First off, the art is gorgeous, and I loved the little historically accurate details, like the cones on the concubines’ fingers.
As for the story, it’s clear the author thought it through. There are hints to the plot twists early on, and speaking of twists, there are a lot! The pacing and mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, and I binged it in two days because it was that good.
The FL is strong and clever, definitely not a "genuine idiot" as some have said. She’s always a step ahead of her enemies and works with others, which feels more realistic than stories where the MC devises everything alone. The ML may seem unstable, but his behavior makes sense as you learn more. That said, the villains aren't one-dimensional either, which I appreciated—except for
Baekryun, who just wants to watch the world burn, lol.
Now I want to address some of the previous comments that rate this poorly. TL;DR these commenters need to reread this and actually pay attention because they misunderstood so much lol.
FL loving ML even though he’s cruel, has multiple wives, etc. - The FL literally admits at some point that she doesn’t know why she’s so drawn to him despite this. She constantly comments that his scent gives her “a strange sense of longing”. We learn at the end that this is because she loved him in the first playthrough, and in subsequent playthroughs, he did those things to intentionally to push her away. It’s easier for him to let go of her if she hates him.
ML not making her empress to end the game - The ML does not think he deserves the FL to become empress and stand alongside him. He feels like an idiot for not realizing that the FL truly loved him until he reads her letter at the end of the first play-through. His decision might be the only flaw in the story, but we couldn’t have gotten those plot twists if he immediately made her empress lol
ML confining FL at the end of the first playthrough - The ML has a huge misunderstanding (see previous paragraph) but is obsessed with the FL. In a fit of anger/fear, he decides to confine her. It kinda makes sense that the ML would do this because he’s probably very emotionally unstable from learning that he’s an NPC. Most of his “stupid” actions can probably be attributed to his emotional instability.
ML mentally broke too quickly - The commenter who said this is straight up delulu lol. They expect “some frustration” after “50 years”?!?! The ML broke after around 30 playthroughs, so about 7.5 years, assuming a playthrough lasts 3 months. Plenty of time to have all manners of mental breakdown, medically speaking.
ML took too long to reach end of game - There’s wayyyyy too much unpredictability he needs to account for. As a player, you’re given items and checkpoints to help you reach your desired ending. As an NPC, the ML has very little at his disposal, even though he’s the all-powerful emperor. Even Hang-ah, the game helper, is unpredictable. It took him about 50 tries to get it right, which I find quite reasonable.
ML kills a lot of people for no reason, basically the opposite of what FL stands for - Yes, the ML is a foil for the FL. Completely intentional by the author. Both the ML and FL see the NPCs as just lines of code, but the ML concludes they are disposable whereas the FL forges genuine connections. They eventually reconcile these differences and learn to accept the virtual world as reality—see the epilogue with the history channel explaining the ML’s reign.
MCs have “high school kid problems” - The MCs are children!! Of course children would feel like nothing goes their way. It’s almost expected that they would do something stupid.
I came for the romance (which was cute but not mind-blowing) and stayed for the plot twists and character depth. Overall I highly recommend!
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