I need to talk about the setting of the rental apartment. The description is vivid and revolting. Boiling animal skins in a pot, the air thick with raw meat smell and dampness, rows of skinless humanoids frozen in wire frames, the protagonist casually eating a high-end Luosifen while his friend’s mouth begs for a taste. The contrast between the grotesque process and mundane daily life is immersive. Also, the way he has to deliver the finished puppets: wrapping them in bubble wrap, writing “Confidential Delivery,” and trying not to scare the public. The flashback where he gets chased by police and ends up saying it’s an inflatable doll is such a hilarious continuity shout-out. And the delivery guy buying the tricycle from the street-sweeping uncle? That’s worldbuilding through details. It makes the supernatural feel grounded in a grimy, realistic economy. I can almost smell the broth and the boiled leather mixing in my imagination.
I’m lowkey annoyed at how the system is set up. It promises a lot but then goes silent. “Emotion collection” sounds useful but the MC got a bunch of stuff immediately like a personal space and farm. Why even have the system if you’re just gonna hand out OP rewards in the first chapter? At least the life-rebuilding pill and martial arts make sense for his military background. But the system’s personality is basically “I’m so great, praise me.” Kinda cringe.
The crafting failures were my favorite part because they weren’t brushed aside. He wasted materials, which in this economy hurts. The mental power fluctuation and the blackened edge felt like real manufacturing issues.
The way Eld handled the drunk adventurers at the tavern was perfectly in character. He didn’t start the fight but he finished it quickly and efficiently. No unnecessary cruelty, just put them in their place and moved on. That’s how you write a capable protagonist.
I think the biggest early flaw is how quickly Du Yu accepts his death and the afterlife. One minute he's a ghost in shock, the next he's signing forms. While the humor helps, it does feel a little convenient. A bit more time spent on his initial denial or grief might have made the later decision to gamble on reincarnation feel more weighty. It's a minor nitpick, because the plot is so engaging, but for a story about a "wrongful death," the emotional impact of that death gets glossed over pretty fast in favor of the wacky world-building. I wanted one more beat of sadness.