- #1
I've read very few chapters, so I acknowledge this isn't quite fair to the story, but I would like to express my discontentment nonetheless with a specific aspect of it.The protagonist apparently transmigrates into the body of some ugly fat r*pist bastard with time-stop abilities. In the game the character is from, this "ugly uncle" had r*ped numerous heroines with ease, then promptly disappeared effortlessly when his task was done. Now we are told that the duration of the frozen time depends on your own stamina as the ability itself greatly drains your stamina, with exercising inside of that gray frozen world arrested in time compared to having your whole body laden with weights. However, the protagonist seems to have inherited without any explanation a far weaker version of said ability. You'd assume that s*x is a strenuous activity that takes several minutes (which the fat uncle was shown to be capable of even with his fat and weak body that had never seen exercise). And yet, our protagonist, even after immediately shifting to a strict and intense regimen of physical training and becoming far more physically fit, is left drained after defeating seven wolves attacking together while using his abilities. Not only should the duration of his ability have been greatly increased compared to its previous state when he was suffering from extreme obesity and lack of exercise, but killing defenseless wolves that literally can't move and who can be cut through using a simple sharp blade should be simplicity itself. But apparently he still nonsensically struggled, and was even grateful that his ability allowed him to match other strong characters in the setting. And yet, in the later chapters, he finds that even common demons, which would be dispatched with ease by the main characters within the game and other truly strong beings, possess skin that he struggles for many minutes to potentially hours to cut through, or is even completely incapable of harming.I don't mind a weak protagonist, and some of my favourite stories are ones filled with constant struggle and a world tearing away the gains of the protagonist. And yet, I am still irked by this apparent betrayal. In a story, unless your story is pointedly trying to make your protagonist an unreliable voice or the setting is so fantastical that there are no fixed rules about magic ad other abilities, consistency is crucial. And yes, to a certain extent powerscaling matters, because if your audience finds that suddenly a character purported to be much weaker than another defeats the latter effortlessly, then it throws into question the validity of the entire strength/power system. Similarly, an ability said to be able to do something should not suddenly lose that particular functionality when made necessary by the plot (unless properly justified). Imagine Superman, someone who can literally survive the harshness of space's cold and vacuum, and vast amounts of physical force (lifting buildings with ease), succumbing to the punch of some moderately strong gangster (which he should be nearly immune to, rationally speaking). Or say a superhuman standing near the apex of your setting, but promptly eliminated by far weaker or unremarkable individuals because the author needed them gone; while it is acceptable for a character to grow in strength (justification still needed to have it make sense in the setting), it is however rarely accepted by readers when a character seemingly becomes weaker/is defeated by a far lesser show of force than they have been said to be able to bear normally for plot reasons without justification. Explain. Justify. Even if your reason is bogus, it is far better to have one than none at all, which was the case here.I'll edit my review if I start enjoying the story, and have aspects to praise.
