Everything about this was great except for how the plot developed. Specially by the middle, things felt stagnant and the climax of the story didn't feel climactic at all.
Also, was lowkey hoping viscount dude and young lord got together at some point lol. Like, they were pretty much attached at the hip and in the plot for no reason, might as well make them the 2nd couple. Also, young lord's chamberlain also just disappeared randomly somewhere along the way lolm
It was cute but... eh.
Title and premise is clickbait. Seriously, the "honey scent" was relevant for like half a chapter. One would think one of the main plot points would be MC navigating his life as a cloyingly smelly guide in a den of horny eSpers, but no. It was literally mentioned twice and was used as a convenient plot device for the two to get together and was never mentioned again. Wdym the honey scent in the fcking title and the synopsis literally cannot be smelled by anyone else???? And I thought his honey scent isnalso the reason he doesnt like deeper guiding... but no, it was a different.plot point pulled out of nowhere. Seriously it was right there.
Speakong of the other guild members, you can literally erase them and nothing changes. They were relevant for 10 chapters max. You'd think Coda or even Czerny would pine for MC, but no. Wtf is even with long haired sleepy dudes split personality? And wtf is that threesome imagine spot with the twins?
At the very least, I was expecting some tension and even spicy partner changes but no.
Also, the entire Ano subplot was... eh. Literally got swept under the rug without any actual effect on the plot. So much potential for angst and healing / character development, but no. Nothing.
Finally, the way MC and ML got together was so contrived. Like... the PoS ML who dgaf played around a and MC just agreed? The infatuation was out of nowhere.
Long haired bitch bishie guide is the most interesting part of this story lol. Queen just wanna stir up drama everywhere he goes.
I just wish they could've tied up loose ends... like MeowieMeowMeow's admirer or the review bomber of Earth Cafe (they left that quite vague).
There's a novel called Love Games that dives into MeowieMeowMeow's admirer if you ever want to read it! Don't know if they'll adapt it into a side story tho
It's so easy to tell that the ending was rushed. I'm pretty sure the season has just begun too. The author was also setting up a sort of relationship between Hyunsung and Yise before the series's hiatus(?) that I'm willing to bet that they have an entire plotline of the two of them coexisting planned out. Seriously even the OffBeat subplot was suddenly dropped. I'm so sad for the author that they didn't get to tell the story they wanted. The series was so good the entire time except for the rushed ending.
I agree.
I first read this way back during the pandemic when it only had 20 or so chapters. It was a classic "sweet potato" story filled with frustration at the time. Eventually, I stopped reading webtoons altogether for a while, last I read was around ch40... I started reading again recently, finally picking this up once more and finishing it.
It's so... healing to see how the two leads are so broken and despite all their flaws, managed to work through their problems and heal together. I love how Violet eventually settled into her own, powerful peraon without losing her gentless, kindness, and rigidity. I love how Winter lslowly learned what love really is, with his toxicity eventually transforming into a proper love language. Even 'till the end, they still had some flaws, but their growth overshadowed those flaws and it's so... happily poignant to see their ending and love for each other. Definitely not the best story out there, but it will always have a special place in my heart. I will remember Violet and Winter's story for a very very long time.
Really, the story only started getting some semblance of coherence at around ch80 when the Shinhwa guild became the focus and MC settled into his mentor tyoe role. Before that it's just... all over the place. Heck, I had hope about that one crine syndicate boss... and he ended up self destructing in just 2 chapters without input from the characters lol.
And then the Rainbow 6 keeps getting mentioned but only three of then got revealed. So much wasted potential.
Setting aside how Julia was practically shoehorned into Theon's arms... because honestly, of all the cast, Julia seemed to be the one most fitting to be free spirited and independent, and even she found the idea of dating Theon to be repulsive (Justice for her as well). Ray and Theon had more chenistry lol.
Anyway, setting Ray's doomed yaoi aside, I really hope we get to see Dorothy finally eating Ray's tomatoes. Y'ALL HAVE NO IDEA HOW SAD IT MADE ME WHEN DOROTHY REJECTED OUR POOR BOY'S TOMATOES AND PROMISED HARVEST EARLY ON IN THE STORY, SPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS PROBABLY HIS MOST HEARTFELT GIFT. As someone who grows vegetables as well, that I REALLY empathized with Ray then. I really hope Ray's precious tomatoes make a comeback.
... is the fact that Liza will always be just like a fleeting dream to Jihun... and it hurts a lot.
Damn, I was lajghing so hard at Yeonwoo's pozza shenanigans I just had to read the entire second half again... then I noticed the hoof prints scattered around the cafe. Well shit.
Seriously, the OG premise is as vanilla as it can bet, but turn it BL with an unhinged power bottom (I'm assuming) MC with side of GL involving supportive FL and we've got something amazing on our hands.