Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 4: “Better to Be a Hypocrite” (episodes 16 through 18) Webnovel Review
Major Spoilers are included in this Webnovel Review. Please read with caution.
On October 30, 2020, I started and finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’s Chapter 4: “Better to Be a Hypocrite”. This chapter followed the aftermath of Kim Dokja successfully escaping the sea serpent and reentering the city. He ends up saving a hurt woman and gathering food, only to run into stereotypical villains and later must deal with living in this new Apocalyptic World alongside other survivors. Kim Dokja also undergoes a dark phase, where he must act like a hypocrite in the name of survival.
Kim Dokja is beginning to understand why humans act like monsters, and how the Apocalypse is simply an excuse to exercise the darkness inside people. Given what’s going on with the world and the 2020 presidential election, I must agree with the conclusion Kim Dokja made about humans.
How can humans, who are so weak… be so cold-blooded and cruel?
It’s not because of his instinct or nature. There’s despair in his eyes that was there before the world had ended.
JUST LIKE ME.
“Maybe we aren’t all that different,” Kim Dokja says before he killed the “bad guy”, realizing he has to adapt to this new world.
Opening chapter 4 like this—with episode 16—set the tone for the rest of the chapter, and how people are quickly reverting to evil instincts—“to do what’s best for themselves and not others”—in order to survive the new world order.
Episode 17 reunited Kim Dokja with his original group Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung, Han Myungoh, and Lee Gilyoung, and getting an update about Junghyeok Yu leaving the Geumho Station earlier than expected, derailing the original story. This episode also set-up the new norm and introduced an antagonist named Inho Cheon, whose working alongside Han Myungoh—the one who grabbed Yoo Sangah to save her and abandoned Kim Dokja earlier in the story.
The world-building of the new world—specifically the Geumho Station people being divided into Major and Minor Group—was established in this chapter, and the hypocrisy behind it. The uncomfortable “everyone is a murderer” was also addressed when nobody addressed it, but everyone knew because killing on the subway was a test. Also, survival of the fittest mentality kicked in with this division between the strong and the weak.
The hypocrisy was directly addressed with Lee Hyunsung, who joined the Minor Group despite qualifying for the Major Group. Hyunsung felt like a real hypocrite for worrying about right and wrong after everything that’s happened. However, Kim Dokja hit him with a quote that moved Hyunsung—and me—to absolute tears.
“It’s better to worry about right and wrong as a hypocrite than not at all. Don’t ever forget that.”
Just because the situation was unavoidable doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And it mustn’t be forgotten that what happened can never be justified.
I won’t, Kim Dokja. I promise you that.
The food shortage was also addressed, and how to fairly share it with others. In terms of fairness, there wasn’t any fairness. As Inho Cheon proved with his manipulation of the people and Kim Dokja, “the most dangerous type [of people] is the type that uses other people’s despair as a fertilizer for power”. Inho Cheon provided an impossible choice for Kim Dokja to either be the hero or the villain, with no clear right answer in sight.
Then episode 18—the ending to chapter 4—swings in with Kim Dokja charging everyone for their share. We also officially meet Huiwong Jeong—the woman Kim Dokja saved at the start of episode 16—who is the first to pay for her share of the food.
The logic here is that Kim Dokja isn’t a charity case, and that everyone should pay for their own share instead of waiting for free handouts. This logic is hard to understand especially during times of desperation, but it’s also the right way to be “fair” because Kim Dokja risked his life, and people shouldn’t rely on others like that. This logic also makes the Major Group look bad for actually monopolizing the food and forcing the Minor Group to scavenge the food like cattle being led to the slaughter.
Huiwong Jeong also subverted the audience’s expectations, as most would’ve assumed that she was a frail woman for getting herself kidnapped, but she’s actually the opposite—tough, caring, and assertive—and has a vengeful goal against the guy who tried to rape her. How they handled this topic was uncomfortable but not cringey if that makes sense—given that it’s “attempted” and we weren’t forced to watch it happen. Her attributes are also potentially powerful enough to evolve into legendary status, but they could also turn her into a murderer.
The ending to the chapter 4—the Dokkaebi—raised the stakes as well, with food being no longer allowed to be stockpile. In addition, the food people currently had was vaporized. A survival fee was also added—student loans in other words—with 100 coins being withdrawn at midnight, and those who can’t pay it will die. This reminds me of that one movie where people used their lifespan as currency. Things are getting darker from here on out. Like Kim Dokja, I smiled when comparing the new dark scenario to a relatable fictional story.
This chapter did tap into self-aware Apocalyptic stereotypes, but Kim Dokja also made a stunning remark about those stereotypes being used, “Real humans are even more evil than the clichés in those stories”. Clichés are clichés for a good reason—they were so good to the point of being overused, and it also directly points out the hypocrisy in human beings especially with what had happened during the week of the 2020 presidential election. I reread Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Chapter 4 during that week for those confused about the first sentence saying, “On October 30, 2020…”
Rereading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint during that dark, stressful period—the 2020 presidential election—helped me escape reality and prepared me for my eventual return. I highly recommend getting into this Webnovel, but I also advise great caution when reading it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this Webnovel review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading carefully into chapter 5!
Take care,
NGO DM (Dokja Master) AA