Title: The World After the Fall Vol. 8
Author: singNsong (Original Story), S-Cynan (Adaption), Undead Gamja
Publisher: Ize Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 312
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: November 19, 2024
The Story
With the conclusion of the Recovery Palace raid, it’s time to focus on the journey to the Abyss; however, before we head out, Jaewhon has a conversation with Sirwen who wants to know what he saw after the eighth gate. He tells her that it was her Godfather, Mulak’s, memories. She doesn’t believe him so he recites what he knows. This prompts Sirwen to bring him back to her lab where she constructs a device that allows her to enter Jaewhon’s mind and search his memories, hoping she can recover the fragments herself. Just when she is about to, she’s pulled into a parallel version of Earth.
There, she must find a guide to escape; however, when she is deemed an irregularity of the world, it tries to purge her. She is saved by the guide who seems a bit familiar to her. Once she figures it out, she’s able to trust him as they await the opening of the gate, which is random. When it finally opens, those who attacked them before converge as they feel the gate is an irregularity and have come to destroy it.
By the time she makes it out, Jaewhon and the others have already made it to the edge of the Abyss to a place called the Factory where all of the horned beasts are created. They are greeted by just that… lots of horned beasts. The three managers of the factory step out; however, they are not there to fight. They are there to bring everyone before the Head Factory Manager who gives us an explanation of Gods and how they rule over the Abyss much like the Masters rule over the Great Realm. The Gods answer to Big Brother, the one who governs them all; however, Eniac, the Head Manager, cannot grant them entry to the Abyss, which can only come from the Sovereign Catastrophe and he’s upset with Jaewhon for killing his most-prized pet.
Jaewhon doesn’t care and says he’s going to meet Catastrophe; however, as he does, the Masters who are upset over their defeat arrive in Chaos and look to stop Jaewhon before anything can happen!
Characters
A lot of new characters were introduced, including several of the Masters; however, the one that the volume focused heavily on was Hun Samyeong, The Dark Phantom Commander. He is your typical trope character where he is incredibly powerful but that power has made him overconfident and quite full of himself. As such, he loves to bully those around him and does not forgive the weak. Raika, the Cowardly Master, is made a prime example of Hun’s influence… all over a teacup (It’s not a teacup!)
Next, we have the three factory managers, Ias, Edsac, and Johniac. While they are 10-horned beasts in their own right, they seem to favor discussion; however, in Ias’ case, she would much rather fight showing how she can be a bit hot-tempered. Johniac is a bit on the childish side (and size) and can only speak in one or two words at a time. Edsac leads them and is the one who brings Jaewhon before the head manager and seems the most level-headed of the three.
Eniac, the Head Manager, is wise with his wisdom and is quite caring because he does take the time to explain things to Jaewhon about the Abyss and Gods, and through him, we learn something new about Jaewhon as well. You could tell that Eniac was doing everything he could to avoid a confrontation; however, it almost came to blows, and Eniac was prepared to fight showing that he will do whatever is necessary to preserve the entrance to the Abyss.
Next, we have Catastrophe, the Sovereign and Gatekeeper of The Abyss. He is aware of how powerful he is as his mere voice makes Jaewhon feel as if he could be torn to shreds at any moment. Despite being enraged at losing his pet to Jaewhon, he is level-headed enough to hear him out when he wants to make a deal. It’ll be interesting to see what his response is!
With the new characters out of the way, we get a little development with Chunghuh… mainly the truth about what happened on the first trip to the Abyss several hundred years ago and why he became known as the Doctor of Despair. While it wasn’t a lot of information, it was enough to tie up some loose ends with his character!
Sirwen received a bit of development as well as she chased down Mulak’s memories. Not much came of it but through her, we did get some more pieces to the puzzle about the Abyss, where Mulak was headed, and what could have possibly happened to him. More pieces are needed but this was a nice start! Also, because of Mulak’s memories, we learned how Sirwen was born! That was pretty interesting!
Final Thoughts
The Abyss arc has started and things are already off to a hot and heavy start! I liked how this arc’s “preface” was handled by diving into Mulak’s memories. Plus, that gave us a nice little side arc with a visit to the Earth that’s not Earth, much like the teacup isn’t a teacup. I noticed that was a recurring theme throughout the volume. Not sure if it was just a couple of similar plot points or a seed that was planted to condition us to a bigger reveal but it was pretty neat to see how it was used. Perhaps the system is not a system and that’s how we are supposed to think of it as? We’ll see.
The cast of characters grew; however, one thing that this series does is rollercoaster their roster. Meaning we get a handful of characters that stick around for an arc and then they either die or disappear and we won’t see them again. The Masters and the Factory Managers are serving as this arc’s roster so once the Masters are defeated (come on, it’s pretty obvious at this point) and Jaewhon enters the Abyss, they will all be forgotten and we’ll be introduced to another cast of characters (most likely the Gods of the Abyss).
I’m fine with this as it makes each arc seem unique unto itself. The only downside is that the overall cast seems extremely cumbersome to remember but the beauty of sectioning off the cast to different arcs is that you don’t truly need to remember them. Not sure if that makes the characters more or less meaningful, though but it is an interesting approach.
Nevertheless, we have a deal to close and a fight to win in Volume 9! I have a feeling this volume is going to be more action than dialogue! Bring it on!
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This item was provided for review by Ize Press
