Marcus

I am only providing context on why this film was hated. You made a great point that realisticly its impossible to adapt the whole novel, fans understood that, and were also cautiously anticipating how the movie would turn out.

The majority wasn't expecting them to adapt the whole story even if they made the 5 movies planned out of it. A lot of discussion when the movie was announced was about where the 5th movie will end because understandly that the novel is long and there is just no way of adapting all of it within 5 movies unless they skip a ton of arcs.

Many speculated that if they adapt the whole novel into 5 movies, it won't be as faithful, which is why many also speculated that the 5 movie franchise will end at the "Dark Castle" arc, which would be a proper end to the incarnation known as Kim Dokja (Incarnations are anybody who is part of the scenario). This is a great conclusion to his story and also a perfect cliffhanger of what happens now that KDJ is not part of the scenario anymore

The disappointment didn't come from " They didn't fully adapt the franchise" but rather it came from the fact that the changes they made fundamentally shifted the whole narrative that simply trying to vaguely follow the novel would be impossible at that point. This is a bit spoilery but its not a heavy spoiler. Example of this is the reward KDJ received after KILLING the dragon at end of movie the title "King of NO KILLING" which they turned into resurrection of OTHER ppl, this tile is supposed to be only obtainable during "War of Kings" and as you have its acquired by NOT KILLING during the whole scenario as a final reward (which is ahrd to do since your literally fighting not only mosnters but also humans to beocme a king) and it was a bit of plot twist, but the most important part is that its effect is actually self-revival which is important for the following arcs. KDJ getting it during the movie means that the twist wouldn't be adapted anymore, and kinda would make the whole scenario weird if KDJ already is a king, even if the whole scenario is about working hard to make somebody your faction's king (if they continue to adapt the franchise).

Another example is the fact that skills are ONLY acquirable by incarnation with a sponsor, so this meant that KDJ doesn't have skills as he is without a sponsor. SInce you have read the beg chapters, you would have seen that KDJ has a skill called "Fourth Wall", all of his other skills are also important to the story, but 4th wall is special as this is one of the most important, if not the most important aspect in the MC's character development, especially in the latter half of the series (I know it sound weird that a skill is important to his dev).

Fans were disappointed that the character didn't have the same personality as their novel counterparts. Most importantly, they changed KDJ characterization from a passive "reader" who still wanted to see how the novel ended on his own terms TO somebody who actively writes a new story as he "hated" how the novel ended and becomes the novel's "protagonist" in the movie. Don't get me wrong, KDJ in the orginal novel absolutely takes advantgae of his knowledge and "fix" things but this wasn't from a selfish desire of changing the story cuz he didn't like the endng rather it comes from the fact that he wanted to give the characters that he love a "happy ending" which is a core aspect of him since KDJ had low esteem from trauma that he didn't even imagine how his ending would look like but instead can only imagine how the ending of people that he likes would be, which aligns with his actions throughout the novel where he is always the sacrificial pawn of the group and the fandom refers to him as the "s**cidal king"

Correct me If I am wrong but I am assuming you mostly read the beginning chapters (those that the movie is based on) and haven't read further into the succeeding arcs? The only reason I am surmising this is that you said the characters and plot weren't really off the mark.

The reason why this movie was generally hated is cuz what of what happened during the final act of the movie, which essentially erased a whole arc (scenario) that occurs in 2 arc after the end of the movie in the source material. Furthermore, since skills are only given by sponsors in the movie, Dokja is essentially a man with no skills, yet still is one of the strongest people and on par with Jonghyuk (LMH), who has regressed a thousand times. As a side effect of Dokja not having skills, it also erased one of the most fundamental, if not the most important, aspects of his character development, which is one of his skills (fourth wall, I know it sounds weird).

