#webnovel recommendations

[yellowcamelia]

This is so funny lol

[eardun]

Some wild thoughts on Baek Saheon’s name and future role in the story (spoilers ahead):

Go Youngeon says his black goat mask is the symbol of a devil.

Kim Soleum calls him an “ideal” Daydream employee because his traits align with their ideology (he’s selfish, does everything for personal gain, climbs over others, etc.).

His surname, Baek (백), matches the first syllable of Baekilmong, 백일몽 (“Daydream Inc.”). The hanja for 백 usually reads as “white” (白).

We all know Daydream Inc. is a pharmaceutical company. Since antiquity, the snake has symbolized pharmacy—coiled around a cup or bowl—and you still see it on storefronts, prescription bags, and professional insignia. There are also “feathered serpents,” which is interesting because, in the Jisan Village arc, Saheon had a feather pinned to his shirt.

Soleum’s test-subject name is 130666, and some fans noticed that if you sum the digits, 1+3+0+6+6+6 = 22 → 2+2 = 4. In Korea and other Asian countries, 4 is considered worse luck than 13 and is associated with death. Soleum’s birthday is also Sept 13th, and 13 → 1+3 = 4!

This is where it gets interesting: in Korean, 4 is 사 (sa), the same syllable in 백사헌 (Baek Saheon). "Sa” is also homophonous with “death.”

Around ch. 220, Soleum stumbles into a bunker of the Church of the Luminous Unknown. Braun oddly comments how there are no goats, sacrifices, or pentagrams (the usual “devil” symbols). Searching for a way out, they discover the bunker is right underneath Jisan Village—right where Saheon's from! The well there also turns out to be a sort of portal between places. Coincidence? I think not!

Saheon is a classic “white/black lotus” or “haraguro” (하라구로) character: nice and polite on the outside, but scheming (sometimes wicked, even) on the inside. Recently, they released official gsgw merch that included the employee orientation notebook with the line that said: “Act as Baekilmong-in, with strict ethics and a sense of social responsibility.” Ironic, isn’t it? Daydream couldn’t be further from ethics and responsibility. But it strangely fits Saheon’s vibe: white and “ethical” on the outside, shady on the inside, being able to easily turn on you at any time.

Saheon also pops up in almost every arc—Manor of the Blind, Mountain Lodge, Tamra, Mermaid’s Tomb (even the current one)!

And a final interesting detail: I saw tweets saying Soleum’s silver ring has a snake pattern. I don’t personally remember this, but in Dark Exploration Records, Soleum’s current ring belonged to an unidentified employee who had been in Segwang High, Tamra, and Segwang City. Could it be Baek Saheon (or his some kind of alternate self)?

I definitely saw more interesting details, but I’ll stop here before this spirals into something huge and I go down the rabbit hole with it, lol. Hope this was fun and gave you some things to think about ☺️

[vantabone]

i made a powerpoint to advertise my latest webnovel love. come read it with me. its genuinely underrated but it deserves a lot more attention... 😔

official novel link!

주연이 되지 못하면 죽습니다 - 리디에만 있는 독점 작품!

주연이 되지 못하면 죽습니다 작품소개: [메인 시나리오 실패: 시나리오 비중이 0.00%에 이를 시, 당신의 존재가 지워집니다.][당신은 ‘엑스트라 등급 - 시민 1001호’입니다. 현재 시나리오 비중 0.02%]생뚱맞게 판타지 왕도물 작품 속으로 떨

[selenedistress]

Two years ago I fell into the very narrow rabbit hole of gender bender webnovels on Scribblehub. Specifically, the very niche subgenre that is basically trans wish-fulfillment is disguise. Stories that use gender bending as a device to tell stories about trans people (mostly trans-femmes) for trans people. Or, to put it more simply, hatching-of-egg stories.

It was a good time. Certainly more fun and cathartic than the awkward phase of looking at infuriatingly bad gender bending manga, having gender feelings that you haven’t quite untangled yet. Completely hypothetical example that, nothing personal here haha.

Anyways, in that time, I found a bunch of good stories for anyone who might be interested. Also, all of these have transfemme protagonists, even if they don’t know that at the beginning. Here we go! I'll start with:

We’re Not So Different, You And I by Elamimax: Three friends find themselves transported in a strange world that blends cyberpunk dystopia with fantasy. Separated, the story is about them trying to find each other again, all the while going through a lot of changes and learning things about themselves. It’s a non-linear story that is in my opinion masterfully told. The prose is evocative and fun and even affecting. The characters go through a lot, and even though I’d say it is light on suspense, it goes heavy with emotions and the way the characters deal with their situation. The non-linear pacing does a great job at delivering a story full of pathos and catharsis. Plus, the world it creates has is concrete enough that I know what it's about, while also being vague enough with details that it can be developed further in a different story if that ever happens. Can’t recommend it more if I could.

[eardun]

Four Pillars of the State concept where Soleum's the president, Choi's the spy chief, Braun's the media magnate, and Baek Saheon's the corporate (snake) head. Each time they meet, Soleum has to juggle between them to avert a crisis.