Title: The World After the Fall Vol. 1
Author: singNsong (Original Story), S-Cynan (Adaption), Undead Gamja
Publisher: Ize Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
The Story
The World After the Fall takes place in Seoul, South Korea. Here, massive structures have surfaced and humanity has begun to perish. People are chosen to climb these towers to save humanity. These people are known as Tower Walkers and our story focuses on one named Jaehwan. The party he was in was attempting to climb the tower but things got more and more difficult, as one would expect, the higher they climbed.
Along the way, they came across some jewels known as Resonance Stones, promising them that they would go back in time if used. Believing that they would save the world by altering the future, many took the stones and used them; however, Jaehwan rejected the temptation as did his partner Youhwan. Together, they pressed on until Youhwan became injured in battle. Facing a choice between death or starting over, Youwhan used his Resonance Stone. This left Jaehwan all alone inside the tower, but he continued nevertheless.
Eventually, he became the first human of “World 294” to clear all 100 floors; however, when he was presented with his reward, his new hobby of rejecting anything and everything around him kicked in and he wanted to go beyond Floor 100. Even though it was insisted that this was the final floor and nothing lay beyond, Jaehwan would not take the offer. After rejecting the system, Jaehwan finds himself in a place called Chaos… the true adventure is about to begin!
Characters
There wasn’t much in the way of characters in this series. Whoever was introduced was simply thrown away rather quickly and became nothing more than cannon fodder for the story. However, that seems to change within the final chapter of the book but I will skip over that to avoid spoilers.
That means I’ll be focusing on Jaehwon. Right off the back, he seems like the strong silent type. He rejected every temptation to use the resonance stone and because as such, his doubts were more than just a nagging feeling, they became a skill that he used to push through to the final floor. This would make him seem as if he’s very stubborn and, perhaps, he is… but it’s because he held onto those beliefs that made him a lot wiser than anyone else in this party. Because he sensed something, he had to see it through no matter what, and by doing so, he unraveled the truth about the towers and even accepted what lay beyond.
What isn’t clear is why. Even after learning the truth, he does nothing to accept it, prevent it, or change it. He simply wants to continue on without so much as a plausible reason. Perhaps one will eventually be revealed in due time but it seemed more like a plot device than a meaningful decision on the main character’s part to advance the story. This makes Jaehwon a bit one-dimensional. I hope that changes later on because there really isn’t much to write home about with him. He’s just someone who refused to accept the world around him that knows how to stab with a weapon. I say that because he stabbed over 10 billion times to advance his skills. At least he’s dedicated… you have to give him that.
Final Thoughts
I have to say it was a decent first volume but things just seemed a bit flat. Choosing to continue on despite knowing the truth of the world was rather puzzling. If he had that level of power, one would think he could change things right there and now but he doesn’t. He opts to keep going without saying why. Without giving anything away, the first volume felt as if it took a stereotypical trope of a bad ending, used it as the series introduction and then haphazardly continued it on without much rhyme or reason to.
That would be my only complaint about the series. I did enjoy the action scenes and the artwork was fantastic! Character development is a bit slow but with the new characters introduced at the end of the volume, that looks to change as I’m sure they will begin to open up a bit more around each other… especially since they find themselves in a precarious situation (which I’m sure will easily be overcome… I mean… if Jaehwan can take down raid bosses by himself, some measly clan members shouldn’t even pose a challenge.)
There are plenty of opportunities for this series to get better but as it stands right now, it was just an average experience. We’ll see if it can improve and I really hope it does because it has an interesting premise… it just needed better execution.
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This item was provided for review by Ize Press