Fans are mad cuz even if they continued the plan to make 5 movies, the this movie practically changed a lot of things that if they were to even follow the novel, a lot of things would not make sense. This means that the succeeding movie would have a lot of "movie-only" plot lines to make up for the changes in the 1st movie, or would skip major plot lines in the novel that don't fit into the already established narrative

he can't use any money borne from the company for his personal use. Basically anything earned can only be used for business, its a bit different from the novel/manhua since it had a system but for me the logic in this adaptation is that Mr. Sima gets all the profits and Pei is the only one making the decision on what to invest in

oh so you do understand, it really doesn't matter if you think she is a support character while watching the drama, since again a poster is just meant to promote a drama. Something you see BEFORE you even watch the drama, so if her being eye catching and being famous, it's inevitable that she will pull viewership from her fans. It doesn't need to have any meaning

So again how would you infer that I am agitated? Lol... Profiles? Only one (if it "doesn't matter", why bring it up? like what), I just don't bother making an account where ppl can see what I have watched/liked. Just doesn't matter to me + no one really cares whether other people like a certain drama or not. So you see no reason for somebody to be in the centre (won't it feel empty), but can't think where she would logically be placed? Mate, the MC is already in the centre and has the most emphasis as he is the only one who's completely different from the other. She is there because she's famous, she is there cuz she has a leading role, second only to the MC. Not everything has to have a deeper meaning that needs to be found. As I said, it's BASIC marketing practice (capslock since i don't think you caught that in my previous comment)

why would you infer that i am agitated??? is this because I tend to put a lot of "?", its just the way I type, so hypothetically since you find no reason or somebody to be in the centre, if you were the one making this poster, where would you position everybody.. I mean it's just basic marketing practice and psychology to put a character you want to emphasize on the focus to easily grab people's attention since unlike you, most ppl just look at the poster for a few seconds (even just a glance) and having the most eye-catching/appealing cast member in an area where it's easily recognizable is just logicial

Mate do you not know what a poster's purpose is?? its for marketing. Did you ignore the fact that she is the most famous out of the group???That's like asking why would they put the main cast as the focus of the poster. In the other version, its mainly Pei standing out while the other is almost doing the same actions, just in this instance what they were going for was Pei in the bottom while everybody else is in the explosion, somebody is inevitable going to be in the centre and Lin Wan just happens to be the 2nd most important in the character

Because she's the 2nd most important cast??? Just looking at the main group, she is the most famous (with the others in the main group typically playing mostly supporting characters). Why wouldn't they put her in the centre... Not to mention her role in the drama, clearly, she is the one who would contribute the most to Pei's failure to become rich. She made the unsalvageable game work, she gave huang si bo idea on how to make a profit on the novel company, she clearly is the one "leading" the cast on how to make money, while misunderstanding her actions as being guided by Pei's "words of wisdom".

i mean I think your more invested in this than me, seeing that you overthink details that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things

I believe all your argument stems from the fact that Pei referred to himself as honorary chairman. Yes it does usually mean a retired CEO, but it can also be a nod to his actual role in the company. Even at the founding of the company, Pei can already be considered as an honorary chairman, for one, he does not have any responsibilities at all, he doesn't work, he doesn't manage anything. Not to mention that he doesn't even get paid properly (which is typical of the title). Furthermore, if we look at the context of an 8-year later timeline, the term "honorary" doesn't necessarily mean losing ownership of the company; it can just means that he doesn't involve himself in the overall decision-making of the company. The most lilely explanation is that it can just be a euphemism to make fun of his situation as the chairman while his employees are richer than him, looking at how he is still the head of the company based on the conversation with Ma Yang as well aas how he addresses Pei. Again why are you tring to make sense on why he is in shabby clothing.....Even in the present timeline, the logical situation is that Pei can easily just ask Ma Yang to allow him to live in Ma Yang's apartment (which he said he can easily buy), but they don't do it cuz its much more comical to see him in an unfinished apartment with only his tent, the same can be said with his clothes, simply put ITS JUST FUNNIER to see the contrast between the luxrious outfit of the employee and the beggar-like style of the boss.

