This one might be a bit weird and disjointed. And spoilers for the end parts of ORV. I just can't stop thinking and talking about this novel.
I wanna talk about "The end of scenarios", The "Final wall"
Isn't it interesting (devastating) that the true end of this story, couldn't be reached without "characters" that KDJ ensured the existence of, and didn't exist in TWSA.
In TWSA there were 2 attempts that actually reached this end. 999th, and 1863rd. Both ensured the continued existence of the cyclical nature of this universe, by becoming next parts of this world. Through extra means, they get their reward (and curse from a human emotion POV), becoming important enough to have a big role in the Star Stream. 999th become Outer Gods and calamities that exist outside the scenarios and can interact and manipulate the future outcomes. 1863rd does as well, though he maintains more sanity, so he's never reduced to a calamity.
Neither of them could break through "The Final Wall". To do that, you need to have the 5 pieces necessary.
And KDJ gathered them through his genuine connections outside of TWSA. The wall dividing good and evil - Jung Heewon for good, and Lee Gilyoung for evil. (the people he saved and brought with him). The wall of Samsara - Yoo Sangah (his coworker. his Best Friend. The person who knows him best) The wall of Communication - Jang Hayoung. (his one contribution and creation in TWSA.) The 4th wall - Kim Dokja himself.
The underrated aspect of ORV, that gets lost because of the epilogue and whirlwind of emotions that come during and after, is that KDJ would be just as doomed as YJH in TWSA, if he wasn't the person he was. Not the reader, not the TWSA fan. Just Kim Dokja as a person. Kind, and empathetic (though he would deny it). Who wanted to help the author as a person during their slump and bad days, so bad, that he suggested a character and new direction, creating Jang Hayoung (replacing YJH for a while, unthinkable for a dedicated reader). Who befriended Yoo Sangah and chatted with her, despite feeling inadequate(his best friend, a quest buddy from the same company). Who saved Lee Gilyoung on the train (hypocrisy, he says) and Jung Heewon at Chungmuro (a fellow victim. So much like him and his mother). They didn't exist in the original author's novel. Either killed early, non-existent because of being outside the novel, or not important enough in TWSA. And they weren't really necessary for Kim Dokja. He saved them cause that's who he was. A friend. A worried reader. An empathetic victim. And it was repaid by allowing him to break the cycle of TWSA and The Final Wall.
(This isn't a knock against 999th and 1863rd, who got doomed by the narrative, or the author, who literally wrote what happens [Just as KDJ is not at fault for reading the novel, neither is The Author for writing what happened from their memories of the novel] it just is what it is.) I honestly want to talk about the pieces of the wall and their role in breaking the Final Wall. But that's gonna be for another, separate talk.
