the beginning of the story starts slow, with the MC being weak. Then, as the story progresses, zombies inevitably turn into "super zombies," and humans develop superhuman powers. Power levels will keep escalating, eventually becoming indistinguishable from your typical xianxia cultivation novel. The zombie aspect will gradually fade away as these so-called zombies gain intelligence and the ability to communicate. At that point, you’ll start wondering, “Are these even zombies anymore?” The answer, of course, is no—they’re just humans with superpowers labeled as zombies. This type of plot has been done to death. Oh, and naturally, the MC gets paired with a beautiful widow who lost her husband during the virus outbreak. She immediately starts relying on him, and it’s painfully obvious that they’ll end up having a relationship (and probably sleeping together). Realistically, why even introduce her less than 10 chapters into the story if not for that purpose? It’s just so predictable. Overall, it’s a boring and unimaginative novel that starts with a zombie concept but gradually morphs into a superhero vs. super-zombie story. There’s no originality or excitement to be found here.

It’s actually a pretty good read as of chapter 80. I wouldn’t classify this as slice of life but more as a drama, since the typical idea of slice of life revolves around mundane daily life with little to no plot or character development. This also doesn’t feel like a josei novel, as it’s clearly marketed more toward men than women. Other than the fact that the MC takes care of his wife and daughter, there’s really nothing about it that screams josei. The novel itself is quite unique and enjoyable. We get to watch the MC gradually become rich and powerful through his information system. It’s not a case of getting insanely wealthy overnight—his fortune builds up slowly and steadily. So far, by chapter 80, the MC has earned around 25+ million yuan (about 3.5 million USD). One refreshing aspect is that there’s very little, if any, face-slapping. Instead, the story focuses on wholesome interactions, which is a nice change of pace. The beginning is a bit slow, but things start picking up around chapter 60. So far, there hasn’t been any major threat to the MC, but there’s foreshadowing that trouble is on the horizon. It also seems like the MC might soon establish his “Abyss Organization” after encountering a significant threat, which should be exciting. The idea of the MC becoming a mysterious figure with access to nearly impossible-to-obtain information is pretty intriguing. The characters are also well-written—they’re not just “good” or “bad”; they actually feel like real people. Overall, I’d rate the novel a 7.5/10 and the translation an 8/10. There are some minor grammar mistakes here and there, but nothing serious enough to ruin the experience or cause confusion (like pronoun errors).

It’s an okay novel overall. The translation isn’t bad, but it’s not the best either. At least there’s no constant switching of pronouns, which is a relief. The most annoying thing, however, is the stupid plot holes. For example, the MC has an overpowered ability that allows him to enslave beings weaker than him, yet he rarely ever uses it. The only time he actually used this ability was on a wealthy tycoon, just so he could get more pigs to eat. Anytime the MC needs to extract information or control someone weaker than him, he completely ignores his enslavement power. It’s incredibly frustrating. There are more plot holes like this, but you get the idea—the MC has OP powers but never uses them to their full potential. Another issue is how the story drags later on. Around chapter 200+, most of the chapters are just the MC repeatedly opening rewards, and these sequences drag on for 2-3 chapters each time. It feels like the author is deliberately padding the word count at this point.

Honestly, I’m at chapter 130 right now, and I’m pretty bored with this novel. If you thought it was going to primarily focus on the tree MC, you’d be wrong. It was like that in the beginning—up until chapters 1-70—but then the story introduced more MCs. There are about 3-4 main characters now, and the narrative constantly switches between the tree MC, a little boy MC, another little boy MC, and a little girl MC. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if the tree MC is actually just a side character—basically the "grandpa in the ring" trope for the three kid MCs. Oh, and all these so-called heavenly pride geniuses? They’re hilariously just little kids who are somehow wandering the world and doing all this crazy stuff. I can’t take it seriously. It might have made sense if they were teenagers, but no—they’re actual little boys and girls. And in typical fashion for these types of novels, their age doesn’t matter at all. They don’t act like kids their age should. If you hadn’t told me how old they were, I would’ve never guessed they were children. The same goes for the adults or old guys in this novel—they’re just as flat and unrealistic. What I’m trying to say is that the characters are extremely two-dimensional. None of them feel believable. Oh yeah, the translation doesn’t help either. It’s pretty bad at times. Names are horribly translated, which makes it feel like new characters are randomly introduced out of nowhere. This really messes with the flow of the story. It’s even worse because all these characters are introduced with their full Chinese names, and the translator keeps it that way, making it hard to keep track of who’s who. Anyway, this novel bored me to death and hurt my brain by chapter 130. I came here for the tree MC, but now I’m stuck reading about three little kids going on adventures, with only the occasional update about the tree MC… BORING.