Edit: I looked into your watchlist, since I thought you aren't into drama that doesn't take itself seriously, but I saw you rate Oh My Emperor! pretty high. If we equate your questioning for that drama, it like you asking why the prisons in that drama has huge ass cuffs that any prisoner can easily escape from and seeing if there's a deeper meaning to it. Likewise, a ton of scenes in that drama don't make sense logically if you just think for even a second, but they do it cuz its makes the scene funnier

sooooo does that answer your question why you don't "see" her when you see everybody else???? Also he look like a bum cuz he is business-rich, not personal bank-rich. In the novel its a sytem instead of Mr.Sima providing money, but the premise is still the same that he can only use the money (including the profit he earns) for his business. He is poor himself, he can never touch the wealth that his business accumulates

You do realize there was a woman in that scene, who they deliberately refused to show the face off right ??? The one with brown jacket and white shirt, when Ma Yang called Pei, everybody looked towards him beside her. Maybe it could be a production issue and they filmed that scene last and just so happens she was not available for it so they filmed with a double or it could be they just intentionally made use not see her face.

mate i am not saying your not allowed to, my point is your trying to make sense out of a series that is meant to not make sense. It's premise is absurb enough and the way the characters keeps succeeding with their ridiculous ideas, is enough to tell you that this drama isn't taking itself seriously and there isn't a "hidden meaning/foreshadowing" like other drama

Yeah that's one of the two kids that's was on Si Bo's car. Lin Wan is te center piece because everybody on that "explosion" are the ppl who is central to Pei not earning money, and she is most likely gonna be Pei's Love interest (in the novel there was no romance but seeing the adaptation, I think they are trying to make one between the two). why are you overanalyzing the poster???????? it's a comedy drama, not a drama "drama", why areyou expecting somebody to die lol

I don't think it's Pei's. You can see that the children rode the same car as Huang Si Bo and the woman in white, so it's most likely theirs.

HUH??? That's the whole point of the series. It's a comedy, not a Mary Sue type MC. Ppl like this series cuz its fun to watch, and the fun part is seeing the MC fail at failing. It's meant to not be taken seriously. Not to mention, Per doesn't necessarily have a "good heart"/conscience (not saying he is not a good person, but he didn't do those actions out of the goodness of his heart), his employees beleives that he is generous cuz he pay them a ton of money wit a ton of benefits, but at the end of the day, Pei hired them cuz he 100% believe that each and every single one of them are FAILURES of society which would help him lose money. His employees are just genuinely trying to repay his generosity by being the best they can, you can't fault them for that.

yep, i quit reading it about a few months ago since I wanted to wait till more chapter gets released and it only adapted around 200 chapter of the novel. The novel has around 550 chapter

The webtoon is pretty faithful to the novel. It's not a 1:1 adaptation as some details are omitted but I think its overall fine due to the nature of the medium, the difference is very very tiny that doesn't affect the overall thematic meaning of the scenes. It's also not yet complete though

"was made by the fans to the fans for the fans".... about that.... I think fans of the source material unanimously agree that none of the production team bothered to read the novel they were adapting, cuz the things they changed have major repercussions for future arcs and future character developments ( by that, i mean the changes they made basically erased the entire purpose of an arc or made a major character development scene later impossible to adapt especailly when it comes to the MC). I don't think people would be mad if the changes were justified; however, it felt as if every change was a change that was opposite to the theme of the story and characters that fans originally liked.

It's a combination of novel fans review bombing it from the beginning without seeing it (although some have actually seen it too), and the movie just generally not being that good, thus, not reaching enough audience for people to rate it "fairly". I would rate this 4 or 5/10 as an independent movie, but a 1/10 if it's an adaptation. It's a decent time-waster of a movie if u turn off your brain and just enjoy it as is, but once you try to make sense of the plot, it has too many problems