Title: 나만이 지구를 선택했다
■ Setting and Plot ■
One day, without any warning, some people on Earth are suddenly summoned inside a tower.
Within the tower, each person’s growth is limited by the talent rank they are assigned.
To clear the tower, they must climb its levels, each filled with trials and monsters.
The protagonist, Na Sinhyu, is among those summoned.
Though possessing a fairly high talent level, he climbs the tower at an average pace and reaches the early stages of the upper floors.
There, he is killed by a giant.
Like others, he receives the hero’s perk for reaching the upper floors and is granted a choice to enter a world of his preference.
However, while others choose safer dimensions upon learning that Earth has been destroyed by the giants,
the protagonist alone chooses the doomed Earth and reenters the tower.
■ Personal Rating ■
★★☆☆☆ (4/10)
- “It was a decent tower-climbing story, but the ending felt rushed and abrupt.”
- “The conclusion on Earth felt not just incomplete but as if the story ended mid-way.
It’s like in One Piece, if the series ended after they said, ‘See you in two years at Sabaody,’ with no continuation.” - “The KakaoPage version isn’t the final version; you need to read up to Chapter 317 on Naver Series for the full conclusion.”
■ Personal Review ■
This might be the most incomplete ending I’ve ever seen in a novel.
On top of that, the title and summary are incredibly misleading.
The premise made it sound like the protagonist, after choosing the destroyed Earth, would either
- Grow stronger alone on the ruined Earth and seek revenge on the giants, or
- Save Earth from destruction.
Instead, time is rewound, and Earth is frozen in time immediately after the giants invade.
The protagonist regresses to the beginning and climbs the tower again, monopolizing artifacts, elixirs, and other resources.
This results in both him and his companions becoming overwhelmingly powerful, clearing the entire tower’s upper levels, and slaughtering the invading giants.
The story ends with them forming alliances with other dimensions to eventually counterattack the giants’ dimension.
The final scene ends with, “Someday, we’ll take down the giants’ nest,” marking the abrupt conclusion.
What started as a story seemingly centered on Earth became just another regression-based tower-climbing narrative.
Even the tower-climbing aspect lacked challenges, as the protagonist overwhelmingly overpowered his opponents and climbed without much difficulty.
That said, I still somewhat enjoyed the story because I like overpowered protagonists.
The dynamic between key characters like the Na-Yeon and Seo-Yeon sisters, Nam Eun-joo, and Joo Ha-yeon had good chemistry and unique personalities.
However, I wouldn’t recommend this novel to readers who enjoy stories of characters overcoming adversity and growing stronger.
The first 80% of the story, which involves climbing the tower, contains virtually no moments that could be considered true adversity.
The most glaring issue is the frequent abrupt shifts in the story.
There are times when the plot skips ahead or rushes to the next stage without proper development.
This is especially true after the protagonist clears the upper levels of the tower and kills the giants.
For example:
- The segment where they conquer the demon realm is summarized in just a few lines, stating they fought and subdued it.
- It’s briefly mentioned that some of their party broke through the “Grandmaster Wall,” but no details are given.
- Afterward, their efforts to aid other dimensions are summarized with vague descriptions like, “They went here and did this.”
Finally, the story concludes with the phrase, “Someday, we’ll unite with the other dimensions and take down the giants’ nest.”
From the latter part of the novel onward, the story becomes a series of skipped content, rushed development, and a hastily written ending.
Finishing this novel left me feeling hollow.