At least it’s readable. It’s not exactly machine-translated; it’s more like the pronouns occasionally get mixed up. There are also some annoying moments where the author or translator repeats certain points unnecessarily. Now, let’s move on to the plot. It’s basically about the MC fighting evil beings and protecting ordinary people—that’s the gist of it. The pacing is fast, and the MC becomes powerful very quickly. However, it’s unclear whether he’s a martial artist or a cultivator because the author or translator keeps switching between the two terms. Apparently, they’re supposed to be different, but it’s not well-explained. Realms are introduced in the story, but they’re poorly defined. It’s hard to tell whether this is due to the translation or the author’s writing, but sometimes a new realm is just suddenly mentioned out of nowhere, without any prior context. This lack of a defined power scale makes things confusing. The MC is written to be “low-key,” but his actions don’t match that description. At least he doesn’t go around taunting young masters or slapping their ancestors. Also, there’s no romance or harem (so far), which is a plus. That said, I dropped the novel because of the absurd twists the author kept pulling out of nowhere. For example, the MC can apparently create any technique he wants using his so-called “sword intent,” as long as he has enough points. It’s ridiculously overpowered because the MC doesn’t actually have to work for it—he just gets the techniques handed to him. There’s no limit to what he can create, aside from the points system. Overall, it’s decent as a wish-fulfillment story without the harem trope, but if you’re looking for solid storytelling, this one isn’t it. In terms of enjoyability, I’d rate it a 7.5/10 up until chapter 40. After chapter 40, it drops to a 5.5/10 because the MC starts creating a ton of overpowered techniques, making him the strongest person in his area in less than 60 chapters. The pacing is great if you enjoy fast power progression, but beyond that, it’s hard to take seriously.

The plot and writing are really generic. This is just a bad cultivation novel pretending to be a clan-building story with an overpowered main character. The dialogue is the cringiest part—there’s so much filler and pointless banter. The author dedicates a third of each chapter to crowd reactions, with random characters gasping, exclaiming, doubting, or sharing irrelevant opinions. The story is so predictable that I can skip entire paragraphs and still follow along without missing anything. Plus, the author constantly pads the word count by repeating sentences later on. The only redeeming factor is that the main character is overpowered.

The best way to describe this novel is bland. It started off interesting, but once the main character reaches the college arc (around chapters 100-200+), it turns into a typical young master face-slapping story. The MC is low-key for no apparent reason, despite not being particularly strong or even portrayed as OP. He just comes across as a frog in a well. The pacing is painfully slow. The first major plot point that was foreshadowed still hasn’t happened after 200 chapters—nothing significant happens in those first 200 chapters. Instead, we're stuck in a dull, generic school setting. There's also a ton of filler with random side characters endlessly yapping back and forth. Overall, the novel had potential, but the author leans too heavily on generic tropes to move the "plot" along. I kept reading, hoping it would get more interesting, but it’s so predictable that I can skip entire sections of dialogue and still understand what’s going on.

The novel had potential, but I decided to stop reading. It’s well-written, but just not my style. For a simulation novel, the pacing feels too slow. I also really disliked how the main character got nerfed (cursed) right from the beginning. Not only did he lose 90% of his power, but he also spawned in a jail cell specifically designed to imprison immortals. I usually can’t stand tropes like this because the nerf tends to drag on for ages, and the whole plot often revolves around it. For example, the main character might get cursed or poisoned and then spend the story trying to cure themselves. That trope is overdone and honestly pretty irritating. It’s also a bit strange to see English names when the setting feels distinctly inspired by China or another Asian country. Anyway, that’s my take and a little rant. But don’t let it stop you from giving this novel a shot—it’s actually pretty decent. I just didn’t feel like reading it because I’m so tired of those specific tropes. Maybe I’ll come back to it when I’m in the mood or looking for something to pass the time.